With reliable nursing school advice, you can get on the right track with an accelerated nursing program. Nursing school tips include being patient with yourself, seeking guidance from others, adopting successful habits, trialing study strategies, getting enough sleep, finding ways to unwind, and more.
As you start on the path to becoming a nurse, knowing how to succeed can be a challenge. You’ll navigate a busy schedule and many priorities. But fear not — we have nursing school advice for you. The best nursing students use a few common strategies to thrive.
Knowing how to manage nursing school is even more important with an accelerated track like the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) track at Concordia University Texas (CTX). Though the 16-month track comes with greater responsibility, you can graduate and start your career in less time than possible with a traditional program.
Read on to learn about eight pieces of nursing school advice from our ABSN team that will help you master the responsibilities of nursing school.
1. Be Patient with Yourself as a Learner
The first piece of nursing school advice is to have patience with yourself. You are a student faced with a new challenge: navigating an intense 16 months of nursing coursework, skills and simulation labs, and clinical rotations. It will take time to learn how to manage this new endeavor.
Therefore, have patience with yourself. Give yourself time to adjust and figure out a rhythm for studying. Your instructors do not expect you to master nursing school on day one. You have the grace to make mistakes and learn from them.
2. Seek Guidance and Support from Others
As you work through the ABSN curriculum, reach out to others for support and help. You are not on the nursing school journey alone. You have an entire community around you, and we are here to see that you succeed.
You can seek help from others in many ways during the ABSN track, such as:
- Meeting with your instructors when you have questions about the material
- Setting up a regular peer study group, where you review material and quiz each other
- Talking with our success coach to gain insight into your study methods
- Staying in touch with your loved ones and sharing how they can best support you
3. Adopt Habits That Will Lead to Success
How you spend your time each day dictates your future. Your success in nursing school depends on creating beneficial habits that will help you learn effectively. You’ll develop these habits over time as you gain experience in school and find what works best for you.
Here are a few great ideas for habits to begin during the ABSN track:
- Start every day with an activity that puts you in a positive frame of mind, such as taking a morning walk or listening to music.
- Begin studying at a consistent time and place each day.
- Spend at least 15 minutes outside every day.
- Set aside 20 minutes daily to review your flashcards or notes from the day before.
As you enter the nursing profession, work to develop these skills and qualities of the best nurses.
4. Try Different Study Methods Until You Find the Right One
Studying for accelerated nursing school will pose a new set of challenges, unlike anything you’ve likely experienced before. You will probably need to adjust your study methods. This may take a little experimentation and time. We recommend choosing strategies that align with your top learning style (whether that’s visual, auditory, kinesthetic, or reading/writing). If you don’t know your learning style, take the free VARK questionnaire.
Remember that the first one or two study strategies you try may not be the best for you. Everyone learns differently. While a friend may prefer making outlines, flashcards may work better for you. Try a few things, and repeat the strategies that resonate most with you.
5. Get Enough Sleep
During nursing school, we find that sleep is often something students let slide. They have other priorities to manage, so sleep gets sacrificed for a few extra hours of studying. One of the most overlooked nursing school tips is to avoid shortchanging your sleep if possible. Set a consistent bedtime each night, put the books away, and go to bed. Sleep is essential for health and retention, for during sleep, the brain processes and stores all the information you learned that day.
6. Find Ways to Unwind
During nursing school, you may sometimes experience stress and anxiety, and it’s essential to have ways to relieve that stress. We have found that successful nursing students have some method of balancing their studies and life. While you’ll spend most of your time focused on schoolwork, reserve a little time for an activity that helps you relax and refresh, such as cooking, exercising, reading, or playing with your children. Having a way to decompress after a long day will help you remain strong and focused during the 16 months of accelerated nursing school.
Looking for more ways to prioritize wellness in nursing school? Here are nine self-care tips for you.
7. Manage Nursing School Priorities with a Schedule
Another important piece of nursing student advice is to follow a schedule. Using a schedule can help manage stress because it enables you to keep track of all school-related activities and assignments. Nursing school at Concordia University Texas consists of online classes, skills and simulation labs, and clinical rotations. Balancing your lab and clinical schedules with your assignments and exams for online classes can be challenging. Creating a detailed schedule can take that off your mind and give you one less thing to remember.
8. Stay Consistent with Daily Studying
Time and consistency are your friends. You may have crammed for exams in the past, but with the amount of content you need to learn in the ABSN track, studying every day will be to your advantage. The nursing curriculum is intense, and it builds upon itself. Staying on track is essential to ensure you can learn what’s coming next. Because the ABSN track is condensed into 16 months, studying every day will help you avoid falling behind and getting overwhelmed.
Begin Your Nursing Journey at CTX!
With our nursing school advice, you’re ready to begin the path to nursing. Concordia University Texas offers three start dates each year at our Austin and Dallas, Texas locations. The ABSN track is designed for students with a prior non-nursing bachelor’s degree or at least 60 non-nursing college credits.
Wondering what’s involved in becoming a nurse? Follow these seven steps to earn a BSN and become a nurse.
The faculty at CTX is dedicated to your success and will support you at every point along your journey. To learn more about how to earn your BSN degree at CTX, reach out to our admissions counselors.