Helpful Study Tips

It’s easy to feel like you’re drowning and overwhelmed in nursing school. It’s also discouraging when others or yourself haven’t accomplished their goals or failed. You are very capable of avoiding that sinking ship or recovering from a disappointment. Here are some useful tips that helped me in my worse days:

• Follow your heart. Always remember what inspires you to get you out of the bed such as your family or kids. I don’t have any children but I tell people to let your heart guide your next step. Some people just say “it’s for the money” but money alone is stressful and you simply can’t put a value on life, happiness, and a peace of mind…etc When you are overwhelmed, think about the simple things that make you relax and focus.
• Know your limits. In other words, be honest with yourself, learn when and how to seek help. Do not wait till it’s too late or during the midterms. Let your teacher know that you need help, right away. The human body is complicated even after studying it for HOURS. Knowing your limits can give a realistic picture to help prioritize and ATTAIN your goals.
• Make your learning interactive. Look up everything that you don’t know on google images -> Wikipedia -> YouTube. Yes, in that order. You need visuals, detailed information, and videos. This honestly helped me completely learn about the nervous system, for example, the parasympathetic system makes your body slow down (rest and digest) versus your sympathetic system, which is your flight or fight response. How have I remembered this forever? think about PARAphernalia, look up the images and then watch videos of people being “high” or moving in slow motion. Now you know the whole nervous system as well 🙂
• Revise your notes! include pictures for the content you are struggling with…Once again do not ignore pictures, I had an exam that had multiple questions from only ONE picture and besides, it requires no reading so, like kids, I love pictures! Also, note how revising your lecture is also a part of making your learning interactive.
• Keep your mind healthy: AVOID ETOH; it dehydrates, it’s a DEPRESSANT, and makes your quality of sleep go down in the drain, yes even one drink will destroy your sleep. Do not smoke or fry your brain cells (be mindful of drug tests). Limit sugar and stay hydrated, pH water kept me the most hydrated. Only drink a swig of coffee, not the entire mug, and limit tea to just one cup/day. Physical activity is important but FOCUS on what helps the MIND. Quite often, the thought of going to the gym will stress me out too much to go, so taking care of my MIND was more serious and limiting my stressors.

Sometimes a course may give out so much information that it starts to feel like we’re in another level of hell. Do not panic. Once again FOCUS on the information at hand and find whatever content you need to understand the concepts. Learn about time-savings strategies (do not use flashcards) and take breaks. Thank you for reading and start conquering again!