Student Blogs

Written by Michelle Ho 

Congratulations to everyone who got into nursing school! Now, let’s talk about what you need to know before starting nursing school and how you can begin your semester STRONG and PREPARED.

Work-life Balance:

We’ve all heard those dreaded awful questions about nursing school equating to no longer having a social life. Is that true? Partially, yes. However, you can still have time for your friends and family with good time management and an excellent work-life balance. Before you head into nursing school, think about where/what your current priorities are and if you will be able to adjust where you need to. Nursing school is ALL about adjustment. You may have to give up that second job or those weekly book club meetings to have time for lectures/simulations/skills and labs/clinicals. Nursing school takes up a HUGE chunk of your time. Schedule your outside activities around your nursing school schedule.

Test Scores:

I’ll be straightforward: you will not get those perfect test scores that you used to get. But DO NOT stress out over getting the perfect scores on exams because nursing school exams are challenging. I don’t say this to scare you that you will get consistent C’s and D’s on exams, but I say this to help ease your anxieties and remind you that you will not succeed on every exam. Your test scores DO NOT define you and do not reflect the kind of nurse you will be. Remember, you are studying to save lives. Do not beat yourself up over your grades!

Social Support:

Lean on your nursing school friends! No one understands you or the stress you go through in nursing school better than your nursing school peers. I encourage you to seek out those opportunities to make friends with those people in your cohort. This may look like studying in groups together or carpooling to clinicals together! Be there for each other, ask each other for advice, and vent to each other. Nursing school is hard, but it is also a lot harder going through it by yourself. You will be going through blood, sweat, and tears with these people, so be there for each other!

Network:

Join the professional nursing organizations on your campus, whether Sigma Theta Tau or National Student Nurses Association. This is a great way to connect with your cohort, other cohorts and keep up with the latest events. In addition, nursing organizations are supposed to help mentor students and provide support as you journey through your academic career! Creating a network may also look like networking with managers or the nurses at your clinical sites and even with your nursing school professors or clinical instructors. Keep in mind that every clinical shift is like an interview with that hospital. Moreover, your professors/instructors know you best, so keep in touch with them as much as possible because they can write you that golden letter of recommendation once you start applying for jobs post-graduation!

Your Purpose:

You will go through a lot of self-doubt in nursing school. You may find yourself screaming the following things in your head: “I didn’t work hard enough,” or “I’m not good enough,” or “I’m not smart enough,” or “how did I even get accepted into this program in the first place?”  Trust me, I’ve been there, and even being in my final year of nursing school, I still feel all those same feelings. But I constantly remind myself what brought me here, what led me here, and my “WHY” for pursuing nursing. You stepped into one of the most selfless and rewarding professions for a reason. Do not let the obstacles in nursing school obstruct your future visions. No matter how hard school or clinical gets, keep your head HIGH and learn to EMBRACE CHANGE because that is how you become an awesome #FutureNurse one day.