Prioritizing While in Nursing School

Photo by: Texas A&M (Flickr)

Nursing school will be an extremely rewarding and busy time in your life!

Prioritizing While in Nursing School

Congratulations! You're considering or have already embarked upon the journey of becoming a nurse. I can think of few professions that carry more rewards than nursing. Being a nurse takes a special kind of person, one who is caring yet capable of working under extreme pressure. Multitasking is a nurse's best friend: You will need finely honed multitasking skills once you graduate and become a nurse. Prioritizing while in nursing school will help you develop those critical multitasking skills as well as get you to graduation relatively unscathed.

Prioritize Your Emotions

• Start managing your stress now before it becomes disabling; this includes managing all side effects of stress, including depression and fatigue.

• Managing your stress and related emotions includes coming to the understanding that you are going to be overwhelmed in nursing school; there is no way to avoid this, so prepare for it.

• Also, prepare yourself to face the subjects that you are concerned you'll fail; in other words, get yourself mentally ready to face subjects typically seen as intimidating, such as science or math classes.

Prioritize Your Health

• Put yourself on a healthy diet if you aren't already eating the way you should.

• Set up a simple exercise routine to keep your energy level up and your body healthy and in good shape.

• Take time out for you, even if it's only a few moments each day to meditate or listen to some peaceful music.

Prioritize Your Life

• Enlist your family and friends to help you by taking on extra responsibilities or being there when you need someone to talk to when you're overstressed.

• Get your job in order; nursing school will take up a majority of your time. If quitting is not a feasible option, look into working on a part-time basis.

• Get your finances in order so you are not stressing out about how you are going to pay your bills or your nursing school tuition.

Utilize Time Management Skills

• Keep a diary of how you spend every minute of your day, including sleep, for about a week and assess the results to see where your time is currently spent.

• Shave off any time that you can in other activities for nursing school and its related studies, but don't sacrifice sleep - you'll need it.

• Use a calendar and daily to-do list to track everything that you must get done in the day, and then prioritize the tasks so you accomplish all of them.

Prioritize Your Classes and Studies

• Once you've received your nursing school schedule, sit down with it and map it on a calendar to determine how many hours you'll need to complete each task expected of you in school.

• Set aside time to study every day and stick to it, including turning off your cell phone and anything else that might interrupt you during your study period.

• Don't cram. It's not a good idea - make sure you learn and know your stuff so you can pass your testing and nursing school with the success you envision.