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I went to nursing school and I also played soccer at the same time and I just wanted
to say that it is very doable. The professors are willing to work with you and as long as
you can prioritize, you can get through it.
To be a student athlete and a nurse requires a lot of time management. Your friends may
not understand at times, but they will eventually. If they're your real friends, they'll stick
around for you. And they'll also understand. But time management is the biggest key especially
when you're a student athlete and going through nursing school.
Using your time wisely is obviously something that you're going to want to do. I also do
not recommend getting married. No. That's a bad idea and trying to plan a wedding at
the same time while going to school. You can do it. But I don't recommend it. So just keep
your eyes on the prize and you'll graduate.
I'm a sophomore BSN student and I recommend that you do the blueprints that are given
at the beginning for the exam and then that time management is very important. I have
two little kids and time management really does miracles.
I play a sport. I play soccer. So you obviously have to put school before soccer and then
work around it. I would say that the most important thing is that you have to learn
to separate your social life from your education. You have to learn when to say no to friends
and other social activities so that you can make sure that your main focus is school and
studying for tests and doing homework so you're prepared and you can get the grades that you
want.
Not procrastinating, it makes your life so much easier. You get things done ahead of
time. And while everyone else is stressing, biting at the bit to get things done at the
last minute, you can relax and your life's so much easier as a nursing student.
My biggest advice from being a BSN sophomore student would be study from the beginning.
Don't get yourself behind. Just start out strong and you'll do just fine.
I make a schedule monthly ahead of what I'm going to have coming up: tests, exams, quizzes,
papers. Just to plan your month ahead will help you, week by week, day by day.
The biggest thing for me was learning to actually study ahead of time, because in high school
I didn't really have to study at all, so definitely study ahead of time.
Just remember to take one day at a time and get as much done as possible beforehand because
you never know what can come up with family, friends, or even work. So just plan ahead
and it will always help you and always be beneficial.
Don't sweat the small stuff and to ask questions when you need help. All of the professors
are more than willing to help, so if there's an open door, you can always ask them.
And also we have excellent resources here at Saint Francis. Our teachers are very resourceful
so definitely go to them and make them useful.
Really utilize your professors. A lot of them, you can really get a hold of them by texting
or email or even just stopping in their office after class or whatever, whatever you can
do to get a hold of them. Because they're here for you as a resource and so it's really
important that you use them.
During my time here at Saint Francis I work part time at a hospital and I gained a lot
of skills and knowledge that I could apply to some of the bookwork here and it really
helped me connect the dots as far as the schoolwork to the clinical setting.
Tip for anybody that's coming in that's a guy. Being that I'm just about done with the
program, you're going to have patients who will look at you and say why are you helping
me, I want a female. Just remember, they're not upset at you, they're just not ready to
have a male nurse. So honor they're request and get a female to help them if they need
some help with getting cleaned up or getting to the bathroom or something like that. It's
just their personal preference and it's nothing against you.
I went from doing something that I wasn't sure about in the beginning to transferring
schools and majors and I definitely think it was worth it, definitely harder but definitely
worth it, so definitely try stuff.
When you do health assessment make sure you practice, practice, practice, over and over
with all different kinds of people, your parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, and maybe even
some people you don't know if you can find some people that are willing to do it, because
that is the best way that you're going to learn everything is to practice over and over
and over again.
Attitude is everything. Staying positive is very important and seeking learning opportunities
through positive and negative experiences is vital.
My advice would be to always keep your angle in sight because you'll grow a ton from the
beginning of the program to the end.
But also finding the people in your new class to become good friends with, because you always
need support going through nursing school because it is a lot and it is difficult and
if you have supporters on your side fighting for you to be successful, you will be successful.
One thing I wish I would've known coming into college life as it is, I guess, would be how
important it is to have that one good friend there to get you through it. They make a difference.
Just having that person you can rely on, to get you through it, help you study, or be
your rock.
Believe in yourself. You can absolutely do this, it is daunting when the class first
starts but in the end you are laughing about having to wash your hands and being nervous.
Also take time for yourself everyday, even just a few minutes. It all, it matters and
it will help out in the end.