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10 Study Tips for Student
Nurses Studying for nursing school - whether you're going for your bachelor's or an advanced degree - is a key element of a nurse's success. Nursing students do more than memorize facts, according to Carolyn Bess, RN, DSN, associate professor of nursing, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, Nashville. They have to "get the big picture." This means learning to integrate what they learn in the classroom with what they read in their books, so that they can apply it in practice. "It's learning how to think," says Bess. The process of becoming an effective studier often involves self-evaluation - looking at how one manages time, stays on task, keeps up, and best learns material, says Bess. The self-evaluation process will help you to pinpoint potential trouble areas and work on them. The next step is to make sure that you are computer literate before going to nursing school, because much of your work might be online, according to Bess. These tips will help you further refine your study habits so that you can make more effective, efficient use of your study time: 1) Avoid procrastination; break tasks down into parts. According to Derek Bridges, academic counselor and writing consultant at Loyola University in New Orleans: People procrastinate because they feel overwhelmed and don't know how to start. One solution is to simply start modestly. Instead of being overly ambitious, take small steps and build momentum. If you have a research paper to do, begin by spending, perhaps, 30 minutes a day doing research. You'll eventually gain confidence and direction and won't even notice the time passing, or at least the passing time will be less painful. Build in a reward system to get through undesirable tasks: "I'll go to the library for two hours before going to a movie." 2) Budget your time. At the beginning of each semester, size up when your major projects and tests are scheduled and budget your time accordingly. Be conservative in your estimates. If you think it will take one week to complete research for a paper, budget two weeks. That way, when things inevitably go wrong, you have time to recover. The better you budget your time, the less stress you'll have in your life, according to Bridges. 3) Get to know the reference librarians in your college's library. According to Bridges, reference librarians can save you a lot of time, particularly if you lack experience and confidence accessing the wide array of electronic resources that are typically available in academic libraries. 4) Talk to your professors. Make it a point early in each semester to see your professors during their office hours, and continue to regularly visit your professors during the course of the semester. Bring questions from lectures or your reading to break the ice. Establish a line of communication; develop a rapport, and make yourself real to them, Bridges suggests. 5) Plan for studying success. According to Angela M. Apuzzo, RN, MS, FNP, manager of Pace University's Lienhard School of Nursing Learning Resource Center in New York: Make an appointment with yourself to study and keep it, decide on the topic, and break down the readings into small sections. "It's much easier to read four chapters every afternoon than 28 on Sunday night," she says. 6) Consider your environment. Find a space that suits your study style. Some students can read on a bench in Grand Central Terminal and others need an empty soundproof room, according to Apuzzo. She adds: Sit near a good light source in a comfortable chair. You can only study if your eyes aren't tired and your bottom isn't numb. Wear comfortable clothing - not tight jeans or shoes. "This goes double with taking the NCLEX-RN exam. After all, you'll soon be wearing scrubs at work, and as we all know, they're extremely comfortable." 7) Consider your physiological needs. Apuzzo says that nursing students should eat a regular meal and stop in the restroom before starting to study. Remember to drink water while studying and get up and move around every so often to restore circulation. Special tips for online students - 8) Log on frequently during the day, even if you only have 15 minutes. With online education, you can take 15 minutes to read the posts of the day, think about them, clarify the answers in your head and then, later in the evening when you have time, post your responses, according to Susan O'Brien, RN, EdD, dean, Thomas Edison State College school of Nursing, Trenton, NJ. "It gets overwhelming if you don't [check in frequently]," she says. 9) Network with other students, faculty. Learn to work virtually to build collaborative networks and resources via technology. 10) Keep a presence on the Web. By frequently logging on and posting comments and questions, you build study groups as you would with friends. You become a presence, and people get to know you. This allows you to develop a rapport with other students and faculty. Lisette Hilton is a freelance healthcare reporter, specializing in covering local, national, and worldwide news for nurses, pharmacists, physicians, and other allied health professionals. |