Tips For Surviving Nursing School While Working Full Time

It's never too late to go back to school, especially if you're looking to earn a degree that can help you establish a successful career. It's why many people decide to go to nursing school. However, if you're currently working a full-time job, then enrolling in a nursing school can be challenging. Many nursing students end up doing this, which means that it's certainly possible to do.

If you are working full time and you're thinking about enrolling in a nursing program, here are a few tips that will help you succeed:

Always Plan Ahead

If you want to succeed at both work and school, then planning ahead is incredibly important. You need to have a calendar, whether it's a desk calendar or a digital calendar on your computer or phone. Update this calendar every day with your work schedule and class schedule as well as project deadlines, test days, and other important events. Be sure to take a look at your calendar at the beginning of every week in order to determine when you have time to work on your projects and to study. Don't just wait until the last minute or you're going to have an extremely difficult time keeping up with your schoolwork.

Be as Organized as Possible

Having a calendar will definitely help you stay organized; however, you should also have a study space that you keep organized as well. This means keeping all of your notes and learning materials organized so that you don't have trouble finding them. Staying organized will not only make it easier to find what you need, but it will create a more productive work environment. A clean and organized desk will make it easier to study, whereas a cluttered space can hurt your motivation.

Study a Little Every Day

While you'll want to carve out time in your schedule ahead of time in order to study for upcoming tests, you don't want to be caught cramming all of the time, especially since working can make you too tired to study right before a test. It's why you should try to find the time to study a little bit every day. While this may seem impossible, especially if you're balancing a job with your classes, just finding 15 minutes to study every day can help prepare you for your upcoming tests and will help prevent the need to cram.

Set a Realistic Schedule

If you're working full time, then your schedule is going to get packed. It's important that you are able to create a realistic schedule for yourself. Assuming you can just fill in all the empty spaces between school and work with other responsibilities and tasks may not be realistic, especially since working and going to class can leave you pretty tired at the end of the day. Your schedule needs to allow for breaks and needs to have some flexibility in case unplanned events pop up that you can't ignore.

Stay Healthy

While there are going to be times where you won't be able to get the sleep you need due to how busy you are, you can't sacrifice your health. Make sure that you eat healthy and you find time to sleep and exercise. If you begin to sacrifice your health, it will only make it more difficult to balance work and school.

These are some of the important tips that you should keep in mind if you're working full time and you're thinking about pursuing a nursing degree. For information about our nursing school and how you can enroll, contact us at Athena Career Academy today.