What Not to Do in Your LPN/RN Program

Congratulations! You’re now successfully enrolled in nursing school. Before you know it, you’ll be preparing for graduation and anxiously filling out job applications at a wide variety of medical facilities. But in the meantime, it’s important to make the most out of every opportunity you get, both in and out of the classroom, in order to graduate nursing school successfully.

Basic online searches will provide you with lists of must-follow tips for nursing school success. But, it’s also wise to remember that there are many things to avoid doing during nursing school, too. Here are just a few.

Don’t Overload Your Schedule

When nursing school graduates tell you about how tough nursing school is, they aren’t exaggerating. The course load is extensive, the content load can be grueling, and you will be kept very busy between classes, labs, and clinical rotations.

If the option is there, don’t try to juggle too many responsibilities at once. Even when flexible class schedule options are available, graduation requirements are still strict. It’s important to be able to concentrate your efforts on fully grasping a comprehensive nursing school education if you want to be successful once you graduate.

Don’t Study Solo

There is tremendous value in studying with your peers. Studying with your peers can help you gain a more thorough understanding of the material because multiple ideas and perspectives are being shared. Studying in groups can help prepare you for the real-world work experiences you’ll have once you gain employment as a nurse.

It’s important to be able to successfully work with your colleagues if you hope to have a long-term nursing career. And, studying in groups can help you more efficiently share the workload. There is a ton of information to learn throughout nursing school.

Don’t stress yourself out trying to learn every detail along the way. Multiple people bring multiple ideas and perspectives to the learning process. This collective process can help make learning far more enjoyable for everyone!

Don’t Stress Over Earning Perfect Grades

Yes, grades in school do matter. They are a reflection of the material that you’ve learned and of your level of understanding. However, there is so much more to being a successful nurse that graduating with a 4.0 GPA. How do you react in a crisis situation? How well do you handle patients and families grieving sickness, devastating diagnoses, and death?

Not every medical situation will go according to the textbook. How adaptable will you be along the way. If you want to successfully finish nursing school, you must have a solid grasp of the material you’ve learned. But, if you don’t learn the practical aspects of the job along the way, you’ll most likely buckle under the pressure when the real work begins.

Don’t Throw Away Your Favorite Books

No, you will not want to keep all of your nursing school textbooks. Once you graduate, there will be some books that you can’t sell quick enough. But, there will be some books that will be extremely valuable to you once you begin your professional career. Which courses did you absolutely love and learn a lot from?

Do you have a specialized nursing field that you’re interested to work in? Related course books might prove to be helpful resources later on down the road. Yes, it’s true that the internet provides countless information right at your fingertips.

But, there will be information and experiences that you gained through your nursing school career that are brought to life through your textbooks. If you find that to be true an any classes that you take, be sure to keep those textbooks close by after graduation. You’ll turn back to them more than you’ll ever anticipate.

Don’t Skip Textbook Reading

Hands-on learning offers nursing students practical experience that brings book knowledge to life. But, between IV checks and patients’ vital readings, there is important textbook material to be read. Your quizzes, tests, and study guides will be derived from textbook material. If you want to pass nursing school, one of the best words of advice to remember is to read your textbooks.

At Athena Career Academy, our specialty is nursing. From the first day of classes all the way through to graduation, we are committed to the personal success of our students as we prepare them for a satisfying career in nursing. To learn more about our comprehensive programs, contact our Admissions Office today.