How to Prepare for Nursing School and Ensure Career Success

Studies show that nursing is the nation’s largest healthcare profession with thousands of new RN positions becoming available each year.

Are you considering attending nursing school to become a nurse? What questions do you have about nursing school? How are you preparing for nursing school?

Preparing for nursing school ahead of time will help set you up for success once you start.

Keep reading to learn more about how to prepare for nursing school.

Focus on Study Skills

Everyone has a different approach to studying, so continue to practice the skills that have worked best for you in the past. For example, maybe you are more productive studying early in the morning versus late at night. Knowing this will help you maximize your study time and comprehend more information.

Designating a distraction-free place to study is crucial to productive studying. Being near a TV or high traffic area can make it difficult to focus on the material you are trying to learn.

Ask Nurses How to Prepare for Nursing School

There is a good chance that you or one of your friends knows a nurse. Asking them questions about their experience in nursing school and how you should prepare is a good idea because they have experienced it.

They may share that taking notes in class was instrumental in their success or setting aside study time each day helped them retain the information better. Any advice that they can provide you will be useful because they know what was important in their journey to get to their current position.

Form a Group to Study With

Proactively reaching out to people in your program or making introductions during the first week of nursing school can help you form a group of people to study with.

Studying with a group provides accountability for everyone because you would all be working together to learn and quiz each other on the information. Mixing different study styles can be beneficial to help you remember things better than if you were only using one form of studying.

While you are all attending the same classes, certain concepts may come easier to some people, and peer teaching could be easier to understand if you are struggling in a certain area.

Take Practice Tests

Practice makes perfect. The more you can practice for the tests, the greater your chances are of doing well on them.

Getting used to the format of the tests can help ease some of the anxiety on exam day. Taking this practice test is a free resource and can help you gauge your learning.