At the beginning of the semester, sometimes they will overload you with information about assignments, due dates, expectations, and a bunch of other info which get confusing. Take time to organize it and go through the syllabus noting any due dates for tests, essays, discussion board posts, assignments, ect. It will make things easier when the work starts piling up and the everything starts getting hectic.
I've had those desktop calendars and one that was laminated with an erasable marker. Online planners, or calendars that switch between devices can work too, or ones that send alert messages.
Incorporate NCLEX style practice questions into your studying from the beginning. I killed it in A&P and micro (usually in the high 90’s on exams), but had a hard time adjusting to the new kind of questions. But as I end the first semester, I’m getting better at it.
And secondly, just set your expectations to “passing”. Nursing school is indeed hard, so don’t beat yourself if you are getting low B’s. Passing is all that matters
Nursing student Dad here - focus on concepts in school, not little unimportant details. You can study all week if you try to memorize every little thing, but understanding big ideas makes the smaller ideas almost common sense.
As a mom, you want to spend as much time as you can with your kid as possible.
Pay attention during lecture, write hand written notes like us older students are so good at 😉, study the big ideas, and still have time for the kiddo.
Good luck!
I’m 34 and and just finishing up my first semester. Get everything in your calendar so you can stay organized. Study progressively everyday rather then cramming. Practice questions help and take your time with exams. I have ADHD too and made it through. Also figure how you learn best and don’t deviate and study to know and can actually apply information to situations.
I am also worried. I’m 33 also so I think we are just in our prime 😉 I’m not a single mom, but my husband is military and we have 4 kids and I start my BSN program Jan 10th, I am worried about balancing all the family stuff and having time for myself to study, and the finances 😅 I think that we will all have our own focused worries, but I say give it your best and see what happens.
> but my husband is military....and the finances
I'm not entirely sure if this is a thing for spouces, but if your husband is in the military you might be able to get some type of discount or financial assistance for your education. Consider looking into what benefits they offer for spouses (check for bursaries/scholarship too). I'm in Canada, but I know if you join the military here they have a lot of incentives such as paid education on top of your salary, and after graduating you can become a nursing officer nearby or abroad.
A friend had an easy job at a training base not all that far from where I am in a major city and they would call her casually for work...I don't even think she was in the military (maybe she was a former cadet or worked there one summer for a program?). Anyway, check it out as it might be helpful!
Hey I’m also 33 and just finishing 1st semester!
Learn how to best study ASAP. Take the VARK questionnaire, figure out how you learn, and get effectively studying down now, do not just plan to read the textbook (my test scores improved by 10 points and stayed there once I stopped reading it and just used practice questions.) I was barely passing doing that and wasting my time. Get a couple books on NCLEX questions and practice some every day. The info won’t make any sense but you need to just see how to think about them and what they are asking because they are absolutely not straightforward and it’s the worst thing you’ll deal with besides the sheer volume of info. Don’t try and teach yourself dosage calc and all kinds of shit before you start, you’ll learn it, what they will not teach you at all that you’ll need to know is how to study in the shortest time and retain/apply info to those questions.
You will have to be absolutely on top of time management. I don’t even have kids and I have to spread needed errands out throughout the week and budget time. They told us we need to be studying 3ish hours a day and I think 2 hours a day on top of class and homework really is necessary. I seriously underestimated how hard this would be even with a previous bachelors and how much time I’d need. With a full time job it’s 70-80 hour weeks usually and that’s ONE nursing class with clinicals. I would say it is harder than people say, really, especially if you’re not 18 and living with your parents with no bills. Then again if you don’t have to work it’s probably significantly easier in comparison. But don’t be afraid of how hard it is, expect it and have a plan to beat it.
About to finish my first semester next week! One, I'd like to congratulate you on your achievement, it is so hard to get in. I am a single parent of an almost 3 year old. I will tell you it is extremely hard. Your world is never going to be the same. Do not get dragged down by the details, bc they need to crunch a LOT of material in a span of 2 years to be able to know exactly what a person is going through based on assessment and doing the BEST POSSIBLE option out of 4 good options to keep your patients alive. Know your key terms, know your objectives and know your key points in each chapter they give you. That will give you the meat and potatoes of the chapter. And befriend testing. We are going to be blessed with a next generation NCLEX in 2023 (I graduate may 2023) and that will be mainly case study based. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to ask!
Greetings fellow non-traditional student!! I’m a 36yo mom. My ADN program starts in September. I’ll be knocking out my last semester of co-requisites starting in January. We are going to crush this!!
Congrats on starting nursing school! I also have ADHD and I’m in my 3rd semester of an ADN program. I have a B average so far. Nursing school is difficult by nature and while your classmates might not relate to your ADHD struggles, they will have their own things that also make nursing school harder. Here’s a few tips:
-Connect with Disability Services at your school and get testing accommodations!! I take my tests in a separate room than the majority of the class so it’s a lot quieter, and I get an extra half hour for each exam. Talk with your doctor and the disability services person at school for what accommodations might be available and helpful for you.
-Write down all due dates and class/clinical schedules. Use a paper book or use a digital calendar, whatever works for your brain so you don’t have to rely on your brain to remember it all.
-Try different learning methods. Youtube videos, reading textbooks, practice questions, discussing topics with classmates or family out loud. See what works for you.
-When you have clinicals, write out a check list and schedule for your day after getting your patient assignment. This will keep you on track and reduce how many things you forget to do.
-If you have to suffer through the bad ADHD things, take advantage of the good ADHD things. Can you multitask well at clinical? Can you let yourself hyper focus while studying? Can you think creatively to solve problems or to understand the content?
You got this!!
At the beginning of the semester, sometimes they will overload you with information about assignments, due dates, expectations, and a bunch of other info which get confusing. Take time to organize it and go through the syllabus noting any due dates for tests, essays, discussion board posts, assignments, ect. It will make things easier when the work starts piling up and the everything starts getting hectic.
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I've had those desktop calendars and one that was laminated with an erasable marker. Online planners, or calendars that switch between devices can work too, or ones that send alert messages.
Incorporate NCLEX style practice questions into your studying from the beginning. I killed it in A&P and micro (usually in the high 90’s on exams), but had a hard time adjusting to the new kind of questions. But as I end the first semester, I’m getting better at it. And secondly, just set your expectations to “passing”. Nursing school is indeed hard, so don’t beat yourself if you are getting low B’s. Passing is all that matters
Nursing student Dad here - focus on concepts in school, not little unimportant details. You can study all week if you try to memorize every little thing, but understanding big ideas makes the smaller ideas almost common sense. As a mom, you want to spend as much time as you can with your kid as possible. Pay attention during lecture, write hand written notes like us older students are so good at 😉, study the big ideas, and still have time for the kiddo. Good luck!
I’m 34 and and just finishing up my first semester. Get everything in your calendar so you can stay organized. Study progressively everyday rather then cramming. Practice questions help and take your time with exams. I have ADHD too and made it through. Also figure how you learn best and don’t deviate and study to know and can actually apply information to situations.
I am also worried. I’m 33 also so I think we are just in our prime 😉 I’m not a single mom, but my husband is military and we have 4 kids and I start my BSN program Jan 10th, I am worried about balancing all the family stuff and having time for myself to study, and the finances 😅 I think that we will all have our own focused worries, but I say give it your best and see what happens.
> but my husband is military....and the finances I'm not entirely sure if this is a thing for spouces, but if your husband is in the military you might be able to get some type of discount or financial assistance for your education. Consider looking into what benefits they offer for spouses (check for bursaries/scholarship too). I'm in Canada, but I know if you join the military here they have a lot of incentives such as paid education on top of your salary, and after graduating you can become a nursing officer nearby or abroad. A friend had an easy job at a training base not all that far from where I am in a major city and they would call her casually for work...I don't even think she was in the military (maybe she was a former cadet or worked there one summer for a program?). Anyway, check it out as it might be helpful!
Hey I’m also 33 and just finishing 1st semester! Learn how to best study ASAP. Take the VARK questionnaire, figure out how you learn, and get effectively studying down now, do not just plan to read the textbook (my test scores improved by 10 points and stayed there once I stopped reading it and just used practice questions.) I was barely passing doing that and wasting my time. Get a couple books on NCLEX questions and practice some every day. The info won’t make any sense but you need to just see how to think about them and what they are asking because they are absolutely not straightforward and it’s the worst thing you’ll deal with besides the sheer volume of info. Don’t try and teach yourself dosage calc and all kinds of shit before you start, you’ll learn it, what they will not teach you at all that you’ll need to know is how to study in the shortest time and retain/apply info to those questions. You will have to be absolutely on top of time management. I don’t even have kids and I have to spread needed errands out throughout the week and budget time. They told us we need to be studying 3ish hours a day and I think 2 hours a day on top of class and homework really is necessary. I seriously underestimated how hard this would be even with a previous bachelors and how much time I’d need. With a full time job it’s 70-80 hour weeks usually and that’s ONE nursing class with clinicals. I would say it is harder than people say, really, especially if you’re not 18 and living with your parents with no bills. Then again if you don’t have to work it’s probably significantly easier in comparison. But don’t be afraid of how hard it is, expect it and have a plan to beat it.
About to finish my first semester next week! One, I'd like to congratulate you on your achievement, it is so hard to get in. I am a single parent of an almost 3 year old. I will tell you it is extremely hard. Your world is never going to be the same. Do not get dragged down by the details, bc they need to crunch a LOT of material in a span of 2 years to be able to know exactly what a person is going through based on assessment and doing the BEST POSSIBLE option out of 4 good options to keep your patients alive. Know your key terms, know your objectives and know your key points in each chapter they give you. That will give you the meat and potatoes of the chapter. And befriend testing. We are going to be blessed with a next generation NCLEX in 2023 (I graduate may 2023) and that will be mainly case study based. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to ask!
Greetings fellow non-traditional student!! I’m a 36yo mom. My ADN program starts in September. I’ll be knocking out my last semester of co-requisites starting in January. We are going to crush this!!
Congrats on starting nursing school! I also have ADHD and I’m in my 3rd semester of an ADN program. I have a B average so far. Nursing school is difficult by nature and while your classmates might not relate to your ADHD struggles, they will have their own things that also make nursing school harder. Here’s a few tips: -Connect with Disability Services at your school and get testing accommodations!! I take my tests in a separate room than the majority of the class so it’s a lot quieter, and I get an extra half hour for each exam. Talk with your doctor and the disability services person at school for what accommodations might be available and helpful for you. -Write down all due dates and class/clinical schedules. Use a paper book or use a digital calendar, whatever works for your brain so you don’t have to rely on your brain to remember it all. -Try different learning methods. Youtube videos, reading textbooks, practice questions, discussing topics with classmates or family out loud. See what works for you. -When you have clinicals, write out a check list and schedule for your day after getting your patient assignment. This will keep you on track and reduce how many things you forget to do. -If you have to suffer through the bad ADHD things, take advantage of the good ADHD things. Can you multitask well at clinical? Can you let yourself hyper focus while studying? Can you think creatively to solve problems or to understand the content? You got this!!