7 Tips For Obtaining Your Bachelor Of Science In Nursing (BSN)

Nursing is one of the most popular degrees to take, not only because of its promising and fulfilling career but also because of its demand. Being in the healthcare industry, nurses are always wanted. However, the road towards success as a nurse is very challenging–it’s a difficult field of study, given the technicalities involved. 

Also, when you’re going to be in charge of the health and lives of others in the future, there’s no room for mistakes. Thus, the need for a very strong academic foundation is very important.

To help you out, follow these tips when completing and obtaining your nursing degree:

1. Go Through Online Courses

Online learning has made it easy for many students to supplement what they learn from books. Moreover, it’s not just limited to nursing lessons per se. But there are also so many motivational courses and tips that can help with your productivity and efficiency, among others. These will help you become both a better student and a better professional.

If you have the time, you may also want to consider going through online courses, tips, and discussions from RNtoBSNProgram.com or any other forum dedicated to helping nursing students. This is especially important if you’ve got an area of difficulty or you’re preparing for a nursing practical demonstration, for instance.

There are many websites that give access to online learning courses. Most of these courses are designed by experienced nursing professionals who know what they’re talking about. So, regardless of your level, online learning courses are extremely beneficial.

2. Turn To Your Loved Ones For Support And Advice

You can turn to your loved ones who are already in the nursing profession for support and advice. They can be your primary sources of advice and information when faced with a new task or concept that you aren’t familiar with. In addition to what’s already given to you at your nursing school, they may be able to give you pointers on which books and classes to take or what online resources to utilize. In some cases, they can even help you set up an appointment with a professional in the field who can give you first-hand insights, particularly when you’re completing fieldwork or important graduation paperwork, like your thesis.

Sometimes, it’s normal to feel as if you may lack motivation, particularly when the days get hard. If you let this kind of emotion get to you, it’s easy to lose interest in your pursuit. Turning to friends and family for emotional support during these trying times can help bring you back in the right direction.

For instance:

• Your friends and family may have personal experiences with the instructors and the classroom environment in your school;
• They may also have insider information on the latest techniques in nursing that can help you become more effective–beyond just knowing what’s in the books.

To be a good nursing student, it’s important to look outside of the classroom. Don’t focus too much on your instructor. Your family and friends may be able to give you invaluable tips when you need them most.

3. Have A Personal Tutor

When it comes to their studies, many students lack direction. This is normal in the university since there are many other activities and distractions that may seem very tempting and interesting. Especially when you’re studying for a difficult degree like Nursing, it’s also easy to fall out of track. This starts with all the confusion you feel, and then that itching need to take a breather. While this is good, if you lose balance, you may be relaxing way more than you’re actually learning.

Having a personal tutor to study with is a great way to get direction. For instance, the tutor can help you with difficult subjects that you may not enjoy studying at the moment. Getting personal feedback from someone who knows what they’re doing also can help you correct any errors that you may have from your teacher or your exams.

If you want to learn as much as you can, it’s beneficial to have a personal tutor who’s an expert at nursing. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a nurse. It can even be older co-students who have more years of nursing school experience than you do. Whether you need personal tutoring to improve your grades in school or need it to pass that exam, a personal tutor can help.

Here are the other benefits of having a personal tutor.

• Your personal tutor can answer any question you may have about a lesson that you’re too shy to ask your professor about in class.
• Your tutor can help you with matters beyond just the nursing lessons per se, such as improving your communication skills for oral and written reports.
• You get a feel for how a course is constructed. Most of the time, nursing students have trouble understanding lectures. A tutor can help you have a deep understanding of the lectures, especially when you weren’t able to catch up.
• Your tutor can also help you digest a book or study material better. This way, even when you’re reading on your own, you’ll have a good comprehension of the lessons discussed.

4. Do Your Own Research

Your own research skills may help you improve your success when studying nursing. The Internet is a rich source of information for anyone who wants to deepen their understanding. 

For instance, you may have a professor who’s stingy on information–they simply touch on the lesson from the surface. But, when exams come, you realize that if you only rely on what your professor is giving out to you, you don’t have enough information to back up any analytical problems. Hence, the need for you to learn how to back your lessons up with appropriate research.

Moreover, improving your research skills will come in handy when you’re submitting paperwork. In Nursing school, there will be a lot of this–on top of your thesis. If you don’t know how to utilize the wide plethora of information that’s available today, then you’re limiting yourself as a student.

Here’s a good guide you can follow to improve your research skills:

• Define your need. What is it you want to know by doing your own research? What information are you after? How long does your paper need to be? 

When you start with this, you have a means of determining how much resources and research you have to do before you can say your research is complete.

• Start broad, and then narrow down the specifics of your research. When it’s overwhelming where and how to begin, try to break it up into smaller keywords or topics. That way, you don’t have to feel as if you’ve got to complete the entire topic in just one go. The more well-defined your search is, the more detailed the pieces of information you’re going to obtain.
• Start your search with the resources available to you. Don’t just limit yourself to the Internet. Apart from reputable websites, there are also other reliable sources found in your nursing school’s library, including journals, newspapers, and magazines.
• Stick only to quality and reputable resources. Not all resources or information that’s out there is reputable. Double-check the websites to ensure that these are reputable. This is where your analytical and critical thinking skills come into play. Hence, never rush your research process. Don’t waste time on resources that aren’t useful.
• Accurately record or take notes. Taking all this time to do extra research will only be useless if you don’t even record it or take notes. Especially when you know there’s important information you have to remember, always take notes when researching.

5. Spend Time To Socialize With Other Nursing Students

Regardless of how busy and stressful the days may be, try to spend some time socializing with other students. Networking is important in any course, especially nursing. When you meet other students, you may even have tips and insights for lessons, especially when they have another professor dealing with the course.

Moreover, when there are many students in your nursing school, the subjects may be divided across many professors to share the workload. Different teachers have their respective teaching styles. So, it pays to have friends that you can talk to so you’ll be able to share lessons. Most importantly, you may even make new and lasting friendships that you can take with you throughout your nursing career.

Socializing with other nursing students expands your horizons. By getting to know more people, you’ll have a better understanding of the world and other cultures, particularly if there are foreign students in your school. You’ll also find it easy to communicate. This can help you become a better nurse as you’ll know how to deal with different patients in the hospital.

Forming the right friendships in nursing school can also help you excel. Getting into discussion groups and making friends is a good way to improve your grades. Finally, you’ll enjoy learning more about different topics when you socialize. You’ll get an opportunity to compare notes with other students, so you can beef up what you currently have.

6. Have A Good Study Habit

One of the most important tips when studying nursing is to make sure you have a good study habit. Procrastinating and just winging it won’t work. Don’t rush studying for exams, especially since nursing school can be very difficult. 

A good study habit is a very strong shield you can take with you as you battle through hundreds of exams from your very first day at nursing school until your graduation. These ‘smaller’ exams are all given to prepare you for the biggest test when earning a BSN–the board exams.

Studying for a nursing test or exam can be quite tedious. But with the right study habits, you can make studying more enjoyable.

Here are some tips that you can apply:

• Start studying in advance. Nursing exams are very comprehensive. Hence, if you have three months before the exam, for instance, start preparing for it right when the teacher notifies you about it. 

Start devoting a few hours or minutes in a day to complete these exams. If you don’t dedicate time to studying, you’ll become extremely tired and drained, which may affect your performance on the actual test. Moreover, you may not have enough time to cover all of the topics.

• Read your notes over and over again. Repetition is key to mastery. When you keep re-reading your notes, this becomes stored information. This is a good way to memorize, especially for nursing subjects where memorization is the key to survival.
• Take a breather. If you already find it hard to focus, don’t push yourself too much. Take a breather. Otherwise, you may be physically studying, but mentally drained. This is precisely why you’ve got to study in advance so that you have enough time to take breaks and not panic.

7. Read Through Quality Nursing Books

When the nursing school has given you the list of books or materials you have to go through, be sure that you actually read these books. There are many resources available where you can purchase these books, so there’s no reason for you not to get hold of one. If you’re a student on a budget, you may also be able to find quality, second-hand books online.

Reading according to what’s required and encouraged by your school is one failproof way for you to pass your nursing exams. Not only do you get insights on topics, but it also gives you a very strong comprehension of everything you need to learn to pass the board exam later on. 

Review each chapter and recall the points that were difficult for you during the class discussion. As you read and review, take down notes or annotations. 

This is why it’s highly recommended to have your own book. It’s like your personal guide with all the notes to supplement what’s given in the book.

Conclusion

Now that you’ve got these study tips to back you up, you can give yourself that sigh of relief. While nursing school is challenging, it’s doable. You just have to put in the right balance of using the study tips that apply to you, time management, planning, and even a few moments of relaxation on the side. 

All the hard work will eventually be worth it when you finally walk on that stage and receive your BSN degree. Not only that, but you’ll also have the opportunity to change the lives of your future patients.