Are you wondering what to study before nursing school?
Or how to prepare for nursing school and make it easier to pass?
Unfortunately, most nursing students make a HUGE mistake when it comes to preparing for nursing school and it ends up costing them a LOT when they start school.
So in this video, I’ll tell you exactly what you should study before nursing school to avoid this huge mistake.
So stick around until the end, because you don’t want to miss any of these tips.
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
1:05 HUGE MISTAKE
2:27 Here’s what to do
2:54 MATH
6:55 What to do next
8:08 Outro
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Are you wondering what to study before nursing school?
Or how to prepare for nursing school and make it easier to pass?
Unfortunately, most nursing students make a HUGE mistake when it comes to preparing for nursing school and it ends up costing them a LOT when they start school. So in this video, I’ll tell you exactly what you should study before nursing school to avoid this huge mistake. So stick around until the end, because you don’t want to miss any of these tips.
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What’s up my friend, my name is Christina Rafano and I’m the creator of the Nursing School Show, where we walk you through how to pass nursing school, step-by-step. Now hit that subscribe button and click the notification bell and let’s dive in.
So you’re probably asking yourself:
What should you study before nursing school?
How can you prepare for nursing school and make it easier to pass?
These are super good questions to ask, and most students I talk with get this wrong.
MAJORLY wrong.
So let’s talk about it. Here’s what most students do:
Most nursing students buy all their textbooks and start reading them before they start school. You’ll get all excited and want to get a head start on the reading. Then you’ll look at the class syllabus and realize that your professors have basically assigned the ENTIRE book for you to read.
When you see that syllabus and everything you have to read, you’ll tell yourself your life is over, nursing school was a terrible idea, and obviously you’ll never see your family for the next few years.
But, because you’ve been a rock start student up until this point, you’ll pick yourself back up and get to work.
HUGE mistake, and here’s why: because you don’t know what you don’t know. When you start nursing school, you’re going to learn so much in the first two weeks, it’s going to blow your mind.
It’s a huge waste of time to try and read everything in the textbook before you start your nursing classes.
I know, I know. Even though your professors give you the ENTIRE TEXTBOOK to read and you feel like your life is ending.
Seriously – don’t read it all.
Period.
Because when you start nursing school, you’re going to find that your professors don’t teach you everything in your textbook, you are not tested on everything in your textbook, and if you tried to read this ridiculously massive textbook, it would take you about ten THOUSAND years. Okay – yes, THAT’S a bit dramatic. But you see my point.
Do you really want to read this whole thing in nursing school? No.
So here’s what you should do instead:
Focus on reading the sections of the book that your professors talk about in class.
That’s it. End of story.
Don’t believe me? That’s fine. Believe these students who have followed our study tips and totally rocked it.
This stuff works. And I walk you through exactly how to study in THIS video here, and I also give you the full step-by-step nursing school study process here in THIS FREE checklist. The link is in the description for you to get it.
Now, you’re probably wondering, “Well Christina, that’s great and all. But I need to wait until I start nursing school to do that. What can I do NOW before starting nursing school?”
And I have the answer for you, my friend.
Did you know, that when you start nursing school, within the first 2 weeks you will have a dosage calculation exam? This is where you need to calculate doses for pharmacology using MATH.
MATH.
And get this: you can’t get any questions wrong. If you do, you’ll most likely have one shot at a make-up exam and then you get booted out of your program.
Now you know me, and you know I’m never here to scare you or anything. And if your anxiety just went up a little bit, don’t worry:
You will PASS.
I know you’ve heard the rumors that no one passes nursing school, but for real, if that was true well, we wouldn’t have any nurses now would we?
I break down the biggest nursing school lies, including that one, here in THIS video. So be sure to check that one out as well.
But, with all that said, the dose calc exam is a very serious thing. You must pass it, and you must get 100% on it, in order to stay in your program. Some programs may allow you to get a 90% on it, and if you’re in one of those, just be blessed, because that it not the case for a lot of students.
So if you’ve ever told yourself you were bad at math, listen up.
THIS is what you should be spending your time on. Not reading the textbook. Not getting a head start on papers. No. Practice dose calc. Because, if you don’t get this down before you start your nursing program, you will STRUGGLE the first few weeks.
Here’s what will happen:
You’ll have all these exams to study for, care plans to write, nursing skills to practice, AND a dose calc exam that you need to get 100% on. And you’ll need to focus on that dose calc exam at the expense of the other things, so you’ll actually end up getting behind. And you do NOT want to start nursing school off being behind.
So here’s what to do:
Go through THESE videos and learn how to answer dose calc problems. It’s WAY easier than you think, I PROMISE.
I also have THIS FREE dose calc cheat sheet for you that walks you through the simple 6-step process to follow to get your questions right every single time.
Then once you’ve watched those videos and downloaded that free cheat sheet, do as many practice questions as you can. Often times, nursing schools will send out a packet of practice questions for you.
DO THEM.
Follow our simple 6 step process and do them until you understand it inside and out.
That is going to save you in the first few weeks of your program.
If you’re a NursingSOS Member, head on over to your dashboard and click on BONUSES. We have 2 dose calc workbooks in there for you filled with practice problems. And of course, I walk you through the answers and how to solve them! So be sure to check that out.
Now there’s one more thing that you should study before you start your program, but I want to address something really important first…and that is your math mindset.
I’m sure that at some point during this video you’ve said to yourself,
“There’s no way I can get 100% on a math test. I’m super bad at math.”
Stop right there friend. You are NOT bad at math. You just haven’t had the practice to get confident with it yet.
Just because you don’t know how to do it now, doesn’t mean you won’t know it soon, and it definitely doesn’t mean you’re going to fail. You are just starting nursing school, and you are NOT expected to know everything about everything right now.
So give yourself grace, and give yourself plenty of time to practice. The more you practice, the better off you will get.
Now, after you’ve done that, and ONLY after you’ve done that, the next thing you should study is the nursing process. The nursing process is the step-by-step system that you will follow in your entire journey as a nursing student and as a nurse. It is EVERYTHING in nursing.
I break it down really simple for you HERE in this video. So be sure to check that out – but only after you’ve mastered dose calc, deal?
DEAL.
Now here’s where I see nursing students get stuck all the time: they tell me,
“Christina, I’m taking nursing fundamentals and I don’t know how to critically think or think like a nurse.”
Of COURSE you don’t! You just started nursing school, friend. You are NOT expected to know how to critically think right now, that comes with time and experience.
So as you go through the nursing process, don’t beat yourself up that you don’t know how all the puzzle pieces fit together yet. You’re not expected to know that right now, it will come in time. Just focus on learning what the nursing process is and the basics for it. That’s your goal right now.
Now make sure to like, comment, subscribe and share this video with a friend. And click on this playlist right here so you can learn how to study in nursing school, and go become the nurse that God created only YOU to be. And I’ll catch you in the next video.
