How Much Studying is Required to Become a Nurse?

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Registered nurses (RNs) provide and coordinate patient care, educate patients and the public about various health conditions, and provide advice and emotional support to patients and their family members. Doesn’t sound too tough of a job, right? One would think a couple of years of college and the world could be changed with a bright shiny individual who graduates with a degree, specializing in the care of others. A new superhero is created and will be loved by all who crosses his or her path.

Studies

Nursing is a profession that is not for the faint of heart. It requires powerful stamina, good health, and a positive attitude for self and patients. Nurses must have excellent communication skills and deal with difficult personalities of physicians, patients and their families, other nurses, while walking that thin line of balance in personal attitudes of excellence.

Discipline

Studying for nursing in the beginning of one’s training is only practice for dedication to the profession and correlation of this discipline to that of a career that demands everything. It is imperative that one understands the academic demand on a nursing student. Looking at the catalogue of class requirement hours is not realistic for true study time for nursing students. For classes such as Microbiology, Chemistry, and Pharmacology, one may want to research how much actual time will be spent in the laboratory setting performing lab tests, doing practical preparation for hands-on testing, and the amount of time it takes to study the book to ensure success for each exam. These courses also require time viewing microscope slides, learning specialty equipment, and abnormal vs. normal lab values.

Realities

Many times, older adults will decide to get a second career during the middle of the normal progression of life. Older students may have trouble juggling schedules. Family will definitely suffer because of the great demand when studying for nursing classes. Late nights, early mornings, demanding schedules, stress, financial burden; all must be considered for a person who is acclimated to a manageable routine.

Time away from the family also causes stress on the marriage because now one partner has to shoulder all responsibility of the absent student. When the student returns from a stressful day, peace and quiet may not be available and study time may have to be done at a library or other location just for concentration’s sake.

This family fragmentation can be detrimental to even the healthiest family and should be addressed in advance.

Planning

Making a plan between parents for ample study time and ways to compensate for financial gaps can make a world of difference in the outcome of this extreme schedule upheaval while studying for nursing. It would be wise for the entire family to have several meetings and discuss each member’s duties, ways to ward off jealousy, resentment, and apathy, which can all affect the outcome of the original goals. It is also wise for adults to get themselves into a financial position where temporary lack of income is not an issue.

Studying for clinical nursing must be regimented and regulated. Assessing patients the day before clinical assignment is helpful. Studying the mars sheets, getting a feel for the environment, travel paths, locations of specialty areas, and knowledge of electronic medical records systems will be of extreme importance. If assigned to a particular unit for several days, it might be wise to become familiar with physicians’ patterns, so proper charting may be done before rounds, where important information is available for accurate diagnosis and treatment planning.

Advanced planning and excellent communication for the nursing student is of extreme importance. One must remember that patient care should supersede all other conflicts. Therefore, if non-clinical studies, including prerequisites requiring lab time, are done before clinical applications are to be completed, the chance for success is much greater than trying to accomplish the impossible.

Testing

Perhaps the most stressful time in a nurse’s career is getting ready to take the exam, which will decide the true outcome of all the studying labor. Perhaps too much attention is given to this critical day, or maybe not enough. With good foundational study habits from the beginning of training, self-esteem can be anchored that will help insure success when taking board exams. Formation of these habits can make or break a nursing student, so proper planning is essential.