How to Study When Your Classes are ONLINE

In this video, today we are diving into how to study and learn when your nursing school classes are online. With so many nursing schools moving their classes online now, we've received several messages from nursing students wondering how to study online, how to stay focused at home, what to do when you don't have clinical or skills lab, and how to pass your online exams. So we're going to cover all of that and more in this video. I'm giving you my best tips to help you rock your online nursing classes. So hit that subscribe button and click the notification bell and let's dive in. So the first thing you'll need to do even before your online classes start is to make sure that your tech is set up properly. This is key to making sure that you'll be able to pass your classes. If you don't have your tech set up, you won't be able to take your exams, participate in online discussions, discussion forums, or download the files that you need. So make sure that you've got everything set up properly, like having a solid and fast Internet connection. Make sure that you have enough storage space on your computer. Make sure that you update your computer, all your applications and your browser to make sure that you're running on the most up to date software and if you can use a wired Internet connection instead of wi fi if your wifi is spot body. Also, some nursing classes might require you to have a webcam or a microphone to interact more online. Thankfully, most laptops nowadays come with those built in so you can use that if you'd like, or you can get a separate one if you prefer. So just make sure you have all of those things taken care of and set up before your class starts and that will really help you to avoid a lot of issues down the line. Now tip number two is to communicate with your instructors early. Make sure that they know that you care and are 100% committed to succeeding in their class. And the one question you should always ask your instructor right when you start any nursing class this is how can I be successful in your online course? By asking this question right away and getting feedback from them early will really help you set up for success. They might give you some insight and tips that you never thought of before. So make sure to communicate with them early. Make sure that they know that you are dedicated and get their advice on how you can be successful. The next tip I have for you to help you rock your online nursing classes is to participate heavily in online discussions and make your presence known to your instructors. Now this means that you're showing up every day and thoughtfully contributing to the discussion forum. Oftentimes, instructors will require you to post a certain number of times per week and then comment on a certain number of other students posts. We've all seen those comments from other students that are super generic and don't add any value, right? We've all heard the phrase, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. But there's another rule for online discussion discussions. If you don't have anything of value to say, don't say anything at all. Pick a different post to comment on that you can add true value to and write a thoughtful comment about, or else it's just wasting space and your instructors know that. So make sure that you're heavily participating in your only discussion forums, but also that your posts and your comments are actually meaningful. This will go a lot further with your instructors and your grade than just posting a lot of generic things in that forum. Now tip number four is to trust your instructors and trust the process. It's highly likely that some of your instructors have never taught an online class before, and it's also likely that a lot of the students haven't taken a class online before. So remember, everyone is going through this together and your instructors don't have all the answers either. And that's okay. Give them grace. You're all going to learn how to navigate this whole online field together. So do your best to support the other students and your instructor and make sure that you're communicating with them consistently so that they know that you are serious about passing their class. There may be times when you need to respect, respectfully express a concern. And that's totally okay if you're not sure how to best study for an exam, or you don't feel like they're giving you enough feedback, or maybe it takes them a week to get back to you through email. All of those things are possible in an online class. Just make sure that you bring it up to them respectfully, state the facts, don't get upset, and ask how you can find a solution together. Remember, give everyone as much grace as you'd like them to extend to you, and keep up the communication. Those are two huge rules to follow when taking an online nursing class. Now a super common question I receive from students is how do I stay focused when I'm going to school online at home? I know there are a lot of distractions at home and this does take a lot of discipline, but I know you have it in you. My friend. Basically, what it comes down to is that you need to have a stake seriously good reason as to why you're in nursing school. And that reason must outweigh any other reasons or desires you have to get distracted if you're going to nursing school to give a better life for your family, or if you're trying to show your kids what it's like to work hard and help people. Or maybe you've wanted to be a nurse your entire life and saving lives is your calling. Whatever your reason for being in nursing school, it must outweigh the reasons and desires that you have to get distracted at home. So keep that reason. Keep your why at the top of your mind, and do not let that go. Now, a couple other strategies you can use to help you stay focused are to close out all open tabs on your computer and just have the ones open that you're actively using. That means closing that Facebook tab. Just shut everything down. That is a distraction. I also highly recommend that you put your phone on silent mode and put it in another room completely away from you. That way you won't even hear it if it goes off and it's completely out of sight and out of mind. Now the next set of tips that I have for you are about how to study in an online nursing class. I get this question a lot because studying online is a little different than when you're actually going to lecture class. And there are two main things you should do to help you be successful. The first one we'll talk about is to treat the computer as the instructor and still have a notebook or something physical to write on in front of you. So view your computer as your instructor. Whatever medium it's in could be slides that you need to go through or it could be a video of your instructor teaching, either live or pre recorded. But make sure that you have a physical notebook or PowerPoint slides in front of you front of you that you're physically taking notes on. Treat the computer as the instructor and act the same way as you would if you were going to a lecture class, have a notebook or PowerPoint in front of you to take notes on physically. So if you're going through online PowerPoint slides, make sure you have a printed copy in front of you or a notebook to take notes on. I think this is even more important to do when you're taking classes online because it is very easy to get distracted at home, right? But when you're physically writing things out, you're going to be a lot more focused. Plus, it's a huge hassle and distraction to have to take notes on your computer alongside the lecture that you're going through. You'll end up either flipping back and forth between windows on your laptop or you'll have two smaller tabs open. It just opens the door to more distractions. That's why I highly recommend that you have a physical notebook or something to write on in front of you when you study at home. So treat your computer as your instructor and write out your notes in a notebook. Now the next study tip I have for you is to go through all online slides and materials that they give you and focus on reading the sections of the book that are covered in those resources. If you've watched any of our nurse other nursing school study videos, you can you know that this advice has not changed. Do not read everything in the book even when you're taking an online class and everyone says you should. It is a gigantic waste of time, friend, and you will not have enough time to actually study and learn the material. Instead, you'll just be reading for the sake of reading. That is a bad plan in nursing school. So here's what I want you to do. Go through all of the modules, the slides, the lectures, and any other information that that they give you in your online class and read only the sections of the book that relate to that information. That's it. It really is that simple. Do not try to read everything. You'll end up spending all of your time reading the textbook and you won't actually learn what you need to learn. So when exam time comes around, you'll know a little bit about everything, but you won't know enough about what they actually test you on. So please make sure to focus your reading on what your online class covers in the modules, the discussions, the PowerPoints and lectures. If you're struggling to learn all the information you have to know for your online classes and your textbooks, make sure to get on the wait list to join the Nursing SOS membership community next time enrollment opens. We have a whole database of nursing school videos, tons of study guides, loads of care plans, and a super, super supportive community of nursing students who are just waiting to welcome you and encourage you through nursing school. This is your step by step guide to raising your grades and having more free time in nursing school without the stress and overwhelm. Now let's talk about skills lab and clinical this is a huge concern for nursing students taking classes online. What about clinical time and skills lab time? How you prepare and what do you do if you can't practice your skills or if you aren't getting the clinical hours that you had hoped for. But before we dive into that, I want to give a shout out to Brittany for our YouTube comment of the Week which says thank you so much for this video. You don't know how many times I searched YouTube looking for a video on how to spend time with my family while in nursing school. This was very encouraging and I will definitely use this while in school. Thank you. I am so glad I was able to encourage you, Brittany. Balancing life, work, family, basically all the things in nursing school is super tough. I totally get it. So I'm so happy to hear that our videos have helped encourage you and motivate you to keep going. Thank you so much for being here friend. Now let's talk about Clinical and Skills lab. Embrace yourself because here's where I need to give you some tough love. Just about all nursing students come into nursing school thinking that skills are everything. And they are not. Skills are a very small part of what we do as nurses. A very small part. And in a lot of hospitals they have specialty teams and other personnel that come in and do a lot of the skills like start IVs, do wound care, and take out catheters. Yes, you need to learn your skills and you need to learn them well. But be very careful that you're not falling into the trap and thinking that skills are everything because they are not. The most important skill you need to know in nursing school is your head to toe assessment and how to critically think. Thankfully, those two things can be practiced at home. All it requires is a teddy bear or another person if they are willing to practice your head to toe assessment over and over and over again until you start having dreams about it and then keep practicing it more until you do it perfectly even while you sleep. You need to get completely comfortable with your head to toe assessment and all you need is a stuffed teddy bear. It's pretty great. Now for the critical thinking part. Here's the best way to do this at home. Practice your critical thinking skills with case studies scenario questions Next week we actually have a whole video on how to study in nursing school using case studies and how to pass your exams that have case studies on them. Now they can be really tricky in nursing school, but here's the thing. They're supposed to be. They're supposed to challenge you and help you think outside the box. And thankfully you can practice them while you're in your jammies at home. That's really the dream. Right now, most of your tech textbooks will have practice case scenario questions that you can go through or you can google it online. Or better yet, you can challenge yourself to make them up on your own. Come up with a fake patient situation and ask yourself what would you do? What would you assess for? What signs and symptoms would you expect to see? What nursing interventions might need to happen? I actually have a whole list of critical thinking questions for you to download and print off. Put the link to it in the description below for you to check out. So come up with case scenarios and walk through those critical thinking questions and that will help you a ton for when you get to clinical and go to take your exams. As for the other skills you need to learn, here's my advice. Ask your school if you can rent some skills lab equipment and bring it home. If you don't have access to an open skills lab, make sure that you're still still practicing on the equipment at home. And better yet, when you have clinical, make sure that you are always raising your hand to do different skills, even if you're terrified to do it as long as you've been checked off on it from your school and it's within your scope of practice. So make sure that you're practicing as much as you can. There is always a way, my friend. Always. You are 100% capable of figuring anything out and finding a way. I know you can do it. Now let's talk about what to do when you aren't getting a ton or any clinical hours. Now get ready for some serious tough love here friend. There is nothing you can do about it and that's okay. Sometimes things change in nursing school and in life and we just need to roll with it. Yes, it's a bummer and yes, you'll miss out on some really great learning opportunities on the floor. But it does not help you to wallow in it or be ang or upset or frustrated. It's just how it is and it's time to move on. If you're spending all of your time being mad at your school or frustrated at current life circumstances, then that's less time that you're spending doing the things that actually matter and move your life and your education forward. So instead of spending all of your time being upset, let's actually do something productive like practice case scenarios like we just talked about. Form an online stuff study group with other students in your class and quiz each other. Go through critical thinking questions or just keep practicing your assessment skills and study for your exams. I know it's a bummer when it feels like you're missing out on things. But sometimes in life and in nursing school, things are just out of our control. You cannot control anyone else but yourself. But the best news is that you can also always control yourself. You can always control how you think, how you feel, and how you act. And I really hope that you're spending your time taking action on the things that will actually make your life better and help you pass nursing school. In the next video, I'm going to walk you through how to use case studies and case scenarios in nursing school. I get this question a lot from nursing students because you'll see them pop up a ton in class and on your exams. So. So I'm going to show you how to use them to your advantage to rock your nursing school exams. So make sure to hit the bell so that you get notified when that video goes up. Now make sure to like, comment, subscribe and share this video with a friend. And click on one of these videos right over here so you can keep rocking nursing school and go become the nurse that God created only you to be. I'll see you in the next video, my friend. Take care. Bye bye.