Nursing School is DIFFERENT (2020 Update)

Are you wondering how different nursing school is now? What's changed? Is it harder? And how can you best prepare and succeed? I am giving you all the answers to all of those questions and more in this video. And of course I'm giving you a free cheat sheet with some of my best study tips. So click the link in the description to get that. But don't miss this video as well, because a lot of what I'm going to say here is not quite yet in that cheat sheet since this is all also new. So be sure to watch the entire video to get the updates so you don't miss out on any of these tips. Hey there friend. My name is Christina Rafano and I am the creator of the Nursing School Planner and 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 if so, what's different in nursing school now? What's changed? And really, the answer is just about everything. So let's go through it. The biggest change is that your clinicals may or may not be, well, real life clinicals. You are probably going to have fully online nursing clinicals or some sort of hybrid model where you have some some of it online and some of it either at school or at a clinical facility. Facility. Now, we've received dozens, if not hundreds of messages from nursing students by now whose nursing clinicals are now online. It's a bummer, yes, but it's also kind of nice that you get to stay home in your jammies all day. So that's kind of a win, just to be honest. So you'll most likely have some part of your nursing clinicals online. And in a minute I'm going to tell you how to pass those online nursing clinicals. But first, let's talk about the rest of the changes that you're going to want to know. Another changes while your nursing lectures may be online as well. So instead of going to your school and sitting in class physically with all of your classmates, you're going on zoom calls with your instructors and the other nursing students in your class. Or maybe you'll be watching some online lectures or getting slides from your instructors to go through. This is a blessing and a bummer all at the same time. It's a blessing because again, you get to stay home in your jammies all day. And I don't know about you, but that's kind of the dream. But it's also a blessing because it saves you Commuting time back and forth between school and home. So it's actually time you're gaining now that you don't have to constantly switch back and forth like that, getting ready to leave, get to school, sit in class, and then go back home. All you need to do now is just study, study, study, pull up your laptop and study, sit in your online lecture or do online slides, and then get back to studying. It really does save time. But the downside of this is that you're kind of left to fend for yourself and teach yourself everything in nursing school now. So that ends up being a huge issue, especially if you're used to having someone teach you and you're not very good with learning by yourself from a textbook at home. Now, if you are a nursing SOS member, this does not apply to you. Don't worry at all. I've got you. All you need to do is log into your dashboard and click on the topics that you need to learn about for class and let me teach it to you. Easy peasy. It's really as simple as that. But if you're not a nursing outsource member, no worries. I have some really great study tips for you that I'll get to in just a second. But first, I want to talk about one of the biggest changes to nursing school now, and that is not having access to your instructor, not having access to the other students, and basically kind of being alone the whole time. This is the biggest problem that I've seen with classes now moving online. I have had hundreds, literally hundreds of students message me, worrying about feeling isolated, not getting their questions answered from their instructors, and not being able to interact with other nursing students. This is a huge problem. Nursing school is tough as it is. And then we go and let students think, figure it out themselves with no resources, that is crazy land. Not acceptable. So let's talk about how to fix all of that. Now, the first thing you need to do is communicate with your instructors early and often. Email them even before classes start, introduce yourself and ask them this question, how can I be successful in your class this term? Friend? This is gold. This does two things for you. They may give you some insight and tips that you never thought of, and it shows them how dedicated you are to being successful in their class. They want to know that you care. And this is a fantastic way to show that even in an online environment. You'll also want to be constantly posting in any online discussion forums that you have for your classes. Again, show your instructors you want to be there and that you want to succeed no matter what. Show up every day in those discussion forums and thoughtfully contribute and provide value to other nursing students. Now, when you actually go to study for your classes, you'll focus on one thing. Study the things that your professors talk about in their lectures or in whatever handouts or slides that they give you. What your instructors write or say in their lectures are the things that they believe to be the the most important for you to know and therefore are more likely to show up on your exams. So those are the things that you will want to spend the majority of your time and energy learning. The same thing goes with your textbooks. You've heard me say it time and time again. Focus on reading the sections of the book that your professors talk about in class. This advice still stands with online classes, and it may be even more important now than ever since you're left to teach yourself a lot more now than you were before. So pull up some YouTube videos and get cozy. We've got work to do, my friend. Now let's talk about how to get a hold of your instructors and actually get your questions answered, because this has been a huge problem I have seen happening on our live Ask Me Anything show. Many, many, many students have asked us how to get your questions answered when your instructor never emails you back. So here's what to do. The first thing is to, well, not give up. Email them every few days until you get a response, and then if it's been more than a week or so, about a week, you still haven't heard from them. Move up the chain of command. Send an email to the department head, the nursing department head, the dean of nursing, whoever, but move up the ladder and advocate for yourself. Of course, this will vary depending on how important the question is. Some questions may be more vital to your success and you may need a faster response. In those situations, you may need to contact someone else sooner, but if it doesn't need a fast response, you can probably get by with emailing them a couple of times throughout a week or so and then move up the chain of command. Also, emailing another nursing instructor from your program can help too. They will be able to get a hold of your other instructor a lot easier than you can, or they may even have the answer for you, which would be even better. Now onto how to Rock nursing school clinicals Even when they look a little different now than they did before, A lot of nursing programs are using case studies to help supplement your clinical experiences. Now, case studies are not as scary as they sound, and they can actually be pretty fun. I had a fantastic instructor in nursing school and I always loved her case studies. To be honest, they were unfolding case studies. So the more questions we asked and the more things we assessed for with that made up case study patient, the more info she would give us. It was pretty cool. I talk about how to rock case studies here in this video, so make sure to check that out. The key thing is that you need to develop your critical thinking skills and ask the right questions. That is key. This comes with time, so if you're just starting nursing school, do not freak out on me friend. You'll get better with more and more practice. And actually that goes for everyone in nursing school. The more you practice, the better you will get. In that case study video, I walk you through nine key critical thinking questions that you have to ask yourself as you study. It's the best. You must, must, must head on over there and watch that video after you are done here. Okay? Deal. Deal. Now make sure to like comment, subscribe and share this video with a friend. And click on this playlist right here for even more nursing school study tips so you can keep rocking nursing school and go become the nurse that God created only you to be. And I'll catch you in the next video. Take care friend. Bye bye.