Lectures/Labs

Like most majors, the classroom is where nursing students spend most of their time at school. However, nursing school lectures are far more demanding than anything required by prerequisites. Many of them run for three hours and require multiple days of attendance throughout the week. The main recommendation that I have for making the most of lectures is to record them if you have permission by the professor. A large portion of my study time consisted of re-listening to lectures and taking copious notes under the PowerPoints that the professors provided. From there, you can revisit lectures as many times as necessary, though you may likely never feel 100% comfortable with the material prior to an exam. Additionally, it is important to not procrastinate with studying. In my prerequisites, I was fortunate enough to score A’s on exams with only a couple days of studying. The first two nursing exams quickly broke me of this habit.

Outside of the classroom, the rest of your time at school will likely be spent in the lab learning nursing skills. These skills include things like urinary catheterization, hanging IVs, injections, medication administration, and trach suctioning. Essentially, this lab time allows you to practice these skills in a simulated manner prior to carrying them out on real patients in the clinical setting.

A great resource to use when studying for exams or practicing for skills tests is Nurse Sarah. In her videos, she breaks down common lecture topics and reviews skills that students are often tested on. Click the Instagram icon located at the top and bottom of this page to check out some of Nurse Sarah’s content.