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Time Management
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- Feedback from our own students reveals that many of them were not prepared for the challenges of the program. They did not have a realistic view of how time-consuming the program is and had unrealistic expectations about how much work and home responsibilities they could continue to assume. In a spring 2004 workshop sponsored by the Nursing Student Organization and the Nursing Retention Committee, students rated time management as the number-one factor influencing their success in the nursing program.
- Students who work full time greatly reduce their chances of success in the program. The most successful students are the ones who are able to schedule 20 or more hours of study and preparation time into their week, in addition to class and lab time.
Strategies for time management:
- Lighten your home and work responsibilities as much as possible.
- If you are unable to lighten your load, consider delaying your admission to the program to a time when you will be better able to devote an adequate amount of time to the program.
- Prepare your family for the change in your availability to them. Explain that this is temporary and schedule some family activities for before and after the semester. Delegate some responsibilities to other family members.
- Schedule large blocks of time every week to be on campus. You can use your time to research articles for your written assignments, practice skills in the nursing skills lab or meet with other students for group projects or study groups. This is especially important if you think it will be difficult for your family not to place demands on your time when you are home studying.
- There is a book that you can use to better prepare yourself for the intensity of the nursing program. The name of the book is How to Survive and Maybe Even Love Nursing School 3rd edition: Guide for Students by Students, by Kelli S. Dunham, 2008 by publisher F.A. Davis, available in the Brookdale bookstore. It contains information about time management and other topics of interest to nursing students.
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