6 Ways to Overcome Challenges When Pursuing a Nursing Degree
For many people, a career in nursing can be highly gratifying and enriching. Not many occupations allow professionals to help individuals directly and significantly impact their quality of life. Perhaps this is why nurses are some of the most trusted and well-respected professionals of the 21st century.
If you have decided to pursue a nursing degree, congratulations! You have already overcome the struggle of choosing the right career for yourself. But this is only the beginning of your professional journey. Everything you learn in school will guide you in making life-changing decisions while demonstrating clinical expertise. As a nursing student, all the coursework, assignments, and clinical assessments coming your way will prepare you for one thing: improving patients’ quality of life.
Therefore, this profession is not for the faint of heart. But if instead of looking at these challenges as obstacles, you see them as an opportunity to grow—you may outshine all your peers. More importantly, as many professionals in the field will attest, the result will be well worth the struggles.
Familiarizing and preparing yourself on how to overcome these 6 common challenges nursing students face may help you navigate through your degree better.
1. Time management
While time management is a common challenge for students of any degree, it’s incredibly challenging in nursing school. The cumulative demands of coursework, clinical work, and homework can become quite a struggle and may seem impossible to cover in a limited time. On top of this, you must balance your studies with your personal life to prevent burnout and falling into a bottomless pit.
Nursing students enrolled in USI’s online RN to BSN degree benefit from scheduling classes according to their flexibility. It allows them to attend lectures at their own pace, without compromising their work or personal life.
2. Financial barriers
Nursing schools can be costly, and one of the biggest challenges aspiring professionals have to face is getting their finances in order. The rate of student loans in the United States continues to grow, and the increasing expense continues to add to an individual’s already heavy burden. Besides tuition fees, the cost of textbooks, commute expenses, clinical supplies, stationery, and several other expenditures can put an already struggling student under considerable pressure.
Without the assistance of debt relief programs or government regulation policies, there isn’t much you can do to overcome the financial barriers of a nursing school. But it’s not entirely hopeless, and there are some measures you can take on an individual level. These include saving money before school starts to avoid taking loans, taking up a part-time job, or refinancing your loans at a lower interest rate.
3. Extensive lectures
A prime feature of a nursing degree that sets it apart from other college programs is its extensive, detailed, and mind-draining lectures. Each class lesson focuses on helping students understand various scientific fields’ core concepts and theories, essential in building a solid medical background. Learning the basics of biology, chemistry, physiology, anatomy, and math is only the beginning of your educational experience.
More importantly, attending a class and attentively listening to the lecture is not enough for nursing students. They must retain all the information they learn from previous lessons and do additional reading in their time to keep up with the rest of the students. Although you may struggle with this challenge initially, following a few specific tips can help you overcome this. These include making an early habit of writing proper notes, revising regularly, reading your textbook, and preparing for the next class beforehand.
4. Tricky tests and exams
The tests and exams designed for nursing degrees aim to push you to your limits to gauge your knowledge and understanding at a deeper level. For nursing students, tests can be exceptionally challenging because most instructors conduct them after every few lectures or clinical experiences. Since, as a nurse, you’ll be entrusted with a patient’s life all on your own, you must be able to answer questions no matter how tricky they seem. By preparing well for these tests, you’re inadvertently preparing yourself to better care for your patient once you enter your professional life.
The best way to prepare for upcoming tests or exams is to study and go through your study material as much as you can. Don’t skip any topic or take any shortcut in trying to cramp a lot of knowledge altogether. Studying in group sessions or seeking help from practice questions available on various resources can also help aid your learning.
5. Poor communication skills
In recent years, a new challenge seems to be arising among nursing students. Both verbally and in writing, the ability to communicate appears to be a struggle for most students. Although there are explanations for this, a leading theory is that the millennials and Gen-Z have grown up surrounded by technology. Due to this, they have spent much of their early years communicating via screens and virtual platforms. Instead of having a verbal conversation, they prefer texting, which is a significant concern for professionals looking to work in the healthcare sector. Poor communication skills can impact a student’s ability to collaborate with physicians, fellow team members, and, most importantly, the patient.
Fortunately, you can still overcome this obstacle by working on developing your soft skills. These will help you during nursing school and allow you to become a leading professional once your career kicks off.
6. Getting stressed and overwhelmed
The combination of intensive theoretical class lessons and comprehensive clinical training can quickly become overwhelming for a nursing student. For many individuals, the added responsibilities required of a hands-on clinical program can induce high-stress levels and anxiety. The pressure of demonstrating your skills in front of your mentor, supervisor, or classmates may seem challenging and make it difficult to concentrate on learning. In some cases, people even start having unwarranted expectations from you and make irrational demands. All these factors can make you feel stressed, overwhelmed, and maybe even on the verge of giving up.
While there is no one solution to address this challenge, you can try a few strategies to see what works best. These include talking to a class fellow who may be in the same boat as you, reviewing key material, and seeking assistance from your clinical instructor to help you learn better.
Conclusion
For every nursing student, several challenges and barriers work to prevent aspiring professionals from achieving their goals. A nursing career isn’t one to take lightly, but if you’re ready to face every problem head-on, it just might be the right one for you.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
