Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Nursing school is a
wild ride, but that doesn't mean
you have to run and hide whenthe going gets tough.
Don't leave your stressundiagnosed.
You gotta call the nursingstudent coach.
Real-life tips from aregistered nurse, in school and
(00:21):
out.
She's seen the worst.
Now, without further ado, yeah,here is your host.
It's the nursing student coach.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Hi everybody and
welcome to Nursing Student Coach
.
My name is Lauren Chapnick andI am your host, and I just want
to thank everybody who'slistening, who has supported the
show by writing a review andgiving a five star rating.
It just takes a few seconds.
Pull out your phone and do thesame, because it is my personal
(00:56):
mission to help put more greatnurses into the world, and I
know I listen to a lot of otherpodcasts and the hosts are
always asking for ratings andreviews, and until I started my
own podcast, I never reallyunderstood how important that
was.
So if you could do that, itreally just helps shake things
(01:17):
up and it presents the show tomore listeners who maybe are
searching for nursing studentResources, who can hear the show
, and it can help them out.
So if you've taken anythingfrom anything that I've said,
I'd really appreciate it.
So thank you so much for yoursupport and let's move on to
(01:41):
today's podcast.
Today I am going to share withyou my five rules, my five top
rules for consistency in nursingschool, and, as many of you
know, I have seven habits tosuccess in nursing school.
I actually have a book comingout next year called Seven
(02:04):
Habits to Success in NursingSchool and I go into detail
about each of these habits.
But what I'm going to talkabout today is rule number three
, and that is to be consistent.
And I go into a lot of depthand detail.
But today I'm going to sharethe top five rules.
I call them Lauren's Rules forConsistency in Nursing School,
(02:27):
and if you follow these fivethings and some of them you've
heard me talk about many timesbefore you are on your way to
achieving success in nursingschool and really nailing this
habit of consistency.
That is the secret, I think, isconsistent habit.
(02:47):
It's not about cramming, it'snot about memorizing, it's about
breathing, eating, sleeping,all things, nursing so that it
just becomes part of you.
So, top five rules, let's getinto them.
Number one go to class.
Go to class.
(03:08):
It's as simple as that and thatsounds like an obvious one.
But you know what happens.
You get stressed out with otherexams that are coming and you
might skip one class to studyfor another, or you may find
that the professor's style Isn'treally vibing with how you
(03:31):
learn.
So you think you're better offnot going to class.
Well, let me tell you, going toclass is the best thing you can
do, no matter what, let's saythat you feel like you're
getting nothing out of it.
I've definitely been in thatsituation before.
Your professor will absolutelygive you clues during those
(03:53):
lectures, as boring as it mayseem to you.
You got to find some way to beengaged and just be present in
class, because I guarantee youthey're going to say something
that may be on the exam oryou're going to remember for
NCLEX or in your nursing career,and you will be very grateful
(04:14):
that you went to class and notonly go to class, because
Sometimes you can go to classand you may as well not have
gone.
Don't sit in the back and justbe a blob and zone out and go on
Amazon and Instagram and TikTok.
If you're going to go to classwhich I think you should sit in
(04:34):
the front Sit in the front, beengaged, listen, absorb
everything that you possibly canand be grateful for everything
that that professor is going toteach you, because nursing
school goes by in a flash.
You are going to be out in theworld as a working nurse and you
are expected to know so much soquickly.
(04:57):
I can speak to that personally,and every minute that you can
absorb, you're paying to bethere.
Go and don't just go.
Go and be proactively presentis a term that I like to use Ask
questions, be that person whois there and absorbing every
(05:21):
possible thing.
Just go, even when you don'tfeel like going.
Dig deep and go.
Number two practice questions.
You're daily 10.
Now, if you've heard anything,I talk about these daily 10
practice questions probably moreoften than anything, because I
(05:41):
do think it is the mostimportant thing you can do In
nursing school is to do practicequestions every single day,
minimum of 10.
This is just flexing thatmuscle, guys.
Like I said, nursing school islike running a marathon and
every exam is a mini race to getto the end.
And the big race at the end isyour NCLEX.
(06:03):
And the best way to be strongand to become a seasoned,
trained athlete at taking theseexams is to practice so that
when you get into that exam, youare a seasoned athlete, you're
a pro.
You're going to be nervous, butyou've been there before.
Do those daily practicequestions, no matter what, even
(06:26):
if you're about to get into bedand you say, oh, I haven't done
any practice questions.
That's when you pull out yourphone, have an app on your phone
that has practice questions.
Bang out 10 before you fallasleep.
That is rule number two forconsistency in nursing school.
Number three sleep routine.
Have some sort of sleep routineand sleep ritual that you do
(06:52):
for yourself.
This is going to help with selfcare, it's going to regulate
your body and it's going to.
With a consistent sleep routinecomes other consistent habits.
Now are you going to stick toit all the time?
Of course not.
Things are going to alter whenyou have exams, when things
(07:13):
happen in life, and that's okay.
But if you have a generalbedtime, let's say let's call it
10 o'clock, okay, that's whatyou aim for every night.
You aim to get in bed at 10o'clock.
Have some sort of routine.
Maybe you read a book for 10minutes, maybe you take your
(07:35):
shower at night and lay out yourclothes for the next day, and,
let's say, you consistently havea wake time of 6 am, 7 am,
whatever.
Whatever it may be, you havethese routines.
They become a part of yourdaily habits, your consistent
routine, and it is so good foryou to maintain that sleep
(07:59):
schedule.
Now, of course, sometimesyou're going to stay up later
and that's okay.
But having a sleep routine anda sleep ritual is very, very
important in nursing school.
And here's a little sleep hackas well.
I stole this from MiracleMorning, which is a book by Hal
Alrod that I highly recommend.
(08:20):
I've talked about it as well inother episodes, and when I
speak live to nursing studentsand nursing schools, it's like,
let's say that you really needabout eight hours to function.
Let's say you need seven toeight hours, but oh man, it's
two in the morning and you'reonly going to get five hours of
(08:41):
sleep.
And you say to yourself, oh,I'm going to feel like a zombie
tomorrow.
Well, it's sort of aself-fulfilling prophecy.
If you say, oh, I'm gonna feelterrible when I wake up in the
morning.
Well, you're going to feelterrible when you wake up in the
morning.
It's sort of like saying, well,I'm really bad at taking tests.
(09:02):
I've always been a really badtest taker.
Well, okay, of course, ifyou're saying that your
subconscious is going to believeit and you might do poorly on a
test, just like if you say, oh,I'm gonna be exhausted tomorrow
, yeah, you're, you're gonnahave kind of a crappy morning.
So this is what how Al Rodsuggests, and I completely buy
(09:24):
into it because it has workedfor me.
What you do is you visualizeyourself getting up in the
morning and you are so wellrested, you're rejuvenated, and
you are just ready to Go out andhave your day.
(09:45):
And you say to yourself beforeyou fall asleep I am so grateful
for these five hours of sleepI'm going to get.
That is just enough to give methe energy that I need for my
day tomorrow.
And then you go to sleep andwhen you visualize yourself
having that morning, you aremore likely to wake up feeling
(10:07):
energized.
So that's not gonna work everysingle time.
You can't survive on threehours of sleep every night, or
Four hours, five hours, whateverit is.
But on those tough days whenyou just had to stay up to study
or get your paper done, trythat.
It's a mindset hack and itreally works.
Rule number four is to plan,plan, plan, plan and Just a
(10:33):
sneak peek next week's episode,coming out on Thursday, is all
about planning time blocking,and I have an expert on who is a
coach for all sorts of peopleCEO's and entrepreneurs and her
(10:53):
specialty is Planning timeblocking how to manage your time
the most effectively.
So that's coming.
Planning your time, knowingwhat you're going to do the day
before is so important.
It's so important when you wakeup and you don't have a plan
and you just say, well, I'm justgonna wing it, I'll probably
(11:16):
study pharmacology and maybesome med-surge today.
Well, that is not specific atall.
So what are you going to study?
Are you going to study I'mgoing to study, lecture one in
pharmacology and maybe Chapter16 in med-surge, and are you
going to do it from 9 to 10 30?
(11:39):
Because how many times have youfound yourself saying I've got
the whole day tomorrow, I haveno class, I have no clinical,
I'm gonna get so much done andthen it's three o'clock and
nothing has gotten done?
That is because you failed toplan.
Planning is everything.
(12:00):
Number five.
Rule number five is to moveyour body every single day.
Now, this does not have to bean elaborate workout where you
go to the gym, take a class foran hour and then you do some
weightlifting.
No, if you have time for that,great, work that into your
routine.
But no, I'm talking about justmoving your body.
(12:22):
Even if you're doing my 27-3rule, where you study for 27
minutes, then you get up and youmove for three minutes,
whatever, whatever it takes,whether you throw on some
earbuds and listen to a podcastand take a walk on a study break
, running up and down the stairs, doing streaming a yoga class
(12:44):
or a Zumba class on an app thatyou like I like the Obey app.
Really getting your bloodflowing, getting your body
moving, is one of the mostimportant things you can do on a
consistent basis, because it'sgoing to energize you, it's
going to give you a release ofdopamine, which is, it's been
(13:05):
called, the molecule of more.
It motivates you, it gives youfocus and drive and really just
keeps you motivated to study andit keeps you focused when you
study.
So let's say you have an hourand a half, you have an hour and
a half of time and you reallyhave to study.
(13:27):
If you spend the first just 10minutes moving in some sort of
way, getting your heart rate up,your remaining time that you
have that hour and five minutes,whatever it is, is going to be
so much more productive becauseyou move your body and it's
going to relieve stress.
(13:47):
It's going to increaseserotonin, which is going to
help you sleep, which is goingto make you more focused and
more productive.
It is so beneficial in so manyways and you do not need to
commit any more than 10 to 15minutes a day.
That is it.
It is so much easier than youthink.
(14:10):
It does not have to be a crazyroutine.
I know so many people say, oh,I used to work out, but then I
came to nursing school and Ididn't have time.
It's not.
Yeah, you have limited time,but you have to plan your time
more effectively and you'regoing to have to adapt.
Whatever you were doing before,you have to adapt, throw it out
(14:32):
, find a new routine.
That's your new normal.
Literally anything where youare physically moving is going
to relieve so much stress andit's going to make you so much
more focused and productive whenyou study.
So quick recap guys Number onego to class.
Number two do your practice.
(14:54):
Questions.
Three have a sleep routine anda sleep ritual.
Four plan Five move your body.
That's going to do it for today.
Thank you so much for listeningand, as always, it is my
personal mission to help putmore great nurses into the world
.
And you can go tonursingstudentcoachcom to join
(15:17):
our mailing list.
And, as a reminder, next weekon Thursday, brand new episode
featuring guest Jerry Anathon,who is a peak performance coach.
She is going to be talking tous about planning and using your
time more effectively, workingsmarter, not harder.
It's a great conversation thatwe're going to have.
(15:38):
I so look forward to it, and Ihave a new product coming out
next week, and I will tell youall about that.
Until next time, guys, have anamazing day.
Thank you so much.
Bye-bye.