Nursing Student Coach
Join Lauren Chapnick, RN, as she takes you through the journey of becoming a nurse! On Nursing Student Coach, Lauren, who is a new nursing professional, along with her knowledgeable guests will give you the tools to succeed in your nursing career. They will discuss ways to reduce anxiety and stress, share tips on studying and preparing for your NCLEX, and so much more - you won't be alone in this adventure! New episodes air every Thursday.
Nursing Student Coach
The Winning Formula for Nursing School: Top Five Consistency Rules and Productivity Hacks
Are you ready to unlock the secrets of nursing school success? I'm your host, Lauren Chapnick, and on this episode, we're revealing the top five rules of consistency that could make or break your journey through nursing school. From the necessity of being fully present in class, to the power of daily practice questions, we're exploring the crucial components of a successful nursing education journey. Spoiler alert: a good night's sleep might be more important than you think!
Then, brace yourself for some serious productivity hacks. Drawing from the wisdom of Hal Elrod, we delve into a game-changing mindset shift that will supercharge your sleep. It's not about the amount of sleep you get, but how you utilize it! We'll also explore the magic of good planning and the energy-boosting effects of daily movement. But hold onto your hats, because next week we up the ante with a peak performance coach who will share more about effective time management. Don’t miss this ride to becoming a smarter and more efficient nursing student!
Nursing school is a wild ride, but that doesn't mean you have to run and hide when the going gets tough. Don't leave your stress undiagnosed. You gotta call the nursing student coach. Real-life tips from a registered nurse, in school and out. She's seen the worst. Now, without further ado, yeah, here is your host. It's the nursing student coach.
Speaker 2:Hi everybody and welcome to Nursing Student Coach. My name is Lauren Chapnick and I am your host, and I just want to thank everybody who's listening, who has supported the show by writing a review and giving a five star rating. It just takes a few seconds. Pull out your phone and do the same, because it is my personal mission to help put more great nurses into the world, and I know I listen to a lot of other podcasts and the hosts are always asking for ratings and reviews, and until I started my own podcast, I never really understood how important that was. So if you could do that, it really just helps shake things up and it presents the show to more listeners who maybe are searching for nursing student Resources, who can hear the show, and it can help them out. So if you've taken anything from anything that I've said, I'd really appreciate it. So thank you so much for your support and let's move on to today's podcast.
Speaker 2:Today I am going to share with you my five rules, my five top rules for consistency in nursing school, and, as many of you know, I have seven habits to success in nursing school. I actually have a book coming out next year called Seven Habits to Success in Nursing School and I go into detail about each of these habits. But what I'm going to talk about today is rule number three, and that is to be consistent. And I go into a lot of depth and detail. But today I'm going to share the top five rules. I call them Lauren's Rules for Consistency in Nursing School, and if you follow these five things and some of them you've heard me talk about many times before you are on your way to achieving success in nursing school and really nailing this habit of consistency. That is the secret, I think, is consistent habit. It's not about cramming, it's not 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 get into them.
Speaker 2:Number one go to class. Go to class. It's as simple as that and that sounds like an obvious one. But you know what happens. You get stressed out with other exams that are coming and you might skip one class to study for another, or you may find that the professor's style Isn't really vibing with how you learn. So you think you're better off not going to class. Well, let me tell you, going to class is the best thing you can do, no matter what, let's say that you feel like you're getting nothing out of it. I've definitely been in that situation before. Your professor will absolutely give you clues during those lectures, as boring as it may seem to you. You got to find some way to be engaged and just be present in class, because I guarantee you they're going to say something that may be on the exam or you're going to remember for NCLEX or in your nursing career, and you will be very grateful that you went to class and not only go to class, because Sometimes you can go to class and you may as well not have gone.
Speaker 2:Don't sit in the back and just be a blob and zone out and go on Amazon and Instagram and TikTok. If you're going to go to class which I think you should sit in the front Sit in the front, be engaged, listen, absorb everything that you possibly can and be grateful for everything that that professor is going to teach you, because nursing school goes by in a flash. You are going to be out in the world as a working nurse and you are expected to know so much so quickly. I can speak to that personally, and every minute that you can absorb, you're paying to be there. Go and don't just go. Go and be proactively present is a term that I like to use Ask questions, be that person who is there and absorbing every possible thing. Just go, even when you don't feel like going. Dig deep and go.
Speaker 2:Number two practice questions. You're daily 10. Now, if you've heard anything, I talk about these daily 10 practice questions probably more often than anything, because I do think it is the most important thing you can do In nursing school is to do practice questions every single day, minimum of 10. This is just flexing that muscle, guys. Like I said, nursing school is like running a marathon and every exam is a mini race to get to the end. And the big race at the end is your NCLEX. And the best way to be strong and to become a seasoned, trained athlete at taking these exams is to practice so that when you get into that exam, you are a seasoned athlete, you're a pro. You're going to be nervous, but you've been there before. Do those daily practice questions, no matter what, even if you're about to get into bed and you say, oh, I haven't done any practice questions. That's when you pull out your phone, have an app on your phone that has practice questions. Bang out 10 before you fall asleep. That is rule number two for consistency in nursing school.
Speaker 2:Number three sleep routine. Have some sort of sleep routine and sleep ritual that you do for yourself. This is going to help with self care, it's going to regulate your body and it's going to. With a consistent sleep routine comes other consistent habits. Now are you going to stick to it all the time? Of course not. Things are going to alter when you have exams, when things happen in life, and that's okay. But if you have a general bedtime, let's say let's call it 10 o'clock, okay, that's what you aim for every night. You aim to get in bed at 10 o'clock. Have some sort of routine. Maybe you read a book for 10 minutes, maybe you take your shower at night and lay out your clothes for the next day, and, let's say, you consistently have a wake time of 6 am, 7 am, whatever. Whatever it may be, you have these routines. They become a part of your daily habits, your consistent routine, and it is so good for you to maintain that sleep schedule. Now, of course, sometimes you're going to stay up later and that's okay. But having a sleep routine and a sleep ritual is very, very important in nursing school.
Speaker 2:And here's a little sleep hack as well. I stole this from Miracle Morning, which is a book by Hal Alrod that I highly recommend. I've talked about it as well in other episodes, and when I speak live to nursing students and nursing schools, it's like, let's say that you really need about eight hours to function. Let's say you need seven to eight hours, but oh man, it's two in the morning and you're only going to get five hours of sleep. And you say to yourself, oh, I'm going to feel like a zombie tomorrow. Well, it's sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you say, oh, I'm gonna feel terrible when I wake up in the morning. Well, you're going to feel terrible when you wake up in the morning. It's sort of like saying, well, I'm really bad at taking tests. I've always been a really bad test taker. Well, okay, of course, if you're saying that your subconscious is going to believe it 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 gonna have kind of a crappy morning.
Speaker 2:So this is what how Al Rod suggests, and I completely buy into it because it has worked for me. What you do is you visualize yourself getting up in the morning and you are so well rested, you're rejuvenated, and you are just ready to Go out and have your day. And you say to yourself before you fall asleep I am so grateful for these five hours of sleep I'm going to get. That is just enough to give me the energy that I need for my day tomorrow. And then you go to sleep and when you visualize yourself having that morning, you are more likely to wake up feeling energized. So that's not gonna work every single time. You can't survive on three hours of sleep every night, or Four hours, five hours, whatever it is. But on those tough days when you just had to stay up to study or get your paper done, try that. It's a mindset hack and it really works.
Speaker 2:Rule number four is to plan, plan, plan, plan and Just a 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 people CEO's and entrepreneurs and her specialty is Planning time blocking how to manage your time the most effectively. So that's coming. Planning your time, knowing what you're going to do the day before is so important. It's so important when you wake up and you don't have a plan and you just say, well, I'm just gonna wing it, I'll probably study pharmacology and maybe some med-surge today. Well, that is not specific at all. So what are you going to study? Are you going to study I'm going to study, lecture one in pharmacology and maybe Chapter 16 in med-surge, and are you going to do it from 9 to 10 30? Because how many times have you found yourself saying I've got the whole day tomorrow, I have no class, I have no clinical, I'm gonna get so much done and then it's three o'clock and nothing has gotten done? That is because you failed to plan. Planning is everything.
Speaker 2:Number five. Rule number five is to move your body every single day. Now, this does not have to be an elaborate workout where you go to the gym, take a class for an 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 just moving your body. Even if you're doing my 27-3 rule, where you study for 27 minutes, then you get up and you move for three minutes, whatever, whatever it takes, whether you throw on some earbuds and listen to a podcast and take a walk on a study break, running up and down the stairs, doing streaming a yoga class or a Zumba class on an app that you like I like the Obey app.
Speaker 2:Really getting your blood flowing, getting your body moving, is one of the most important things you can do on a consistent basis, because it's going to energize you, it's going to give you a release of dopamine, which is, it's been called, the molecule of more. It motivates you, it gives you focus and drive and really just keeps you motivated to study and it keeps you focused when you study. So let's say you have an hour and a half, you have an hour and a half of time and you really have to study. If you spend the first just 10 minutes 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 because you move your body and it's going to relieve stress. It's going to increase serotonin, which is going to help you sleep, which is going to make you more focused and more productive. It is so beneficial in so many ways and you do not need to commit any more than 10 to 15 minutes a day. That is it. It is so much easier than you think.
Speaker 2:It does not have to be a crazy routine. I know so many people say, oh, I used to work out, but then I came to nursing school and I didn't have time. It's not. Yeah, you have limited time, but you have to plan your time more effectively and you're going to have to adapt. Whatever you were doing before, you have to adapt, throw it out, find a new routine. That's your new normal. Literally anything where you are physically moving is going to relieve so much stress and it's going to make you so much more focused and productive when you study.
Speaker 2:So quick recap guys Number one go to class. Number two do your practice. Questions. Three have a sleep routine and a sleep ritual. Four plan Five move your body. That's going to do it for today. Thank you so much for listening and, as always, it is my personal mission to help put more great nurses into the world. And you can go to nursingstudentcoachcom to join our mailing list. And, as a reminder, next week on Thursday, brand new episode featuring guest Jerry Anathon, who is a peak performance coach. She is going to be talking to us about planning and using your time more effectively, working smarter, not harder. It's a great conversation that we're going to have. I so look forward to it, and I have a new product coming out next week, and I will tell you all about that. Until next time, guys, have an amazing day. Thank you so much. Bye-bye.
