What is nursing school like, and how does it work? Nursing school is challenging, and you’ll be busier than ever. You’ll learn nursing concepts and theories during classes and develop nursing skills and decision-making during skills and simulation labs. You’ll also gain practical experience during clinical rotations.
If you are considering switching to nursing, you are likely already familiar with undergraduate education. You know there will be a lot of studying, lectures, test-taking, and homework. But what is nursing school like?
Nursing school is challenging, but it’s meant to be. Nurses have a great deal of responsibility, and it takes thorough education to ensure they can safely provide patient care. In addition to coursework, studying, and test-taking, nursing students also participate in hands-on experiential learning.
At Averett University, students in the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program participate in a comprehensive curriculum that develops students’ clinical knowledge and judgment needed to pass the licensing exam and excel in their careers. At Averett, you’ll be fully supported by our Academic Success Coaches and knowledgeable faculty, so you can rise and meet the challenges of nursing school.
Discover what you can expect from nursing school, from the program structure and what you will learn to tips for success.
Understanding the Structure of Nursing School
No matter which nursing school you attend, each program will feature a rigorous curriculum that blends instructional coursework with hands-on experiential learning. This is why no nursing program can be completed 100% online. In-person learning is essential for developing the nursing skills needed to provide patient care and make clinical judgments.
Throughout your education, you’ll take classes that teach nursing theory, complete nursing skills and simulation labs, and complete clinical rotations at nearby healthcare facilities.
How Does Nursing School Work?
Parts of nursing school will be much like any other college degree program. You’ll work through the curriculum and be expected to learn many concepts and apply them. To fully process the material, you must learn to apply concepts to a patient case study or real-life situations.
Other parts of nursing school aren’t like other college majors. You must be able to commute to our ABSN learning center for scheduled exams, as well as skills and simulation labs, where you should arrive dressed in scrubs with all your nursing tools. In addition to labs, you’ll work clinical rotation shifts at healthcare facilities throughout the Norfolk area, where you’ll learn to provide direct patient care in various specialties and care styles.
How Long Does Nursing School Take?
Every student is different, and so is every nursing program. A Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree traditionally takes four years of full-time study. At Averett, we’ve designed our accelerated BSN program to leverage your past college education, allowing students to graduate in as few as 16 months.
This timeline doesn’t account for any nursing prerequisites you might need to take before enrollment. You can talk to your admissions advisor to determine which prerequisite courses you must complete.
The Challenges of Nursing School
What is nursing school like in terms of its challenges? There is no question that it’s rigorous. Our staff recommends treating it like a full-time job. Between coursework, labs, and clinicals, you might find the curriculum to be time-consuming.
It takes a certain level of dedication to succeed in nursing school, but our faculty is an excellent resource to ensure you’re prepared for every curriculum component. Additionally, you’ll have the support from your cohort to lean on, learn from, and study with.
Learn how you can meet the challenges with these eight tips for studying in nursing school.
What Do You Learn in Nursing School?
Nursing care requires a great deal of knowledge to provide the best possible care for patients. You’ll learn everything from medical terminology, disease processes, and appropriate interventions to pharmacology, which is the study of how drugs affect the body and how to use them properly.
At Averett, you’ll take courses in topics such as:
- Adult health
- Mental health
- Pediatrics
- Public health
- Women’s health
Nursing can be an excellent field for individuals who love learning and consider themselves lifelong learners. The learning process certainly doesn’t end after graduation. Throughout your nursing career, you’ll need to continue to develop your knowledge and skills and stay on top of the latest nursing research.
Develop Self-Discipline to Master Online Nursing Coursework
Some nursing programs, including Averett’s ABSN program, are hybrid, meaning they combine online coursework with in-person learning experiences. Many people think online learning is easier or of lower quality than learning in the classroom, but this isn’t the case.
ABSN graduates meet the same terminal program objectives as students in a traditional four-year program. This course delivery option involves a significant amount of independent study, requiring good self-discipline, and time management skills to succeed.
While instructor assignments and exam deadlines still apply, online learning allows you to attend class anytime. Delivered through a learning management system, each of Averett’s online nursing courses features modules enabling you to absorb course materials.
Prepare for Online Learning: Create a Study Group
Online courses shouldn’t feel overwhelming, but if they do, consider creating a study group or scheduling dedicated study time to review the concepts and study guides. Even though you’re learning online, having a support system is crucial. Connect with your classmates via discussion boards, chat rooms, and email to share study tips and lean on one another. You can also meet your peers at the ABSN learning center for study time.
Develop Strong Nursing Skills in Labs
At Averett, our state-of-the-art nursing skills lab features hospital equipment, medical supplies, clinical task trainers, and full-body manikins. Skills labs provide a safe, contextual learning environment for developing basic nursing skills, such as head-to-toe assessments, nasogastric tube insertion, and wound care. These are skills that every nurse must have, no matter the area of practice.
Nurses need to draw from a diverse skillset. Explore these top soft skills every nurse needs for patient care.
What Do You Do in Nursing School Simulation Labs?
With the help of a computerized medical simulator, nursing simulation labs take your nursing competency to the next level. Getting you as close as possible to real-life clinical situations, these labs help develop your clinical judgment and problem-solving skills, preparing you to think on your feet and act on evidence while working in the profession.
Learn From Your Mistakes
Your simulation experiences will be recorded so you and the faculty can debrief on your clinical performance. Education is about turning mistakes into learning opportunities; these debriefs are critical to nursing education.
Experience Lifelike Patient Care
Simulation manikins let you actively engage in patient assessment and treatment without the fear of putting an individual’s safety at risk. Under faculty control, the simulator can ask questions and replicate bodily responses to procedures such as intubation and catheterization.
Another benefit of simulation exercises is that they place you in patient care situations you might not be exposed to during clinicals.
Gain Practical Experience in Clinicals
Unlike many nursing programs, you start clinical rotations during the first semester of Averett’s ABSN program. Students will complete clinicals at facilities throughout the Norfolk, Virginia, area, working alongside and under the supervision of experienced healthcare professionals.
Like nursing labs, clinicals start simple, before we gradually place you in more complex patient care units within hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and long-term care facilities.
Supplement Your Clinical Learning
During your first clinical rotations, you perform the skills you learned in the nursing laboratory, which includes providing personal care, performing treatments, taking vitals, and completing head-to-toe assessments. From there, you progress into more complex nursing skills, such as starting intravenous lines and administering medications. By the fourth semester, students provide total care for their assigned patients.
Averett nurses are unique because they are taught to be empowered at the bedside to provide the best possible patient care.
Additional Tips for Success for Nursing Students
You’ll be given everything you need to be successful at Averett, but you’ll need to be prepared to put in long hours of hard work. The following tips can help you excel as a nursing student:
Develop Effective Study Habits
If it’s been a while since you were in school, refresh your study habits. If you have time before your enrollment date, check out some free online math, biology, or chemistry tutorials.
You might also consider trying new study techniques. If you previously studied by rereading material and highlighting important parts, you could try active study techniques instead. For example, instead of just reading the material, pause to write down questions as they occur and consider ways of relating the material to real-life scenarios.
Build Relationships With Peers and Instructors
Nursing education doesn’t happen in a vacuum. At Averett, you’ll be surrounded by peers facing the same challenges. Connect with your peers to build a network of emotional or academic support.
In addition, it’s essential to let your instructors know when you’re struggling with a particular concept or skill. At Averett, our instructors put in the extra effort to help our students master the material.
Manage Your Time and Workload
You’ll need to fit a lot of responsibilities into each day, so it’s critical to manage your time wisely. Focus on maximizing your time, especially by avoiding distractions during study time. Create a weekly schedule that includes time for classes, labs, clinicals, study time, and NCLEX-RN prep.
Prepare for Your Future in Nursing at Averett
Averett University is known for graduating highly competent and compassionate practice-ready nurses.
If you’re ready to leverage your past college education to earn your nursing degree in as few as 16 months, then Averett is here to make your future in nursing possible.
One of our dedicated admissions advisors will walk you through the application process step by step and create a personalized enrollment plan. With three start dates a year, you can get started far sooner than you’d think. Contact an admissions advisor today to learn the next steps.