Dom's Declassified Nursing School Survival Guide: How To Stay Organized In Nursing School

Whoop Whoop! Day 4 of My Dom's DECLASSIFIED Nursing School Survival Guide and I am extra excited to share this one!!

Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE that I am close to, and even people that just follow my social media know that I am an organizational freak. It's OBSESSIVE yet very healthy for my nursing school career.

One of the most common questions I get is about how I keep my notes organized, and I really want to touch base with you all on this and just firstly admit that I am an actual note hoarder. I keep EERRRRRTHING. Why? Because in nursing school you are constantly learning new facts and having to resort to the old for it to all fit. You just never know when you'll need a certain refresher on something you learned in a prior semester.

When it comes to actual note taking, it definitely varies per semester. Some semesters I don't take notes at all, I just print the powerpoint out and add anything extra I feel may be on an exam (which rarely is much). Other semesters,*COUGH* Pharmacology/Med Surg *COUGH* I found myself printing power points at first, transitioning to printing outlines, and then just making my own notes and drawing lots of pictures.

However you take notes is up to you. Either way, I suggest using a binder or one of the flex notebooks you can remove and add paper to/from. This is because you are constantly getting emailed print outs for lecture and clinical, and having a place to store them rather than shoving them between a notebook is convenient!

Some semesters I use one 1 1/2" to 2" binder with enough dividers for each class inside that one binder i.e. Pharm tab, Med Surg Tab, Legal Ethics tab... and other semesters when I have a ton of notes I'll use a 1 1/2" binder PER CLASS and use dividers labeled "Pharm notes", "Pharm study guide", "Pharm test aid" (with things I find from the internet to help me learn). It's totally up to you, but I suggest using all of the free resources you can use to help you learn i.e. Pinterest, Youtube, Google Images, etc. I will attach a few of my own notes from Pharmacology, feel free to click on them and check out how I keep my notes poppin and organized!

Highlighters and colored pens are superrrrrrrr important! I assign colors to certain parts of my notes. For example, I highlight all definitions in green, highlight anything my instructor specifically points out twice in blue (so I remember to study extra for the exam). Anything I feel is important I'll highlight yellow, and anything I still don't understand after reviewing I will highlight orange. That way my notes are picked apart and I know what to look back on. Be careful not to OVER color your notes, because it can be a bit overwhelming. Try to use no more than 3 or 4 different colors, and use colored pens to add extra notes!

Furthermore, Each and every semester I purchase a mini file folder with at least 6 tabs in it to store all of my important hand outs, test prep guides, and notes from each exam that semester. For example, I have a file labeled with the semester I'm currently in and each tab says "Test 1" "Test 2" "Test 3" "Final". After each exam I take, I remove my material from my note taking binder and put it in my file so I can re use it for the final exam!!! This keeps my note taking binder material to a minimum, so you aren't walking with 50 pounds of notes on your back every day and is even better for people who are minimalist when it comes to taking notes altogether.

*ALSO* This past semester I tried something different that I found worked even more efficiently considering the huge amount of notes I was taking for every test. I still used my file for anything important that came up (doesn't have to just be nursing school but anything from THAT semester) but I purchased a 2-3" binder and bought dividers labeled TEST 1-4. I did the same thing with the large binder that I was doing with my file folder and I love that idea even more because you low key end up creating your own "textbook" of study material for the final

Another important organizational tip is to use your sticky notes when you study. Mark any important sections in your notes you need to review, or write any page numbers from a textbook you need to go through and touch up on. Stickies are convenient and your besttttt friend when it comes to note taking because you can always clutter and declutter them to your liking.

Staying organized with your physical notes is crucial, but staying organized with your virtual ones are just as important. Make desktop folders for all of your classes each semester (i.e. Nursing 308, Nursing 309) and one huge folder labeled whatever your semester is (i.e. "Fall 2018"). Make a folder for Clinical too so you can keep all of your paperwork together (teachers DO lose paperwork and you ARE held accountable to resend it). This way as you go through you can save hand outs to specific classes, and if you're lucky enough to get typed notes from former students, you can have those organized and easily accessible as well.

Utilization of your agenda is another keyyyyyyy. Many people color code certain classes in their planner to know what assignment is for what class, and I also believe color coding is a great idea BUT I use small colored sticky notes. Each class has a different colored sticky, and that works best for me because if I decide to prioritize one assignment over another for whatever reason, I can just rearrange my stickies that week instead of using white out or worse...scratching through words *breaks out in hives just thinking about it*.

Your desk space should ALWAYS be clean and organized, unless of course you're presently studying on it because Lord knows that can quickly become a tornado zone. If you don't have a desk for studying I recommend getting one, just to dedicate a certain area to getting classwork done! Desk essentials for optimal organizing include paper clips, binder clips, small drawers for colored markers, sticky notes and any other desk items, a desk lamp for extra lighting, a scented candle to relax your nerves, a stapler, printer, and a spot for your books to go. :) I have a tac board and a small marker board for anything I need to stick there as self reminders and "to do's" and I love them both as well!

Organizational skills and time management go hand in hand. If you want to stay on top of things, you need to get your stuff done early! Don't find yourself waiting until the last minute and scrambling around trying to study or sort through material before an exam or paperwork is due. Keep your mind just as organized as your notes!

I hope you found this chunk of information helpful. Organizational skills are absolutely necessary not only as a student, but as an actual nurse. You are ALWAYS held accountable for every single item and paper/document on your patient, so start holding yourself accountable for your notes and paperwork early!

XOXO

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