Jenna writes, Everyone says self-care is important but what does self-care look like in nursing school?

Jenna, Nursing school can be extremely stressful and often times students put their own needs to the side and school takes over their lives. 

But, not for Tiffany. Let me tell you a story.

When other students complained about the stress of nursing school, the sleepless nights, the hours of studying and total lack of a social life, Tiffany kept quiet. Not only was she surviving nursing school, she was thriving. Why was Tiffany’s experience so different? Simply put, she had learned the secret of Self-Care.

In her first semester she came across an analogy of how nursing students often prioritize needs.

If this glass represents your time & energy, and these small rocks are the responsibilities that students juggle- reading, studying, assignments, papers, clinical prep, clinical time, lab, nursing skills practice, etc The glass becomes completely full in no time.

These larger rocks that represent the areas of essential self-care- nutrition, exercise, sleep, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs have no room and yet without them, students are left exhausted, overwhelmed, and too depleted to navigate the challenges of nursing school.

That day Tiffany learned to place self-care first.

Although school is demanding, she prioritizes her health- making sure she’s getting 7-8 hours of sleep each night, if possible. Eating breakfast before class and packing a lunch for school. She decided to take exercise classes as her elective courses, so that in addition to satisfying course credits, she also has accountability to exercise.

She’s maintained supportive relationships with non-nursing friends that she can lean on for encouragement.

She’s also given herself permission to get B’s when an A would cost the self-care that has become so important to her.

Tiffany’s learned that when you place self-care first, everything else just seems to fit and if it doesn’t, maybe it wasn’t important in the first place.

Jenna, I hope Tiffany’s story was helpful. Please like and share this video with your friends.

And as always if you have a question about nursing school or life, Nursing School Masterclass can help!