As I am moving into my last semester of my college career at UNE, it is bittersweet to think that I only have four months until I am in the real world of nursing. I am excited that I will be able to work in the healthcare field, in one of the most rewarding and trusted occupations. I am excited to graduate and celebrate with my family and friends however this also means that the many friends I have made here at UNE and the community I have grown to love will change. I am anxious to start working in the real world because all throughout nursing school, we have been told that school is just the beginning and most of your knowledge as a nurse comes from experience. I am nervous that because all healthcare facilities are short staffed that as a new nurse I will be “thrown to the wolves” so to speak and not be given enough training and make a mistake which could cost someone their life.

 When I did the ATI Nurselogic 2.0 modules, I learned about the many test taking strategies that I can use to support my success on the ATI assessments and NCLEX-RN. Some of these strategies included analyzing the wording of questions and answers, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, positive and negative wording, acute vs. chronic etc. In order to stay on track with my studies this semester my goal is to develop a schedule by the end of February that balances enough time to study for each class, but also have enough time for self-care and spending time with friends. I hope to stick to this schedule and not stray from my studies this semester as I really want to finish strong. I need to learn to use my time wisely so that I do not get overwhelmed with assignments and studying or exams which could then take time away from my self-care and spending time with my friends in my last semester of college. I learned in past semesters that I tend to get really anxious towards the end of the semester because I don’t know if I will pass my classes based on my exam average. This semester, I want to stay on top of this and use all of the resources available to me in order to avoid this anxiety and be able to fully enjoy my last semester.