7 Strategies for Nursing Student Success, According to Nurses Who've Been There
Submitted by Megan Kinder, RN
Tags: nursing nursing school school students
Nursing school doesn't come with a manual — but it does come with thousands of nurses who've already walked the path you're on. They've failed exams, survived brutal clinical rotations, cried in hospital parking lots, and come out the other side as working RNs, nurse practitioners, and DNPs.
We went through the RN Journal archives and pulled the best advice from nurses who took the time to write about what actually worked for them. These aren't generic study tips — they're hard-won lessons from people who understand the specific pressures of nursing education.
1. Master Your Mindset Before You Master the Material
Every experienced nurse will tell you the same thing: attitude determines altitude in nursing school. The coursework is hard. Clinicals are intimidating. You will feel underprepared. The question isn't whether you'll struggle — it's how you'll respond when you do.
In Keeping a Positive Outlook: My Clinical Experience as a Student Nurse, one nurse reflects on how her mindset during clinical rotations shaped not just her performance, but how preceptors and patients perceived her. The takeaway: showing up with curiosity and humility — even when you're terrified — opens doors that competence alone can't.
And if you're struggling with self-doubt, read To the Nursing Students — a short, direct letter from a nurse who wants you to remember why you applied in the first place. You got the acceptance letter for a reason. That version of you isn't gone — they're just buried under pharmacology flashcards.
2. Treat Clinical Rotations Like Job Interviews
Clinical rotations aren't just where you learn skills — they're where you build your professional reputation. Every preceptor you work with is a potential reference, mentor, or future colleague. Every unit you rotate through is a possible career path.
The Power of Preceptorship breaks down why the student-preceptor relationship matters so much and how to get the most out of it. The best students don't passively observe — they ask questions, volunteer for tasks, and show initiative without overstepping.
And pay attention to what draws you in during rotations. In The Challenge of Choosing Your Practice Area, a nurse who ended up in aesthetics after starting with plans for pharmaceuticals explains how staying open to unexpected interests led to a career she loves. Your dream specialty might be one you haven't rotated through yet.
3. Build Your Network Now — Not After Graduation
This is the strategy most nursing students completely overlook. You're surrounded by future colleagues, educators, and clinical professionals every single day — and most students never leverage those relationships beyond the semester.
The Importance of Networking in Nursing School makes a compelling case for why building professional connections during school is just as important as building clinical skills. The nurses who land the best jobs, get into competitive specialties, and advance their careers fastest are almost always the ones who invested in relationships early.
This doesn't mean being fake or transactional. It means showing up, being reliable, following up with preceptors who taught you something, and staying connected with classmates who push you to be better.
4. Find a Mentor — and Eventually Become One
The transition from student to working nurse is where most new graduates feel most lost. A mentor can be the difference between surviving that first year and leaving the profession entirely.
In Views of a New Graduate Nurse: The Value of Mentorship, a new grad describes the shock of entering practice and discovering that the "nurses eat their young" culture is real — but also that one good mentor can counteract all of it. The article is an honest account of how mentorship transformed a rocky start into a sustainable career.
On the other side, Fostering Sound Relationships in Nursing Education Through Mentoring examines the mentor-mentee dynamic from the faculty perspective. Understanding what good mentorship looks like helps you seek it out — and recognize it when you find it.
If you want to understand the culture you're walking into, Remember When We Were Nursing Students is a veteran nurse's call for the profession to treat students with the respect they deserve — and a reminder that the incivility you may face as a student is a systemic problem, not a reflection of your worth.
5. Prepare for the Transition Gap
Here's something nursing school won't fully prepare you for: the gap between what you learn in the classroom and what you face on your first day as an RN. It's real, it's disorienting, and it catches almost every new graduate off guard.
From Classroom to Chaos introduces the concept of "transitional dissonance" — the psychological friction new nurses experience when their expected competency doesn't match their actual preparedness. Understanding that this gap is normal, not a personal failure, can prevent the spiral into self-doubt that drives many new nurses out within their first year.
Making the Transition From Student to Working RN offers blunt, practical advice for navigating the first months of practice — including how to handle difficult coworkers and how to advocate for yourself when the learning curve feels impossible.
And for a data-driven perspective, Increasing New Graduate Nurse Retention examines why so many new nurses leave and what nurse residency programs and structured support can do to change that. If your employer offers a residency program, take it seriously — the research shows it makes a measurable difference.
6. Choose Your School Like You'd Choose an Employer
Not all nursing programs are created equal — and the right fit goes beyond rankings and pass rates. The program that's best for you is the one that aligns with your values, learning style, and career goals.
Finding the Right Nursing School: Aligning Your Values with Your Education argues that factors like clinical diversity, faculty accessibility, and institutional culture matter just as much as accreditation and cost. A school that looks great on paper but doesn't support students in practice will leave you underprepared.
For those coming to nursing from another field, Transitioning to Nursing: Making the Leap from One Career to Another addresses the specific challenges career-changers face — from choosing the right program type to managing the identity shift that comes with starting over. Your previous career experience isn't a liability; it's an asset that will shape the kind of nurse you become.
7. Play the Long Game
Nursing school feels all-consuming while you're in it. But it's just the beginning. The nurses who build the most fulfilling careers are the ones who think beyond graduation from day one.
Embracing the Climb: From Cleaning Floors to a DNP is one of the most inspiring articles in the RN Journal archives — a nurse who started as a floor tech with no idea what a CNA was and worked his way to a Doctor of Nursing Practice. His story is proof that every step counts, even the ones that don't look like progress at the time.
Continuing education isn't optional in nursing — it's the difference between a career that grows and one that stagnates. How to Stay Current with Continuing Education provides a practical roadmap for lifelong learning, and Scheduling Time with Yourself to Advance Your Education tackles the hardest part: actually making time for it when you're already working full shifts.
The Bottom Line
Nursing school will test you in ways no other academic program can. It demands clinical precision and emotional resilience. Textbook knowledge and human connection. Technical skill and the ability to function on four hours of sleep.
But here's what every nurse in these articles would tell you: it's worth it. Not because it gets easier — but because you get stronger, more capable, and more certain that this is what you were meant to do.
The strategies above aren't shortcuts. They're the practices that separate students who merely survive nursing school from those who graduate ready to lead. Start with the ones that resonate, read the articles that speak to where you are right now, and remember — every nurse you admire was once exactly where you are.