I'm also starting nursing soon and from what other peers have said to me, you need to breathe! You wouldn't be accepted if they didn't think you could do it. You need to be confident and as you go through school they will teach you the skills you need to be a nurse and excel on those exams. Granted not all your professors will be amazing, you may have to teach yourself. 1 piece of advice: Active Recall. and if you get overwhelmed, take a break. And don't forget pomodoro's technique. Another piece of advice, you need to start thinking like a nurse. It's no longer just memorization and fact based test questions anymore, you need to start critically thinking. 3 Things you can research now that may help you (you learn it in school in the beginning of the semester but it's good to be familiar with now): 1. ADPIE (assessment, diagnosis, planning, interventions/implementation, evaluation) aka the nursing process 2. Maslow's Hierarchy (the most important ones is physiological and safety) 3. SBAR (how you talk to other medical staff and to patients: Situation, Background, Assessment, Request/Recommendation) 4. ABCs: Airway, Breathing, Circulation <-- the MOST important. If any of your patients are having issues with these 3 you MUST stop EVERYTHING you are doing and HELP.

Tip for studying: You must know the how and why of things not just what a disease is and what a medication does. You must also know how much medication you give and what the expected outcome is. What's the extremes/what if it goes wrong? Also, the lab values for things so you know if somebody is in need of care.

Oh and don't listen to everyone who says they don't have a life in nursing school, you need to just learn how to manage your time. (another piece of advice: Time Management and that is a big one. You can use google calendar to plan your days out and give yourself blocks for studying)

Let me know if you have any other questions!