The key to excelling your studies and keeping stress to a minimum is organisation.
This will put you in good stead when you transition to your graduate year.
Here’s our tips compiled by experienced nurses and recent graduates to help you.
To do
- Use a filing cabinet or expansion file to store important documents, such as:
- university transcripts
- immunisations records
- police check and working with children check
- placement reviews
- current resume or CV
- copies of any faculty or university policies
- copies of your course guides (usually found on your university student portal)
- Acquaint yourself with your university (especially if you’re a first year):
- attend orientation sessions
- join your nursing and/or midwifery societies at O-Week
- familiarise yourself with support services, e.g. academic study support, counselling, disability support, student advocacy/rights
- Download the ANMF app for the medication calculator and shift planner for clinical placements and/or your classes. The notes function can record due dates for assignments.
- Review your social media accounts. You will be bound to professional codes of conduct, so it’s worth always being mindful of your social media habits:
- are your photos and posts set to public or private?
- does it reveal your personal information?
- go through old posts and review content (photos and posts) for suitability
- who have you friended? Delete people you don’t know in real life.
- review your name – consider using your middle name as your surname to make it harder for patients to identify you
- Subscribe to professional body communications to update your knowledge and add to your CPD hours. Subscribe/bookmark newsletters from:
- Safer Care Victoria newsletters
- Commonwealth Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer newsletter
- Victoria’s Chief Mental Health Nurse
- Victoria’s Chief Health Officer
- Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
- Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine communiques
- DHHS alerts, advisories, newsletters and digests
- Regularly check your email for communications from ANMF or your employer
- Follow ANMF on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
