‘The more you do it, the more you get used to it’: Nursing students discuss balancing clinicals, academics

For Jordan Kaplan, a junior nursing major, the key to balancing a full courseload with 16 hours of clinical rotations per week and a part-time job as a patient care technician is taking time for herself.

“You should still have fun, socialize and sleep because that’ll make everything else easier, and [you’ll] do your best,” Kaplan said. 

As part of Pitt’s BSN program, which is ranked 10th in the nation, students are required to complete more than 1,200 hours of clinical rotations during their time at the University, typically beginning clinicals in the first semester of sophomore year. 

Clinical experiences consist of “supervised learning sessions in real-world healthcare environments” and are supervised by preceptors, experienced practitioners and educators within the school of nursing. As a part of the clinical program, nursing students rotate through different types of healthcare facilities, such as a children’s hospital, rehabilitation facility, cancer center and an inpatient psychiatric institute.  

In addition to working roughly sixteen hours a week for nursing clinicals, Kaplan works about eight hours a week as a patient care technician. While she found balancing two jobs and academics to be difficult during her sophomore year, it has gotten “a lot easier” over time. She said carving time out of the school day to finish assignments helps her stay on track.

“[I get] schoolwork done in between classes, when [I] have a break,” Kaplan said. 

Chloe Stein figured out that keeping a structured schedule helps her balance nursing clinicals with academics. Stein, a junior nursing major, said working the same hours every week “works best” for her schedule. 

“Sticking to a strict schedule and planning out it makes [getting] homework assignments done easier, but if something really comes up, I have someone take [my] shift or schedule around it,” Stein said. 

Zoe Fisher, a junior nursing major, uses lists and prioritization to balance her many commitments as a nursing student. 

“If I have assignments that are months away but super easy, I’ll get those done first, and then they’re out of the way,” Fisher said.

Stein said while working long hours and taking classes can be challenging at first, she believes it is beneficial in helping students improve their time management skills. 

“It seems hard, but definitely do it,” Stein said. “The more you do it, the more you’re going to get used to it, and the better you’ll get at time management, which definitely even helps with studying and grades.” 

Fisher has found the clinical workload to become more manageable with experience. 

“I struggled a lot last year because I had a lot going on,” Fisher said. “But I feel like having that structured schedule and the knowledge of last year has also helped me to be a little bit better this year.”

For Fisher, one effective way to lessen the stress of being a student worker is turning to others in the same situation for support. 

“Rely on your friends and your classmates a lot of the time, [because] they’re struggling just as much as you are,” Fisher said. “It’s nice to have that support system. I feel like we struggle together all the time.”