Nursing

Nursing School Tutoring Programs: What Are Your Options?

NursingJuly 26, 2014

Tutoring programs may or may not be important to you, depending on your learning style. If you're the kind of person who benefits from a solid review after the initial presentation, if you like studying with an expert who can provide additional information or if you need extra help to really nail a topic, then a tutor might help you be successful in nursing school. Here's an overview of tutoring options while attending nursing school.

Peer Tutoring

Some nursing programs have their own system to help students get the tutoring they need, and others let the students coordinate tutoring on their own. If you feel that you'll need significant tutoring, you should look for a nursing college with a student resource center that is free to students as part of their tuition. These resource centers are typically staffed by peer tutors, which means that the tutor is a fellow student who has passed the class with an "A" and has both a good handle on the material and some training in tutoring techniques.

The benefit of a peer tutor is that he or she is familiar with not only the material, but the format of the class and the requirements of the professor. Sometimes the struggle isn't with the material itself, but figuring out what the professor is looking for in quality work. A peer tutor can point the way like no one else can. There's also a sense of camaraderie in that the students are all working toward a common goal — completing nursing school. If you are academically successful in a few subjects, you may become a tutor yourself, which can help solidify the information in your mind.

Professional Tutor

It is pretty rare that a school will hire a nursing professional to tutor nursing students. This is because a licensed registered nurse can make quite a bit more working in the profession than a college is willing to pay them to tutor nursing students. The truth is that nursing is a specialized field, and only someone who has received the education is able to tutor others.

Your school may not provide a professional tutor, but you can seek them out on your own through Internet tutoring websites, local nursing educators and even by posting an ad online. Many nurses will be willing to share with you what they know, especially if you're willing to compensate them for their time. If this is an option that appeals to a few other classmates, see if you can get a group rate with the tutor so you can save money and learn from each other as well.

Study Group

If neither option is available to you, organize a study group with your classmates. That way you can review the material, ask questions, and explain what you know to other students as well. If there aren't any tutoring programs at your school, you can ask professors to recommend students who might make good tutors and pay them much less than you would a professional tutor.

Nursing can cover some difficult topics, and eventually everyone will need some extra review of one topic or more. So don't feel embarrassed! Get the help that you need to be the best nurse you can be.

Photo Source: Flickr

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