How To Stay Healthy When Studying To Become A Nurse

Being a nursing student is stressful, especially when you’re in your senior year. Stress can lead to a lot of health complications such as eating disorders or sleep deprivation. If you want to become a nurse and attend to other people’s needs, you must take care of your own health first.

Here are ways to do it:

1. Have a Healthy Diet

Whether you’re attending an online or a local nursing school, you need to eat healthy. Nursing institutions, whether local or online, such as Regis College, abide by academic requirements in order to maintain high-quality educational programs. Because of this, you may find some subjects difficult to pass or finish. To resolve such problems, you need to keep your stomach full of healthy food to make your mind healthy as well.

When you’re eating healthy, you can increase your academic performance since a healthy diet has an impact on your mental state. Avoiding foods with high fats such as processed foods can help you reduce depression since these fats can cause your neurotransmitters to be inflamed. These neurotransmitters are responsible for regulating your moods. When you have a good and stable mood, you can effectively work on your academic requirements.

Here are some healthy foods that can boost your brain and memory:

  • Fatty Fish – Considered as a brain food. These include fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids such as sardines, trout, and salmon. Omega-3 is essential for your memory since these fats are used by your brain. Moreover, it reduces the chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease or other age-related mental decline illnesses.
  • Turmeric – It contains curcumin, which can benefit your brain by improving your memory and boosting your dopamine levels. It also helps your brain cells grow in order to avoid age-related mental decline.
  • Broccoli – Contains antioxidants and vitamin K. It protects your brain from damage and improves your memory.
  • Nuts – Contain vitamin E, antioxidants, and healthy fats that can sharpen your memory, as well as improve your heart.

2. Exercise Regularly

Although you might feel overwhelmed with your studies, you must stay physically active. Not only will it keep you healthy, but it also comes with great benefits. Here are the reasons why you need to exercise regularly despite your busy student life:

  • Relieves stress. Whatever year you’re in, you may feel stressed from time to time. To combat being depressed, exercise will improve your mood as it releases serotonin and endorphins. These can relieve stress, which can help you achieve and succeed in your goals as a nursing student.
  • Enhances focus and concentration. Being physically active can help improve your focus, which is necessary for your classes. You are more likely to retain the things you have learned with an active physical lifestyle.
  • Develops brain cells. Exercise improves the connections of neurons in your brain, and boosts cell development. As a result, you can improve your grades and cognitive test performance.

3. Have Enough Sleep

Nursing students have been known to be sleep-deprived because of their workload. When you don’t have enough sleep, you’re more likely to experience memory problems, irritability, impaired immune functions, hallucinations, and pains. Three to five hours of sleep is not recommended as it heightens your risk of losing focus and concentration. When this happens, your grades and health may decline. What’s suggested is for students to sleep at least seven hours every night.

If you’re having trouble sleeping at night, you should establish a nightly routine such as the following:

  • Shut down stimulating activities. You must avoid activities such as watching TV, browsing the net, checking emails or social media, and others, especially those that involve using backlit devices. These backlit devices are telling your brain that it’s daytime, so it keeps you awake.
  • Create the right environment for sleep. Make your bedroom dark enough that it tells your brain that it’s night time. A quiet environment can also help train your brain that it’s time for bed. These routines can precondition your mind and body to be relaxed.
  • Monitor your sleep. If you know your sleeping patterns, then you know how many more hours you need. To stabilize your sleep schedule, practice whether you should sleep early or wake up later.

Conclusion

As a nursing student, you need to keep up with the workload of your chosen course, while at the same time not neglecting your health. Whether you’re feeling stressed or not, you must keep your mind and body healthy so that you can quickly catch up with the pace of your studies.

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