Working with a study group can be one of the most productive and enjoyable experiences you can have while in nursing school. Studying alongside classmates can help you better understand vital knowledge, and helping others understand a difficult topic can provide you with a tremendous sense of accomplishment and drive!

To get the benefits of a study group, however, you must first form one. While this may appear to be a simple task, forming an effective and focused study group necessitates a few prerequisites. Here are the five ways to form an effective study group.

1: During the first week of class, get people interested.

When it comes to studying in general, it is usually ideal to get started as soon as possible, and study groups are no exception. Spend the first week of class deciding who you want to be in your study group – pay attention to individuals who participate in class discussions, have done their reading ahead of time, and appear to be good students – then approach them with the idea. Don't ask for any commitments just yet; instead, tell them about your plan to form a group and see if they're interested.

2: Compile Contact Information

Once you've determined who would be a good fit for your study group, figure out the best way to contact them. If your nursing program uses a platform like Blackboard or Canvas, you can message classmates via the class roster function. You can check up on people's names to discover their email addresses if your institution has a campus-wide email server. If you are unable to locate someone's contact information using the means at your disposal, try catching them at the end of class one day and simply asking them to jot down their email or phone number for you.

3: Determine a time when everyone in the group will be available.

Once you've made contact with group members, and they've agreed to participate in the study group, the next step is to figure out when everyone in the group will be available to meet. This can be one of the most difficult aspects of building a good study group because everyone has various schedules and obligations to prioritize. Consider adopting an online application, such as Google Calendars, Doodle, or When2meet, that allows users to enter their schedules and then layers everyone's calendars on top of one another. Then you can find an open time window when everyone in the group should be available.

4: Commit to meeting regularly.

It is best to have an effective study group that meets at least once or twice a week. Setting frequent meetings will help group members get into the habit of attending regularly, as well as help your group stay up with the content taught in class and prevent you from falling behind. Meeting at the same place all the time can also help keep your group on track. Check to see whether your school's library or student center offers group study rooms that you can reserve so that your preferred place is always available.

5: Select One Mode Of Communication And Use It Consistently

You and your group mates may exchange more detailed contact information, such as phone numbers, or follow each other on social media profiles as you become more comfortable working together. This is a terrific approach to bring your study group together, but it might cause issues when it comes to communicating about meetings. Some of your students may prefer to keep their communications free of school-related contact, so it's critical to set limits on when and where the study group can be discussed.

Discuss the various ways you would all want to communicate with each other at your group's first study session — email, Groupme, texting, etc. – and then choose one form of communication and stick with it for any study group-related things that you need to discuss. You can prevent group members from feeling overwhelmed by the group's communications by using only one point of contact.

Conclusion

Being a part of a study group is one of the best ways to improve your grades, and following these steps will help you get a study group started right!