An organized nursing binder is a must-have item to survive nursing school. There will be tons of extra papers, handouts, and notes you want to keep. The more organized these documents are, the better prepared you are.
Making an organized and efficient nursing binder can be a daunting task, but don’t fret; we are here to help! Here’s a step-by-step guide to follow for success:
Step 1: Choose the right size binder
This is ultimately up to your preference but here are two things to consider: would you like to carry a big binder for all of your classes, or would you prefer to use a separate binder for each class?
Most of the time, students find it convenient to use a half-inch binder so they are easier to carry around. If this sounds suitable to you, choose two half-inch binders for school; one for your morning classes and one for your afternoon classes.
If you’d rather keep it all in one place, then get a larger binder with all of your essentials. Leave any notes you want to keep but won’t need in class at home, organized in another type of folder so you aren’t walking around with things you don’t need
Step 2: Customize the front and back cover
When you’re choosing your binders, make sure there’s a clear pocket in the front so that you can customize and label each one. This allows for a ton of possibilities! You can use that pocket for your class schedule, the class syllabus, or even just pictures of friends and family that make you happy when you’re stressed.
Step 3: Divide into sections
This may be the most important aspect of having an organized nursing binder. First, determine how many sections you’ll need. Ideally, you need 3 sections aside from your class sections. These sections should be for your weekly schedule, loose paper, and a section for assignments and reminders.
From there, add sections depending on the number of your classes. Color code and label them for easy use.
Step 4: Keep track of your notes
Once the school year starts, it’s easy for your nursing binder to turn to a bunch of loose papers that you have to shuffle through every class period. A good way to keep this from happening is to tape a piece of blank paper to the front of your section (a sticky note or sticky list would work great, too) and keep track of the contents in that section.
When you add notes, make a table of contents so you can easily locate what you need without wasting time.
A well organized and efficient nursing binder is the first step to conquering nursing school like a boss! Get organized, find what works for you, and keep up with maintenance on your folder so you’ll never have to stress about your binder again! Do you have a way you organize your notes? Let us know in the comments!
