Nursing School

[digitaljtothea]

Nurses out there (I need advice),
I just got into nursing school this semester, I worked my butt off to get good grades just so I could get in and now I'm so overwelmed! I'm making B's in two classes, an A in one, and I'm barely making a C in pathophysiology! Can any of you nurses give me some advice on studying that worked for you when you were in school? Please I need a pep talk and some good advice, I'm getting very discouraged!!! Thanks

 

[CurlyQ]

I'm not in nursing school but I'm in my last semester as an exercise science major. I'm taking Kinesiolgy and Injury Prevention and Post-rehabilitative Exercise, which requires a lot of memorization...which I should be doing right now! x( I think it really depends on what type of learner you are. I learn best by doing, so I struggle w/ the straight memorization stuff. The things that seem to work for me are re-writing my notes in a notebook or on cards (tedious but it seems to really help), and recording myself reading the notes and listening to them on my 50+ min drive to school. I also look for pattern in the words to make it easy to remember different things. Example: Mid trapeziUs, low trapeziUs, serratUs anterior = ->Upward rotators of the scapUla. I have some really wacky one's that only I would find helpful, but whatever works right?

Good luck w/ nursing school, I admire the commitment it takes to do that.

~Shannon

 

[naughtoj]

Well, I don't consider myself very good at studying cuz I hardly do it. LOL. Serious. I am one of those people that as long as I show up to class and LISTEN, I can usually do pretty good on tests with only about two hours total study time per test. I am an extreme auditory learner. Sometimes I have to re-read material to really "get it". But group learning is worthless to me and annoying.

I am in Block 2 of a four block ADN program and will graduate May 2007 if God is smiling on me. The actual classwork is easy for me, it is the clinical skill mastery that causes the real anxiety.. We have some check offs coming up on trach suctioning and central line something or other and I am freaking. I am also taking Pathophysiology II right now in the program. It is one of the more challenging classes but I do have an awesome teacher. Because I am so interested in all the material I very intently listen in class. I have friends who try to read the book or something while the teacher is lecturing and their grades show that they are not paying attention. If I studied more I could probably get strait A's, but I am fine with a mix of A's and B's. A 76% and your are kicked out of my program, as I am sure is the same with yours!

What are you doing in Patho right now?? Patho is really critical thinking somewhat, not so much memorization like A&P. For me, Patho is much easier than A&P cuz it is the real diseases and stuff, not just memorization of body parts. YUCK!

Maybe if you ask me some specific questions I can help you more??

BTW.......Nursing school is so so so so so so OVERWHELMING when you first get in (and even after) because you have to get used to everything...the weird tests, the huge amt of work in a small amt of time, the clinical skills.... everything in you is being tested. It is all TIME MANAGEMENT. A BIG HUGE TEST IN TIME MANAGEMENT. Master that and you will likely be a good nurse too. I, however, am still trying. My brain is my strength, time management my weakness. LOL. I am sure you are doing great for Block 1!!! :7

 

[ally1966]

Hello! I'm halfway through a BSN program, taking patho II with a critical care clinical this semester, along with psych lecture and clinical... and all I can say is -- yes! It's hard! One of our profs tells us that a nursing school C isn't the same as Cs in some other areas...and because we all had to overachieve to be accepted to our programs, it's very difficult to see anything less than an A. So I sometimes comfort myself with that reminder...but I still strive for those As!

I agree with Shannon that it's very helpful when you're studying to rewrite information, either full pages of notes or flash cards. And I sometimes draw diagrams or flow charts for myself to show how a process works. I think the act of figuring something out well enough to "chart" it can be good. I also have a couple of the "For Dummies" and "....Made Incredibly Easy" books. Sometimes reading a simplified explanation helps build the foundation for adding the complex information to. Basically, I think the more ways you expose yourself to the information, the better.

Janice -- I wish I had a touch of your auditory learning! And I have a classmate who basically has a photographic memory. THAT would be nice!!

Best of luck -- and know that you're not alone!
Allison

 

[Juliebeth]

Ditto to others' advice.

And if you can, get a few study buddies. We got four of us together once a week to go over the material, and would ask eachother questions that mimic the NCLEX test. I was always pretty adept at knowing what was really important, so I would re-read the material and write out questions beforehand. It was uncanny how many times my questions were found on our tests. It also helped me to teach what I had learned to whoever would listen...after I had explained something, I never forgot it.

If you don't have a book, like "Made Incredibly Easy", get an NCLEX study book and use that. It will help, not only for your present tests, but for later. Kaplan makes a good one, but I used several, including "NCLEX Made Incredibly Easy", and they have one just for patho as well.

HTH, Julie

 

[lesliew]

I agree with Julie. I had a study buddy and we motivated each other to continue on, even when we were so overwhelmed with clinical work and bogged down with tests that we just wanted to quit. The NCLEX study books also helped a lot.. When I took my boards (back in the days before they became computerized) our results were given a numerical grade. Nowadays, it's just pass or fail. Anyway, my study buddy and I passed the boards with flying colors and we passed within 5 points of each other. The NCLEX books made all the difference.

You have my sympathy and support. Nursing school was probably the toughest 4 years of my life! But it was so worth it!

 

[wendyjpa]

I've been a nurse for many years, and I remember how tough nursing school was. Especially if you are currently working (are you?). I agree with what others say about writing things down, repeating them, never never never procrastinate homework! Think everything thru, and understand it before you move on. I just started taking classes again to go on for my MSN and i'm having some organization problems myself!! I have been able to somehow get things straight, and it is from my constant notetaking, and I have a schedule book, I constantly write my little "goals" in it. EX: monday, read pages 26-36, review notes, do 3 discussion questions....

Anyway, good luck, and always feel free to ask questions!

Wendy