Study Tips From Former Nursing Students
GET THE MOST OUT OF CLASSES
- During even the most boring lecture, look interested. The secret of a
good image is striving to be that which you wish to appear.
- Remember, some teachers are just jerks. Deal with it. Learning how to
deal with jerks is a good skill to cultivate in any discipline.
- Introduce yourself to your instructors. You don't want to just be a
"face in the crowd.
GET THE MOST FROM YOUR BOOKS
- Take your materials out of your house to study. Get away from
distractions, undone dishes, radio and TV. The doughnut shop or all
night cafe will offer quiet and ample amounts of coffee.
- Read nursing journals and magazines. Often current articles will
compliment your text and make the information more easily understood.
- Use individual sheets of paper or large index cards to make a file of
disease/conditions and their treatments. List etiology, signs and
symptoms, diagnostic tests, interventions, etc. and keep them in a
binder for future reference as well as present study.
- Take notes from your notes! After taking notes in class or from the
book, put away the book and tape player and outline the notes.
- Use NCLEX review materials as your study
guide. Sort questions by topic as you go through school and study those
questions pertaining to your current lesson. It will help you learn and
give you a head start when it's time to schedule your NCLEX .
- Turn course objectives (as found in the beginning of each chapter or
from the course syllabus) into questions - instant study guide!
THRIVE IN CLINICALS
- Whether you don't know how to make a bed or have been an EMT for
years, remember everyone begins clinicals as different levels of
experience. Focus on where you are going, what you will learn - not on
how much (or little) you know now.
- If you have trouble remembering protocols, lab values or even your
patient's name :) write them down on index cards and keep them in your
pocket. The more you use them the more you study them.
- In Psych rotation, take a moment to center yourself before working
with patients. Most respond best to a calm focused approach.
- Study your instructors. The more you know them the more likely you are
to understand them and what they are expecting from you.
- If you don't know how to do a procedure, look it up, check the
protocols, ask for help. Instructors would rather be
"bothered" walking you through the procedure than fixing the
mess or hearing the complaints if you do something wrong.
- Be helpful to the nurse you are assigned to for clinical. Take all the
vitals, never contradict publicly, don't ask constant questions (that's
what you have instructors for) In general, kiss-up! The nurse will be
glad of the help and be more likely to help you.
- Don't make your supervising nurse hold your hand. Even if you're
scared and have never done something before, jump in and do anything
suggested.
- Volunteer information! Instructors like to be informed about your
patients. If they can trust you to keep them informed, you are likely to
be trusted to work independently.
- Explore volunteer opportunities in your area. It ain't just for candy
stripers any more. Many clinics and outreach organizations are
completely run by volunteers. The experience can help you shine on the
floor.
ACE THE TEST
- Take your tests in comfort and style Wear comfortable loose fitting
clothing on test day. Loose fitting does not mean sloppy. Do your
confidence level a favor and dress for success. Cardigan sweaters, full
skirts and stretch pants are comfortable without compromising your
professional style and attitude.
- If you need to take issue with the instructor over a point on a test,
do it privately. To dispute a mark in public will embarrass them and
make them want to be proved right. And bring it up in the context that
you need the correct information, not that you’re going for that one
little point.
- When the instructor and the text conflict, offer both answers on the
test when possible. If not (as in multiple choice), most instructors
will allow you to approach them quietly during the test. You can display
your knowledge and ask which answer is being requested.
- Ask former students about an instructor’s testing style before
taking that first exam.
ADJUST YOUR ATTITUDE
- Buy a good personal planner and note all projects, deadlines and tests
in it. Plan a realistic schedule and follow it. Just take one day at a
time, confident that every day tasks bring you closer to your goal
- Being a nursing student is harder than being a nurse in many ways.
Just relax, don’t sweat the small stuff, and be receptive to patient
and staff needs.
- Replace your fear, anxiety, and worry with joy. Have fun with what you
know. Have fun learning neat new stuff. You can’t stop bad things from
happening but you can learn from it. You can enjoy your new role.
- Don’t give up. Failure is not an option!
- Graduation is not a goal. It is simply the natural consequence of your
actions!
- Set the tone of the clinical day right. Press uniform, lay out clothes
and shoes, get essential items together (always in the same place) and
pack your bag the night before. You'll feel "with it" and
together the next day. It’s a great confidence builder.
FORMING AND USING A STUDY GROUP
- FORM A STUDY GROUP! Especially one you can stick with through
graduation. Develop an invested interest in each other and divide and
conquer the huge amount of info Nursing students are expected to learn.
- Go through your notes together. Sometimes someone else puts
information down in an especially memorable way. Sometimes someone else
catches something you missed.
- Sit in the front row! Most study groups form from those you associate
with during classes. So select your lab partner with care and sit in the
front row with the students who are (or want to be) brilliant.
- Divide and conquer! Assign a portion of each chapter or
assignment to each member of your group. Each person is to make up study
questions for their portion and distribute copies to the others. Presto!
Your own practice exam!
- Network with students ahead of you for information on courses and
instructors. A little foreknowledge can go a long way.
- Make quizzes and ask each other questions about your subject. Reward
yourself for the hard work and studying you have done along with a
successful test - we all know they are not at all easy!!!!!!!
- Join our student nurse forums and share
questions, tips and experiences with other students as well as
experienced nurses
USE TECH KNOWLEDGE
- Tape the lectures on audiocassette. Then listen to the lecture again
while you rewrite your notes. You'd be surprised what you missed the
first time.
- Read your clinical notes into a tape recorder by topic in a concise,
repeatable form. ASK QUESTIONS on tape that you can answer when you
listen to it. Listen to tapes on your way to clinicals in your car or on
a headset walking to class. You can even save them to be used for NCLEX
review.
- Search out and use web resources in your research papers. Also get the
free learning software available from FTP sites on the net.
- Use your e-mail account to communicate with instructors. You are
likely to get a well crafted, concise answer to your concerns if they
must be put in writing. It also eliminates phone tag and restrictions to
office hours.
- Some software and database programs allow you to create a template to
your specifications. You can make forms for care plans, assessments,
process recordings, any standard paperwork. Then all you need to do is
fill in the blanks and print it up.
WHEN YOU ALSO HAVE A FAMILY
-
- Lower your standard of housekeeping. You don’t need to make the beds
every day as long as your sheets are clean. You want the place clean
enough to stay healthy and organized enough to find your shoes in the
morning. Every thing else is just petty pride.
- Care and upkeep of a significant other is important. Tell your SO how
much you appreciate them and count on them. When they do something you
find helpful - THANK THEM. Remember, you’re in this together.
- If you have all day care (not hourly) use it! Drop the kids off when
the doors open and STUDY. It helps the kids and you if you have a
regular time you reliably pick them up though.
- Shop around for reliable daycare. Most facilities will send a child
home "sick" with a touch of diarrhea or have an arbitrary
degree temp as the "sick" point. Have a back up plan if your
child is "under the weather"
- Look around your community for activities you kids can enjoy while you
are in class or studying. Little league, after school programs and
community events are all good possibilities.
- Set aside family time and protect it - even when you have a paper due
the next day. Set aside study time and protect it - even if it means
hiring a babysitter or trading babysitting duty with a friend.
- Enforce a "family homework time" let everyone study together
at the table. You will set a good example of study habits and have some
extra family time together.
- From Jill Gosselin: Trying to attend nursing school and raise 4 kids
really is a challenge. People always ask me how I do it. Well, you have
to be organized and have lots of patience. I never study when my kids
are awake. My kids need me to be mom, not student during the day. I do
have schedules for them and 8:00 p.m. is bedtime. I do my studying from
about 8:30 to 12:30 each night. I have no distractions then and I retain
what I am studying. This really has been the key for me and I am proud
to say I have one semester of school left. Stay focused and organized!
Thanks, Jill, for this great tip!
DISCLAIMER: Except where specifically credited, the above suggestions have been
reprinted from Angela Pearch's STUDY HELPS publication, which she developed from the public posts of SNURSE-L. Information reprinted here is taken from
the free domain article with her blessings to copy, share and use freely. Thank you to the following contributors: Michelle Scott, Phil Stalling, Tracey L. Skinner, Mary
Carroll, Glen Jett, Alice Rose, Ray Jones, Randy Church, Sheila Stump, Craig Overpeck, Mary E. Winters, Ray Constantine, Michael Smart, Nellie (?), Gary Michalosky, Vince Reynolds, Ryan White, Michael Truitt, Dave Selin, Jenny Jacobson, Mary Parker Debra L. Topham,
Mary Carrol Christina M. Hoffman, Natasha Hauptman, Judy Blessing, Joycelyn Coats, Brenda Francis, Paul W. DeMarco Leon Guidry, Mickey Pullen, Anne McMillan, Heather Orpana
|
STUDENT RESOURCES
