[adamsmom]

HI
I have a big test coming up it covers muskeloskelatal, pain, death and dying,sleep.
Last test I failed so I have to do great on this one. Last test I studied my heart out.
I am reading over my notes and going back to the book when I am not sure of an idea or to elaborate on something but I am not sure if memorization is the way to go. That is what I did last time I memorized my notes. That is how I got and A in my college classes but I am not sure if it is the way to go in nursing school. The questions they ask are usually not definition type questions so memorizing everything does not really help right?
As long as you know the subject and understand the ideas and meanings that should help with the test right?
I do not know anymore I am just very worried but I am trying my best.

[dijmart]

once you basically have the info. down, then start doing practice nclex type questions to get you in the frame of mind for critically thinking in that area. they want you to be able to apply the info. you have learned so you are correct in that just memorizing at this point is not enough, do practice questions like i said so you can "apply the info." in situations/senarios
good luck!

[Glimmer]

I used to be a straight A student... I could go to lecture and take great notes... do most of my reading and ace every test. Heck I could pretty much quote the teacher word for word when it came down to it. That doesnt work in nursing school though! LOL I learned that with the first test... so I studied even harder for the second... I got an 80%... that hurt. I had never studied so hard in my life. I then realized I was studying wrong. But at the same time I dont think there is a right way to study. Each person has a technique that works for them. Since I figured out mine I have gotten a 88 and 86 on the last two tests. They still arent the best grades but they are passing and they are above class averages.

This is what has worked for me. I do my reading... although usually not really in depth before class. Our instructors tend to tell you to forget this in the book, dont worry about that, etc and it is hard if you have already started to tuck it away. Esp if they are going to teach you a different way than the book did. So I just kinda skim over it and start working on the vocab words. That was the key to a lot of my studying. Know the vocabulary. You would be surprised how easy it is to rule out answers if you just know how to "translate" them. You have to do more than memorize the words though.. you have to know how they are used.

Then I go to class and take notes. Our lectures arent the best but I have learned what to look for with my instructors and how they teach. After class I then get out my highlighter and go back through and read the chapter and highlight what was focused on in class. I will sometimes even use two different colors... one for what the power point notes points out and the other for what the instructor stressed. I know both will be on the test but I better dang well know it how it is taught to me above all else.

Then I break it down into small areas. Like right now we are doing Acid/Base disturbances. So I started with Resp. Acidosis and then started trying to apply it. I use the vocabulary when I apply it. But I look for the s/s of each... know how to recognize it... etc... and use scenerios whenever possible. Knowing in your head that Mr. Smith has _____ (whatever s/s) and therefore you would _______ (nursing implemenation) really does help.

What it comes down to believe it or not is knowing your nursing process. If you can remember the steps it really will help you walk through each situation.

I think what you might have working aganist you on your next test is that really your chapters do not have a major tie between them. Sure you could tie some aspects of them but they dont flow well with each other. That does make it a little harder to study. BUT... if you take them one chapter at a time and pace yourself. Cramming at the end wont work on big tests.... and in the end it does nothing for you since most people can not remember the material once the test is handed in.

The biggest thing with every nursing test I have seen or heard about is being able to think your way through it. Most are tests on logic not necessarily content, IMO... and they are looking for your ability to recognize key items that not necessarily every lay person would Basically.. you have to start slowly reprogramming the way you think. It is hard... but it is odd how it works. It just started to kinda sink in one day. It now drives my family crazy because I can pick out details they overlook in most situations... and of course the use of therapeutic communication is enough to drive some of them bonkers!

Good luck on your test!!!!! Remember to stay calm (easier said than done) and dont stress out about it (esp right before the test) because it will make you much more likely to make a careless error. You either know it or you dont... and if you dont then you know what you need to work on. YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!

[Jolie]

I found this method to be most effective:

ASAP after class, I would go home and recopy my notes. Doing so immediately allowed me to "solidify" the information in my mind, clarify uncertain points by referring back to the text, and take note of what I needed to discuss with the instructor.

Prior to the test, I would recopy them again as a means of studying. I guess I need to "see" information in writing to comprehend it. Simply reading my notes and/or the text was never enough for me to "get" the information.

When there was a list of things to learn such as the cranial nerves, or the steps in the nursing process, I made flash cards. I graduated with 3 sets of notes on everything, and flash cards out the wazoo. I wonder how many trees I personally killed in my quest for a nursing education, but it was very effective for me.

Good luck!

[Daytonite]

I am going to say that you are starting out correctly. You have to learn the facts. And, if memorization of your notes is the way you do that, then that is what you need to do. However, from the last nursing test(s) you took you also know that learning the facts isn't enough. Nursing tests generally have what are called "application" questions on them. They are trying to test your critical thinking skills. They are trying to see if you can determine a best action to take when you are given a situation and left on your own to figure out what is the most important thing to do next. This requires processing a number of things in your mind.

• Facts
• Knowledge of a medical disease (signs and symptoms)
• Complications of medical diseases
• Knowledge of how a medical disease is treated
• Complications of the medical care that can occur
• Nursing process (the 5 steps)
• Priority

That's a lot to consider for one problem on a test out of, what, 50 questions? Basically, you end up doing a mini-care planning for each application problem. As much as students hate writing care plans, it has to be understood that the written care plan is nothing more than the physical documentation of the thinking process that should be going on in our minds every time we are presented with a patient problem. Our thinking process is just faster than our pens (or, computer keyboards). Many of these problems boil down to what point in the nursing process you are at, so you need to know those five steps: assessment, the problem identification along with formulation of goals and outcomes, planning the care which includes determining nursing interventions, implementation and evaluation. And, remember, it re-cycles, so if some nursing intervention hasn't worked you go back through the steps of the nursing process again and re-work them to come up with a new plan of action.

Then, the part that trips most people up on tests is that sometimes the BEST answer is not one of your answer choices. Instructors play around with your minds by taking that wonderful logical processing and throwing a monkey wrench in it. Your mission, student nurses, is to figure out how that monkey wrench has now messed up the logical process and get back on the road to the logical conclusion. That is where your knowledge of the nursing process helps. You have to mentally ask yourself, "if I already did this, then what would the next logical step be?", or, "what are all the complications of this drug and is this problem the patient is having a side effect of the drug?" and look for the answers that way. Do you see what I am getting at. You are not only having to know the new information for your tests, but also all the other information that came before it.

Many students find using a book with practice NCLEX questions in it helpful in learning to think this way. It might help you to make a list of the things I just put above this and see if it doesn't work to lead you to the correct answers on the problems you got wrong on previous tests to show you that this is the way to get to the right answers. And, then memorize the process. I guarantee you that as a practicing professional nurse you will need to master this thinking skill in order to be successful in a career an RN. You will learn it by barely passing tests in school or by trial and error on the job.

Here is a current thread you should check out that addresses this very similar thing:
http://allnurses.com/forums/f50/nursing-101-question-how-would-you-answer-187954.html

[jov]

Originally Posted by adamsmom

I have a big test coming up

stick with it and you will get it
on my first tests, I could not pick any of the four answers. they all looked just as good to me.
Now I am in third semester and scoring 52/50 on my Med-Surg tests. Plus when patients ask me question like why do I have to have a PICC line, I find I really do have the answers in my head.

don't be too hard on yourself, try to roll with the punches as first
you are learning critical thinking

but you will get it!

[Megsd]

I am not a good memorizer and I am not good at learning by reading. What I do is take notes in class, read the book for clarification or if there's something the instructor wants me to know from the book (my profs this quarter don't test from the book much). Then I rewrite all my notes the week before the test or so. If I write it, I remember it. If I don't have time to handwrite it, I try to type it out, though this doesn't work as well for me at all.

Then what I do is sit with my notes and cover up everything but the subject heading and verbally, out loud (which drives my roommate nuts) recite everything I know on that subject. Then I uncover my notes and checkmark things I remembered to say and circle things I forgot to say so I can review those later. That way I'm not excessively reviewing stuff I already know, and I don't get confused about what I already know and what I don't.

Another thing I try to do, since I don't memorize, is try and figure out WHY something is so. If I can understand the pathogenesis behind a disease, the S/S make sense. If I can understand what S/S are present, and which ones are most important, I can figure out my nursing interventions. Sometimes on exams I have to skip back and forth over these steps, so it helps to have a working, rather than memorized, knowledge of the info.

[Dee2007]

I had so much trouble picking out the right answer out of two, just as you my whole second semester in medsurg. Now I've learned if you know your (APIE) assesment, planning, interventions and evaluation for each situation it's a great plus. I had to repeat the class in second semester because I couldn't take or know how to take the instructors test. It was a great setback but it worked out for the best. She gave me this advise and now it's so much easier. Good luck and let me know if it helps.

DeAnna