1st medsurg exam :(

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I took my 1st exam of the semester and got a 76 :( my first C! I realized that I approached studying for this exam completely wrong because when it came to the questions I didn't have a lot of the background knowledge to answer them.

What tips if any do you guys have for acing these exams?

I'm already studying or reviewing material that we went over after the exam (HTN) to stay on top of everything so that studying will not be overwhelming for the 2nd exam.

On a more positive note I start clinicals on Thursday so I will be on a med surg unit in a hospital. Any tips for the 2nd semester of nursing (med surg) & or clinicals would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you! :)

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I studied my way right out of nursing school. No lies. Went above and beyond and spent so much time trying to learn things that weren't in the book, that when the test came - I felt I studied everything but the printed material. Really focus on THE PRINTED MATERIAL. Do the work book if you have one. Side Effects, Class, adverse reactions, what its used for. Simplify and Make sure you know what it is. Start Now, don't fall test out with a 79.8% when you need an 80% like I did :) Sleep well, don't stress. It's the beginning. THE PRINTED MATERIAL. End of the chapter reviews and all of the little quizzes in book. Good Luck.

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As for clinicals. DIVE IN! Don't wait. If 20 pt's need a foley cath - you better try and do all 20. Get that practice. Make it second nature. Really take time to focus on that patient and their rX list. See if you can find errors or why they are taking everything. Any contraindications? Look over labs - make each day a mystery and try and solve each puzzle. It never gets old once you fall in love it.

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Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

Make sure you completely understand the objectives for the unit you're studying. Most questions are going to be centered around the objectives.

Go to the publisher website for your text and see if the supplemental info that comes with your text has NCLEX-style questions.

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@Orangeman4 & @ SopranoKris thanks for the advice guys really appreciate it!! :)

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Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

Also, if your school offers supplemental instruction or tutoring, take advantage of it.

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I fill out this chart for Med Surg & focus on assessment data, pathophys (if I know the pathophys then I can figure out the treatment while taking an exam) & interventions.

How to Study in Nursing School: Format for Nursing Process

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I found M/S insanely difficult. It's really a two-pronged attack: you need to know the materials, plus you need to conquer the NCLEX-style questions, cuz you thought you conquered NCLEX-ish questions when you passed Fundamentals. Think again, M/S dials the thermostat way up. So even if you know the materials, sometimes you still can't get the question right. I know that sounds paradoxical, but if all it required was knowing your materials, a lot of my classmates would've done a lot better in M/S. It's notorious as the weed-out course at my school.

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Be a social person! Get to know more nurses who might have background on your subject. I'm sure they would be happy to help!

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@SopranoKris They do offer tutoring so I'm going to look into it!

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@BusyBSN2B Thank you! I printed it out and will incorporate it into my studies.

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@NuGuyNurse2b Yes I think this is the semester that will weed out a lot of people. So I've already started studying for the next exam which is like 2 weeks away.

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