for all you new nursing students

Nursing Students General Students

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To all you new nursing students or first semester students-here are some things I wish I knew before I started off.

1.Don't start off without having some idea of Nursing School in terms of how to approach your study skills and the test-taking part.

2.In nursing school its a different ball game all together you are forced to take up a different studying style than what you may have been quite used to while studying for your pre-reqs.

3.Purchase a Nursing student success guide many publications offer such books.Read through all of the chapters develop a study pattern and take some of the critical thinking practice questions usually seen at the back of the guide.

I learned from my mistakes of not knowing, lacked in early preparation and therefore got myself all depressed and exhausted. I wanted to share this info with all you new students because there is very little you can do once you get started with school.

If others in this forum have some of their own tips to add inorder to prep the newcomers pls feel free to do so.

Good Luck! Maria.

Specializes in NICU.

Thanks :).

I admit, I'm getting a little worried about it all. . . and I don't start until August. I'm going to get as prepared for it as I can--at home as well as at school (you know, planning meals that the kids can throw together, lots of new underwear so that if the laundry doesn't get done. . .), but the lecture and clinical aspect has me on edge. Is the clinical part really hard? Any way to prepare for that?

Specializes in Med/Surg, Dialysis.

Maria22,

Thanks for the tips!

Just curious how did your study style change from taking the pre-req's to actual nursing courses? What types of study habits did you adopt that helped you?

Cathy :)

Specializes in OB, lactation.

Here is the mother of all advice threads for students... moderators never did sticky it for some reason but I think it's great!!! I am going to put the link in a new post of its own & bump it up so everyone can see it.

https://allnurses.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43148&page=1&pp=10&highlight=advice

Cheers,

Anna

Specializes in L&D all the way baby!.

This is a great thread! Thanks!!

Specializes in Neuro, Critical Care.

Hi everyone!!

Im so glad you made this a post!! I was actually going to post something similar! Here is my situation....i graduated last year with my BA...about 3 weeks ago I went to a school to inquire about their BSN program and got talked into applying for the MN program. I knew that the program started in May so I assumed id be applying for next year until halfway through the interview when the admissions counselor told me I better get busy bc classes started in two weeks!!

...classes starts next monday and im sooo nervous...the classes are going to go really fast and I have 9! I will be in class for 8 hours a day at my MN school then m-th I have to go to the local cc to finish up AP2 and micro (will be there till about 8pm)...then this summer I have to take ap3...so this quarter i'll have 11 classes! I dont know if i will be able to handle it...

Ive always had a certain study style but now im getting nervous that it wont work as well now, I really have no idea what to expect...my class schedule is sooo confusing already...some of my classes meet every other week, some meet on certain days of the semester, some meet 2ce a week...its crazy!!! School hasnt even started and i already have 4 different pre assignments! im not complaining bc I am very thankful to even have this opportunity but im getting stressed already! I went to the book store today and spent 400 and got 3 books, 2 study guides and a drug guide and that was only half of them I still have another 400 to pay for books (5 more books)! I also need the hep. series and my school insurance wont pay for them..sigh...also i still have to take the GRE and pass a nutrition test...eek...someone give some time management tips! also i want to find some time each day for physical excersize but with my 10 hr school schedule and the weekends and evenings reserved for studying i dont see how i will fit it in..thank goodness I dont work! advice anyone???

Specializes in ICU/CCU/SICU.

Thanks so much for the tips...I was wondering how I should approach nursing school

Some of the studying styles that I think are vital or may be I should rephorifice that to thinking processes that will help while studying are to explore to why's and how's of a fact this usually relates back to your anatomy & physiology or nursing principles.You must try to recognize differences-memorization alone will not do the job-identifying the causes and why they occur is essential. I'm still not perfect at mastering these skills I still struggle with them especially when I'm taking tests. In fact my biggest struggle all this semester has been the tests because it involves only critical thinking which I have never done before in my pre-req's classes.

Maria22,

Thanks for the tips!

Just curious how did your study style change from taking the pre-req's to actual nursing courses? What types of study habits did you adopt that helped you?

Cathy :)

Specializes in Cath Lab/Critical Care.

I agree with Maria22... critical thinking is the only way to pass tests in nursing...you have to be able to read a question, and think through the process, like why calcium and phosphorous levels would be high in someone with a healing fracture, or how hormones affect the different tissues in the body. It is no good just to memorize facts, you have to be able to apply those facts and figures to different situations. I don't feel like I really started to understand and use the critical thinking process until I started my 2nd semester of nursing school, so hang in there, and try to relax because it WILL become more natural to you.

Some of the studying styles that I think are vital or may be I should rephorifice that to thinking processes that will help while studying are to explore to why's and how's of a fact this usually relates back to your anatomy & physiology or nursing principles.You must try to recognize differences-memorization alone will not do the job-identifying the causes and why they occur is essential. I'm still not perfect at mastering these skills I still struggle with them especially when I'm taking tests. In fact my biggest struggle all this semester has been the tests because it involves only critical thinking which I have never done before in my pre-req's classes.

..and it bears repeating, in regard to nursing test questions,

"If you are asking yourself "but what if?", then you are not answering the question"

I can't tell you how many times my buddies and I have overthought a question or added our own aspects to a question and gotten it wrong. READ the question, and answer what the INSTRUCTOR is asking..only the information that he/she is providing you can be considered.

Lot of things being said about how the tests in nurseing school are diff than those you took for pre-reqs. The only way you will know the diff is to see them. I just finished second semester of a 5 semester ADN program, and wish I had understood the diff befoe I started nurseing school. The one suggestion I have for anyone starting nurseing school in the fall is to get urself a good NCLEX prep book. This will familiarize you with the types of questions you will be seeing. It will show you how you need to learn any given area. I got the Sanderson Comprehensive in the middle of this semester, and wish I had gotten one earlier. And if you have an easy summer, will also give you a good leg up on what ur gonna be faced with. Just my opinion.

Have a Great Day

Jerry

Specializes in SICU, ER, MEDICAL.

Thanks for all the information....... This is going to help me out so much in the fall

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