Having A Tough Time In Ns, Need Some Encouragement And Advice

Nursing Students General Students

Published

the semester is almost over and i majorly flunked a test in my nursing fundamentals class:o:uhoh21:. i made a 76% and a 64% :madface:on the second test. i just feel like giving up. i put my all into studying for that second test and it just didn't pay off. there is classmates in my class who just look at it once and can pass a test with flying colors. my midterm adverage in that class is a 70%. we have to have 75% to pass the class. i still have one more test and a final to take. i am just scared to death that i have worked so hard to get here and then its going to be up to the final test if i can continue next semester. it is just so discouraging. the final scares me because i haven't had a comprehensive exam in a long time. i just feel like a failure! i am so afraid my career is going to be over this semester.

0 Votes

I just wanted you to know that my heart and prayers are with you!! I wish I had the exact things to say, but I'm not even in school yet...perhaps some of the other "Seasoned" students here will know what to say..

Continue to study, make flash cards if needed and also if possible get up with a study buddy..Hopefully others will post more suggestions...Please do keep us all posted..OK

((HUGS))

Anna

0 Votes
Specializes in Med Surg, Hospice.

If your school has tutoring for this class, go. My grades have improved so much on my tests because of attending the tutoring sessions. Studying in groups for a test helped me too.

0 Votes

:(

I'm sorry you're having such a rough time. I'm not currently in NS (waiting for a few years till I finish having babies), but I WAS in NS about 5 years ago for a semester. I got very discouraged (for different reasons than you are having) and I quit. I really regret that now, as I don't yet have a degree. I'm really wishing now that I had just stuck with it.

I don't really have any great advice for you, but just want to encourage you and tell you to hang in there! If there is an instructor that you admire it might be good to talk to him/her and see if they have any good advice for you.

We've all been there/will be there, so just keep your ultimate goal in mind and DON'T GIVE UP!

0 Votes

Don't give up yet!! I'm currently in my 3rd semester (of 5) and it definitely doesn't get any easier, but as you go through, you learn what the most important stuff to study is and how the questions will be asked. The best thing one of my instructors said is to cover the answers to the questions before you read them. After you've read it, what is the first thing that comes to mind that you would do for that patient (basically, what is your initial response). Then uncover the answers and see if your answer is one of the ones listed. More than anything, GO WITH YOUR GUT! I've gotten so many questions wrong that I knew the answers to but talked myself out of- it's frustrating, but I've learnt not to change any of my answers now. In fact, one of our instructors volunteers to come and take our pencils away from us as soon as we're done with our exams so we can't change any answers. I hope things get better- keep your chin up!

0 Votes
Specializes in neuro/ortho med surge 4.

I am sorry you are heving such a hard time. I know it seems unfair that some people seem to pass without much effort. Maybe the people who say they don't study much really do and just say that to make themselves feel superior. In reality they probably study a whole lot. If it is the case where they don't study a lot it will eventually come back to bite them in the rear. Trust me. I have seen this happen to students.

How are you studying now? Is there something you can do differently? Have you spoken to other students who study and get good grades? Maybe they can point you in a new direction.

I am in NSchool also and it is really tough. I study all the time. I read my chapters (I know it is a lot) and I take really good notes in class (almost verbatim). I then take my handouts and notes from class and just go through all of the chapters again. I focus on those parts of the chapters that the teacher has lectures on. Chances are you will get tested on the lecture material because this is what the teache r felt was important. The teachers can not usually lecture on the whole chapter because it is too much material. It is tedious but it works for me. If I have clinical stuff due the weekend before the test I try to get it done the week befor so i can leave my weekend free for studying. Sometimes I make note cards but not usually. Depends on the subject matter. How did you study in school previosly? You must have had good grades to get into nursing school in the first place.

Some of the students I go to school with tape the lecture and listen to it when they drive.

Do you work? Can you cut down on hours? I have had to do this and take out loans and live on savings because I too have to study really hard to pass the tests. But it will be worth it when I get my RN.

I also take my books with me wherever I go. You never know when an opportunity comes up to study. Maybe you are delayed somewhere unexpectedly. I also take my books to work with me and study on my lunch.

In my experience the final is always the easiest test because you have already studied the material once. The second time studying just reinforces the material. Plus on the final I found the questions to be easier becuse there is so much material too choose from and the instructors know it is really hard to study 40-50 chapters (cumulative). I really think the instructors want us to pass.

Have you bought any Nclex books to study from? This helps me study for the test and sometimes you will see a question verbatim from the NCLEX study book. It is awesome when you see that.

Do your textbooks come with disks and have questions on them? You can do those also.

You can do this. You have what it takes. You have shown from your post you are a hard worker and that you just need to perservere a little bit longer. Now get to the books and study, study, study every spare minute you have and you will see things will come together for you.

Best of luck to you. Let us know how your next test goes. I am rooting for you.

Heather

0 Votes

I am sorry to hear about what is currently happening to you. I am my final semester and will graduate in December. The following are things I found to be helpful...

Prepare for lecture ahead of class by reading the book and objectives

After class, review the material covered (write notes to self if needed)

Try not to memorize but to understand the material (will b helpful later)

Read info on successful test taking skills

When reading the test questions, underline the stem of the ? (what they are asking)

Try to answer the questions before looking at the answers

If you can't, refer back to the stem of the ? and look at the options again

Good Luck!

0 Votes

Fundamentals isn't really a very difficult class. What takes some getting used to is the WAY they ask for the information. Once you learn to anticipate the way questions will be asked, it will get a little easier. Doing the NCLEX questions always helped me a lot. Buy the workbook if your book has one because that has more NCLEX questions in it!

And if you don't make it this semester, you'll make it next time. I think it's good to think about the worst case scenario and feel OK about it. Otherwise, it's easy to get very stressed and discouraged. Just do your best. You know what you're capable of, so don't feel discouraged if it doesn't come together in an instant....work at it and make it happen.

0 Votes

FIRST OF ALL, NEVER GIVE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!! NURSING SCHOOL IS HARD. THIS SEMESTER HAS BEEN VERY TRYING FOR ME AS WELL. I WAS IN 4TH SEMESTER ADVANCED MED SURG, READY TO GRADUATE IN DECEMBER, AND I DID NOT PASS... IT WAS VERY HARD TO ACCEPT THE FIRST WEEK, BUT I AM DETERMINED TO BE A NURSE.........KEEP GIVING IT YOUR ALL, YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IF YOU DON'T PASS TAKE A WEEK TO RE-GROUP AND START STUDYING AGAIN, BY BY ALL MEANS NEVER NEVER GIVE UP!!! IF IT IS TRULY IN YOUR HEART TO BE A NURSE, YOU WILL BE!!!!! GOOD lUCK

0 Votes
Specializes in geriatrics,emergency,hospice.

Hi Basketlover,

I finished Fundamentals last semester, and it was hard. I have heard nursing 4 students say Fundamentals was the hardest because of the amount of info there is to learn, and everything is so new and fresh.

I got through it basically by skimming the books and really concentrating on the instructor's power points/lectures. That is usually where you find out what they want you to know. Have you tried to get into a study group? They can be invaluable. You can bounce things off of each other and learn from your classmates. I dont know what book you are using, but most of them now have an online companion website or a cd in the back. Those are really good as well.

By far though, one of the best resources ever is this website. There is an endless amount of info here, and some really nice nurses who are more than willing to help out students. I wish you the best of luck,

Chris

0 Votes

Talk to your instructors... They can give you advice on what specifically to study for your class.

See if your book has a companion website with review questions. We use Kozier & Erb (I'm in my 3rd quarter of school) Fundamentals and there is a free site http://wps.prenhall.com/chet_kozier_fundamentals_7

We also have an optional workbook for the book, and my instructor is very big on taking questions from it for the exam.

Try breaking your study time into an hour or two a day. That will add up a lot quicker than 3-4 hours on a weekend day.

Best wishes to you!

0 Votes

First of all, I'm sorry you are having such a rough time. I think there is a definite adjustment period. I found that starting NCLEX review books very early on helped a lot simply because answering those kinds of questions and reading the rationales helped me become more comfortable with the question format.

I would also talk to your instructor, and your advisor if you have one. Ask for guidance, ask what you can do to help improve your scores on the next tests so that you can pass the class. Your instructor may have some ideas for you to help guide your studying, and going to talk to her shows that you care about what is happening and you want to fix it.

Hang in there. I won't say that it gets easier but I do think that you get more comfortable and feel more confident as time goes on, and that does a lot to help. In a way, I think the NCLEX-type questions do get easier as you advance through the program because you simply have a bigger knowledge base to go to try to figure out what the questions are asking.

0 Votes
+ Add a Comment