Should I be worried??

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I just completed Pharmacology, Nursing Fundamentals, and Health Calculations. Before starting nursing school, I would always hear how hard it is. I am in an ADN program and the classes are 7 weeks. I have juggled three classes, work, and still had a social life. Am I not studying enough? Are the easier classes in the first semester? I just don't feel as stressed as some of my classmates. My final grade in fundamentals was a B. I am not big on studying. I find it easier to listen to lectures and take notes. So I review my notes/power points and skim through the chapter. To be 100% honest, I have not read an entire chapter yet.... is that a bad thing?

Specializes in Forensic Psych.

Should you be worried about what? Is what a bad thing? Good grades? Good grades are good.

If I were you, I'd open a book and make As, but to each their own :)

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
It gets harder. However you also need to figure in how difficult your school is. Some schools require a lot more work than others. Some schools make it harder for people to graduate to keep their pass rate high. My school fails a lot of students or makes them repeat semesters whereas a BSN program is a lot easier and requires less work out of their students. My school, the ADN program, has a higher pass rate on the NCLEX because of the amount of work involved. Also not all teachers are equal. Some are harder and some are easier.[/quote']

Can we PLEASE stop stating that "BSN=easy" UNLESS you been through each program???

As someone who has attended ADN, PN, and BSN, I ASSURE YOU, ALL nursing programs can be just as rigorous and hard, ESPECIALLY when you get to Pharmacology and beyond. :blink:

Thanks! :yes:

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Specializes in NICU.

I understand your point, you are saying that things are coming easy for you now and you are not needing to study very hard, but you don't want to take it too easy and get caught failing a test because you didn't study very long because you haven't had to study too hard previously.

My advice is to study the material that is going to be on the test. If you are comprehending the material easily, then that is a good thing. You need to comprehend the material instead of memorizing the material (need to understand why you are doing something). It will get harder and the tests will shift more and more to NCLEX style (application) questions instead of knowledge type questions. You will begin to notice that you are having to study more for each subsequent test.

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I just completed Pharmacology, Nursing Fundamentals, and Health Calculations. Before starting nursing school, I would always hear how hard it is. I am in an ADN program and the classes are 7 weeks. I have juggled three classes, work, and still had a social life. Am I not studying enough? Are the easier classes in the first semester? I just don't feel as stressed as some of my classmates. My final grade in fundamentals was a B. I am not big on studying. I find it easier to listen to lectures and take notes. So I review my notes/power points and skim through the chapter. To be 100% honest, I have not read an entire chapter yet.... is that a bad thing?

You'll get away with it for awhile. However, you will find second year hits you like a ton of bricks. One reason is that in nursing school, unlike, oh, an English major, you will be held completely responsible for remembering and applying everything you learned before. There isn't anything about which you can say, "OK, that exam/paper is done, sell the books, move on." This becomes an integral part of the most important part of becoming a nurse: critical thinking, using what you learned to work with the facts and assessment at hand to decide what to do. Remember that people do flunk out in their last semester because they just can't get that well enough, and so often they don't even understand why they aren't passing.

So.. get in the habit of studying harder for better grades now. Your B this year will be a C- or less next year if you don't. We see it all the time.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

OP, as long as you understand the material and can APPLY it in care plans and in clinicals; then you shouldn't be worried...if you have difficulty in applying it; THEN do something about it, because that's where it's going to count when you receive your license...a good grasp on nursing theory and how to think like a nurse and transition from novice to expert will always stay with you after the As and Bs (and even Cs-shout out to the C nursing students lol ;) ) fade into the background as you work in the business. :yes:

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Should you be worried about what? Is what a bad thing? Good grades? Good grades are good.

If I were you, I'd open a book and make As, but to each their own :)

I completely understand, and I thank you for your response. Please don't get me wrong, I do study. I just find that I can read a chapter 2-3 times and not recall the information. I have tried highlighting and tabs but that route just does not work for me. I wanted to know if I needed to work on retraining my brain for future courses. Have you ever had the feeling that you are missing something? Well that is my only concern here. Maybe I should have been a little more clear in my post.

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OP, as long as you understand the material and can APPLY it in care plans and in clinicals; then you shouldn't be worried...if you have difficulty in applying it; THEN do something about it, because that's where it's going to count when you receive your license...a good grasp on nursing theory and how to think like a nurse and transition from novice to expert will always stay with you after the As and Bs (and even Cs-shout out to the C nursing students lol ;) ) fade into the background as you work in the business. :yes:

I value everyone's opinions. I was told by a seasoned nurse that a C still equals RN. So yes, shout out to the C nursing students lol. I am not having any problems applying what I have learned. Being that this was only my first semester, I only wanted some insight on future courses. Will they be more self study? Is the information more difficult? I know that nursing courses build on top of each other so if I have to practice different learning techniques, I am ready and willing to do so.

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You'll get away with it for awhile. However, you will find second year hits you like a ton of bricks. One reason is that in nursing school, unlike, oh, an English major, you will be held completely responsible for remembering and applying everything you learned before. There isn't anything about which you can say, "OK, that exam/paper is done, sell the books, move on." This becomes an integral part of the most important part of becoming a nurse: critical thinking, using what you learned to work with the facts and assessment at hand to decide what to do. Remember that people do flunk out in their last semester because they just can't get that well enough, and so often they don't even understand why they aren't passing.

So.. get in the habit of studying harder for better grades now. Your B this year will be a C- or less next year if you don't. We see it all the time.

This is the information I was looking for. Thank you, I will work on some different learning techniques for my future courses.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
I value everyone's opinions. I was told by a seasoned nurse that a C still equals RN. So yes shout out to the C nursing students lol. I am not having any problems applying what I have learned. Being that this was only my first semester, I only wanted some insight on future courses. Will they be more self study? Is the information more difficult? I know that nursing courses build on top of each other so if I have to practice different learning techniques, I am ready and willing to do so.[/quote']

GrnTea gave you the expert information :yes: the course content builds upon each other; so what have you experienced that has helped more in learning techniques???

For example, I am a kinesthetic and visual learner; so most of the time, I highlighted the chapters by using the nursing process as a way to apply the material through concept mapping; then putting it together through clinicals, case studies, care plans, etc.

However, I needed more during my senior year; I used auditory to help on anything I may have missed during note taking in class; it helped my studies immensely when the previous half I did very well with my learning style.

It depends what works for you; I am sure you have techniques that helped you; think about what worked for you in applying or understanding the material, and go from there. :yes:

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A few things - Good for you that you're doing well without having to dedicate every moment of every day to studying. You're blessed and you can be thankful and happy about it! :) I'm doing pretty well also and not spending every moment of every day studying. My test grades are quite roller coaster-ish A's & B's but I have a high B overall in my class right now. I find myself worrying about similar things however, I cannot prepare for something the same way everyone else has because we all have our own learning styles, capabilities, strengths and weaknesses. I have never really had to study too much - and unfortunately now that I'm in nursing school the more I study the lower my grade has been. I'm very irritated over this and idk what to do about it really. Clearly I am not studying the best information or I'm not pulling the most important info out of the questions well enough. Who knows?

What I have been told by instructors and 2nd year students alike, if what you're doing is working for you - continue on until it no longer works. Be prepared to change your routine & habits if need be, but if you don't have to, then don't. Just because second year is more difficult for someone else, doesn't mean it will also be more difficult for you. I feel like 2nd year will be easier for me because all of the puzzle pieces will be there instead of just trying to focus on the fundamentals. I have heard that be the case for a few of our 2nd year students. Maybe it won't be easier for me...I guess I will figure it out once I get there.

The absolute best advice I can give to you is to focus on you. Don't worry about what everyone else around you is doing, or what they're struggling with, or maybe where they're excelling and you're not. You have to be your own competition & measure of success. If you're making good grades and feel like you're retaining the info and like you can apply it to real life situations, then keep on keep on keepin' on! If/when you find that is no longer working for you, that will be the time to worry about changing it.

Remember, some people are great test takers and will have wonderful grades and can't provide quality patient care if their life depended on it. Some people aren't good test takers and will barely pass classes but will be the best nurse, providing the best care you have ever seen. Only you can know who you are and which category you fall in, or maybe you're smack dab in the middle of both. You may be a decent test taker and can provide great standard care. That still makes you a nurse and you can always build on your skills as you grow in your career. :)

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Hi there!

While I am sure every program is a it different, here is my experience...I am a 4.0 student. During the time I took prereqs I usually took between 17-21 credit hours a semester. My first semester of nursing school I took my two fundamentals classes and two other classes (including Spanish, which was a gigantic time-sucker...I loved the class but seriously I spent a lot of time on assignments and such for it). I am in my second semester of nursing classes and am SO GLAD I didn't take any extra classes! I study more than I ever have (I'm the same, I don't study near as much as many other students) and am carrying a low B in Med Surg (like right on the line between a B and a C) and am carrying a high B in psych. And I STUDY this semester...I mean S-T-U-D-Y. So while I wouldn't be "worried" persay, I wouldn't be surprised if you get to a point where you're actually studying a lot more than you are now. And my best advice for anyone starting is to make SURE you have the fundamentals down pat...it just builds off of that. So if you don't get the fundamentals down pat, you'll probably struggle more the further into the program you go. Maybe not, but the people who are dropping in my classes are struggling adding on to the basics, if that makes sense?

Good luck to you!! :D

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