What was your hardest class and how did you study for it?

Nursing Students General Students

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Just seeing how people over came obstacles in their nursing school journey. Like if you changed your study habits, what did you do to change them?

^^^sorry for the typo's Im on my tablet[: lol

My hardest class was Acute Care, the patient population we were learning about were more critical than med surg.

I used flash cards like no bodies business in that class. Haha.

Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

I swear I think Im the only nursing student on the face of this earth who doesn't use flash cards! lol

I swear I think Im the only nursing student on the face of this earth who doesn't use flash cards! lol
I switched to virtual flash cards by istud. It can make a study mode for me. It allows me to put hints. Like for all the skin diseases I put chance of likelihood to metastasize etc. I'll be super happy I don't have to freak out if I can't find one. All right there on my iPad.

I haven't had many classes so far. But the best study tip I have found which was provided to me by one of my nursing professors, is to take the objectives for each unit and turn them into questions.

Pharmacology! It's tough but so full of great info. I don't use flash cards either, just not my thing. I did tape the lectures and listen to them again while doing laundry etc. it really helped!

Peds!!! Class kicked my butt. Managed a B, which is an A to me in that case. And I LOVED it. I want to be a Peds nurse. But it was hard as hell.

What was hardest for me, was understanding that 1. I had to read the text book! I cruised through my first BA at a great school without really picking up the text, but in Nursing school? No Way, if I was going to pass the tests, I had to at least read a chunk of what chapter was going to be on the test. Our professors can only teach so much in class, so they go over a lot of the nursing management and interventions for diseases and such, but really understanding the processes and reading the text is what ties it all together for me, and I go from memorizing to really understanding. 2. Practice questions!! A lot of nursing school success can be attributed to understanding how questions are asked, and how to approach these very different types of questions. I suppose thats why everyone stresses that to practice for the NCLEX, do practice questions after practice questions....after doing practice questions.

As far as content, I found the first part of med/surg to be the hardest. As our professors said, "This is the meat and potatoes of nursing, and this is where you will look around next semester and wonder where all your friends went!" and it was very true. We lost the most students that semester and there was just SO MUCH MATERIAL. It was 28 chapters of the textbook and was a killer. But we got through it and now off to the next!

Good luck to everyone!!

Specializes in Multiple.

Notecards. I was never a notecard person in high school, but they have proved to be lifesaving in the science classes.

I think the first year, which was a mash of fundamentals, pharmacology and med/surg, was the most difficult in that I was getting accustomed to Planet Nursing School. It was a huge adjustment; much more difficult than getting my bachelors in another field (while working FT), and I literally had stress dreams/nightmares almost every night that first year. That was all about time management and controlling my anxiety.

In second year we started specialized rotations, and of those, I have to say peds was the killer (thus far -- I still have psych, community, and advanced med surg to go). It's reputed to be the toughest due in large part to the sheer volume of information, and I did have to adjust my study habits. I normally study by writing -- I read the book, takes notes during lecture, and rewrite my notes (along with any notes/slides from the instructor) in a neat outline then study from that. In peds there was just too much material -- there were not enough hours in the day to study using my standard technique, so on the advice of my instructor, I only wrote the content I had trouble with. She said it was a waste of time to write the stuff I already knew/remembered, and she was right. Also at her urging (she holds a doctorate in nursing education, so if she suggested it, I tried it!), I employed different mnemonics for the things that were straight memorization -- like the fine and gross motor developmental milestones. For example, for gross motor development, I made up a story about babysitting a child: "... then at 3 AM (3 years old) he started throwing things (overhand throw) and riding his tricycle around the living room (riding tricycle), at 4 AM (4 years) he moonwalked (walking backwards) and started running up and down the stairs (takes stairs independently up and down)..." Making things ridiculous helps them stick (thus the moonwalking). I tried to use other little tricks for fine motor milestones (i.e. palmar grasp at 5 months; think 5 fingers off the palm. Pincer grasp at 8 mos.; make pincer grasp with both hands, put your fingertips together, and they form the number 8 -- sort of). Oh, and since first semester when one of the instructors (with a master's in nursing education) told us that studies have shown improved retention when colored ink is used, I have been writing my notes in a rainbow of colors. I'll take all the help I can get! :)

What made the difference in me passing or failing Fundamentals is recording my lectures. Seriously! It helped me tremendously. Yes there were other things, but this is what I would say helped me pass. I went from 2 C's and a D (without recording lectures), to A's and B's after I started recording them.

I think it varies depending on people and also the class. Like yaneau said, the professor's teaching style and your learning style also make a difference. My hardest class so far has been the first nursing class I took when admitted to the program: Fundamentals of Nursing. Looking back on it, all the material I learned was so easy and I am sure I would get an A if I were to take it again now, but it was the fact that nursing was so incredibly different than all the prerequisite classes for it. There is so much critical thinking involved and taking Anatomy, Physiology, and Microbiology had me prepared to study for tests where you just had to memorize everything.

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