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

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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?

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Yay for no response. I find it hard to believe no one has had a hard class.

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Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care.

Good day:

As you know, hardest classes vary from semester to semester. The upcoming semester for me doesn't start until this coming Monday the 13th, so I don't know which of the four classes I'm taking will be the hardest. Last semester, it was sociology mainly because the book was liberal in the extreme, and I'm conservative. There was one video where the professor praised the producer of the video, who appeared (based on video content) not to know the constitution of the United States, and made statements (the video producer) which were untrue and pushed an agenda (in my opinion). So while A&P and basic microbiology where very cut and dry / black and white, this was very gray and it was hard to know how to get a 100% on anything.

I'm not sure that I changed my study habits in as much as praying to Jesus to broaden my mind to allow more gray areas along with understanding; and to be ok with it. In the end I got a 95% in the class with the teacher telling me that out of all of her classes that semester, I had the highest grade at the end; she sounded a little amazed.

Thank you.

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Well, pre-nursing program, it was A&P, of course! It was also by far the most enjoyable and engaging, though. I formed a study group on day 1 and committed to studying with them after every class day, and I plan to do that when I start nursing school next week! I've already reserved a study room at our school library. I also made time every single day to study on my own. I approached notes in triplicate: I looked over the notes/powerpoints that the professor provided; I had frantically-written notes in a small notebook during class times for the harder concepts, important details, or things to help me remember specific things; and after class, I wrote very neat, color-coded notes in a larger notebook. I still have those notes, and I am still able to refer back to them.

A&P taught me a lot about how to study! :)

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I have taken A&p 1 and 2. I was referring to the nursing classes. I know a lot of people have a hard time adjusting to it. How did the person over come the nursing school style. Sorry if I wasn't clear enough. I start next week after being out for a while so I'm just ready to get back in the swing of things.

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I will be working this time as well (16 hrs on the weekend) so I cannot have a choice on screwing up.

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

I had to figure out how to handle the sheer volume of reading. I don't do well sitting on my butt for hours on end. I will take my laptop or textbook and prop it on my treadmill, crank the incline to 15% and the ramp at 2-3 MPH, and walk and read. Keeps me awake, engaged, and the blood flow going. I find I retain the material better, and I get in a workout! If I can't do it at home, I'll do it at the campus gym.

Each class has been hard in its own rite, and what's difficult for each of us varies widely. Some people have thought classes were hardest, when I've found them easiest.

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I had to figure out how to handle the sheer volume of reading. I don't do well sitting on my butt for hours on end. I will take my laptop or textbook and prop it on my treadmill, crank the incline to 15% and the ramp at 2-3 MPH, and walk and read. Keeps me awake, engaged, and the blood flow going. I find I retain the material better, and I get in a workout! If I can't do it at home, I'll do it at the campus gym.Each class has been hard in its own rite, and what's difficult for each of us varies widely. Some people have thought classes were hardest, when I've found them easiest.
I've noticed that to when I go on the elliptical I focus better. But then I get distracted by Zumba classes or Pilates classes going on. So I think I'm going to try study else where then at home. Library while at school and either town library or Starbucks while I'm home as I commute part of the week. I just feel so bad leaving my kittens home all the time :(.
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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.
I've noticed that to when I go on the elliptical I focus better. But then I get distracted by Zumba classes or Pilates classes going on. So I think I'm going to try study else where then at home. Library while at school and either town library or Starbucks while I'm home as I commute part of the week. I just feel so bad leaving my kittens home all the time :(.
Yeah, I have to be careful where I study, too! If I'm at home, I joke it's the best way to get my laundry, dishes, vacuuming, etc. done! I am SO easily distracted. I spend a lot of time at Starbucks and the library as well, but that's where sitting on my butt got REALLY old.
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So far my hardest nursing class has been pharmacology. I studied by weeping underneath my desk and flipping through flashcards, lots of flashcards. My learning style and my teacher's teaching style didn't "click" which may be a contributive factor.

I found that for other classes (ex. med/surg, OB etc...) I can use various study materials and practice with questions from different textbooks. That really helped broaden my knowledge so I had a wide grasp of the concepts, and with a working knowledge I could use my critical thinking skills on exams. With my pharm class I needed to figure out purely what my teacher was asking for. Though I knew that I needed to know the material, to pass the class I needed to know what my teacher wanted.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

My hardest class was a tie between med surg 2 and pharm but I got a better grade in pharm. that was in my LPN program. Now I am in my last semester of my bridge program and getting ready to start med surg 3. So far bridging is easier solely because I already have those study habits as I only graduated 2 years ago and a lot is still fairly fresh in my mind. My easiest class both in LPN and RN was Mother Baby/Peds it was a combined course.

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1st Semester: Med Surg 1- I had taken pharm and fundamentals, but didn't really have to study for those. Once I got to med surg was when I started refining my study skills. I used note cards and would write all of my notes out on this, so I could read them where ever I would go. I would record lecture and listen to it and retype my notes out the day after class. And I would spend a lot of time quizzing back and forth with my study partner. I also read the book when ever I wasn't clear about something.

2nd Semester: OB- Teach taught completely different and I have no experience with babies/pregnancy. So for this class I would make up questions about each section then quiz myself over them and also listen to lecture.

3rd Semester: PEDS! this class is by far the hardest class I have ever taken. I had to double my study time and still wasn't pulling the grades that I wanted too. But this is the semester that I lost my study partner because she got a boyfriend...and long story. So to study I would listen to lecture and retype my notes the day after class, then a few days later I would write my notes out on note cards while reading the book and add information to my notes as needed. and then I would have my mom quiz my after doing all of that.

After doing poorly on my first test, I decided to try using ear plugs and I think that helped me focus on myself while test taking.

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