Medical Surgical Nursing

Nursing Students LPN/LVN Students

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How do you study for this class??

Specializes in Rehabilitation; LTC; Med-Surg.
How do you study for this class??

Read your book and break down the paragraphs until you can explain it to your friend(s).

well isn't that just wonderful when there are about 100 pages per chapter and not to mention there are 6 chapters on the next test. That's not even possible to read all that info and retain every bit of it. Not a chance. That is unrealistic in my eyes! there has to be a different way. something. ugh.

Specializes in Rehabilitation; LTC; Med-Surg.
well isn't that just wonderful when there are about 100 pages per chapter and not to mention there are 6 chapters on the next test. That's not even possible to read all that info and retain every bit of it. Not a chance. That is unrealistic in my eyes! there has to be a different way. something. ugh.

It is quite possible to retain all that information, or at least 75% of it. If you procrastinate and wait until the last minute and cram, you may make a passing grade but you won't remember it. If you follow along with the pace of the class and break your six-chapter test into segments - 15-20 pages per night and review it in 15-minute intervals throughout the day - you'll do fine. Find a quiet place to study, nobody said nursing school is easy. You're going to have to make sacrifices.

im having the same problem! only i learn it just dont do so well on the tests- applying it is my prob...i basically make everything into summaries- yes, every single page and then elaborate on what the teacher has lectured about. I figure if i has somewhat of an understanding of the base topic, then i can kinda have an idea on what should or would hapen if X comes into the equation. Know the main principles- main meds- main side effects, any major adverse effects and all the vocab- its alot. But its necessary knowledge

I don't reach the point where I could photographically regurgitate the entire content, but I DEFINITELY read every single word on every page, in every paragraph, in every table. every.little.bit.

Right now I have 2 nursing classes and each class we learn atleast 2 chapters, on top of clinicals and associated paperwork two days a week AND a night AP class.

"I dont have time" is not really an option to be quite honest with you. Classmates that have started cheating tell me they don't have time to study. One is a single mom with fulltime child care and no job, and the other is a single girl that lives at home and has no job and very few chores even. I have 3 kids (one of which I homeschool) and I work 10 1/2 hr days on the weekends (I worked 2 weekday afternoons as well until my transportation broke down). Its NOT easy. But you CAN do it. Read your chapters. Highlight/take notes/whatever it takes to get it all to sink in. Read them again. Do any associated workbook/end of chapter/CD questions. There's really no other way to do it.

im having the same problem! only i learn it just dont do so well on the tests- applying it is my prob...i basically make everything into summaries- yes, every single page and then elaborate on what the teacher has lectured about. I figure if i has somewhat of an understanding of the base topic, then i can kinda have an idea on what should or would hapen if X comes into the equation. Know the main principles- main meds- main side effects, any major adverse effects and all the vocab- its alot. But its necessary knowledge

One thing I've recently started doing that has helped me a lot is to make a notecard with the patho of each disease on it, and line them up to compare. It really helps me understand how they are similar and how they are different. Sometimes it helps put 2 and 2 together in trying to understand why you check liver function tests with one disease and not the other, ect.

I'm obsessed with notecards. I don't even always read them over again once I'm done making and understanding them, but when I'm first trying to figure out the different between atrial this and ventricular that, it really seems to help.

Specializes in just finished nclex looking for jobs.

I ended up buying a book of the internet called Straight A's in Med Surg, I felt like it was alot easier to follow.

i too am having a hard time studying for this class....i just had my first exam last week and i did horrible!! For the most part i read a lot but when it comes to applying or organizing all the data, i just don't know how to connect them. I mean i kinda know but the there's just so much information i dont know where to start....i guess i just feel overwhelmed about med/surge....

I just bought that book too, and i'm using it to help me study for my next exam on respiratory...i hope this helps!!!

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