Study Groups: Help or Nuisance?

[MrsCuoco]

Hey fellow LPN nursing students!

I've been accepted to an LPN program and start classes August 20th. In orientation I heard a lot about how important it will be to have a study group. While I'm not a loner socially, I have always preferred to study alone, in the same place and with all my own materials around me, usually listening to one of my many customized study stations on Pandora.

I think of study groups and imagine the time eaten up driving to meet each other, sorting out who will be in charge of what, contacting and setting up dates to meet, etc as time wasted that I could be studying.

I do not underestimate, however, the difficulty of the next 9 months ahead of me and can appreciate the idea that having a group of students with different strengths and study habits can be of benefit. So I'm on the fence about whether to engage in a study group at this point.

What has your experience been with study groups? Did you feel it was a lifesaver or did you feel it wasted your precious study time? ANy tips on ways to maximize the experience and minimize distractions like chatting during a study group?

[RescueNinja2013]

I will attempt to upload the document using the image upload button, let's see if it works

IT WORKS!!!! :bowingpur

NURSING STUDY CHART Nurse Nacole.doc

[RescueNinja2013]

Everyone who has asked so far, I have emailed you the chart I had created using Nurse Nacole's advice. She's a wonderful critical care nurse in Florida who is very resourceful with her vlog on YouTube. She is currently a RN furthering her degree, so she is a returning nursing student -which means, she still goes the troubles of us first-time nursing students . I really admire her, because I too, am a resourceful nursing student, I just don't look good on camera, so I'll leave it all up to Nurse Nacole, she's a sweetheart!

The Nursing Channel - YouTube

[RescueNinja2013]

I also just want to note before anyone tries to ask -Nurse Nacole will not email out any of her charts or study guides, because 2) they are stored away and 1) she states that you will only learn from these charts and study guide tips if you re-create them yourself.

And I totally agree. I can't study from the notes or guide of someone else, simply because I didn't think them through in order to type them up -and when you physically type or write something yourself, you tend to remember it and visualize it during an exam. All I did was format the chart and you fill in the rest of the information. :)

Nursing Foundations | How To Study For Nursing Exams

[mschris]

Thank so much for posting this link. Very helpful! Do u still have the tablets? Would love to take a peek;)

[mschris]

Thank you so much for sharing!

[RescueNinja2013]

Hi mschris, the link is 3 post above :) and you are very welcome. I am glad you enjoyed the link.

[CT Pixie, BSN, RN]

During my LPN schooling I kept as far away from the study groups as humanly possible. It was nothing but an hours long opportunity to bash fellow students and teachers, complain about how bad the school was etc. Not my thing.

Now during my LPN to RN schooling its different, an while still not a big fan of study groups, during on particular course I found that there were 4 others much like me. We would meet up at the school and do study sessions (mainly for A&P lab tests). And while we did do some yap-flappin, it was general chit-chat that broke up the study sessions. There was no talking about others, etc. it was more about general things. The bulk of our study sessions were just that..STUDY.

When it came to actual lecture exams I preferred to forego the group and did a few study sessions with one particular classmate. So for me basically its either I'm studying alone or I have one or two fellow students (who are also close friends I've made prior to nursing school) that I'll do study sessions with. It works well since we all have kids and all our kids and hubbys are friends. We pick one house as the 'study house' where we nursing students will have finger foods or take out and study while all the hubbys and kids go to another.

[Puddin2day]

Yes, please. [email protected]

Thank you.

[SWM2009]

Depends on who is in the group. Avoid a group with too many members, or one that is gossipy/clicky. Avoid a group where you are the only one doing the work and others are just copying or mooching off of you. Avoid a group where half the time people are just complaining. Sure venting is nice but at the end of the day you've still got to adhere to the school policy or pass that exam that your school/instructor requires.

Personally, I am not a fan. I find it takes too much time to get through material in a group than when I tackle it myself. Also I tend to study often in the middle of the night, lol. Not exactly a good group meeting time.

[nekozuki, LPN]

At my LPN orientation the instructors told us the same. They said the last class didn't take heed to their advice and started with 27 and are only possibly graduating 8-yikes!

Lol, I'm in that very class! I can tell you one thing -- group study was NOT a reason any of my classmates didn't make it. They simply had busy lives and couldn't fully commit to the program. We are all extremely close, but group study is difficult when no one is familiar enough with the material to really challenge/quiz each other, especially in the beginning of the program when the information is so new and strange.

We finally settled into a comfortable routine, and it consists of independent studying and posting any questions on our facebook group. We meet early the morning of the test, sometimes at the local McDonalds because it is 24 hours, and sometimes in the parking lot at school (because they haven't unlocked the doors yet). That morning, we recite important facts and remind each other of essential info, treating the morning of the test like a review process.

One awesome thing we do as classmates is various people type out study guides of their own and send them out, and sometimes things are added or fixed by others. In the end, everyone is on the same page.

[L1zG]

I study individually 95% of the time. However, I believe our fellow students have talents and knowledge we can draw on. In this way, study groups are effective.

Best study group I was a part of:

specific topic set,

time allotment set,

everyone came to the table prepared and with something to offer.

We always walked away feeling as though we mastered that specific topic.

The key here is to keep the discussion specific and stay away from "general" discussions.