So Fustrated!! Please help!!

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Hello,

I been reading the advice on all nurses for a while now, but I need some advice of my own please.

I'm hoping someone can give me advice on effective ways to help study for my A&P course. I have tried flashcards, recording lectures, re-wrting notes, studying til dawn, etc, and I'm lucky to make a 70 on a test. I know the classes are hard and are designed to "weed-out" people, but I'm just so fustrated! I've passed my a&p I course (barley), now I'm in a&p II but it seems like I'm missing some key element to mastering how to study for this class. I know I'm not stupid, but I get upset when I bust my a** studying and walk away with a 60. Ironically, I do fine in labs ( all a's or b's), but I just can't get passed lecture. I've even talked to my professor about it, but the tips she gave me did not help improve my grade. This whole thing just makes me really wonder if I can pass nursing school if I can't even pass a&p II. :crying2:

If anyone can offer any effective ways to study that they don't mind sharing that really helped them I would greatly appreciate it.

Specializes in School Nursing.

I see I just gave you some advice you've pretty much already got! Sorry about that. I hate it when instructors make tests purposely tricky and confusing. I really don't think it accomplishes anything but giving an advantage to good test takers.

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If you can find students who had this teacher in a previous semester, they might be able to give you some insights into what studying methods helped them -- as well as how the rest of her tests were.

One thing that helped me was to get one of those small candybar-sized voice recorders. This enabled me to hear the lectures over and over as I drove, did laundry, went grocery shopping, etc... I figured it was just another way to get the info to "stick" in my brain AND make good use of those times when I was stuck not being able to study in the traditional way. (We ALL need to do laundry, eat, and travel, afterall.) ;-)

A&P2 is definitely a difficult course -- LOTS to remember. Good luck to you!

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Ok. Just to update:

I went through all of your advice and tried a new technique using flashcards and even tried reading my notes while listening to my recorded notes and lectures at the same time. On my last test in lecture, I made an 80! I was so excited!

So, Thank you to all of you who responded and thank you for the advice! It helped out A LOT!

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CONGRATULATIONS!!! That's a wonderful score! :)

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Specializes in Telemetry, OB, NICU.

Pictures, youtube videos, imaging them in my mind helped me.

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I just bought this pen in the Echo 8gb version... you can record and transfer, additionally, you can buy ($30) software to convert you written notes to typed notes.

When I first got the pen, they didn't have the unique things they do now. It was almost imposible for me to convert my notes to mp3 and to put on my zune (at the time). Also the apps they have now, they didn't have back in 08. I have the Echo now, and it is so much easier to use than the original.

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@ heisec- I gotta start learning how to use the pen. I start school in Aug and want to know it inside, outside and upside down. Any tips that took you a while to figure out - or quirks about it? Thanks

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I am in A&P 1 at the moment as well. I HIGHLY recommend looking through the A&P sticky on this website-I found it tremendously helpful. Also, you should figure out your learning style. Do you learn by hearing the material? Are you a kinesthetic learner (learning by doing)? Here's what I've been doing to study, and it seems to work for me.

-Go to ALL labs (obviously), including open labs. And stay until they kick you out.

-study a little bit at a time, frequently! If you study in small chunks, you will retain the information more easily, and all you have to do is review the night before the test instead of cramming.

-Flashcards, flashcards, flashcards.

-Buy page flags and cover the names of muscles and bones in your textbook. (The pictures of muscles in my textbook aren't very good so I found a good atlas to use). Quiz yourself!

-Use page protectors for labeling pictures to your heart's content.

Teach someone else (This one is the absolute best for me). If you can explain it to someone else, then you know that you know the material!

Rewrite your notes. Pretend like you're writing them for a high school level A&P class.

Make sure you have good test taking skills. A person can know all the material forwards and backwards but fail the test because they just don't have good test skills. Universities typically have a department that can help you with study/test skills.

Most important of all, though, is make sure you understand the concepts behind all the "stuff" and how to apply the material. A&P is ANYTHING but rote memorization. It's all about the processes and relationships.

You can do it! I know you can :) Good luck!

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@ heisec- I gotta start learning how to use the pen. I start school in Aug and want to know it inside, outside and upside down. Any tips that took you a while to figure out - or quirks about it? Thanks

For me, i always got annoyed with hearing myself write on the note pad, so when i recorded my lectures, i hit record and set the pen on the table, or near the teacher (if you feel comfortable that way). Then, I write my notes down on a regular note book. When you upload it, make sure you remember you can slow down the audio, bookmark sections of the lecture that you feel are imortant.

Also, if you know how to convert your lectures into mp3's, do that and upload them onto a mp3 player of choice, or make a CD for the car. Doing that helps me, because if i can hear the tone of the teacher when talking about a certain answer to a test question, I'm more likley to get it right. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to message me. Oh, and before I forget, I don't know if the new pen have the same headphones, but if you have the headphones, test out the 3-D recording. I provides a better sound, which reminds me to test out the microphone sensitivity, so that you can get the best recording. Different classroom require different needs.

Hope that helps

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