Becoming traumatized by school!!

Ciale · Apr 21, 2012

Poor question writing is all I can think of. If you know the material well and can rationalize two answers as correct, there's no reason you should miss them. I hate nursing school.

llg, PhD, RN · Apr 21, 2012

Do you understand why the one answer is correct after someone explains it to you? Or are you still in the dark about the rationale after it has been explaine?

MN-Nurse, ASN, RN · Apr 21, 2012

But like the questions I miss tend to be one 1 hand kind of arbitrary and "silly" yet have 2 equally good answers and really both seem equally good, so I miss by not chosing the BETTER one...yet on other ones, there are still 2 equally good questions but I can readily discern which one is the better. What am I missing?
Pls...I'm getting seriously traumatized!

This used to drive me nuts too. I had at least one run where I was like 0/10 on 50/50 chances. I finally started literally flipping a coin during exams, thinking I would at least get 5/10 right. It worked.

However, after a while and studying a lot of NCLEX strategy and questions, by the time I graduated, I got pretty darn good at getting those stupid questions right.

mursetudent25 · Apr 21, 2012

Seems like test anxiety to me...make sure you have some off time between your studying and relax yourself before/during the exam. I've had this problem too.

QuarterLife88, MSN, RN, NP · Apr 21, 2012

...YET when I go in to take the exams I dunno, my eyes get all blurry, my heart races and I start getting stupid AND I miss the stupidest most DUH questions...like really stupid questions...I know I dont do my gut instinct but I just can't...because I consider 1 answer and then am like...wait, it could be the other and then I weight the two up. And generally I miss them.

I know how you feel. Generally speaking, the more nervous I walk into an exam, the worse I will do. I have noticed that on occasion when I'm taking an exam and it just so happens to be one of my "I don't even care anymore," days, I tend to do BETTER on the exam, because my anxiety is gone, and my brain fog clears up so I can THINK. I'm not telling you not to care, but simply try practicing relaxation during test taking so your mind of free to focus. And the first answer you choose is probably the right one, 9 times out of 10.

thelyonqueen · Apr 22, 2012

Its okay to be nervous i am too most of the time espicailly with math but I am also kinda a cmpetitive person and I refuse to let things or people get the best of me when it comes to testing my smarts. i go into psyche myself out mode where i tell myself I OWN this test...everything I see on it is NOT a surprise. If it is somehting I dont know; I talk to myself and make an educated guess. I tell myself I will study with percision; not all over the map with unnecessary information (overstudying) and to be calm; use a stress ball suck mints chew gum. spray perfume on your wrist and smell it to calm down but do what you have to do to be emotionally in control. It s only a piece of paper with words on it...it cant hurt you. Tell yourself you will accept nothing lwer than a 90. If you can get an 85 then you can get a 95. If you can get a 70 then you can focus a little harder and get an 85. Its all a mind game. The patients and the teachers will try the same thing with clinicals if you let it get the best of you. Relax. Take a day of fun for yourself once a week. Talk to a counselor if you can get a chance or find a mentor in your area if you feel that you are way out of control. All things bad, will pass. Chin up...we are all rooting for you!!

NCRNMDM, ASN, RN · Apr 22, 2012

To be perfectly honest, nursing school just sucks sometimes. I had a situation somewhat similar to yours, though not quite as bad. During first semester I aced everything. I hardly studied for exams, consistently made in the 94-97 range, had the highest scores in the class, made a 97 on the final, ended up with an A for nursing 111, aced skills lab, and did pretty good in clinical. My instructors said I was filled with promise, and they were excited to see where my journey took me. I was confident, and ready for second semester, and I felt like I could conquer the world.

Second semester was two eight week sessions. The first was nursing 112, the second nursing 211. I started nursing 112 optimistic, excited, and happy. On the first test I made an 90, and, while I wasn't thrilled, I would take it (it was fluid and electrolytes and acid base). The second unit was taught by another instructor who I had previously had, and I felt pretty confident about it. I took great notes, studied everyday, and spent three days prior to the test doing intensive study for hours at a time. I took the second test, and it may as well have been written in Mandarin or Russian. I really struggled, and I barely passed with an 82.3. I felt horrible, and I was shocked. I had studied so hard, spent so much time, and I had passed by two points. I had no idea what I had done wrong. Suddenly my nursing school career turned upside down, and the world I thought I had conquered came crashing down on me.

For about ten days, I was shaken and upset. I wondered how this had happened, I was clueless as to how to fix it, and I was really depressed. I emailed the instructor who had written the exam and voiced my concerns. She gave me a few pieces of advice, here's what she had to say. "Don't study with your current study group; they make you do all the work, and they're dragging you down. Lose them, or make them work for the knowledge. Stop over-studying. You're intelligent, but you study too much. Study for three to four days before a test, and no more. Stop making hundreds of note cards like you've been doing. You don't have time for that anymore, and it's hurting you now. Don't read into the questions, and stop applying that random knowledge you gained while studying for the fifteenth day in a row. Take the question at face value and choose the best answer. Also, calm down. You can do this."

These words helped me so much. I accepted the grade, moved past my negative emotions, stopped making note cards, and totally changed my way of studying. I started studying less, and focused my study effort to only two books. The next test was so much better, and I made a 94. I made a 90, the highest grade in the class, on the final, and ended up with an 89.9, the highest average in the class for that eight weeks.

It's much later now, and I'm almost finished with the second eight weeks of second semester. I will be starting third semester in a few weeks, and I will graduate in eleven months. On the first test of this semester I made a 92, I also made a 92 on the second.

My advice is exactly the advice I was given by my instructor. Stop over studying, consider changing your study method, don't read into the question, calm down, and realize that you can do this. Good luck! Let us know how things go for you.