Broward College Nursing Program - How to handle all the reading.

U.S.A. Florida

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Hello there,

This is a question for possibly the people who have taken Process I already. I JUST started and I'm not sure how to fit in all this reading. We are supposed to read the Fundamentals book and the skills book chapter for the topic. Example, the first week is on Vital Signs.

So I did read both chapters in each book. Both are almost identical with a few points that are different in each book. But....it takes me about one hour to read eight pages of the book. So if the chapters are 45 pages it takes me five hours to get through them.

My question is, did you have a good schedule for the reading? I know I have a lot of other things to do. Integrate my notes after lecture, highlight answers to the objectives in the book, make up some flashcards, answer questions, do practice questions, read the Test Taking Skills book.....etc. And still practice the math and whatever I have to do for Pharm. I start that class today.

I'm trying to figure out when the best time to read would be. Should I get up in the middle of the night and get that out of the way? LOL

I would appreciate your wisdom and suggestions. Thanks so much!!

Oh, and can I just tell you that the critical thinking questions at the end of the chapter are HARD?! Do you get used to coming up with answers for those correctly?

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All I did was review the topics in the Learning Objectives packet we were required to purchase in the bookstore and matched the topics/objectives to pages in the chapter as well as powerpoint slides. Worked for me. I very rarely finished all reading and still manged an A in both Process 1 and 2 using this method

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Really? Wow. Ok. Thanks for the advice!

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thanks!!!

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Specializes in Tele.
All I did was review the topics in the Learning Objectives packet we were required to purchase in the bookstore and matched the topics/objectives to pages in the chapter as well as powerpoint slides. Worked for me. I very rarely finished all reading and still manged an A in both Process 1 and 2 using this method

I definitely do not recomend that!!

To the OP.... I thought I was a slow-po reader too when in NP1 & NP2 and it took me THAT long to read the chapters & write down the answers to the topics/objectives from the packet.

I suggest to you just keep reading EVERYTHING, and do the topics/objectives in a notebook-- yes it takes forever, but make a schedule that works for you.

In the first semester, I am from miami so it took me about 45-60 min to get to school, so I would go to the library to read before class, and I would do the questions online from the books' website.

once I got home at about 1;30-2pm I would eat and take an hour nap-- no more no less-- put my alarm on, then read and do my objectives... every 50 mins I took a mental break, and of course looking at the clock, and I set a goal for myself, that I would read x amount of pages for that day. Mind you I was preggers while doing this!!!

after NP1&2 were over, I studied only topics that the instructor talked about-- those objectives from the first semester were useless!

My suggestion for EVERYONE is read everything, every word, every box... there were students that only did the objectives and they failed the first term, they would say "oh that wasn't in the objectives"... well they were in the book therefore on the test!! duh!!

nlion87--- you are rare breed to get A's in that class. Congrats to you! and keep doing well!! In my class 50% failed & we only had one person get a B in the course (NP1).

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Thanks Bumblebee. I feel like I'm getting a lot out of reading the chapter. When we had first lecture today, I knew a lot of answers to her questions. Just so darn time-consuming.

Can you tell me about the critical thinking questions. I did the questions at the end of the chapter and they were really really hard. I went blank and then had a hard time finding the answer in the book. I do have the book Test Success, Test-Taking Techniques for Beginning Nursing Students. I've read most of it, but it didn't seem to help me here. LOL Does it get easier to come up with an answer for those? I know that's how the tests are. I'm scared of those questions!

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Specializes in Tele.
Thanks Bumblebee. I feel like I'm getting a lot out of reading the chapter. When we had first lecture today, I knew a lot of answers to her questions. Just so darn time-consuming.

Can you tell me about the critical thinking questions. I did the questions at the end of the chapter and they were really really hard. I went blank and then had a hard time finding the answer in the book. I do have the book Test Success, Test-Taking Techniques for Beginning Nursing Students. I've read most of it, but it didn't seem to help me here. LOL Does it get easier to come up with an answer for those? I know that's how the tests are. I'm scared of those questions!

I liked the test-taking techniques-- it's not a miracle book by all-- but it gives you an idea on how to pick answers.

Get a Saunder's Comprehensive review book

The questions on the test are easy per-say but the answer choices are very hard.... you get down to two very similar and you pick the best one.... that's why I like the saunder's book because the saunder's was hard, and it made the test seem somewhat easy.

just read and read and read, and read the boxes of info too, a lot of the questions comes from those boxes.

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Okay. Thank you very much. :D

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Hi,

I just completed Process and like bumblebee said..READ EVERYTHING!! I read everything and highlighted the most important parts. Honestly the objectives did not help me at all. I also bought the Fundamentals of Success which helped some. The test questions at the end of the chapter honestly don't do the exams justice. Those questions are easy compared to what is on the exam. The Saunders Comprehensive Book helped more in process 2 but the book is great. I think Process is difficult because there is a lot of information and the test questions are very different from any other type of test you have probably ever taken. I bombed the first exam but it was a wake up call to me and helped me to understand how to study better.

Pray, read, and don't fall behind on your reading because then its very difficult to catch up. Especially since you have pharmacology as well. Good luck!!!

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Oh really? The woman who counsels about studying came in and spoke to us yesterday and she said that reading the objectives and concentrating on those is VERY helpful. She did say read everything too. Thanks for your advice. I appreciate it!

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Specializes in ED.

Ok I have to say that it depends on which campus you are at. I know Bumblebee went to south. I am not sure where Tracie or Nlion attend, but I did the very same thing Nlion did and my grades were very good, too. I go to North. I started out reading everything at first but I had found that it was more beneficial for me to read according to the objectives. I basically took the objectives, typed them out into a word doc, then when I went to read I would just find the info that answered the questions and type them into my word doc. Then I would go to lecture, listen and take notes, and then when I got home, I would fill in the info from lecture into my doc. Then I printed them and used them to review for the test.

I have a friend at central and she said the objectives did NOT help her, so I know the other campuses are different and that this method won’t work everywhere. I'm not sure where you go Will, but at north, you can do this.

Also, I did not really use the questions in the book that much. I did at first, but then I used the questions in the Test Success book and the Fundamental Success book. While I think some of the questions they ask in those books are a little too easy at times, I think the Success books are good at teaching you how to take the test, pick out the answers that wouldn't work, etc. After starting NP2, I started using the Saunder’s book, too, but even some of those questions weren’t that challenging. However, it still gave me more practice taking tests. All three books give the rationales for the answers, which I think helps as well.

As for breaking down the reading, I planned everything ahead. I tried to make sure I had everything read for a specific topic before that lecture. So everything for Vital Signs I read (according the objectives) before hand. This way when I went to lecture, I could follow along better. Also, this plan worked out great because when it was the last lecture before a test, I wouldn’t have t be reading still right before the exam, I could just be studying instead because all my reading was done. To plan ahead, what I would do is count the pages that needed to be read for that topic, and then I would break the reading down by the number of days I had. So if there were 100 pages to read for Monday’s lecture, I had 3 days to read it (Fri, Sat and Sun). I would read about 33 pages each day. Yes, the skills book is almost exactly like the Fundamentals book, however, there are some extra points in there, like you said. I basically skimmed through it and looked for anything new or added. I would try to read the step-by-step skills info, if I could. I planned all the reading for NP1 ahead so it was all written out on a calendar for me. If I still have my breakdown for the reading, I will send it to you.

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Specializes in ED.

I don't have the number of pages broken down on my reading list like I did for NP2, so I guess I used scrap paper at the time. But its easy. Just look at the table of contents and see what page the chapter starts and what page the next chapter begins and you will have your page count. Then add all the chapters you need to read ahead for that topic and then divide by the number of days you have to read it and then read that many pages each day.

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