calling all nurses!!

Antikigirl, ASN, RN · Oct 15, 2004

One thing that really helped me was a very good start to studying! I had a great lab partner that became my study partner. He and I would stay up all night at coffee shops and study our keesters off till we got silly! Now this is when the fun in learning began! We would get so silly that we would make up funny or even crude stories to memorize things! Like say you had to remember the a common thing like heart attacks and MONA (morphine, oxygen, nitro, asa)...okay well that is simple enough as MONA..but we would turn it into...well usually something crude..LOL! And believe me, I remember it to this day (but can not say it here...oh no it is too ranchy!).

Far from PC I know, but I never forgot most of the things I learned this way...and I aced all the tests I took when I used this technique! The hardest part was not giggling or turning red taking the test!!! LOL!

Also, it is hard as can be...but you must learn to trust yourself! Remember that infomation is in that brain..the trick is not putting it there, it is getting it out! (ie the reason why linking it to funny stories or other items help...the more mental pathways, the easier it is to make the info come out!).

Try to have a ritual you do before testing. Like before you go to bed before a test...take a bubble bath with aroma therapy, a nice jasmine tea...something soothing! When you come out of the bath..think to yourself "okay...I have washed the doubt away!!! I am fresh and ready to go!" (that is tough but after a while it actually sinks in!). Then go to bed, get plenty of rest, and wake up and eat a good meal (very important). NEVER CRAM...it is just too overwhelming and stresses you out...give yourself rest time before tests...remember, if you don't know it by before a test..it isn't going to happen smoothly and just frustrate you!

Then choose a ritual before you walk into the test..even if it is as simple as just telling yourself "okay you know this..and all I can do is my best...so the best it is!". Wear a special necklace or ring or whatever...something important to you and your goals (I wore a locket with a picture of my son, and the other side had a caduceus). That way you represent what really matters...not the test, but the reasons and goals behind it..which will still be there no matter what happens during the test!!! I find this symbology and ritual really helps! It helped focus me on what really matters, and that I am a human being under extreme stress and that I can only try to do my best in the given situation...no more and certainly no less! :)

Greatest of luck to you! Believe in yourself, in your abilities, and watch that 'best' come shining through! :)

oujeepgrl · Oct 15, 2004

One thing that really helped me was a very good start to studying! I had a great lab partner that became my study partner. He and I would stay up all night at coffee shops and study our keesters off till we got silly! Now this is when the fun in learning began! We would get so silly that we would make up funny or even crude stories to memorize things! Like say you had to remember the a common thing like heart attacks and MONA (morphine, oxygen, nitro, asa)...okay well that is simple enough as MONA..but we would turn it into...well usually something crude..LOL! And believe me, I remember it to this day (but can not say it here...oh no it is too ranchy!).
Far from PC I know, but I never forgot most of the things I learned this way...and I aced all the tests I took when I used this technique! The hardest part was not giggling or turning red taking the test!!! LOL!
Also, it is hard as can be...but you must learn to trust yourself! Remember that infomation is in that brain..the trick is not putting it there, it is getting it out! (ie the reason why linking it to funny stories or other items help...the more mental pathways, the easier it is to make the info come out!).
Try to have a ritual you do before testing. Like before you go to bed before a test...take a bubble bath with aroma therapy, a nice jasmine tea...something soothing! When you come out of the bath..think to yourself "okay...I have washed the doubt away!!! I am fresh and ready to go!" (that is tough but after a while it actually sinks in!). Then go to bed, get plenty of rest, and wake up and eat a good meal (very important). NEVER CRAM...it is just too overwhelming and stresses you out...give yourself rest time before tests...remember, if you don't know it by before a test..it isn't going to happen smoothly and just frustrate you!
Then choose a ritual before you walk into the test..even if it is as simple as just telling yourself "okay you know this..and all I can do is my best...so the best it is!". Wear a special necklace or ring or whatever...something important to you and your goals (I wore a locket with a picture of my son, and the other side had a caduceus). That way you represent what really matters...not the test, but the reasons and goals behind it..which will still be there no matter what happens during the test!!! I find this symbology and ritual really helps! It helped focus me on what really matters, and that I am a human being under extreme stress and that I can only try to do my best in the given situation...no more and certainly no less! :)
Greatest of luck to you! Believe in yourself, in your abilities, and watch that 'best' come shining through! :)

thank you