CRNA/SRNA Studying Techniques?

luv your nurse, RN · Apr 23, 2007

As you progress through nursing school you will develop a style that works for you. From my perspective the classes I took (pre-reqs) were just as challenging as nursing school (chemistry, anatomy, physiology) so since you already have good marks, you most likely will do well in nursing school. If time is a crunch, get a job that allows you to work less- I worked 2 nights in the hospital and made as much as 4 days as my old job. Also, cut out the extra studying like reading the entire text book, just focus on the points that need clarification. Nursing school is about concepts, not all memorization, so if you understand the lecture, review your notes, leave the reading for clarifying. That will save time. I hope this helps, as least that how I made it work:p

jenni82104 · Apr 23, 2007

I don't have any suggestions for you, but I love the tip you shared. I will be taking my notes like that from now on. Thanks!

jimsrna · Apr 23, 2007

I am a CRNA and have studied and used memorization techniques over my many years of education. People will tell you that memorization is not the way to learning, but they are absolutely wrong. If you have critical data permanently stored you will be able to access this info at stressful times. For example, when a nursing instructor or anesthesiologist is pimping you in front of the entire OR, you will be able to rattle off minute details with ease. This will both allow you to concentrate on the "big picture" of patient care and give you confidence.

There are many techniques out there like the basic association to the complex journey method. It was my experience that nursing school was a lot of logic with some memorization. Nursing requires one to take a problem and systematically determine the care required. However, when you get into anesthesia school the information becomes more detailed and black and white. This is when the ability to memorize huge amounts of information becomes critical.

My techniques take time at first to lay down the foundation of the topic you are memorizing. After you have the foundation laid, you can add to it and will be able to access it for a long time. For example, when I was studying for my CRNA boards, I had a study guide that contained close to 4000 questions and answers. In one month, I memorized this entire book. When my classmates would ask me questions from this book, I was able to recite answers back quickly and easily. I am not writing this to brag. My intention is to help others by using my system. If you would like more info about my technique just email me or PM me.

endorphinrush · May 7, 2007

I am a CRNA and have studied and used memorization techniques over my many years of education. People will tell you that memorization is not the way to learning, but they are absolutely wrong. If you have critical data permanently stored you will be able to access this info at stressful times. For example, when a nursing instructor or anesthesiologist is pimping you in front of the entire OR, you will be able to rattle off minute details with ease. This will both allow you to concentrate on the "big picture" of patient care and give you confidence.
There are many techniques out there like the basic association to the complex journey method. It was my experience that nursing school was a lot of logic with some memorization. Nursing requires one to take a problem and systematically determine the care required. However, when you get into anesthesia school the information becomes more detailed and black and white. This is when the ability to memorize huge amounts of information becomes critical.
My techniques take time at first to lay down the foundation of the topic you are memorizing. After you have the foundation laid, you can add to it and will be able to access it for a long time. For example, when I was studying for my CRNA boards, I had a study guide that contained close to 4000 questions and answers. In one month, I memorized this entire book. When my classmates would ask me questions from this book, I was able to recite answers back quickly and easily. I am not writing this to brag. My intention is to help others by using my system. If you would like more info about my technique just email me or PM me.

What he said. Thats pretty much how I have studied for the last 100 years and it works well for me. The knowledge stays with you forever like that. Strangely enough by the end of a semester, I could hand someone my notebooks and read off an entire 5 subject notebook without ever looking at it. Not a brag, just how well I study. I do a lot of repetition in my studying as well. I take the days notes, read them several times until I have it in my head. Same thing with the next days notes and so on. By the time Friday rolls around, I know my material so well I don't have to study.

Using that technique I was able to learn 700 vocab words for my MAT that I took for CRNA school. That was months ago and yea I still remember the list and what MOST of them mean. Hard to keep em all in my head when noone else knows what the heck i mean when I use em lol.

jemommyRN · May 8, 2007

I know that they will stress that you can not memorize the information, you must know it and understand it, and while this is true, I must tell you that when I am in a crunch, I resort to memorizing every single word on the page (of my notes). I try not to study this way (because I want to learn the material thoroughly), but when I do study this way, I do much much better on my test. Again, I would advise you to study, review, ask yourself questions, etc, but if all else fails........

x_coastie · May 11, 2007

Thank you all for the input. I am looking forward to trying out some of the techniques this summer and hopefully have one or two perfected before the end of my ADN. From what jimsrna and the other gracious posters have said the "journey method" is powerful and effective. Also memory pegging seems very helpful for smaller lists.

I understand that memory doesn't take the place of learning, but there are many things that need to be memorized.

Thanks again

x_coastie · Jun 7, 2007

Not really a study technique, but I ran across a very cool product. It is called a "check set" and it consists of two markers and a red tinted see through piece of plastic. You use the green highlighter to highlight the info you want to memorize (in your text book), and when you put the red plastic sheet over the page you can read everything except the "highlighted" portion. This allows you to test yourself using the text book. When you are done you use the white marker to remove the green markings, returning the page back to normal. I was only able to find this product overseas (Japan) from the j-list. It was about 6 bucks and shipping was not too bad.

Hope this helps some buddy

spideyunit · Jun 7, 2007

hello. i am in the interview phase now for crna school. since ive been out of school awhile and for get most of the chemistry/a&p stuff i'm a bit nervous and worried about my study habits... i'm interested in knowing more about your memorizing tech.. thanks. DM

ps. were you out of school awhile when you started back? do you learn pretty much everything you need in school, or is it being built on a bunch of stuff you should already know???

japaho41 · Jun 8, 2007

I find that using notecards and making a table (example muscle, origin, insertion, action, nerve, artery) works well for me. Especially for classes like pharmacology & anatomy.

Making up mnemonic or a saying works well especially for long list of things (whatever sticks in your mind, usually the dirty or silly ones stick best, at least in my twisted mind).