Did you read all of the assigned readings in nursing school ?

NorCalKid · Jul 15, 2017

Hell no! There was so much reading. I would go the first week and get a feel for how the teacher taught. Also talked to students ahead of me. Just kinda did what was best for that class/teacher. There was one class I had to read every page. Online class with no real teaching or power points. Read every page and that was my lowest grade in nursing school(B).

I think 75 was minimum passing, 92 or 93 was an A. I actually failed the last test of nursing school. I had such a high grade I couldn't fail the class so focused on other classes. Ended up with a B in the class. I think I got like 1, B a semester, all the rest were A's.

Thanksforthedonuts, MSN, APRN · Jul 15, 2017

A question. What was your schools grading scale? Example, 90-100% A, 80-90% B etc. Also what was considered failure, most schools it is at 75%, some are 80%. Just curious.

A is 97-100

-A is 93-96.99

+B is 90-93

B is 87-89.99

-B is 83-86.99

Nothing lower than an 80% is permissible. Must maintain a GPA of 3.0 for each course AND and overall (cumulative) GPA of 3.0 (actually very important to remember that). There was no fooling around in our program. A 3.0 GPA starts at 87% and above. I had the biggest shock of my life when I saw the grading scale for our program!

Simplistic · Jul 15, 2017

A is 97-100
-A is 93-96.99
+B is 90-93
B is 87-89.99
-B is 83-86.99
Nothing lower than an 80% is permissible. Must maintain a GPA of 3.0 for each course AND and overall (cumulative) GPA of 3.0 (actually very important to remember that). There was no fooling around in our program. A 3.0 GPA starts at 87% and above. I had the biggest shock of my life when I saw the grading scale for our program!

97 to 100 is an A? WTF And I thought my schools grading scale was tough...

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · Jul 16, 2017

Yes I did and I read each text for each course. I'm a compulsive reader that has a tendency to remember what I read. Apparently I was the first (and likely) only person to not only actually read all the assignments but all the texts and completed the workbooks. (We were required to complete workbooks for a grade).

But that's me. It worked for me. Like I said I'm a compulsive reader. Nursing texts much more interesting than shampoo bottles and cereal boxes.

As far as the drug book I read the "intro how to use this book" since my jobs prior to nursing school were in pharmaceutical research I had familiarity with many medications.

shibaowner, MSN, RN, NP · Jul 17, 2017

It depends on the class. Talk to other students who have already taken the class. And ask your professor! Sometimes they give additional readings just for people who want more info. In some classes, I had to read everything, but in others it was just the lectures.

Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA · Jul 18, 2017

How do you retain the material by reading? I think if I just spend time with it listening/watching lectures, reading, flashcards, and maybe writing it all down as I go that might make me learn it...Do you feel stress free when you read? Is retaining information something the brain naturally does by reading and reading is just boring for all hence why no one likes it? Or is everyones brain differently? I'm so afraid of being hit with an exam with NCLEX style questions and everything I read from the book doesn't realy coorelate with what I read.

Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA · Jul 18, 2017

Dear God no. If you need to read to learn, try printing out your professor's power points in advance (if they offer that), and use those to guide your reading.
Otherwise, I highly recommend the ATI review books. They're all I read, they condensed 50 page chapters from my med-surg book into three pages of easy-to-understand outlines. They are the notes you wish you could take on your readings.

Are those books you only want to buy when you're in nursing school? Are they NCLEX review books or? If I get into nursing school how will I know what to buy and what will be what when I read the question and try to answer it?

Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA · Jul 18, 2017

I like this post because I'm a semester away from applying and I don't know if there's something I should do now to prepare for nursing school. I wonder if they'll throw jargon at you in your first semeseter that you weren't taught on an exam question.

shibaowner, MSN, RN, NP · Jul 18, 2017

I'm really appalled at how many of the students here don't think they have to read or don't want to bother. Guess what, when you are a nurse you will have to read! And if you want to advance in your career and become a supervisor, case manager, teacher, or nurse practitioner, you will have to do a lot of reading at work and in grad school, as well as a lot of writing.

dportal2006, ASN, RN · Jul 18, 2017

Almost nobody reads the complete full assignments given. By the time you finish reading the chapter you have forgotten half of what you read. It is better if you go to class, see what the teacher emphasized on each chapter and then go an elavorate a little bit more in the book. I do a lot of study questions from each chapter that way i know if i grasped the material. The rationales from the questions also help me a lot. I have done pretty good so far in my nursing school.

lunanarya, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2017

In the beginning I tried to read every single chapter we were given but it was a doozy:wtf:

Based on my (little bit) of experience, I think it depends on the material you're learning, the book, and the instructor. Our medsurg book is amazing and I could read it daily despite it weighing 12lbs, but our health assessment book was terrible. You'll figure out pretty quickly which instructors you'll need to go more in depth with your reading for, and which you may not have to.

About ATI, my program uses it quite extensively and from what I've seen, not every program does. If your program uses it, they'll have you order the books and website access when you start the program. (You can google "ATI (insert skill here)" too if you want to sorta see how their presentations are set up...like "ATI NG tube.") The books are easy to read and compact...but they don't have an index which is a bit annoying especially when you're knee-deep into a practice exam, really need to look something up, and it turns into a 20 minute affair (and I swear, I know how to read!)

OsceanSN2018 · Jul 19, 2017

How do you retain the material by reading? I think if I just spend time with it listening/watching lectures, reading, flashcards, and maybe writing it all down as I go that might make me learn it...Do you feel stress free when you read? Is retaining information something the brain naturally does by reading and reading is just boring for all hence why no one likes it? Or is everyones brain differently? I'm so afraid of being hit with an exam with NCLEX style questions and everything I read from the book doesn't realy coorelate with what I read.

I'm not really sure who you were applying to, but reading the book is only way I can truly feel confident before taking an exam because my mind I would have exhausted every resource and should know what to expect. Plus, I have a good memory and once I read something it would just be taken all in.