Tomorrow starts my second week in the nursing program. The reading assignments havent been too much since the first week basically went over the syllabi and everything. So far I have read all the assigned readings, which hasnt been much like I said. Just one chapter in Foundations, three chapters in Assessment, and my other nursing class had no readings for the first week.
My foundations teacher stressed that the faculty doesnt expect us to read our nursing books like theyre magazines and encouraged us to skim and just read all of the info in the little side boxes, etc. My problem is that I feel like if I dont read the entire chapter I'll miss out on important info. I know some people are really good skimmers, but Ive never done it before so I feel uncomfortable with even trying it. But I also feel like if I keep reading the entire chapters, I'll fall behind because I wont be able to keep up (extremely time consuming as you all know). Im also summarizing the chapters as I read which is quadrupling the time it takes for me to read the chapters.
So my question is how many of you skim and how many of you actually read? And for those of you who skim, do you feel like you miss out on important points in the text or no?
I've been having a lot of problems with this. When there are 100 pages a week in one class to read - I know it's a lot but it's doable (even with other heavy reading classes).
Where I have a problem - is that with all the massive amount of information and boxes and different sections, I get overwhelmed and end up just blankly skimming, highlighting, staring and being like .
I've been having a lot of problems with this. When there are 100 pages a week in one class to read - I know it's a lot but it's doable (even with other heavy reading classes).
Where I have a problem - is that with all the massive amount of information and boxes and different sections, I get overwhelmed and end up just blankly skimming, highlighting, staring and being like .
I can be very easily distracted....so I've been known to put a blank piece of paper over anything I'm not reading. Sometimes that just means that I cover the other half of the book, but I've been known to cover the other side of the book and then cover the bottom with another piece that I move as I read down the page. It helps me from just jumping ahead d/t being visually overwhelmed.
So far, Im still keeping up. I just have to continue to stick to my guns. I know a few people that have already fell behind and its only the second week. I dont want to end up like them so I use them as my motivation to stay on top of my game (they dont know it though, lol).
One girl actually told me I was "lame" today for actually reading the entire chapters and not being behind:rolleyes: LOL.
Some of the others in my class have just decided to study from the powerpoints since the instructor said thats where she puts all the need-to-know info. But Im going to continue to fully read my book, I feel like its good discipline to have and whenever I finish a chapter I feel accomplished.
Next semester is Med-Surg, so if I start slacking off on the readings now, how can I expect to keep up then?
I've had instructors advising us to skim parts of the readings, but the important thing is knowing how to tell what to skim and knowing what to read more attentively. For me, I look for key words and phrases that seem important: definitions, explanations of concepts, implications for nursing care, etc. I read those and if I get it, I skim the "filler" which often includes lots of examples that are quick to pick up on.
My strategy so far has been to go through the chapter before lecture, paying attention to headings, definitions, boxes, and charts. A few instructors have pointed out that any time a textbook is using colored ink to illustrate a concept via a chart, box, picture, etc. it is likely to be very important (colored ink is expensive!).
Then after lecture I've been reviewing my notes, and going back through the textbook and highlighting stuff that I didn't see before that was in lecture, and also looking for any additional info that might show up on a test. I try to anticipate what kinds of test questions there might be. I will then probably review the chapter a final time before the test.
Wow....I don't think your professors are giving you good advice. How do they expect you and the other students to pass the exams and NCLEX by just skimming through your books? YES I read my books...and read my chapters twice, maybe 3 times if I need to. With the advice they're giving....GOOD LUCK!
I can be very easily distracted....so I've been known to put a blank piece of paper over anything I'm not reading. Sometimes that just means that I cover the other half of the book, but I've been known to cover the other side of the book and then cover the bottom with another piece that I move as I read down the page. It helps me from just jumping ahead d/t being visually overwhelmed.
That's a great idea. I'm fine with a text with few tables and no pictures but I get distracted by the graphics easily. I will try CuriousMe's idea.
I have the attention span of a cat. I can be super-focused on something and then it's like, oooooh, my ear itches. What flew by the window? It's worse when I am doing online work. Gotta go check Facebook. What's happening on AllNurses today?
Well, I think it depends on your definition of "skimming." When I "skim," I basically just read quickly, looking for key words that I know are leading to an essential point about the material. It helps to prepare for lecture when you don't have time to read every single word. I do all the review questions at the end of the chapter and make sure I am able to answer/explain the chapter's objectives.
A previous poster mentioned that skimming ≠ skipping, and that is true. For me it's just a non-linear way of reading the chapter. Instead of passively reading every word, I'm actively looking for the most important information and thinking critically about it. I tend to go back after lecture and read more thoroughly.
That's a great idea. I'm fine with a text with few tables and no pictures but I get distracted by the graphics easily. I will try CuriousMe's idea.
I have the attention span of a cat. I can be super-focused on something and then it's like, oooooh, my ear itches. What flew by the window? It's worse when I am doing online work. Gotta go check Facebook. What's happening on AllNurses today?
I'm actually ADHD (for real, dx'ed, etc) ...and there's this great t-shirt that says." I don't know why people say I'm AD...Oooh, look a chicken!"
So my friends and I often talk about the chicken...ie, sorry I didn't call you right back, you see there was this chicken...etc ;-)
So I have to intentionally block out distractions. AN, Facebook, etc....all have great chicken potential for me
As a general rule, I don't READ my nursing textbooks. I do however USE my textbooks a lot. I honestly don't find reading the material is the best way for me to learn it. I use them as a tool and a reference, but rarely ever sit down and read the chapter from start to finish. Before lecture I rewrite the powerpoints into an outline form, go to lecture, take notes, then go over the notes and refer to my textbook for things I don't understand. When I study for exams I work with my study group to understand the material and we often refer to the book for clarification. This was my strategy for most of my classes, especially Health Assessment. For Pharm I found it really hard to read ahead of time, but often referred to it when I was writing up my classes of drugs, etc. I think it's more important to know and really understand the material as opposed to just knowing what the book says. If reading the book 3 times helps people understand the material, I think that's great, but it doesn't work for me.
In Med-Surg there's a lot of information, so I would usually skim the chapter beforehand just to start becoming familiar with it. I had the Ebook and in study group we would put the Ebook up on a plasma screen in the library and go over the different sections to make sure we understood each system, etc. For Med-Surg 1 clinical I would use the book a lot to read about the system, patho, nursing care, etc. for each of my patients. I'm in Med-Surg 2 now and am using it to prep for my unit.
I especially didn't read for Fundamentals, there was so much in our text that our instructors would say "Don't refer to your text for this because they recommend X and more recent research says that Y is better." The materials they gave us for labs was also way more useful than the book. I used the Nursing Diagnosis textbook a lot to understand nursing diagnoses and creating care plans. It would have been so boring just to read the whole thing.
That said, there are some books that I did read either because I actually enjoyed the book or because there was just random info from the book that would be on the test. Usually that was for classes that were less science and more about the philosophy or history of nursing, which seems counterintuitive, but for some reason those were the classes where the professors were intent on taking random snippets from the books.
Honestly, I think to do well in nursing school you need to do what works for you and how to do well in each class. I used to stress out because it seemed like so many people were reading, studying and memorizing so much more than I was, but then they still weren't doing well on tests. Maybe it's because they weren't studying the right information or weren't studying efficiently, who knows. I just know what works for me and started feeling less stressed when I stopped worrying about what worked for other people. :)
I never really did read my books that much, but last semester I was in a med surg class where we basically taught ourselves, so I had to actually read the book. I noticed I did better on my tests, so I started reading the text for my OB class, and did better in there, too. This semester we are being told that we HAVE to read our books, so I'm going to focus on that.
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ShannonRN2010, BSN, RN
359 Posts
I have always been told "If it's in the book, it's fair game"...so yes, I ALWAYS read my book!