I don't know where to start but I just need to vent out of how horrible I am doing in nursing school! I study every single day, sometimes I go to sleep till 2 am and when its the day on the exam I get super nervous. My nursing friends tell me that I know my stuff which I do but then when it comes to the actual test I don't know what happens . I think I am having trouble answering nclex style question(not use to it). The first test I thought I got a B but end up getting a 73, the second one I thought I passed but no i got 70 =/.
I still cant figure out why I'm scoring low but this Tuesday I am talking to my counselor about my grades. I do love nursing , especially clinicals =). All I know is that I'm going to keep trying harder and give it my all. Oh by the way its fundamentals first semester and its 5-7 chapter each week. Also, which book will you recommend me to get to start practicing the nclex style questions? We are using the taylor fundamentals book.
For the meanwhile, i need to have a 2nd option... I am thinking of doing the CNA program to get more experience then do the lvn then bridge to rn route!
This book really helped me learn how to answer nursing questions. I went fron a 77 on my very first nursing exam to getting a 90 on my 2nd one. I continued to get high B's and A's the rest of my time in school. I utilized all of the "for success" books.
I second this. It's hard getting used to the questions. You need to study smarter, not harder. Figure out what type of questions you're getting wrong (is it "which patient first" questions? "which is the priority action" questions? etc)
Also be open to the idea that things may be phrased in a way that doesn't come naturally to you. Try to get in your instructor's head and learn how they think and phrase things.
Don't get discouraged yet! Nursing school is a HUGE adjustment. The amount of content we are required to know and the difficulty of the exams can be extremely overwhelming at first. I promise you that you will adjust to the demands and even though the content does become harder, it actually becomes easier to handle the further along you get in your program. It took me a while to figure out the best way for me to study and I think everyone has to go through that process of experimentation to see what works best for you. After Fundamentals, my Med-Surg book was my bff for the rest of nursing school. It was SO hard to force myself to sit down and just read for hours and hours, but that always helped me the most (especially the ebook version which was a lot lighter and easier to carry around lol) I was always trying to find the quickest and easiest way to learn the material, but that just led to memorizing bits and pieces of everything which wasn't helpful longterm. Reading every word of your med-surg book at least twice will completely change and enhance your understanding of every condition and meds, interventions, considerations, etc. that go along with them. It is better to paint a whole picture in your head of each topic rather than just memorize bits and pieces. That way, even if you don't know an answer off the top of your head you will have the knowledge to be able to figure it out. I agree that the Saunders book is a great resource. It is too early to be worrying about the NCLEX - trust me you will have plenty of time for that later! Just focus on learning the content inside and out for now and you will be able to answer just about any question. Kaplan is a great source as well with thousands of practice questions a lot of which deal with prioritizing which will become more important the further along you get in school and on the NCLEX of course! It also teaches you strategies to help answer the higher level questions. Good luck and hang in there! I graduated in December, accepted a job last month, and just took the NCLEX today. This has by far been the most challenging few years of my life, but also the most rewarding and fulfilling. I promise you it is totally worth it in the end! Hang in there!!! :)
So my advice would be to use the nclex review material and study that as well focusing on what specific area of nursing you are studying. That is what I did back in the day I was on the Dean's list so it worked! By doing this you are maybe overpreparing, but from a place of strength, not fear or anxiety. You are preparing both for your nursing exam and getting a head start on the nclex itself. This should also give you some control over the situation and help lessen your fear and anxiety allowing you to do better on your exams! Good luck!
Fruit Sucker
262 Posts
I second this. It's hard getting used to the questions. You need to study smarter, not harder. Figure out what type of questions you're getting wrong (is it "which patient first" questions? "which is the priority action" questions? etc)
Also be open to the idea that things may be phrased in a way that doesn't come naturally to you. Try to get in your instructor's head and learn how they think and phrase things.