Feeling Discouraged, Please help me

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Hello everyone,

I'm in my 3rd semester of LPN school and beginning to feel discouraged because , my average is starting to drop. I started off really well in my first semester averaging an 87-95% , then by the end of my second semester, I noticed my grades starting to drop, even though I was putting in the same amount of study time. I had my first exam of the semester today and I got an 83 which really surprised me because I felt really confident about the test before and after, especially with all of the work I put into studying. When I first started nursing school I would make a flash card out of everything and highlight almost everything in the book, but then I started realizing that I would be focusing and spending time on things, that didn't really mean that much and I felt like I was driving myself crazy thinking , everything would be on the test. So I tried a different approach and just started trying to hone in on the more important things in the material, while still studying hard and going over my power points constantly, but that still doesn't seem to be bringing my grades up and when I'm testing, some info that I know I know just seems to leave me and go out of my head:sorry:. What could I be doing wrong? Please help me, any advice would be helpful and GREATLY appreciated.

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honestly I think that happens to most nursing students, the material gets harder, grades get lower yet you put the same effort in if not more! I started off making flashcards in nursing school which led me to memorize the content. It wasn't until I read the book and went over my notes over and over again that the information stuck and I was actually learning! I used to highlight, underline, use sticky notes, take my own notes, and go over the teachers notes.

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honestly I think that happens to most nursing students, the material gets harder, grades get lower yet you put the same effort in if not more! I started off making flashcards in nursing school which led me to memorize the content. It wasn't until I read the book and went over my notes over and over again that the information stuck and I was actually learning! I used to highlight, underline, use sticky notes, take my own notes, and go over the teachers notes.

So where should I go from here? Back to making tons of flashcards?

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Talk with your professors, your academic advisor, the tutor room (if you have one), and your fellow classmates. They can all give you tips and insight on not only how your program works, but perhaps tips for individual professors/classes. It gets harder the further you get in school. You may have to devote even more time, even if you feel like you can't study any more. Perhaps also mix up how you study.

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Talk with your professors, your academic advisor, the tutor room (if you have one), and your fellow classmates. They can all give you tips and insight on not only how your program works, but perhaps tips for individual professors/classes. It gets harder the further you get in school. You may have to devote even more time, even if you feel like you can't study any more. Perhaps also mix up how you study.

Hi, thanks for responding, and yeah that's what I'm so confused about because I THOUGHT I was mixing up how I'm studying:( but my grades are not changing

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I think flashcards are a huge waste of time and energy. They worked great for prereqs but once I was in nursing school, the amount of time it took to make flashcards on all the content I had to know was outrageous, I never had the energy to go back and learn them! Try a study group, that often allows you to see what others are studying that you are missing. I used a study group of 3-4 people, any more than that is just chaos. I also used to make flow charts of the different conditions. The biggest thing that helped me was recording my professors lectures. I would listen to them at the gym, while I drove, even played it before I slept and would often fall asleep listening lol but I played it so much I could usually recite the lecture which sounds ridiculous but by the 3rd time you hear or see something, it usually sticks. Also I would study out loud! If you can teach a topic to someone, you know your material!

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Read over the material and then try to teach it to someone/something. I had a plant "Planty" that I would teach all kinds of things. It helps to think through it out loud. I used flash cards for some things - medications, lab values etc. Finding a way to study that works for you is half the battle!

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Thanks for all of your wonderful and GREAT advice! I love the plant idea, I think that's so cool and and creative. I will def be using all of these ideas and tips! Thanks Again!

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