Feeling incompetent

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I'm 2nd semester RN student and feeling like I don't know where or how to study. We just finished taking our first exam and probably 80% of the class failed. I've been trying to read all the assigned chapters but I SWEAR there is not enough hours in a day for a mother of 2. I feel like maybe I'm missing something or I'm not studying right or not understanding the concepts....idk. Can someone please help me be successful? Any study suggestions....reading suggestions? AAANNNYYYTTHING would be great. Ive got to pass this next exam. PLEASE HELP

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If 80% of a class fails a test it sounds as if the test is not covering the material being taught. It's unlikely such a nursing program would be around for long if that were the case. Either way, you're probably reading too much. There's no way that you can learn everything. If you paid attention in physiology and have a basic understanding of the medical things you are learning, you should be able to apply critical thinking to figure out the answer on a standardized test and in real life as well. Nursing school assigns a ton of reading and not every single word of every single page is important. You just need to a basic understanding to succeed. I think these reviews would help you to prioritize what's really important in the material you're learning.

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Specializes in Orthopedics, Rehab, LTC.

I agree with the previous post. Read to get a basic knowledge of the material as there's no way you're going to learn by strictly reading alone. Then, begin working through an NCLEX review book for the chapters you're studying for (usually broken up by body system). You could even begin with the LPN NCLEX if you're feeling like the RN NCLEX is too advanced for now. Most nursing program exams base their questions off of the NCLEX format and studying those questions will help you grasp the basic understanding of the material while not focusing so much on reading every single word in the text book. Reading the rationales to the answers may help reinforce the basic materail of the chapters you're studying and may help you learn it easier.

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Thanks!

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I know how you feel. My first test for the semester I was trying to read entire chapters. It is impossible to do that when working 6 days a week along with other responsibilities. I think its impossible for almost anyone for that matter haha. I took a test after reading all of the chapters, I bombed it horribly. The next time around I started reading the lesson outlines and print outs that we are given. They cover all important information that we need to know. I also bought nclex books and went over those. Took the test last week and passed :) Best of luck to you!

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I thought "learning how to study" was one of the stupidest things I'd ever heard...until I started nursing school. Now I know it's all about learning what to focus on. Flashcards helped me a lot. If your kids can read, that's something they can participate in, asking you the questions on the flashcards. If you bought your books, hi-lite in them. That really helped me ignore the things that weren't critical to remember. Figure out when is the best time for you to study. I know it's not for everyone, but I would get up hours early to study so it was fresh in my mind. I had an hour drive to school and we didn't review before tests, so this was crucial to me. Someone on another thread mentioned freenursetutor.com, a friend of mine had success when using that site as a study aid.

I guess my point is...you could study 24/7 and it wouldn't be as effective as studying 3 hrs in a manner that was more beneficial to you personally. Figure out what works best for you.

Good luck! :)

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Saunders is a nursing student's best friend!

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Specializes in Critical Care.

IF your exams are nclex style questions, then try practicing nclex style questions off of a study book or CD ROM or even online. they have a lot of free sites where you can practice questions. If your test covers certain disease processes, developmental stages, etc...just read the chapter, then do a few practice questions afterwards to see what you need help on. It could be taht you're reading the material but don't know how to apply it. It's the hardest part of nursing school, because with NCLEX style questions, it can be possible for all the answer choices to be correct, but you have to pick the BEST one. practicing questions can help you with that if you read the rationale. For all you know, you're making the same mistake over and over

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