First week of exams

NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN · Sep 27, 2015

Essay's are never fun. The only time that I have heard of my school issuing an essay test was if a student didn't make it to the first exam and had a valid reason (such as a visit to the ER, car accident, etc) they would be offered the essay instead of a zero.

So, it's your first exam for the beginning of the program. Good news is, the information probably won't be that difficult IF you read the assigned reading. This may be the instructor's way of seeing that the students are doing their part, especially when she said to just read. In past pre-requisite courses that I had taken at a community college there would be a few essays. The instructor would tell us that the test would be mostly from his lecture but there would be items that came from the book just to make sure that we did our assigned reading. I would focus on your notes from the lectures and the read over the assigned reading again. If there's something from the lecture that seems to be better emphasized in your book....that may be your question...no guarantees but this is what I've noticed in the past. Good luck on your tests. You can do this!

natmanzo · Sep 27, 2015

Essay's are never fun. The only time that I have heard of my school issuing an essay test was if a student didn't make it to the first exam and had a valid reason (such as a visit to the ER, car accident, etc) they would be offered the essay instead of a zero.
So, it's your first exam for the beginning of the program. Good news is, the information probably won't be that difficult IF you read the assigned reading. This may be the instructor's way of seeing that the students are doing their part, especially when she said to just read. In past pre-requisite courses that I had taken at a community college there would be a few essays. The instructor would tell us that the test would be mostly from his lecture but there would be items that came from the book just to make sure that we did our assigned reading. I would focus on your notes from the lectures and the read over the assigned reading again. If there's something from the lecture that seems to be better emphasized in your book....that may be your question...no guarantees but this is what I've noticed in the past. Good luck on your tests. You can do this!

It's still a regular exam but with an essay question included. I should have mentioned that lol

mrsboots87 · Sep 28, 2015

They do not owe you any hints at what will be required of the essay. If they told you, the everyone would study that part really well. They want to know that you study everything. It is likely the essay will have you pull from multiple sections of the readings. There isnt really a way to hint at that other than to say that you need to read.

Try not to get so worked up. The first exam is stressfull no matter what because it will be your first experience with a nursing program test. Go in knowing that a larger number of your class will probably fail it. And thats ok. Again, first time exposed to this style of learning and testing. Just do your best to read your notes. I hope you have kept up with your reading. And if not reading, at least skimming so you have a general idea of whats in the readings. If you freak out now and go in anxiety ridden, you are likely to do worse. Calm down and just focus on what you know. You can't control the rest.

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · Sep 28, 2015

Nope. No hints for essays other than to study notes & read the text. You need to be able to apply your content knowledge to be successful in nursing school.

Meeshie · Sep 28, 2015

Welcome to nursing school. Some professors will give you a focus and some won't. Some lecture based on their tests and some don't. Some give decent study guides and some give study guides that have little to do with their actual exams. It's rather like playing roulette.. you never know what you'll land on.

First, don't get this worked up. Walking in to an exam after barely eating or sleeping with major anxiety is a sure recipe for disaster. Find a coping mechanism early on in this game... running, working out, meditation, crappy movies, whatever. You need a way to cope with the stress.

Second, read. Every day. Read your assignments. Read your powerpoints. Take notes and then re-read anything you didn't understand. Take good notes and read read read. In nursing school, like in many things, the difference between success and failure is often preparation.

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Sep 28, 2015

Educator here - -

Essays are a much better way than forced selection questions (matching, true, false, multiple choice, etc) to determine what you have actually "learned". You only have to memorize factoids and understand how tests are created in order to do well with forced selection (the answer's there somewhere!). An essay will require you to reveal your understanding of underlying concepts and how they tie together. Essay questions are also much harder to grade.... so Kudos to instructors who use them.