Hey everyone! Well, for anyone that just completed their first semester....how was it and what do u guys plan on doing differently as far as studying, participating in activities, test preparations, your jobs, your family, your relationships, etc?
Well I guess I will start:
-I plan to read each and everything I get from the instructors the moment it is presented to me and not wait until I get home to read it.
-Have my Patho book FRONT AND CENTER when I am studying (understanding the disease and the disease process is half the battle)
-Print out notes in outline form as well as powerpoint slide form
-Spend less time on the phone (now that my bf and I are over guess I don't have to worry about that too much)
-Take more breaks. Sometimes I would study for hours and hours without a break which would cause me to retain less.
-Always have notes prepared as if Finals were next week. This year for finals I found myself reading EXTRA things on top of what I already had prepared.
1. Bring a quarter to all exams for the coin flip questions and visibly flip it.
2. On all exams where questions refer to the nurse as "she" or "her", add a "he" or "his."
3. The serious one: attempt not to stress out. My 88 took loads more time/effort/energy/time lost with the wife than comparable classmate's 82s. And they get the same gpa points...
Well i will change a few things. I just completed my first semester and i didnt have to much trouble. I read the chapters and listened in class ended up with low 90's in all my classes. Which would have been straight A's in regular college classes but is B's in nursing school. I will try to stay more organized and try not to fall behind with assignments. I found it very hard to catch up once i fell behind a little.
To the poster above I agree 100 percent. I will have to try to keep my self in check when i see things that are so obviously anti-guy. Our entire section on abuse was oriented against men. Physical emotional and sexual abuse only talked about women as being the victims. The course instructed only to interview women for signs of abuse. I took this a little personally and might have tried to defend my sex a little to vigorously. This didnt win me any brownie points with the instructors. I also spoke up in nursing history when according to the lesson nursing didnt exist before Florence Nightingale. Not one mention of the thousands of years that men nursed the sick of the world. I also might have spoken up about this a little to firmly. So yea try to just keep that in check and keep my head down if I havent already put to big a target on my back.
This coming semester, I need to stress less. I was close to the breaking point on many occasions.
Agreed. I definitly need to find ways to ways to destress. However it may be easier because instead of 4 classes I am only taking 2 at a time. I will take notes on what I'm reading as I read it instead of 2 days before the test. I am also going to make more powerpoint presentations and present them to anyone who will listen. Review the material a little bit everyday. Get more exercise.
I am keeping my same study habits--I had low to mid A's on every test so something must be working right! I read the chapter 2 days before the lecture. We get a sheet of objectives from the teacher and I highlight the answers in the book and write the page numbers on the sheet. After the lecture, I go home and type out the answers to the objectives. These typed answers were extremely handy when it was time to study for the finals! I have definitely gained a good 8-10 pounds because my workouts took a backseat. So I think I will try reviewing my notes while walking the treadmill!
Specializes in Psychiatric, Med-Surg, Operating Room.
SAME! I used to go to a pilates & a spin class. All of that stopped when I gave up my nursing school. I've gained 10 lbs! I'm getting back in the gym, no excuses! And hopefully this time I will know what to expect.. Last semester was my 1st semester and it was just insane! Skill check offs, tests back to back, etc. Very intense! Hoping this next one goes a little better.
As far as what I plan to do differently, though... I just dont know! I would like to stop comparing myself to my classmates though, and give myself more credit than I do.
Definitely agree with the bolded.
And to add to that, after completing my first quarter, I felt drained mentally & physically. So for next quarter I'm going to establish a study pattern during the first week or two. Second, sort of ties in with the previous, but I need to manage my time better...horrible procrastinator.
I really, really like this thread. I don't begin nursing school until Jan 10th but by seeing what you all talked about changing has helped me to learn what I should do in advance. I plan to read everything ahead of time, take good notes, print out & review powerpoints, etc. I actually learned to do this in previous classes, such as A&P II, and Lifespan Development, which helped me to reduce my extreme desire to procrastinate and kept me from falling behind in class. I'm interested to see how I'm going to be able to handle this load because its been at least a year since I've had 4 classes + 2 labs. I have a previous degree in Biology/Pre-Med so we shall see....
As a senior graduating in May (WHOOP WHOOP!!!), I only have one piece of advice for you:
Unless the good Lord HIMSELF comes down and gives you a CRYSTAL CLEAR revelation to a test answer, DO NOT under any circumstances, change your freaking test answers!!!!
I can't even begin to tell you how often I would choose my answer choice (the correct one) and after awhile it would eat at me. I would marinate on it, wonder if it's a trick question, and think WAY into it. Then I would just give in to temptation and CHANGE MY ANSWER. Then when we got our tests back, I would get sooooo ****** at myself when I couldn't trust myself enough to leave my first instinct choices alone. I definately stopped changing them as much, but it still gets me, every once in a while. Oh well, what can I say? I'm a thinker LOL.
As a senior graduating in May (WHOOP WHOOP!!!), I only have one piece of advice for you:
Unless the good Lord HIMSELF comes down and gives you a CRYSTAL CLEAR revelation to a test answer, DO NOT under any circumstances, change your freaking test answers!!!!
I can't even begin to tell you how often I would choose my answer choice (the correct one) and after awhile it would eat at me. I would marinate on it, wonder if it's a trick question, and think WAY into it. Then I would just give in to temptation and CHANGE MY ANSWER. Then when we got our tests back, I would get sooooo ****** at myself when I couldn't trust myself enough to leave my first instinct choices alone. I definately stopped changing them as much, but it still gets me, every once in a while. Oh well, what can I say? I'm a thinker LOL.
Good luck!
1 of my teachers used to always joke about breaking the erasers off of our pencils before tests, because we always erase the correct answer & choose a wrong one!
What I had done last semester seemed to work out fairly well for me. That being said... there are a few things I would do a bit differently.
-start studying earlier than 2-3 days before the test/final... while it did work out and I made excellent grades, I'd like to feel a bit more confident in my knowledge than I did last semester.
-READ!!! I had started out reading everything that was required and by the end of the term, I had completely abandoned that plan in favor of having that time to relax. Well, no more of that!
-Starting assignments and finishing them as soon as possible, instead of the 'leaving it till the end' kinda thing I did last semester. It kind of bit in the butt around the end of the term.
-Enjoy myself!! I did get caught up in some of the class drama and I kind of regret it.
I got an A for my first semester, but I think I could've done a lot better than I did in terms of retaining information and getting my test scores a little higher.
Things I want to do differently next semester:
Keep up with the readings. There's a LOT of reading to cover, but I think it will help me to retain information, not just learn it for a test.
Form and go to study groups. For our last test, my clinical group and I got together to study. It helped all of us out a lot.
Work more often. I have a great job for a nursing student, one that will allow me to pick up shifts from other people pretty much whenever I like and at the last minute. I want to work more when I have downtime so I'm not struggling over the summer.
valsalvamanuever2
38 Posts
1. Bring a quarter to all exams for the coin flip questions and visibly flip it.
2. On all exams where questions refer to the nurse as "she" or "her", add a "he" or "his."
3. The serious one: attempt not to stress out. My 88 took loads more time/effort/energy/time lost with the wife than comparable classmate's 82s. And they get the same gpa points...