Fundamental I

Does your book come with a cd? Does it have a website you can log on to? If so, use them. They are great! For me, it helps reinforce what im learning & helps me apply it as well. I also have test success & fundamentals success as well as a nclex book & what ever we are going over in class i find those areas in those supplemental books & answers those questions as well. They have the rationales to the answers as well. The more questions you answer the better you will get. Hang in there

For my school, the book has review questions at the end of the chapter, we also have a website we can go to for our book that has NCLEX style questionsfor each chapter. I also re-read and re-read my notes until it sticks. We also had out first fundamentals test today, (I am in upstate NY) and I got a 100%. My advice is to really dig in, and try to apply the knowledge. We have been having quizzes every single day and those help me know what to study. They let me know what I need to work on in the chapter. Another thing that I find works for me....explain the different models of health and preventative care and anything else in the chapter to someone else. If you can't you don't know it and should study it more.

The teachers have assigned new books this semester to help save the students money. The book doesn't have any websites or cd's. I will look for the things that you mentioned to help me practice.Thanks for the advice..

My grades started slipping in fundamentals critical thinking isn't easy! And it's a lot harder in med surg... I recommend going to half.com and buying fundamentals success and also med surg success you can get them used on there for like $5 or brand new for a little more also a nclex book... Good luck

I had my first fundamentals exam and I can't believe it, I ACED it!! Woah! Let me tell you that I studied very hard. I did all the study guide questions and all the hand outs from the instructor. I think what also helped me was I used mynursinglab.com. They have the same book out there and NCLEX style questions. I had to pay $44.00 for their special section with the questions but I found it very helpful.

This was a VERY stressful week as I had to repeat an assessment I failed (passed this time), had two clinicals instead of the normal one because of a scheduling conflict and this very first fundamentals exam. I didn't do so well on my first pharma exam. (I passed but not by much) so I was really worried about this one.

I just took my last fundamental test of the quarter. I think the reason that fundamentals is so challenging is because it is an entirely new way of thinking for most people. You really have to critically think in order to succeed. I found it very useful to create questions as I was reading the chapter. For instance, if I was reading about Incentive Spirometry, I would create scenarios of when and how incentive spirometry would be used and then quiz myself. Fundamentals isn't about just being able to spit out information that is presented to you, it is about being able to take the information and apply it to real life scenarios. Remember that when you are studying.

Also, I'm sure you have figured out by now that Nursing School is unlike any other schooling you have ever had. You really have to dig in there and take the time to learn this stuff. You have to go over it time and time again until you have it down. I think you are on the right track with asking your fellow students for help, you will do fine as long as you just keep going over the material.

Good luck

I must agree, the chapter reviews are very helpful and really keep you intact with weather or not you have understood what you read in the chapter. For me I use alot of quizlet and other testing resources available online so that I can be exposed to different types of questioning concerning the topic and the rationales.