Med-Surg: Aka: Bald Spots where I've torn out my hair

1. I am in my first full week of Med Surg, and "lovin' it". No I mean I do like the class, I really do but I have no clue how to go about studying it! She makes up these packets with the notes pretty much written for us, and then she assigns chapters out of the huge book and the Mosby's dictionary to read. The problem is that the info is ALL OVER THE PLACE! And I don't know how to go about memorizing stuff. We're on communicable disases and have the test on weds. For goodness sake, I don't even know what I'm doing- memorizing the disease, how it's transmitted, the symptoms...they all seem the same: "uh, fever, malaise, sore throat..."
   
   Does anyone have any ideas here on what I can do to make things more organized and help me to remember things? I get real confused when it comes to Direct/Indirect contact and Airborne/Droplet and Vehicle transmission. I mean if you sneeze the flu droplets onto a ball, and someone picks up said ball and touches the droplets, then puts said ball down and wipes face...is it droplet transmission, Indirect, or Vehicle? Or are Vehicle and Indirect kinda in the same boat?! I'm really at my end here...

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   About PeepnBiscuitsRN

   Joined: Jun '05; Posts: 437; Likes: 800
   Well, I'm on a nursing forum, so obviously I'm a janitor; from US
   Specialty: OB (with a history of cardiac)

   4 Comments

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3. 
   Sep 20, '05

   I really wish I could help you, but I am still on my waiting list, just taking pre-req's now.
   
   The ONLY thing that has ever helped me to learn and remember things is writing everything down. In lectures, at home reading, studying. Just write, write, write. For some reason, for me, that makes it 'stick' in my brain. Whereas just reading and listening doesn't do it.
   
   Good Luck!
   
   :icon_hug:
4. 
   Sep 20, '05

   I am in second semester med surg, and I recall briefly going over the methods of getting an infection -- I think they teach you this so that you would be better equipped in personal protection when taking care of a patient who has an infection. For example, if you have a patient with tuberculosis, the droplets can transmit the disease -- i.e. if he coughs, and you inhale the droplets, you can get tuberculosis. Direct contact would be something like if a patient had MRSA and you came into physical contact with him.
   
   I understand your frustration of med-surg. I think it is integral to have a sound foundation of anatomy, physiology, and microbiology. It is important to know these subjects well, because all the organ systems work together -- you'll find problems with patients who have hypertension, CHF, COPD, and perhaps even diabetes, and you have to be careful in planning care because one type of therapy may be counter-productive in another problem and so on. I think it also helps to do problem based, clinical situation problem learning.
5. 
   Sep 20, '05

   In Microbiology we had to learn about a few diseases caused from microbes.
   
   I grouped diseases that had the same symptoms together and learned those as a group. Then learned the others.
   
   For myself, I made a chart from MSWord to study from. Making flashcards may also help.
   
   Good luck!!!!
6. 
   Sep 20, '05

   You need to find out how you learn. I would reccommend that you "reorganize" all of your notes into one concise location. I type my notes up after lecture, it helps me remember what was covered. The material is also then in one location to review for your midterms/finals.

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