Having to teach yourself?

Newgurl17, CNA, LPN · Jan 30, 2018

The school that I went to was like yours too. Instructors say that there isn't enough time to go over everything in class

OsceanSN2018 · Jan 30, 2018

Wow, that sucks. I only have one teacher this semester who basically make us self teach any she will only provide supplmental resources such as videos and role playing teachings. The rest of my teachers will only put things on the test that have been taught in class.

JJL618, RN · Jan 30, 2018

On the exam today that most of the class failed, we had 4 I&O calculations. We have never been over how to calculate IO, never been told we needed to know if for this exam (I figured they would teach it when we needed to know it) or I would have watched videos. We were told a TURP drainage calculation would be on there, but not the others. When we asked the teacher, he said y'all didn't learn that in Fundamentals? It's frustratung. That's a 6 to 8 point swing on a test.

I didn't sleep much last night cause I kept waking up thinking about this exam. I made a 68 and I know of 5 questions that I had the right answer marked at one point or another or thought that was the correct answer but I changed it or didn't mark my first instinct. I could have made a 78, which still isn't wonderful but better than a 68. I'm mad at myself about that.

JJL618, RN · Jan 30, 2018

The school that I went to was like yours too. Instructors say that there isn't enough time to go over everything in class

How did you get through it? Or what resources did you find helpful?

JJL618, RN · Jan 30, 2018

One of our instructors said if we mention it in class we think it's pretty important to know. Maybe not for the unit exam but definitely for the HESI. Well if they don't talk about it in class how do we know what to study or what to read. They give us readings, but it is impossible to read 5-6 chapters and know every single line in every single chapter. That's how it feels that we need to pay attention to every single sentence in the reading material. That's nearly impossible without some guidance.

OsceanSN2018 · Jan 30, 2018

On the exam today that most of the class failed, we had 4 I&O calculations. We have never been over how to calculate IO, never been told we needed to know if for this exam (I figured they would teach it when we needed to know it) or I would have watched videos. We were told a TURP drainage calculation would be on there, but not the others. When we asked the teacher, he said y'all didn't learn that in Fundamentals? It's frustratung. That's a 6 to 8 point swing on a test.
I didn't sleep much last night cause I kept waking up thinking about this exam. I made a 68 and I know of 5 questions that I had the right answer marked at one point or another or thought that was the correct answer but I changed it or didn't mark my first instinct. I could have made a 78, which still isn't wonderful but better than a 68. I'm mad at myself about that.

Sorry that you are going thorough this. Though calculating I & O should be taught in fundamentals because a CNA should know how to do it and it's basic care. The same with dosage calculations, it should be a requirement that you know how to do med math before moving on to the next semester. Although, it's not your fault that it was not mentioned to you. Are you attending a nonprofit school? I would definitely be more cautious going further and just study everything in the chapter. If they make you read then just read the outline, objectives, and review of the chapter and the first and last sentence of every paragraph. Once you do that then just do A LOT of practice question that have rationales on the material. You can do this, just keep trying different study methtods that seen to work for you.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Jan 30, 2018

One of our instructors said if we mention it in class we think it's pretty important to know. Maybe not for the unit exam but definitely for the HESI. Well if they don't talk about it in class how do we know what to study or what to read. They give us readings, but it is impossible to read 5-6 chapters and know every single line in every single chapter. That's how it feels that we need to pay attention to every single sentence in the reading material. That's nearly impossible without some guidance.

It is not impossible to read the assigned reading and pay attention to it. You owe that much to your future patients.

I know it's hard. Nursing is hard. School is the easy part.

ItsThatJenGirl, CNA · Jan 30, 2018

We have to teach ourselves, through powerpoints and reading. Lecture is for review/questions.

MiladyMalarkey, ASN, BSN · Jan 30, 2018

Talk with your instructor about your concerns, respectfully of course. Ask them what they recommend.

Newgurl17, CNA, LPN · Jan 30, 2018

How did you get through it? Or what resources did you find helpful?

I used the textbook resources, so there were videos on it that I could watch and quizzes that I could do on the textbook resources as well. I used cuecards and also used the quizzes with my classmates and talked through our answers.

JJL618, RN · Jan 31, 2018

It is not impossible to read the assigned reading and pay attention to it. You owe that much to your future patients.
I know it's hard. Nursing is hard. School is the easy part.

I read the assigned chapters but it doesn't always stick in my mind. I'll be honest too, I do not like reading. It's hard for me to sit down and read a fiction book that I find interesting much less a textbook lol. I don't know why that is maybe because I don't retain the info well when I sit and read but I'm trying to do better because I know it's very important in nursing school. I'm going to try different things the next go around. It's on F&E and acid base, so we are getting into the fun stuff. :)