Having trouble studying

[OU812IC]

Sorry to butt in everyone, but im having a little difficulty studying. I'm a first year AAS nursing student at a local community college. I did well in my core classes and A&P etc, however the structure of the nursing program is throwing me fits. Im more than willing to put in the time and focus on this, and trust me , I have put it a lot in the first two weeks. Its the format that is giving me trouble. Some chapters we read 10 pages and move on to another chapter etc. They're all seemingly related, but its hard to focus down and put in the work for it. I take notes and review them, i review the printed powerpoints, but when it gets to the questions at the end of a chapter I'm still swinging and missing. I think Ill do well once i figure out the correct way to study for this , but its getting over that hump of something new. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

B

[Raccoon-Eyed-Nurse]

Maybe you're having trouble with application/understanding?

When you study, how do you talk to yourself? What I do is pretend like I'm giving the lecture. It forces me to really think about what I'm saying: Drawing connections, rewording concepts, thinking of my own examples, etc. (I even make some cheesy jokes ) It makes me do more than just absorb information: I'm actively trying to make it "real" for myself while I'm technically just sitting and reading. Hope this helps!

[AJJKRN]

What type of learner are you, figure that out first. I also suggest that when you start to get tired to get up and walk around or do a small household chore that takes ten minutes or less. I also had an old treadmill that I figured out a way to place my textbooks on so I could walk and read for exercise.

I'm not primarily a kinetic learner but it did help kill two birds with one stone (studying and exercise) and helped keep me awake/alert. I love to read but after awhile in nursing school, reading one paragraph would start to put me to sleep whether or not I found the info interesting or not! Good luck!

[OU812IC]

Thank you for the replies so far everyone, I truly appreciate it. I generally learn by doing and repetition, and also diagramming systems/concepts. I am having difficulty succinctly putting the trouble I'm having into words, but i do thank you all for your help :-)

B

[northmississippi]

Try reading and doing to questions at the end of the chapter first so you can see what your looking for while reading. always read the first and last sentence of the paragraphs well as it seems those are good areas that test questions come from. get some free flash cards off the net that relate to the topics your currently on, and read exam cram nclex rn book as you study your notes, that books like all nclex books kinda go along with topics in class since they are broke down into sections like cardiac and endocrine, but they are not so worded up like your text book. always record the lecture and listen to it again if they allow that.