Health assessment HELP!!!!

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Hello everyone!

Ok well i've gotten accepted into the adn nursing program at my school and i am currently taking health assessment but failing:sniff:. We have to get a 75% on our avg. of just the exams and the final in order to pass the class but i have a 73% right now by pure luck. I have no idea how to study for this class. the ppl i've tlaked to seem to not even study and tell me all i have to do is read my text book but i've been doing this and it hasn't worked too well for me. all i have to get on the final is an 80% just to pass the class but at this point i'm thinking i wont make it.

PLEASE does anyone have any practice exams/question, or just tips on how to study for this class???

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Specializes in Pediatric Pulmonology and Allergy.

Do you have a chance to review your exams? Do you have any idea of which questions you got wrong, or the types of questions you got wrong?

I've never had much luck with the "don't study" approach myself--it can never hurt to study. You just need to learn how to study the right things and not waste a lot of time on the less important stuff. Maybe make an appointment with your prof and ask for guidance on focusing your studying so you'll be more successful on the next test.

Good Luck!

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Specializes in Emergency Room.

This is time consuming, but if I am having difficulty grasping a concept, I have to visualize it in my mind. I am artsy, so I draw little pictures of ways that I am able to remember concepts. For example, the class I struggled with the most was Pharmacology. Lovenox is contraindicated in pt's with allergy to pork. So in the margins next to the paragraph discussing Lovenox I would draw a little picture of a pig to help me remember the most important nursing considerations. That way, when I was testing, I could "see" the picture of the pig and remember, "Hey, people allergic to pork can't take Lovenox." This can apply to anything, including Health Assessments.

Something else you can do is make flashcards. Reading your textbook out loud and literally writing out diffcult concepts in your own words can be helpful. Nursing Made Incredibly Easy books are soo helpful for health assessments and other nursing topics. I went to half.com and ebay and purchased 4 of these books for $5 each. They describe information in a way I can better understand and they have cute illustrations which also help me remember facts.

Remember, nursing school is anything but easy. If you want to pass, you MUST study and study until you understand the information. If you want the RN bad enough, everything else has to be put on hold.

Good luck with your studies. I hope these tips help.

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i have found that when i try to 'teach' someone...(even it's my husband - or a plant!! ;) )...i have a better chance of retaining the info that i have just learned/read. maybe this would help you...

goodluck!!

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Specializes in Nursing Education.

Agreed, teaching is one of the best ways to learn something better!

For Health Assessment, another method you can try is to focus on "what is normal." For example, when assessing the respiratory system, what is normal? What should the respiratory rate be, where should you be able to auscultate breath sounds, what should they sound like?

If you can get a firm understanding of what a normal assessment looks like, (sounds like, feels like, sometimes even smells like :)), then you will have an easier time being able to identify when something is 'not normal.'

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I had same problem with my health assessment class in nursing school but I took help from instructor and she started giving me tutorials which made my grad go up from C to B+ in finals.

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Specializes in IMCU.

Has this class involved actually assessing people or is it just theory? I would suggest getting out your assessment handbook and doing some hands on practice with friends and family -- or fellow students.

Is it that you cannot remember what the details of the assessments are (i.e. steps to take) or that you aren't able to differentiate normal from abnormal findings?

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Specializes in Telemetry.

The program I was in used Jarvis....I found reading that studying the abnormals helped me the most

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hai...guys...can u help me to formulate a NCP about diabetes mellitus?.....i need 8 2muro plz.....help me thanx... i dont know how 2 do 8 huhuhuhu plz help me....

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hai...guys...can u help me to formulate a NCP about diabetes mellitus?.....i need 8 2muro plz.....help me thanx... i dont know how 2 do 8 huhuhuhu plz help me....

Sorry, as it's unlikely you were assigned this today.

Best of luck on your assignment.

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I'm not sure if you currently taking health assessment, however order this book from amazon it will help you greatly. It's Hogan, M., Ricci, M., & Welliver, J. (2010). Health & Physical Assessment: Reviews and Rationale. This book also gives practice test and an online test to better prepare you for the test at school. IT HELPS!

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

Thank you for the suggestion......this thread is over three years old.

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