Help with anything for nursing school

How do you make flashcards if you don't read the chapters?

My BEST and ONLY study advice is to read the chapters. Your reading is the basis of your lectures, and it's where your test questions come from. I think every student gets overwhelmed w/ the reading material. Making flashcards is wonderful and I use them myself. But making them is busy work. Busy work gets you nowhere. Unless your are studying from the flashcards over and over, they can be a waste of time. I suggest reading your chapters, highlighting info from lectures and making notecards from the areas you have a hard time w/.

Yes,yes,yes you REALLY have to read all the chapters to pass nursing school. After reading and highlighting was when I made my flashcards. However there were times when I cheat readed by reading the clinical companion over the text, but that was only if I understood the material sorta kinda. If I was clueless I read the text.

How do you make flashcards if you don't read the chapters?

I used handouts from the nursing instructors and notes from lectures and powerpoints. Some fellow students say they read others say they never have read and pass with good grades.

My BEST and ONLY study advice is to read the chapters. Your reading is the basis of your lectures, and it's where your test questions come from. I think every student gets overwhelmed w/ the reading material. Making flashcards is wonderful and I use them myself. But making them is busy work. Busy work gets you nowhere. Unless your are studying from the flashcards over and over, they can be a waste of time. I suggest reading your chapters, highlighting info from lectures and making notecards from the areas you have a hard time w/.

I just feel using flash cards I'm trying to memorize and I know you have to learn it not memorize it. Just when I read I seem not to comphrehend what Ijust read. I know the questions are different but how do you ever learn how to answer them?

I just feel using flash cards I'm trying to memorize and I know you have to learn it not memorize it. Just when I read I seem not to comphrehend what Ijust read. I know the questions are different but how do you ever learn how to answer them?

That is why you are having a hard time answering the questions correctly. You can't memorize anymore. Nursing is application. You have to put yourself into the question. If you are having a hard time w/ comprehension, I would suggest a NE tutor.

I too sometimes have a hard time comprehending all that info. Sometimes, I read a paragragh 3-4 times just to grasp concepts. If that doesn't work, I mark the page and move onto something else. I come back to that page, read again and that usually works. If it doesn't, there is usually an outside influence affecting my studying, like being exhausted, lol! You should ALWAYS be able to ask your instructor to clarify the readings you are unclear of. Study groups may be a wonderful idea for you as well. Members of your group may help you comprehend. Maybe your are a auditory learner, thus the group being a tremendous force for you.

It might be really critical of me to say but to really think you can get by with decent grades by not reading the material is an ignorant position to take. This applies to any degree, not just nursing. This isn't high school, you have to discipline yourself to read through it. Flash cards have their uses but you can't just depend on them.

Good luck..

I no longer read every single page assigned and I've been getting As in med surg since I stopped trying to read every single page. Does that mean I don't read the material important to what I'm studying? Absolutely not! - Sometimes the textbook just goes into so much detail that it can be easy to get bogged down. You read for hours and hours and still don't know what you really need to know. OK, not everyone might go through that but thats what was happening for me. So I found other resources to learn the material. The Saunders guide is excellent as well The Reviews and Rationales Series, The Made Easy Series and fast becoming one of my faves is the Manual of Medical Surgical Nursing Care. Fantastic book. I look over the tables and charts in my text book but my readings tend to come from sources other than the text book. If you get bogged down by your textbook, find other resources that get straight to the point. I really love the Manual of Medical Surgical Nursing Care. Not only do I use it to study but its small enough for me to take to clinicals.

I know this thread is old, but I think this is a common scenario with people that fail out of 2nd semester- if second semester is med surg. I think its not how much you read that is important for med surg, but understanding how to study and what you need to know and of course doing as many practice questions as you can.