Help!!! Failing Med-Surg in my second year of school!!!

[berna4593]

Hello nursing world! This is my first time ever posting an actual thread but I have used this website religiously since starting nursing school. Let me explain my dilemma: I'm in my 4th semester of a 2 yr ADN program, graduation is May 2016. Ok so up unto this point I have done fairly well I did struggle a bit my first semester with Fundamentals and Pharmacology but it wasn't bad. My spring semester was OB and of course clinicals I finished with a B, summer semester was peds finished with a B as well. At the end of the summer semester I felt extremely confident and relieved that I was going to make to graduation since there were a few times where I doubted that I would. Well I got a rude awakening this fall semester in adult Med-Surge, I made a 57 on my first exam!!!!!! I was completely devastated:cry: I had studied for days using the same study methods as the previous semesters so I didn't know what went wrong. Well I found out that more than half the class failed it as well even people that had always made A's, so I was like ok it wasn't just me. I got my confidence and began preparing for the next exam which was a mental health and I knew I had to pass to somewhat recover from that first horrible grade! Studied for days and went in and made an 85!! So then I was like ok it was that first test that was hard maybe because it was cardiac(the things I was telling myself!) And come to find out my grade was one of the highest in the class so that gave me a huge boost of confidence to keep going! ( not that I was going to give up) So on to exam 3 GI/Immune studied for days went in and failed with a 71(75 is passing)!! Devastation again!! I wasn't the only one that struggled with it though, many of the students blamed it the way one the teachers had lectured the content (I didn't) but anyways I had to pick myself up and began to study for exam 4 hematology/endocrine. I studied every day a couple of hours for 3 weeks straight I was determined to pass this test and the Endocrine was a difficult subject. So I broke it down from the beginning learning all the hormones their functions etc etc. I used Nclex style questions to test myself, watched videos basically did whatever I could to get the content down. I was somewhat confident on the day of the test but you never know what the teachers are gonna throw at you so anyways I failed the test AGAIN!!!! I made a 72.5(mind you the majority of the class did very well)!!! This was two weeks ago and I'm at my witts end on what I should do or how I should study. I really cannot study in a group unless I have a somewhat understanding of the material so I pretty much keep to myself and try to do whatever I know works for me. Some people told me well I have never opened my med-surge book I only study the powerpoints maybe you studied too much! I mean is there such a thing as studying too much?? I just need help I've come so far to fail out now! I just don't understand what went wrong this semester I was always the one people came to for help previous semesters and now I'm like the one everyone "feels bad for"! It's just making me wonder if I'm smart enough to actually be a nurse. Any advice anyone can give me at this point is greatly appreciated! I'm usually a strong person and get over things quickly but right now I'm feeling like a total failure and I need to prepare myself for the next exam I just don't know how I should study, do I read the book, don't read it, do I only read the powerpoint, do I do questions still!!!! I don't know SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!

Sincerely,

desperate nursing student/mother

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Hello.... I've moved your thread to our General Nursing Student forum formember advice.

[NurseStorm, BSN, RN]

Hm, this is tricky. If you are able to review your tests, I would try looking at where you are going wrong. Is it multiple choice and you are struggling with the options? If so then maybe spend more time with the nclex style questions.. If they are written questions, are you missing vital information? If so, figure out how you are missing this info and focus your studying on that. Is it certain categories you are struggling with, such as med related, patho related, etc? It is hard for me to advise knowing nothing about your course how it is structured or how the tests are but you need to first really critically evaluate where you are going wrong to help guide your studying for the next exam.

As well as determining that, I think you should focus firstly on the powerpoint. Study them over and over, and write out the main points to reinforce it in your mind, and/or record yourself reading the power points and listen to it while driving, walking, cleaning, etc. After you feel you have the powerpoints learned 100%, turn to the textbook and widen your knowledge. Highlight relevant info, and write notes as well. After you have learned as much as you can from the powerpoints and the book, turn to the questions to see where you're at. It's best to leave the questions for the end so you can use them to gauge what areas you need more work on. Any question that you get wrong, mark with an asterisk, and go through the relevant sections again, write out more notes/cue cards etc. Then repeat the questions.

Good luck!! How long do you have till the next exam?

[brookeraelyn]

What I do for my med surg exams any key words I know are in the questions I always circle the answers. When I study from the power points I get I highlight if it's something we are talking about like the circulation of a stoma and it becoming necrotic. I drew it in my own way and wrote the colors it would be in the circle. Anything like that for silly things. Try looking up pneumonic for somethings to help you remember as long as you can write and circle things and cross out stuff on your test trust me it helps ALOT. If you know one answer is 100% obviously wrong cross it out if you know. Dysphasia is in the question, and the answer has to do with hard to swallow then that could definitely be an answer so keep that there until you narrow it. I use a lot of color and highlighters for whatever I can. I also cracked open my med-surg book and took out all the chapters that go with those exact power points and put them in a binder based on each system so it's 100% organized you can get that done at a staples they just take the binding off the book and the pages out and you can hole punch it and organize everything. Sometimes when things are visual and colorful especial with med-surg or you can relate them back to something it helps ALOT. But the book and the power point organization saved my butt! Good luck