Help I think med-surg is gonna kill me

pookyp, LPN · Feb 28, 2014

Is anyone else have a problem with med surg of feel overwhelmed. How can I get through this and all keep all my hair (dreadlocks). I swear I will only have 5 left by the end of my program. Any advice is well appreciated

I used to feel like that too. Keep up with your readings and if you have to read like 6 chapters at a time, then get a notebook and write chapter 1: respiratory then write down all the IMPORTANT things you think you should know for the tests. Keeping it all separated and organized helped me to not feel overwhelmed with info. Just taking what I needed from that big ol book seemed better. Just picking up that book and looking at how much I had to read made me nuts! Good luck!

SWM2009 · Feb 28, 2014

If, like me, you are having trouble understanding the content, then I would recommend the "Med Surg made incredibly easy" book Medical-Surgical Nursing Made Incredibly Easy! (Incredibly Easy! Series®): Lippincott Williams & Wilkins: 9781609136482: Amazon.com: Books

The book explained stuff in ways my gigantic med surg text failed to do for me. Of course you will still need to read the assigned text book readings but the incredibly easy book is a good supplement.

Another suggestion is to practice NCLEX style questions from a NCLEX PN prep book on the body system/disease you are currently covering in your class. This is especially important if your class exams are NCLEX style.

dodger80 · Mar 2, 2014

Lol...we've all been there study hard , listen in class record it if you can and there's this lil book called LPN notes by Ehren Myers if you have it i suggest going through it on your down time in addition to whatever content you have. Its real good and breaks down a lot of stuff to what you need to know...you'll be alright . Med Surg is tough but you can do it...wait till you get to OB/L&D/Pedi's that's when the fun starts.

cinlou, BSN, MSN, RN · Mar 2, 2014

Med surg is difficult for it is the foundation of everything you will continue to learn in the future. When you first start learning you have a small shaky foundation, the more you learn the broader and stronger your foundation will be and you will have something to pull from. Remember to study to your objectives. In my experience as a teacher and Director of a Practical nurse program, most students have difficulty when they enter the nursing program. When you take your general ed classes you tend to memorize information long enough to take the test and then you forget it, you're just using your short term memory. When you enter the nursing program you have to move that information from your STM to your LTM. The only way to do that is through repetition, reading, seeing, doing, but how do you decide what those things are? Follow your syllabus, rubrics, and the objectives. We can't teach you in class everything you need to know, but we do try to teach you critical thinking and reasoning so you can figure out on your own how to work through an issue. The books have more information than we can ever get through, so again follow those objectives they are your map to what to study for, be able to answer them and you will do well. Look at your objectives and they will tell you what to pull out of the chapters. I hope this helped you see the tree through the forest.

ASPIRING2BGREAT · Mar 3, 2014

I'm just entering into that zone and pray I successfully make it through!

FutureSTLNurse · Mar 4, 2014

I am right there with you. I am so bored of reading my text book. Heres my strategy: read 7 to 10 pgs, then do nclex qs online (dover3000), then do something relaxing. Keep repeating til finished. I have a short attention span so this works for me. I have a great teacher which is another good thing.