HELP!!! I'm failing Med-Surge!!!

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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

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Specializes in Public Health.

Have you met with your instructors to go over your exams and see where you're going wrong?

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Yes I met with my clinical instructor and she basically said "just study read the book know your content" I tried to show her my notes and things I used to study but she just brushed me off and said she had to go. I was thinking about going to the director of the program but I'm not sure if that is a good move or not, I just want to make it known that I am trying because just looking at my grades anyone would think that I don't study and if I don't study means I'm not taking the program seriously.

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Who in your class has been doing consistently well on all of the tests? Find that out, and then meet with him/her and ask them EXACTLY what they are doing to study. Are they reading the book? Highlighting important parts? Using the power points? Making their own "study guide"? Making flash cards?

It seems like you're a hard worker, and I hardly doubt it is your intellectual capacity that is holding you back. I think you are studying incorrectly, and your priorities should be: 1. Figuring out how to study for this particular class, and 2. Managing your anxiety so it doesn't mess you up on future tests.

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Thank you! I did ask a fellow student that has done very well she says she reads the powerpoints over and over and will briefly read the chapters but she does like you said just focuses on the content that is covered in class. So I'm starting to think that maybe I used too many resources the last couple of times. I just hate feeling that I didn't do enough. But that could be my problem trying to do to much. Do you think that practicing NCLEX style questions helps even if its not on the particular subject you are studying?

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Specializes in ICU.

Did you go to your lecture instructor or clinical instructor? The clinical instructor won't be able to help much with the lecture part. Set up an appt with your lecture instructor to go over your tests. If you have an appt scheduled, that is different than randomly tracking them down when they are super busy and trying to ask questions. In my program, if we fail a test, we have to do a test audit to find out where we are going wrong. I failed my first test this semester which is ob/peds, I set up an appt with my instructor and I did the test audit, then we went over every question I missed. I gave her my rationale as to why I was picking certain answers. I was on the right track with every single one, it wasn't that I didn't know the information, I was though not looking at the big picture. That time spent on that one test has helped me throughout the rest of the semester. I haven't failed another test since. It also gave me an insight on to how my instructor tested and what she was looking for that maybe the others didn't. I carved out and entire Friday afternoon to do that. But it was the best time I spent.

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Specializes in Ortho.

Questions really help me. I do a lot. Seriously, I do over 300 questions per exam. I do think you need to make sure the questions coincide with what you're being tested on. It doesn't have to be exact. If your test is over endocrine, do questions related to that.

I always read the book too. I know a lot of people don't. If that works for you then that's great. I always get better scores when I complete the assigned readings. After reading, I mainly focus on questions and powerpoint information in the few days prior to the test.

Good luck. Hope you make it.

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Specializes in Pschiatry.

I struggled in MedSurg 1 with the first 2 tests. I decided I had to do something different. I got on Amazon and ordered the workbook that went along with the book. Do you have ATI? The ATI book helped greatly to break down the information I needed. I read the chapters, read the ATI chapters that pertained to the relevant material, then about an hour before the test I did the workbook. By MedSurg 3 I was making an average of 88% on the tests. Not A's but hey I'll take the B's. I rarely looked at the power points unless I had written notes on them. Taping the classes helped some also. Our MedSurg came before OB and Peds and it was culture shock. We went from answering memorization questions to answering critical thinking questions. As a pp stated you need to learn to look at the whole picture and be able to pick out the important parts of the question. There are facts in the question you don't need! I also study alone, because most of the time study groups spend more time talking and gossiping than studying. Hope one of these suggestions helps. Good luck!

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