Help for NP student....Rollercoaster

Gator FNP · Sep 23, 2009

All I can say is keep up with the reading! I remember alot of reading texts, finding articles and reviewing these as well.

Sorry, no other advice to give.

allnurses Guide · Sep 24, 2009

I found that there was no way to complete all the reading...... I had to learn to pick and choose what was most valuable to me. I don't have any great tips on how to do that selection. One thing I found very valuable was to use a certification exam study guide throughout the year. The one I used (Fitzgerald) often did a better job than my texts explaining management of different conditions. I still refer to it in my practice.

Good luck!!

BChapp3182 · Sep 27, 2009

I too used certification review books. The most helpful to me was Mosby, a thick green book. It's got every dx listed and a quick run down on what it is and what you need to do to tx it. I liked Mosby because it was more in depth than Fitzgerald's book. I also had Fitzgerald and Zerwich which I love. I had like 6 different books. The fast facts by Hollier is awesome, kinda down and dirty. I also used books called SOAP notes for family medicine which helped in clinical and with general knowledge. It really helps to read it, hear it explained in different way by different people. Review CDs were great too. So is aafp.org. and fpnotebook.com

Just hearing it a thousand times, rolling over the info in your head continuously, making charts and diagrams, explaining it to yourself like you would explain it to a lay person helps (because you will be explaining it to pts eventually). I would make up pt senarios and think about what I was going to do each step of the way.

You can't just read it in the book and your lecture notes. I always found my instructors complicated the topic so much it was hard to learn. That's where the reveiw books come in handy. Keep it simple. What is it? What is causing this? What tests do I need to run to confirm my hunchs? What are the meds to tx? Now how would I tx this in a kid, an adult, an elder, a preggo, a diabetic, etc? What are my red flags? What are the bad things that this disease can cause that I need to be on the lookout for? What are those lookout symptoms/labs?

I never used complex medical terms. I would think about the condition simplistically which is why it's good to try and practice how you'd explain it to a pt. I would also get caught up on some medical terms I didn't know what meant so use your dictionary. I was never afraid to ask the stupid questions because as a student you get a free pass on stupid questions. Better to ask them now then when your working, lol.