Help w/ different study methods for passing exams

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Hi all,

I'm in an ADN program and it's an accelerated program. I'm struggling on figuring out how to study and pass exams. I study powerpoints gone over in class and make sure I know objectives. I admit, reading is not my forte but I do read for assignments and such. I know the material well, but have failed my first 2 exams. I'm scared. I'm doing my best, but maybe the program just is too fast for my learning speed....I can't figure out why I do so terribly on tests. Is there any advice on how to take tests better? And/or, studying in different patterns? I really want to move forward w/ my life and I'm feeling like I'm not only failing myself, but my family.

Thanks for any advice.

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Specializes in MCH,NICU,NNsy,Educ,Village Nursing.

Hang in there. I suggest that you ask your faculty for the opportunity to sit down with them and look at your exam for a review. How were the questions asked and how did you respond? Did you put too much thought into the question/response or not enough? What did the stem of the question actually ask and what answer best fit? Rationales? Etc. Sometimes, it's a simple matter of knowing how to take an exam. Sometimes, it may be more complicated, but your instructor should be able to help you with that. Good luck!!

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Thanks. I've emailed our 'remediation specialist' and my RN teacher to see what they can suggest. I've worked harder than ever to get to this point, and I'm sadly finding myself giving up quick. I've always been an A-B student in college and I have several degrees, so it's not like I'm new to the whole studying deal. Just makes me upset to think how far I've come and I don't know if I can do it.

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Are you reading the book? In my school, it seems like a lot the questions stem from the book. Sometimes some professors seem to put more weight on the little obscure facts in the boxes. For my med-surg, I would read the chapters and didn't really bother with the power points. I managed to get a B on a test when everyone else in my clinical failed.

An idea that my instructor who sucked with reading did when she was in college was to read the chapter and then reread the chapter but creating an outline with the key ideas in each section.

For my adult health, I took practice exams covering the material online. Like renal section I found practice renal questions online. It helped a lot.

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I am going into my 3rd semester and did well in the first two. How I studied was to know the a&p of what was happening with each disease...but remember we are not making medical diagnoses. You need to know what the nurse would do to treat the problem...fluids, ABC's, safety, teaching. Know what the nurse can delegate to unlicensed personel, if it requires specific knowledge or teaching it cannot be delegated. Meds - side effects and interactions with other drugs. Do practice questions at the end of chapters, practice questions in NCLEX books review books. Read the rationales for every answer so that you know why answers are right or wrong. When reading focus on nursing implications...interventions.

If the answer seems too easy it is probably right. Don't change answers unless you misread the question.

Good luck! It's a different kind of thinking than we're used to.

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