History of Nursing Programs

I'm curious how nursing programs have changed over the past 3 decades. How did nursing students find ways to understand the material? Buy a bunch of books with practice questions? Did teachers provide practice materials like practice problems? I've been wanting to find ways to understand the material better. I don't want to use the word test bank, but I've been trying to find ways to learn better. I failed my first Fundamentals exam, and I'm trying to not fail the next one. Is Quizlet the new thing where people are able to learn the material better? How did nursing students back in the day do it? Nowadays, it's hard to study with others because they don't want distractions like gossip, they've got kids, etc. I would like to study with others and maybe we can teach each other the material better, but they don't want to. What did you old schoolers do? Was the reading material written different in terms of concepts? Harder to understand or much easier? Knowing the internet wasn't around or was just a baby. How did you guys practice your understand?

I asked an Army ranger who retired a few years ago how special forces get good at what they do. He said, "We're at the shooting range every day from dawn till dusk until we understand our rifle and our ammunition and how they work and feel. We get a feel. It helps us understand our equipment. If we didn't do that, we wouldn't be as good as we are".

Practicing understanding the material I'm sure is a great way to do well on tests, but what are tips? I read the material, but I'd like to challenge superficial stuff.

Thanks.