How to Ace Nursing Fundamentals courses?

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Here I am, asking this same very question for a zillion's time!

I am having my first ever nursing type of exam this Wednesday. Needless to say it is a lot of chapters to cover. I admit I have no structured take on studying for such an exam. I do, however, go over highlighted notes, review concept maps, my notes, and watch some videos, especially for performance procedures.

What else can you all advise I do to really prepare for such an exam?

Thank you all in advance!

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Go to bed early on Tuesday, wake up with some extra time before you have to go to your classes. Have a good breakfast. Take a little extra time in the shower to enjoy the water. Leave about 10 minutes earlier than usual. Get to school. Get to your class a little earlier. Relax and look out the window a while. Then take your test and pass it.

For the actual exam itself, a lot of teachers like to model their question in the style the NCLEX would be. It's not a hard concept, it's actually very standard in the professional working world. You've probably had those types of questions in orientation for your job now. Just remember, even if it's something you haven't learned yet, if there's any detail pointed out in the question, it's there for a reason. If you're stuck, look at those details and think about how they change the context of the question.

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Go to bed early on Tuesday, wake up with some extra time before you have to go to your classes. Have a good breakfast. Take a little extra time in the shower to enjoy the water. Leave about 10 minutes earlier than usual. Get to school. Get to your class a little earlier. Relax and look out the window a while. Then take your test and pass it.

For the actual exam itself, a lot of teachers like to model their question in the style the NCLEX would be. It's not a hard concept, it's actually very standard in the professional working world. You've probably had those types of questions in orientation for your job now. Just remember, even if it's something you haven't learned yet, if there's any detail pointed out in the question, it's there for a reason. If you're stuck, look at those details and think about how they change the context of the question.

Thank you!

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Go to bed early on Tuesday, wake up with some extra time before you have to go to your classes. Have a good breakfast. Take a little extra time in the shower to enjoy the water. Leave about 10 minutes earlier than usual. Get to school. Get to your class a little earlier. Relax and look out the window a while. Then take your test and pass it.

For the actual exam itself, a lot of teachers like to model their question in the style the NCLEX would be. It's not a hard concept, it's actually very standard in the professional working world. You've probably had those types of questions in orientation for your job now. Just remember, even if it's something you haven't learned yet, if there's any detail pointed out in the question, it's there for a reason. If you're stuck, look at those details and think about how they change the context of the question.

That's all I do. You will find the hard part is not the knowledge exactly, although that does come in. The questions are supposed to be "critical thinking" but what that actually means is they are simply poorly worded.

We had a question on the last test- "A pt says a dr. told her she has a sinus rhythm. She asks what that means. Which is the best therapuetic response?"

We all choose "It means your heart is working as it should."

But the correct answer was "it means your SA node is firing normally and triggering your ventricals to contract."

what a bunch of S&%t. Pt will not know wtf the SA node is.

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Specializes in Medical cardiology.

I hope your test went well!

When I was looking for one more way to study, I used the professor's syllabus as a guide. There's a section that will be listing what they plan to teach you: the course objectives. It's nice when they do Class objectives because they're more detailed.

Anyway, before a test I would go through the course objectives that related to the material we were learning. I'd check off what I knew well, and look up what I didn't know well.

In my experience, when a teacher writes their objectives, that's them saying, "My goal is to teach you all of the things listed here by the end of this course." I began to notice that what was in the objectives is what they would be testing to make sure we learnt those things they thought were important.

It doesn't work with all classes because some teachers are vague in their objectives. But I used to tell all my tutees that tip when they just needed a little something extra.

Let me know if you can't find yours on the syllabus and I might be able to help you. Good luck!

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How did it go? The first exam is always the scariest. Being afraid of the unknown is nervewracking! Hope it went well.

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Specializes in Medical cardiology.
That's all I do. You will find the hard part is not the knowledge exactly, although that does come in. The questions are supposed to be "critical thinking" but what that actually means is they are simply poorly worded.

We had a question on the last test- "A pt says a dr. told her she has a sinus rhythm. She asks what that means. Which is the best therapuetic response?"

We all choose "It means your heart is working as it should."

But the correct answer was "it means your SA node is firing normally and triggering your ventricals to contract."

what a bunch of S&%t. Pt will not know wtf the SA node is.

I'm not sure if your teacher explained the rationale for why that was the correct answer and why the other was wrong, but I'm here and thought I'd give my 2 cents. And it will help with a LOT of questions like these because they are popular.

A big part of our job is educating patients. If you just say, "everything is in good shape" then you are not educating that patient. You are also not answering their question. If you think the patient doesn't know what an SA node* is, it's a great opportunity for you to tell them, and give them something they can look up at home (like a YouTube video or something). Being able to simplify the information to patients is sooo important. But the skill comes with time.

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Thank you all for giving my some valuable advice! As far as how I did, I am not sure. I mean I feel it can go either way, but the grade is not posted until tomorrow, if anything. I also had my first patho exam today, on the same day with my fundamentals! To tell you I was in hell taking patho is a huge understatement! I am genuinely scared! Out of 50 questions I felt confident answering maybe 10! The rest was just guessing. Most of the questions were so specific as to specific genetic conditions and their manifestations, some questions were rather vague, and I am sure one was poorly worded, as I noticed it should have said "antibodies" and not "antigens". But hey, it is what it is. I will try to do better next time. Thanks again!

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