How do you guys take notes

Streamline2010 · Aug 18, 2011

I only take notes in class. At a very rapid and sometimes messy scrawl, lol. To be truthful, nobody in the nursing program I'm in ever gets all of the reading done. We just have to cram as best as we cam throughout the week, then hit the books hard on weekends. There definitely are not hours enough in the week to read all of the text material they want us to, let alone outline that or take notes.

ImThatGuy, BSN, RN · Aug 18, 2011

Very, very rarely.

JROregon, ASN, BSN, RN · Aug 18, 2011

I don't take notes on my reading but I do concentrate on any of the "boxes" and "figures" in the book as well as bolded sentences and italicized words. If I am short on time, I can usually get away with only studying the items that look most important.

SunshineDaisy, ASN, RN · Aug 18, 2011

I ditto the others. I did notes on my powerpoints, then highlighted in the book the bold words and meanings and studied theboxes and diagrams!

NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN · Aug 18, 2011

I take notes on what I feel the instructor will test us on. In nursing school you kind of get a feel on what to pay attention to and what to focus on. It comes with time.

Pneumothorax, BSN, RN · Aug 19, 2011

i take the notes the teacher gives us in class and i read up on it in the book for further info, bc thats what they want us to focus on. however if its a short /sweet chapter...ill outline it, boxes-figures, definitions and any segment of info that makes me say..Hmmmmm, this is some good stuff !

Iridescent Orchid, CNA, LPN · Aug 19, 2011

I'm an avid note taker. I listen in lectures, but I have to write a lot of things out in order to get them embedded into my brain.

I tend to stick to outlining and index cards. If I'm outlining, I'll go through the chapter and outline each section, pick out the bold or italicized words, then pick out the major key points in that section as well, type it up, print it, then read it dozens of times, even in reverse order, so I don't get used to the layout. I keep it sweet and simple, but memorable and clear. I use index cards if a chapter has tons and tons of definitions/terms/functions/uses that I must remember! That's pretty much it for me.

CariocaRN · Aug 19, 2011

Ask your professor if he/she allows you to record the lecture. About half of them are totally okay with it. That helped me the most. Then you can go home and listen to the audio again and again, or sit down and take notes and rewind as many times as necessary.