How am I supposed to learn all of this?

Lev, MSN, RN, NP · Aug 26, 2016

You will learn as you go along and practice as a nurse. You will not have to know it all for nursing school. Typically the teacher will focus on certain disease states at a time and may mention specific lab values which will be off. I wouldn't worry. Just do your work, read your book, and study what you are told to study and you will be fine.

pkleespie · Aug 26, 2016

Thank you for replying. I'm sick over it all right now. For tests, will I be given random symptoms and have to know whats wrong? Or lab values and know whats wrong? I know I could learn many but I am scared that I will be thrown random information (symptoms) and know whats wrong with someone. I'm mainly scared about Health Assessment right now. When you took health assessment, did you attain all the sounds, values, vitals, and more and know what could be wrong with someone based on a cluster of cues?

oceanblue52 · Aug 26, 2016

When you are studying, try to connect the symptoms to what you know about A&P, and same with Pharmacology (e.g. What part of the body is the med having on this system and why is that good/bad?). If you study things in connection to each other, and try to relate things, you'll have an easier time recalling facts on test which will help you think through the question. Lab values and symptoms have to be memorized, and sometimes it takes awhile. Assessment and differentiating the findings will also come naturally with practice. Try practicing on your friends and verbally stating out loud what you are trying to learn. This helped me learn landmarks.

It it is impossible to know EVERYTHING. Focus on the key points that your professors focus on, and realize that you will probably have to do a lot of review for NCLEX and as a nurse. It's a lifelong learning process. Nursing school teaches you how to be safe; a lot of the knowledge will start to stick as you encounter these situations in a clinical setting. Deep breath :-)

tnicnat · Aug 26, 2016

Know your normals, your abnormals will jump out at you. Health Assessment is A and P on steroids....you have to know your landmarks and now what normals are for each body system. Respiratory, normal breath sounds, you know how to listen to that your abnormal breath sounds will show. Same for other body systems. What I always do and others in my class ask me, I get out of the gate with high test scores, then your not scrambling and cramming at the end. Study the same throughout the semester and you'll not stress as much. I see people in my class score horribly on the first 2 and 3 tests and then cry at the end cause they have to get an A on the final to barely pass the class.

Lev, MSN, RN, NP · Aug 26, 2016

Thank you for replying. I'm sick over it all right now. For tests, will I be given random symptoms and have to know whats wrong? Or lab values and know whats wrong? I know I could learn many but I am scared that I will be thrown random information (symptoms) and know whats wrong with someone. I'm mainly scared about Health Assessment right now. When you took health assessment, did you attain all the sounds, values, vitals, and more and know what could be wrong with someone based on a cluster of cues?

Sometimes questions will be in the form of scenarios sometimes, straight out questions such as signs and symptoms of a particular electrolyte imbalance. As nurses we do not diagnose in the medical sense. I would focus on knowing signs and symptoms of common disease state such as pneumonia or kidney stones. It's important to understand the pathophysiology of the disease state. This will help you remember the associated signs and symptoms and lab abnormalities. Health assessment class is more about memorization than practical application. You learn lung sounds best by listening to an actual patient. It is important to know your vital signs inside and out especially for different age population groups. Some knowledge will come with practice and with your specialty.