How to study for med surg??!

pjreyes128 · Mar 23, 2015

You need to re-evaluate your Study methods. I hate powerpoints and books. But I love listening and videos. Employ youtube to your advantage. Re-write notes if you can, this worked for me so much. Example for Med Surg i did was table type method of note taking 1st column the condition/disorder 2nd column s/sx 3rd diagnostic eval 4th Treatment 5th potential nursing diagnosis 6th Nursing interventions/considerations. But it really depends on how you absorb information, and you are the only one who can find that out.

northmississippi · Mar 23, 2015

you better start studying about 8 hours a day every day, read over all your notes, listen to all recordings, and read from saunders nclex book the relevent material. If you fail,, it will be very bad and very expensive and will put you back a year,and you'll be red flagged by your teachers as they dont like repeat students usually. go online and maybe find some flashcards free.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Mar 23, 2015

There are approximately a bazillion threads here that ask and answer that very question. For my money, I'll say it again: I don't see you giving any thought to asking your faculty for help. Believe it or not, faculty really do want you to learn and succeed, and to learn, they know you have to understand. But this is college, and they will not come to you. If you aren't understanding why you're not getting it, you need to make a standing appointment with somebody to go over the week's material, the questions you missed, and help you see how to figure out the WHYs of things, not just the data points for answers.

We see this all the time. Nursing school is not like your previous education. You can't just pass the course, sell the book, and move on. Nursing (school and as a profession) demands and assumes that you will carry forward everything you learned before, including your prereqs and support classes, and apply it all in ever-increasing levels of critical thinking. Therefore, if you read something in your book and can't look away and restate it in different language and say why it is why it is, then you don't know it well enough and you can't possibly apply it in a critical-thinking model. Memorizing data points (and power points) will not cut it. You have to internalize the WHY DO WE CARE ABOUT THIS part. Work on that.

Go see those folks. Keep at it.

_zoubisoubisou_ · Mar 24, 2015

i just purchased the Hogan Med-surg review book. Hoping it helps!

strawberryluv, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2015

Saunders Comprehensive Review for the NCLEX-RN Examination, 5th Edition: 8965132282019: Medicine & Health Science Books @ Amazon.com

Buy this review book to target your studying to the major diseases you will encounter.

Go on youtube and search the disorders/diseases that will be on your exam.

For example, if your exam will talk about Addison's Disease

Go on youtube. Type Addison's Disease then click on the videos of people talking about Addison's disease.

I highly recommend youtube channels: khanacademymedicine & MEDCRAMvideos

Sometimes, it easier to understand something when people are explaining to you visually

by writing in their videos and explaining. Videos on youtube explaining diseases are also

usually short

rblmn · Mar 28, 2015

Personally, I learn best by talking it out. I have a friend who I go to breakfast with before every exam and we talk though all of the notes for that exam. Explaining a concept or having it explained and then verifying it in my own words has been great for helping me get concepts to stick in my head. The pretest breakfast calms any anxiety I might be feeling and means my stomach isn't rumbling halfway through the exam!

SaraNSG · May 5, 2015

Hi guys I ended up passing! thanks for your help

summer715 · Jun 1, 2015

I think doing practice questions is essential! I agree that Saunder's Nclex review is very helpful. You should also get a practice question book like "Pearson Reviews and Rationales" for med surg, or "Med-Surg Success". Doing practice questions really helps you get familiar with the types of questions that will be asked on the exam and which material is most important. It also helps you understand how to look at the material from a nursing standpoint, rather than just facts and information.

la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN · Jun 3, 2015

If only textbooks and powerpoints were enough......

One thing that really helped me during fundamentals and med-surg was investigating each system or exemplar disease on it's own in Medscape. I cannot stress how much Medscape helped me in the first year of my program -- it really helps! The fast 5 quizzes they send in email are a great way to practice what you've learned so far and also lets you know important information on where treatments are headed and what the best, evidence-based practices are. Try it! It will make the biggest difference than just trying to trudge through your books and slides.