How do you study for Nursing Exams

Dragtail · Aug 7, 2009

oh, i guess that's another book, I bought the Saunders Comprehensive Review NCLEX Examination. This book breaks the questions down per system which is awesome cause My Nursing exam's are taught per system. So, I can just read the section that has cardiovascular system and do those questions along with my Fundamentals of Nursing book review for that chapter. I hope that sounds like a good way to study lol

SnowRain7489 · Aug 7, 2009

The "Saunders Strategies for Success for the NCLEX-RN examination" is not a regular NCLEX book. Have you ever seen those books at the library about 'college success' & 'how to study in college' type of books well this book is like that...sort of. Some of the chapter titles are:

Client Needs, Integrated Processes, Types of Questions on the Examination, Nonacademic Preparation: Your Path to Success, How to Avoid "reading into the question", True/False Response Questions, Questions That Require Prioritizing, Leadership Delegating and Assignment-Making Questions, Communication Questions, Pharmacology Questions

Each chapter breaks down into developing critical thinking skills. It tells u what u should be thinking of when presented w/ XXX (list above) type of questions. At the end of each chapter there are 3 NCLEX type questions & a "test-taking strategy" paragrah. I'm on chapter 11-Comm. questions. I take alot of NCLEX practice questions & have lately been trying to apply what I've learned thusfar in this book to answer those questions. I'm more focusing on how to answer the question like what my thinking process is as opposed to wanting to get the answer right & its helping. So I think that when studying for nursing exams maybe u can think of possible questions (from the material you're studying) that could come up on an exam & mostly what your thinking process is going to be at that time. Sorry if I'm blogging alot on your thread. I've just learned alot in the past semester about nursing exams & will share it with anyone who needs help.

Dragtail · Aug 7, 2009

No, I don't mind you blogging, What have you learned from those books? Maybe you can share with me a little of what you have learned from taking Nursing exams and so forth, I always love feedback and knowledge of other peoples perspectives on the Critical Thinking skills. When I read questions , My friend who is a Nurse Educator always told me to close your eyes and picture what the question is asking by using Nursing process and to find out what the best way to answer it by visually attacking the question. Remember what the question is asking by looking at the transition words explains would be {the most effective treatment or the least effective or the first nursing intervention that should be done).

KAYBDT6, BSN, RN · Aug 8, 2009

THIS AWESOME!!:cheers:

MattiesMama · Aug 9, 2009

First and foremost, I don't cram. I did that in the beginning and it came back to bite me! This Mod I've made it a habit to review the chapters before we have lecture, take notes, then go home and type up my notes so I really feel like I have a handle on what we've learned.

Then, when we have a test coming up, I literally comb through the book and notes and come up with my own test with every single question I could be asked, and I format it in the way that they are asked on the test (esp. for Fundamentals of nursing, it is ALL critical thinking questions so I make them in that format) Just making the test helps me, and then I take it, and retake it until I have every answer correct. I actually find that many of my own questions are asked, almost word for word, on the test.

I know this might sound like a lot of work...it is. But the truth is, I am MUCH less stressed out than I was my first Mod, I never have to pull all-nighters, and I have a 4.0. And it really helps for midterms and finals because all I have to do is print out all my little "tests", review them, and I'm ready...it took me less than an hour to study for my last 2 midterms and I got a 98 on one and a 100 on the other.

(For the record, was getting straight C's my first mod and almost dropped out of school because of the stress, so I'm not trying to be a braggert, I just wanted to share what has worked for me so hopefully it can help someone else! )

LaurenSN · Aug 10, 2009

Iweatherby and Daytonite have both very good advice. Especially about it not being about memorization, except for the stuff like lab values, drugs, signs and symptoms. I guarantee that you will burn out very quickly that way. :banghead: Know the core content yes, but the books are written as clean cut cases, and I promise you patients are not clean cut cases.

It also depends on what kind of learner you are, some are auditory, while others are visual. So you have to find how you learn best, and tailor your study habits to that.

As for me, what I do is read the material before lecture, so that I have an atleast basic understanding. Then lecture will be more benificial.

As for studing for tests I learn by focusing on pathophysiology and ADPIE, which you will learn is Assessment, Diagnosis, Planning, Implementation/Intervention, and Evaluation.

In lecture especially take note of when something is repeated. Right it down and remember it. Good Luck! It can be fun, I promise.

Dragtail · Aug 10, 2009

yup, sounds about what i do LaurenSN, I basically read the lecture the night before so I have a basic understanding on what they will talk about tomorrow and ask questions on stuff that i don't know. Also i make flash cards for the stuff that would need memorization. I go through the chapter review at the end of each chapter do the critical thinking questions and also the NCLEX review questions for each chapter. After lecture i would go home reread and write/type up my notes from class then start reading the required text for tomorrow lecture only if i feel confident that i know the material learned from the lecture today.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Aug 12, 2009

One of my professors once told our class to study every night like there's a test tomorrow. You want to know the information and know it, not just be able to spit it out on the test and then forget it. This is what I did for that class:

I take notes on a notepad that has 3 hole punches and a 2 inch margin on the left side. I think it's called legal ruled (not a legal pad) and it's hard to find. I take my main notes to the right of the margin, and then after class go back over my notes and make clarifications, draw attention to important things, add info from the book in the margins.

I write down pretty much everything the teacher says or as close as I can get- you don't always know what the main points are until after the lecture so I don't try to figure that out during class. (I lent my notes to classmates every so often and they were always shocked at how much I'd written down- these were also the people who had side conversations during class) After class, the pages get torn out of the pad and put in a 3 ring binder along with handouts. I flip through the notes cumulatively every night. Terms and things to memorize go on flash cards and I carry them with me everywhere and go through them whenever I have a moment to spare.

I felt more organized and on top of things for this class than any other. Generally I just take detailed notes, review them, read the book before lecture if possible, do practice questions, terms on flashcards. Book is reread when studying for tests. DH is in healthcare too so knows a lot of the science stuff I've been studying, so I talk to him about it.

Apparently in the program I'm going in to, studying the powerpoints is the key thing to do. It's an accelerated course, so it sounds like there's just not enough time to do all the reading. Eek.

I also LOVE those teacher pens with the 4 colors that you click down. I switch up colors to help emphasize important things and for diagrams. Red is usually what I use when going through notes after class and I take notes in black and sometimes blue. I also use green for emphasis, but the main thing is that I use colors that stand out to highlight key ideas. The barrel is also thick whick helps prevent writer's cramp from spending the entire lecture scribbling.

laurenproemsey · Aug 12, 2009

Winter sparkle - I love that idea to ask the instructor "what would be a nurses first priority in this situation"....I can NOT tell you how many times I have seen exam questions that are some derivative of that very thing...."you are on the floor...it is whatever time...you have a patient doing these three things...what do you do FIRST?"

What a great tip for getting the most out of lecture! =)

Orca, ADN, ASN, RN · Aug 12, 2009

We used to study as a group. Getting away from the house helped in terms of distractions and with about five or six people in the group, if there was something someone was struggling with, at least one person in the group generally knew the answer. We went to a local hospital that had a cafeteria that was open 24 hours. That way we didn't have to worry about what time it was, and if you got hungry or thirsty you just walked across the room to get something.

KaliNurse · Aug 12, 2009

Yeah I guess everyone has their own "method to their madness" when it somes to studying. I think all of you have great studying ideas. I also agree with the fact that studying a little every night will help. You cannot cram this information in. Some people are procrastinators and believe that they can cram all the info in the night before, and then pass the test. That is usually not possible. However, now that I said that.....someone is gonna reply to my post and say that they waitied til the last night to study and passed their test...blah...blah...blah. So, here's the deal....if you wait til the last night to study for a nursing test and you pass it, you simply got lucky. Yeah, that's right...lucky! But, guaranteed....you will not remember ANY of that information when you need to actually use it in future practice. So don't listen to the procrastinators on that one.

Remember...nursing is a PROCESS. It takes time to develop and build. Study a little each night and continue to ask questions. That should take you a long way!!!!

Also, I agree with Lauren too about PRIORITIZATION. You have to know what to do first. But, since you are a first year student, you have to get the basics down first. Then, you can build on the original knowledge taught to you first year.

Best of luck:)

acastrobsn · Aug 12, 2009

I recently graduated from nursing school. I found that reviewing the power points each day and investing in a NCLEX mode study CD, i.e. Saunders, Nclex Made Easy, and NCLEX 3500 or 4000, helped me to succeed without stressing and over or under reading any materials. For instance, when we were going over Endocrine, I would review the power points pertaining to endocrine, likewise, I did every single question on the Saunders CD which pertained to Endocrine. By doing so, not only did I prepare for each nursing exam, but without realizing I prepared for the NCLEX, I passed with 75 questions on the first try!! I am not a big reader, and I do not like loosing sleep over reading a bunch of chapters.

However, I am big with understanding the "meat" of the subject and acquiring the critical and technical skills within the nursing spectrum. Remember if you buy any textbook that comes with a CD, make sure you pop that baby in and do every question and read every rational, each rational prepares you for an upcoming question. Once your done doing the questions in study mode, (which give you the answers right away with the rationals, go on and do the actual test questions within the subject you are currently studying. I hope my advice was clear and that it works as great and/or even better for you as it did for me.

Alanna:nurse: