How to study properly?

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Hi, I am in my second week of nursing school. I'm having difficulties on how exactly to study when I read a chapter. With it being nursing school, I already have jitters about my first upcoming exam. This causes me to try to make sure I'm studying correctly. I now notice that when I begin to read on my chapter, it takes me hours to finish. Not that I'm reading slowly, its my note taking process. In a way I'm now beginning to think I'm over doing it. I pay attention to the lecture and power points, but of course the teacher doesn't go over everything. So after taking notes from lecture, I go home, read the entire chapter, and make multiple notes on that. Am I over doing it? ADVICE PLEASE!

Also, I don't write notes on things I already know and I don't write vocabulary words I already know. Why? Because nursing tests aren't about knowing the content, but knowing how to apply for that information. So I only take notes on things I don't understand.

I make sure to do the practice questions at the end of the chapter as well as do questions on the the same subject in my NCLEX review book. Helps you get used to the type of questions you'll see and understanding rationales.

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Specializes in OB-GYN.

Ok I have awesome advice for you. Take good class notes, dont read every single word in your text book. Watch Nurse Nacole on youtube. She has a video on how to read your textbook. Type: Nurse Nacole how to read textbook. It will workout just fine. There is also another video called: Nursing school, how to read the book.

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My classes list learning objectives for each week. We also have learning outcomes. Both are pretty much the same thing and guides our reading pretty precisely. I've done it this way and just got 100% on my first quiz.

Turn the learning objective into a question and answer it.

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It never changes the exam jitters. I am in my second semester of nursing school and sometimes I feel like I do not know how to study. Nursing exams are a completely different beast than any pre req classes you have taken. I would suggest like they say use the PPT as your guide for reading the chapters. Always always do the question at the back of the chapter also to kind of see what topics you comprehended. I never read the full chapter that takes forever focus on whats highlighted in the powerpoint if its a page on Unstable Agina then read the whole section and make notes on the PPT. Hope that helps. What I do for drug therapies and intervention I tend to write those out.

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I believe the methods that you have been using should be effective. I am not in nursing school yet but I would like to offer advice because I know how difficult it is finding the right strategy to go about studying for an exam. You can also read the chapter before class starts so that you can already have an idea of the subjects the professor will be going over ahead of time. Also, if you have questions while reading the chapter, you will already have those questions prepared for the professor. Making a study schedule for the week will help you to stay on track with effective studying as well. That's all I have for right now since I have not received my acceptance letter into the school I applied to yet.

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I do a lot of practice NCLEX questions, the rationales are really helpful. I also print up the key terms that come with my books from the Evolve website. My big study book is the NCLEX book. I'm pretty sure that book saved my butt in Med Surg I and II. I don't write too many notes because then I focus on writing, not what is being said. I highlight in my books or write down what was specifically said that may not have been on my power points.

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I'm just finished my 3rd week. I got an 85 on our first unit exam but have not been doing week on the 10 point ATI quizes. I met with our student advisor on Friday and she really gave me good advice. If your instructor gave you a syllabus or a course objective look for what the objectives are thatbisbwhat you need to focus on. If the instructor gives you PowerPoint then the instructor has chosen those power points because they are important. Find out what kind of learning ate you have then read the suggestions they offer

Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire

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I'm right there with you. I'm going to start using the pre-posted power points and "objectives" that my professors post for each chapter to guide my reading. I'll skim the rest of the chapter.

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I got this advice from senior Nursing students in my program, "if you can read the chapter, great, but make sure you READ THE BOXES AND TABLES even if you don't have time for the whole chapter!" They have all said that undoubtedly, there are questions that come directly from the boxes. There is too much material to memorize from the text, but the boxes take the most important information from the chapter. I'm a visual learner, so when I see the boxes organized I can understand the concept more clearly.

I personally have been skimming chapters, reading the boxes and tables, and printing out the powerpoints before class with plenty of room to make sure that I have room for notes. I have class notes in one color and my own additional notes in another color. I do that so I don't focus too much on information that the professor didn't stress in class. It may be important to know, but it may not be important for the exam. So far it's been working for me!

At our school the individual professors don't make the exams, they are created by the nursing program as a whole. However, she does get to see it, so we can still rely on what she says to know.

I hope this helps! Good luck!

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