How do we survive Med Surg I ??

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I am entering my junior year of nursing school and I have med surg I which students are calling the weed out course! I'm terrified. I don't want to be one of the students who doesn't make the cut . Any advice ,study tips etc would be greatly appreciated to a terrified student!!!

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

remember, people LOVE to complain and the ones you are hearing this from are the ones who passed, so it must not be too awful. You do have to study. It helps to have a study partner or group, a study guide and then a specific time devoted to study (as opposed to "I will do it when I have time"). Ask questions in class. When you are in clinicals at the facilities, do your homework and know what questions to ask the next day. Keep note pad and pen handy (or tablet if they are allowed). You only have to do this one day at a time, so do not worry yet.

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Don't let "weed out" courses scare you. These courses don't have terrifyingly complex material (you don't have to be a genius to understand what's being taught), but "weed out" courses do tend to throw a lot of material at students at a rapid pace. This makes it very important for students to not fall behind. Even just one or two days of slacking can really put students in a hole they may never climb out of.

As long as you make a concerted effort to stay on top of your coursework (and that may mean dedicating 2+ hours to studying a day if the class really moves fast), you should be fine. In my experience, the people who fail "weed out" courses either lacked a strong work ethic or had unfortunate setbacks that cost them vital study time (death in the family, financial crisis, sudden illness, etc.). I've never heard of a student failing such a class because they weren't "smart enough."

I believe if you diligently adapt and maintain the study habits that got you this far in nursing school, you should be fine moving forward.

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Specializes in Neuro Intensive Care.

Stay on top of your work!!! That includes clinical paperwork. I cannot stress that enough. Make a study plan and stick to it. I personally found the content a little easier as compared to fundamentals because its broken down by body system, diseases, and treatments. Fundamentals was just so broad.

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Thank you classicdame!!!

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Stay on top of your work!!! That includes clinical paperwork. I cannot stress that enough. Make a study plan and stick to it. I personally found the content a little easier as compared to fundamentals because its broken down by body system, diseases, and treatments. Fundamentals was just so broad.

I hope it is the same for me..i found Fundies to be very easy for me

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Don't. Get. Behind.

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