How do you take notes?

I normally write down everything the lecturer says word-for-word... literally everything . I'm afraid it will be too much in my Nursing lectures; not to mention exhausting after an eight-hour lecture day.

So, I am wondering, how do you take notes? Do you write an outline of the lecture? I'm sure there are many different ideas. Please share!

[lisamc1RN, LPN]

I normally write down everything the lecturer says word-for-word... literally everything . I'm afraid it will be too much in my Nursing lectures; not to mention exhausting after an eight-hour lecture day.

So, I am wondering, how do you take notes? Do you write an outline of the lecture? I'm sure there are many different ideas. Please share!

I do an outline form. I don't write everything word for word that the instructor says but I try to put the main ideas and points that are important down. For instance, while learning the respiratory system I will put:

I. Upper Respiratory Tract

A. Nose

1. ciliated epithelium- blocks entry of dust

2. bone and cartilage covered with skin

If I get to an area that I am not sure where it fits in the outline then I just create a new category. When I retype my notes, I look them up and try to make a bit more sense of them, organizing more accurately as I go. It makes it soo much easier to look at an outline. Sometimes I will write a complete sentence down if it makes more sense to do so, but that is time consuming so I try not to do that too often. :) Good luck!

[RedSox33RN]

My notes are mish-mash of what I think are important things on what is said during a lecture, then I re-write afterwards or the next day, to have it make more sense.

I'm hoping they'll tell us the best way to take notes during nursing lectures.

[Megsd, BSN, RN]

My anatomy professor recommended that we re-write our notes weekly or so so they make more sense. My note-taking tends to depend on the class and the instructor, but I think re-writing notes and maybe supplementing lecture notes with things you look up in the text is a good idea.

Meghan

[nynurse2b]

I also take notes outline style. I also re-write my notes to have them nice and neet. I did that for the first time last semester and by the time finals came around, I had this beautiful notebook nicely organized and hi-lighted. For every semester I have done something different. It depends on the teaching style. The semester before re-read my notes then read the text. Good luck in finding what works for you!!!

[Jen2]

We are not allowed to tape lectures ( I guess that would be too easy), so I usually write word for word what the instructor is saying. When an instructor repeats something more than once or says that ii is important I write test? beside it or highlight it. It is pretty common for me to have at least 15 pages of notes after a nursing lecture so I don't re-write them. I re-wrote my notes during the first semester and for me it was a waste of time because I was spending like two hours a night re-writing notes and not doing any real studying. I just leave mine as they are after lecture and then when I go home I look at the highlighted items and the items that I wrote test? beside and read about them further in depth in my text and practice NCLEX questions on these key things. This is only what works for me though, others may be different. When I write my notes I also only write on the front sheet of college ruled paper which doesn't make the page get all wrinkled and leave a space in case I need to add things. I use a ton of paper, but like I said this works out the best for me. Try a few things and see what works the best. I've heard of a lot of people typing their notes because they can type faster than they can write, and tons of people learn better from re-writing their notes, but I found that I can read my notes over 20 times in the same time it takes me to re-write them once.

[fnimat1]

Thanks for all the great ideas. I have also been thinking about the best way to take notes. I'm usually a great note taker, but I think that my nursing courses will run differently.

Fatima

[janetrette]

usually our nursing professor let us tape lectures so after the lecture i would listen to the tapes. instead of rewriting my notes [waste of time even though it's much easier to read and study still] i rewrite notes with a different color pen when iam listening to the tape. i tend to write down everything what the professor is saying. if they repeat something write down a STAR next to it! if she repeats it again! STAR IT AGAIN! and again if so. this is my final year and i am told that no taping. bad for me since i'm been so use to taping. anyhow, im planning to take notes like an outline this yr.

hope this helps and good luck!

[zenman]

1. Read the chapter beforehand.

2. Keep book open during lecture and highlight important stuff.

3. If you hear anything in the lecture that you already read in the book, you don't have to write it down...just highlight.

4. That night, review and or rewrite notes.

5. Don't kill yourself writing notes like crazy during a lecture...you'll miss stuff.

6. By now you should have heard/read the material 3-4 times.

7. Party hard. :chuckle

[allthingsbright]

Here is what I do: I read the chapter and outline important stuff, then I reread my chapter notes one time before lecture. I highlight and add notes during lecture, then reread everything the day of class to keep it fresh. By that point, I'm really getting my stuff down! I tape lectures too which helps to clarify stuff if my prof makes no sense the first time around-which happens like every darn time :rotfl: . I'm just starting nursing classes (fundamentals) and have a 4 hr lecture today-so we will see how my system holds up.

GL!

[chris_at_lucas_RN, RN]

I normally write down everything the lecturer says word-for-word... literally everything . I'm afraid it will be too much in my Nursing lectures; not to mention exhausting after an eight-hour lecture day.

I take notes the exact same way, did it all through school, including nursing school, and it worked fine.

I probably abbreviated a bit, and I know when the instructor hemmed and hawed, or was maybe a little wordy, as I was typing (I used my laptop because I'm faster typing than writing) I "edited." Somewhere in that process, the info got stuck in my head.

The only exceptions were instructors who would read these long power point pages at breakneck pace, but nobody else got what they were saying either....

Good luck! Have fun! (Like zenman's last step--I like that one! very important!)

[maire, ASN, RN]

1. Read the chapter beforehand.

2. Keep book open during lecture and highlight important stuff.

3. If you hear anything in the lecture that you already read in the book, you don't have to write it down...just highlight.

4. That night, review and or rewrite notes.

5. Don't kill yourself writing notes like crazy during a lecture...you'll miss stuff.

6. By now you should have heard/read the material 3-4 times.

7. Party hard. :chuckle

Read that. LOL Plus, my instructors offered the notes in the lab on computer (power point) so we could go in and copy and print them out. That gave us something to go by as well.