I have forgotten a lot of the material covered in pre-requesites (Anatomy & Phy). Help

nlitened · Jan 17, 2015

Check out KhanAcademy. They have a section for medical/healthcare. Use it as a refresher. It is totally free, and such a great site.

SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP · Jan 17, 2015

I second Khan Academy!

You should also take out your old A&P notes and study. You'll need that physiology info to get through med surg!

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Jan 17, 2015

Khan Academy is a very good resource... also pull out those study materials and review them. If you did reasonably well in those classes, you might also be amazed at how much you have actually retained after just a very small amount of review. I was trained as an athletic trainer (Sports Med, not personal trainer) and I dealt a LOT with anatomy and injury physiology. Guess what? I have forgotten much of what I've learned... from active memory, but with a moment's review, I'm good. When I got into RN school, I hadn't taken A&P in about 4 years... I did just fine. Once you start going over the information in class, I suspect that you'll realize that you really haven't forgotten the material.

Don't stress about it... they'll do a little bit of review to prime your memory as they go over subjects in class.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jan 17, 2015

I will be starting nursing school in less than a week and I've just realized how much of the information learned during my A&P prerequisites I have forgotten. I took my a&P classes almost a year ago.
Is this normal?
I feel like now I'm gonna have to study even more than anybody else because I've forgotten so much about Anatomy and Physiology.
What can I do? I feel so clueless reading through the book. I do remember learning about it but I don't remember the details .
For example, this is how my reading on the respiratory system went:
I forgot what surfactant was for, I forgot the name of some of the parts of the upper respiratory system, I forgot the function of the epiglottis, I forgot how many lobules each lung has, I forgot what pulmonary ventilation, respiration, perfusion were.
What should I do?

No, it's not normal. Nursing school isn't like what your high school buds are doing as English majors. You don't just take the course, pass the test, sell the book, and move on. You will be held responsible for having a good working knowledge of everything you learned in past semesters, and for applying it at increasing levels of complexity as you move through your major.

What should you do now? You should learn the anatomy of the respiratory system, what an epiglottis is for, how many lobes the lungs have, and the concepts of ventilation, respiration, and perfusion. You bet you'll have to study even more than the people who realized that prerequisites in nursing school are called preREQUISITES for a reason. You will use every single one of those things every day in nursing.

Get to work, or risk falling behind so fast you won't be able to recover. If Khan isn't enough, get the Anatomy Coloring Book and the Physiology Coloring Book at Amazon. They are real books, not jokes or dumbed-down pap, and will save your bacon for the rest of your time in school.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Jan 18, 2015

You kind of need to know this stuff. You can't do an assessment on breath sounds if you don't understand how many lobes each lung has. People need to understand A&P is the foundation of nursing. These classes are important. The nursing instructors do not have time to give a refresher on A&P. You are expected to know this.

TheNGTKingRN · Jan 18, 2015

Relax. SOME of these posters on here to calm down. Seriously. :cough: :cough: not going to point fingers.

Yeah, sure you need to know this stuff. Trust me though, not knowing how many lobes or the physiologic processes of respiration is not going to make you fall so far behind you will fail miserably. What may happen is you'll need a quick n' dirty review lasting maybe 30 minutes at most before you attempt to learn about respiratory assessment of pathology.

It's all vaguely there in your brain somewhere. It'll start clicking slowly but surely. The fact you care already puts you miles ahead. Most 1st year student nurses couldn't tell me the difference between the cardiac sphincter or pyloric sphicter if their life depended upon it.

I would get one of those HESI entrance exam review books because they really cover the core concepts of A&P and you don't have to become frazzled over thousands of pages. Then you can always refer back to a more detailed reputable text.

Some nurses on here need to lay off the coffee and need to stop being such negative souls, predetermining your failure is unprofessional and reflects their own insecurity.

Relax.

Breathe.

You can totally to this.

:hugs:

HelloWish, ADN, BSN · Jan 18, 2015

I think you will remember more than you realize once you are actually in class. It will be totally fine, it wouldn't hurt to review - but I would not at all panic. It will all become second nature as time goes by! Of course it is normal to forget some of the material you don't use daily. We are human right! However, anatomy is a daily part of nursing so it will become second nature and it will come back to you. Just spend a little time reviewing on Khan as some suggested. If there is something I didn't remember, I just looked it up! When I was learning assessment, what I needed to know was in my book...it wasn't that hard to pick up where I left off in A&P!

Natasha A., CNA, LVN · Jan 18, 2015

I will be starting A&P in my LVN program and open to suggestions on what can help a visual-tactile learner succeed in a conceptual-base class. I was introduced to try out concept maps (color coded and flow charts)and view 3-D videos over those powerpoint slides. Any study tools that involve interaction (discussion, writing) and color?

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jan 18, 2015

Some nurses on here need to lay off the coffee and need to stop being such negative souls, predetermining your failure is unprofessional and reflects their own insecurity.

I am reminded of the famous scene in Bull Durham, where the rookies (who have just lost a game) are whooping it up in the shower. The baseball lifer coach says he's having a hard time making the rookies get with the program and take things seriously, and what should he do? Kevin Costner's inimitable Crash Davis, the weary veteran catcher brought in to help bring along a promising pitching prospect, replies, "Scare 'em. They're kids, scare 'em." And the coach picks up an armload of bats and throws them into the shower, making everybody hop around and pay attention to the coach's message: "It's a simple game. You throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball."

Think of it as like that:) and you'll have a better context for our sternness. Lolligaggers will not cut it. We are lifers who know there are basic skills and knowledge you have to master if you want to keep playing, and you'd better pay attention or you'll be out of the game.

TheNGTKingRN · Jan 18, 2015

I am reminded of the famous scene in Bull Durham, where the rookies (who have just lost a game) are whooping it up in the shower. The baseball lifer coach says he's having a hard time making the rookies get with the program and take things seriously, and what should he do? Kevin Costner's inimitable Crash Davis, the weary veteran catcher brought in to help bring along a promising pitching prospect, replies, "Scare 'em. They're kids, scare 'em." And the coach picks up an armload of bats and throws them into the shower, making everybody hop around and pay attention to the coach's message: "It's a simple game. You throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball."

Think of it as like that:) and you'll have a better context for our sternness. Lolligaggers will not cut it. We are lifers who know there are basic skills and knowledge you have to master if you want to keep playing, and you'd better pay attention or you'll be out of the game.

I understand that nursing school is tough and I completely understand that learning is comprehensive and compounding (been there, done that). I now can also say that nursing (the real world nursing) is definitely no joke and the learning curve is steep. I have to respectfully disagree with your methods however.

MurseJJ · Jan 18, 2015

I will be starting nursing school in less than a week and I've just realized how much of the information learned during my A&P prerequisites I have forgotten. I took my a&P classes almost a year ago.
Is this normal?
I feel like now I'm gonna have to study even more than anybody else because I've forgotten so much about Anatomy and Physiology.
What can I do? I feel so clueless reading through the book. I do remember learning about it but I don't remember the details .
For example, this is how my reading on the respiratory system went:
I forgot what surfactant was for, I forgot the name of some of the parts of the upper respiratory system, I forgot the function of the epiglottis, I forgot how many lobules each lung has, I forgot what pulmonary ventilation, respiration, perfusion were.
What should I do?

Hi, congrats on getting in and starting nursing school! What courses will you be starting?

The great thing about most nursing textbooks is that they usually include a brief review of the anatomy and physiology relevant to the topic covered in the chapter. I highly suggest that you read those reviews before getting into the actual content of the chapter. If there are things that don't sound familiar, then perhaps you can go to your A&P textbook for more in depth coverage. Ok, you forgot how many lobes each lung has. The great thing is that your health assessment textbook should have that information in there, as well as your fundamentals and med/surg textbooks.

So, yes, you may have a little disadvantage not remembering certain things from A&P right nowâ€‹, but I highly doubt you will be alone. You will still be fine though, just put in the work you need to. Always read the anatomy and physiology introductions to each chapter in your textbooks, and review further anything that doesn't make sense.

Good luck!