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

[unknowngenius10]

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?

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

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:

I will explain exactly why I say this. This past semester I had Med/Surg I. There were weeks my instructor could not even get to the nursing aspect of the class because the people did not understand basic anatomy and physiology. That was extremely frustrating for those of us that did pay attention and understand it. I was so irritated some weeks because then we didn't understand the tests and it is going to hurt us with the NCLEX. I felt it was ridiculous especially when people didn't understand how the endocrine system actually works or how sodium/potassium pumps work. Plus the instructors were very annoyed too.

So, yes it is important and yes they need to know. If she can't remember the amount of lobes in each lung, she needs to brush up on that before class. Many of the people who don't know their anatomy and physiology didn't pass Med/Surg I, the rest are going to have a hard time in Med/Surg II.

[TheNGTKingRN]

I will explain exactly why I say this. This past semester I had Med/Surg I. There were weeks my instructor could not even get to the nursing aspect of the class because the people did not understand basic anatomy and physiology. That was extremely frustrating for those of us that did pay attention and understand it. I was so irritated some weeks because then we didn't understand the tests and it is going to hurt us with the NCLEX. I felt it was ridiculous especially when people didn't understand how the endocrine system actually works or how sodium/potassium pumps work. Plus the instructors were very annoyed too.

So, yes it is important and yes they need to know. If she can't remember the amount of lobes in each lung, she needs to brush up on that before class. Many of the people who don't know their anatomy and physiology didn't pass Med/Surg I, the rest are going to have a hard time in Med/Surg II.

All I can hear is womp womp womp womp. Of course this stuff matters but shooting the OP down with baseless negative foreshadows based off your preconceived notions based off her lack of knowing the lobes is incredibly ignorant and a tactic to inflate your own inferiority.

So what? She or he doesn't know the amount of lobes. Big deal, it'll take less than 10 seconds to learn it. It's not advanced physics for crying out loud.

If your your professors took time away from the medsurg discussion than they are the issue for not having a backbone to say "brush up at home on A&P".

[TheNGTKingRN]

So, yes it is important and yes they need to know. If she can't remember the amount of lobes in each lung, she needs to brush up on that before class. Many of the people who don't know their anatomy and physiology didn't pass Med/Surg I, the rest are going to have a hard time in Med/Surg II.

I didn't say it wasn't important or that she or he didn't need to know A&P. I simply approached it in a less grandiose and dramatic way.

Simmer down. =)

Don't go on to become one of those frazzled nurses I work with that don't know how to take a chill pill.

[windsurfer8, BSN, RN]

Totally agree. To say being a nurse is serious work is an understatement. Mistakes can become nightmares for years. As a psych nurse I worked 2 years med surg first and I am telling you that time was invaluable to me. If I didn't know something I looked it up and quick. A huge part of nursing is confidence..and you are confident when you know what you are talking about. You will also gain the MDs confidence when you speak in correct terminology and in a logical manner. So I am with Green Tea on this one.

[TheNGTKingRN]

Totally agree. To say being a nurse is serious work is an understatement. Mistakes can become nightmares for years. As a psych nurse I worked 2 years med surg first and I am telling you that time was invaluable to me. If I didn't know something I looked it up and quick. A huge part of nursing is confidence..and you are confident when you know what you are talking about. You will also gain the MDs confidence when you speak in correct terminology and in a logical manner. So I am with Green Tea on this one.

I seriously think that few understand where I'm coming from. What I don't agree with is this need to act as if the seas are rising and the skies are falling because someone forgot how many lobes there are. When something like that can be learned in a few SECONDS. It's this hysteria and self inflation that makes some nurses oh so painfully and incredibly annoying.

Thankfully some of us can be calm, cool, collected, and confident. Some of us can exude calmness and lead by example rather than scaring others.

What GrnTea did was overkill.

Nursing is serious work, and that's enough to describe it. Why do you have to say it's an understatement? Do you feel so inferior in your work that you have to utilize semantics to feel better?

Tsk tsk.

[SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP]

I seriously think that few understand where I'm coming from. What I don't agree with is this need to act as if the seas are rising and the skies are falling because someone forgot how many lobes there are. When something like that can be learned in a few SECONDS. It's this hysteria and self inflation that makes some nurses oh so painfully and incredibly annoying.

Thankfully some of us can be calm, cool, collected, and confident. Some of us can exude calmness and lead by example rather than scaring others.

What GrnTea did was overkill.

Nursing is serious work, and that's enough to describe it. Why do you have to say it's an understatement? Do you feel so inferior in your work that you have to utilize semantics to feel better?

Tsk tsk.

I have to respectfully disagree with you. I think GrnTea gave a serious reality tap. All of the students in my class who struggled in Med Surg were the ones who also struggled with A&P in pre-reqs. There were a few who failed out because of it. Our med surg instructor told the class from day 1 that she was not going to review any A&P and that it was up to us to refresh our own memories. You may not agree with GrnTea's delivery, but I can completely see where she's coming from on this.

[TheNGTKingRN]

I have to respectfully disagree with you. I think GrnTea gave a serious reality tap. All of the students in my class who struggled in Med Surg were the ones who also struggled with A&P in pre-reqs. There were a few who failed out because of it. Our med surg instructor told the class from day 1 that she was not going to review any A&P and that it was up to us to refresh our own memories. You may not agree with GrnTea's delivery, but I can completely see where she's coming from on this.

I don't agree with the delivery, at last someone understands I don't agree with the delivery! I agree it's (A&P) important. The delivery of the message in my opinion is pointless however.

To each their own.

[la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN]

You might think you have forgotten it but once you get in there and they begin reintroducing things, it'll start coming back. I had taken A&P 5 years prior to starting nursing school (lucky me there was no recency rule prior to acceptance) but I hadn't forgotten too much. There were a little things missing from the anatomy side but that quicky got refreshed in assessment. Physiology was revisted again (and AGAIN and AGAIN) in medsurg and pharmacology. You are going to see these concepts again. What is important is knowing the essentials and learning how to draw connections. It is very important to understand things like the flow of blood through the heart and sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system responses and liver functions but maybe less so knowing how a bone cell looks like (as opposed to understanding how skeleton functions as a storage site for calcium and phosphorus).

I would recommend reviewing major physiological concepts (see above) and making sure that you have a good grasp on them. Don't go back and try to re-learn every single bone because you'll only perpetuate the habit of trying to memorize information and THAT IS ABSOLUTELY ANTITHETICAL TO NURSING. You'll hurt yourself more than help. You'll feel much more confident and better able to guage where you are when you begin and as you get more advanced. Good luck! Don't stress too much that you forgot. You are going to see the information again and then it will quickly come back to you. Have fun! :)

[VivaLaVespaGirl, BSN, MSN]

I think we can all agree that the concepts we learned in A&P are important in nursing school. No one is debating that. I took A&P 4 years ago. I have also forgotten the details of most of what I learned because I never had an opportunity to put it to use. However, I know my resources. If I need to brush up on a topic, I can simply google the concept and view some videos or tutorials. I also have both of the texts I used in A&P. Plus my Patho and Med-Surg texts provide some refresher material. The bottom line, OP, is if you come across a topic or a concept you do not remember, know your resources. Look it up. If you make the decision early on to take charge of your own learning, you will be just fine. Good luck to you.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

Somebody asked a question in another thread, what do you wish you would have been told before entering nursing school? My answer there applies here as well:'

You will feel like you haven't learned a thing, you will feel like like you've forgotten everything you have learned, you will feel downright stupid some days. You will also find later in your course work that those seemingly random facts you have covered are indeed very connected. Things you think you don't know are in your head and it will come back to you as you apply it in more advanced topics and those seemingly random unconnected things will make sense.

Is some review in order? Of course! Don't however make the mistake of trying to memorize the entire A & P text but do know the basics [like how many lobes are in the lungs]. Brush up on the basics and the more advanced material will fall into place e little easier.

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

All I can hear is womp womp womp womp. Of course this stuff matters but shooting the OP down with baseless negative foreshadows based off your preconceived notions based off her lack of knowing the lobes is incredibly ignorant and a tactic to inflate your own inferiority.

So what? She or he doesn't know the amount of lobes. Big deal, it'll take less than 10 seconds to learn it. It's not advanced physics for crying out loud.

If your your professors took time away from the medsurg discussion than they are the issue for not having a backbone to say "brush up at home on A&P".

Then explain to me why it wasn't important to take the 10 seconds to learn it the first time? Are they going to forget it again? I'm not a frazzled person at all. It just annoys the crap out of me in class when we are constantly going over stuff people should already know. And yes, my instructors have said several times brush up on your A&P. But people don't know the basic concepts. In my opinion, it's more important than advanced physics. When you are in charge of lives, knowing the info is kind of important.

I don't need a chill pill. Are we still in the 80's here? I think I used that phrase in the 5th or 6th grade. I used to say it to my mom. lol. My and GrnTea's whole point is if you don't take A&P seriously enough to learn it, which is your whole foundation for nursing school, then how are you going to take nursing school seriously enough to pass it.

I see tons and tons of people in here and in my classes complaining that they are failing. They don't understand the rigors of school and then complain how unfair life is and it's the school and instructors fault for everything. Not ever taking responsibility for themselves and their study habits. I have to listen complain that the tests aren't fair and the questions are too hard and how are they expected to know this stuff. It got so bad in Med/Surg I last semester that the instructors won't take any more questions this semester. Our instructor said the first day to forget about asking any questions about tests, emails only and people need to have rationales ready and such. Which is the way it should have been last semester. I know though sometimes it is hard on the instructor when you have 10 people coming at you at once. So that is my soapbox. Sitting here explaining the importance of A&P to a new student is good so they don't fail out the first semester. I feel giving a little tough love is way better than coddling.

[pmabraham, BSN, RN]

Good day:

I took A&P I in the fall of 2013 where I learned 208 bones / bone markings, 160ish muscles, and I don't recall the count of the veins and arteries. Since that class (AP2, pathophysiology), not a single class referred to the overwhelming majority of the specifics (i.e. the "navicular bone" of the foot as just one example was never mentioned again in any of the class material after learning it in AP I. of note, I looked up that boon name as I had forgotten it months ago due to not a single class bringing it up again.). I start RN clinicals tomorrow (1/20), I'm not sure what I'll run into where I need to know the absolute nitty gritty of anatomy (I recall the overwhelming majority of the physiology including very major anatomy points) until I'm tested, questioned, etc. by a professor.

For those of you posting one should not forget ________ as ________ are prerequisites and therefore should be retained, do you mean, not forget anything at all? Are you stating that if you received a 100% for AP I, II, and Microbiology (the core sciences) that after one or more years passed, should you retake any of the class tests, you would still receive a 100%?

Thank you.