I need help with A&P2

TheNurse0847 · Mar 8, 2017

Hmmmm...let me think about this.

ItsThatJenGirl, CNA · Mar 8, 2017

Science has always been my kriptonite. I have a lot on my plate but i believe that i can manage. Vasoconstriction is when the muscle contracts but i need an example.

Vaso = vessel. Vasoconstriction is when the blood vessel contracts/narrows.

hopefulFNP2017 · Mar 8, 2017

Hey, I'm taking A&P I and II at the same time and it's hard. I took A&P I in college so it was fine, the pace is OK and it's Tues/Thurs evenings. My A&P II is an online hybrid, with the lab for 3 hours on Saturday mornings. Studying can be tricky, and I find that as I'm working full-time like yourself, there is: no. time. to. study. I should be studying every day, but life also has its concerns and I pretty much cram it all on the weekends and Wed, Fri. Sometimes I just cram for the exam and that's it.

What I have found is, we must be very goal oriented. If the thing that's due next is a quiz or some assignment, focus everything on answering the questions and the quiz answers. That way you'll get the needed things done for the grade, and give yourself an idea/overview as you do it. And then, you need to sacrifice some full weekends and even do all-nighters for the exams, and even, gasp, take time off work. Seriously, I've used vacation days for the day right before and on the exam and it was worth it. I crammed all night and so far I'm maintaining an A in both classes. But it comes at a cost so just be willing to do what you need to do as someone who is working full-time.

The downside is, I don't have as much time as I'd like to enjoy the material as much, but it still hasn't been too bad. I make the most of class time to interact with the material, faculty, and students to get that intellectual stimulation, which I feel gets quashed when you're too focused on making the grade.

Blood vessels in particular are interesting, the pressures and blood volume, etc. That takes time. For me the electrophysiology of the heart and Wigger's diagram is still something is challenging but hopefully it'll sink in!

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Mar 8, 2017

I don't want to increase the stress - but you really need to LEARN this stuff. You're going to need to apply it in future classes. If you are just memorizing "factoids", you're going to be absolutely lost in clinical courses. That's when you have to interpret what is going with the patient (symptoms, appearance, behavior, etc) based on underlying physiological changes... and make decisions based upon your understanding.

hopefulFNP2017 · Mar 8, 2017

You do really need to learn it. I draw diagrams and put things into charts, and I look things up online to understand physiology concepts.

Tonight, I'm going to be charting all the bones in the axial skeleton, and drawing some pictures of the integumentary system for a lab practical tommorrow. Soon as that's done, it's back to the lymphatic system AND getting a start on the next chapter after that for A&P II. So it's continuous and I find that there kind of isn't really down time. My only downtimes I have discovered are Friday evening, or Saturday after lab. I tell people I can only eat meals with them to "hang out" for like, an hour or two, max. And then we have a deadline on Sunday night to be finished with the next chapter.

hopefulFNP2017 · Mar 9, 2017

Oh yea, another thing is meals. Just forget about eating. Literally. Like I just buy a bag of frozen fruit, greens, and dumplings, and eggs ($~25 a month) and that's all I eat for EVERY meal until it runs out. I blend up the smoothies for breakfast and boil the dumplings for dinner (it's like 5 min), sometimes get a soup (~$2-3) for lunch. It's a huge money saver, and that way you don't waste time making food and cleaning the kitchen (I only rinse the blender and the one pot for dumplings) and it's sufficient for nutrient intake, I believe. If anyone has other ideas to maximize nutritional intake with this kind of plan, I'm totally open.

Sometimes you need to either go without food, or just get something quick somewhere (that may not be as healthy), but hopefully if you set up a framework for fast, easy meals those situations wouldn't be too frequent. Often I would load up my meals during lunch or the afternoon, like essentially eat 2 lunches, and then just go without dinner all night and it's been fine.

Just another practical tip to getting by with 2 four-credit lab courses while working full-time. Best wishes, hope you do well in A&P II.

Wiggly Litchi · Mar 9, 2017

I'm going to second what everyone else is saying here and say you've really got to -learn- this stuff; I've got classmates trying to coast through this, and whining that they can't complete a vocabulary exam based on the last 3 chapters, yet they're going to need to really -know- this stuff by the time they are in the nursing program (if they even get in one).

A good rule of thumb is that for every credit hour, you'll need 3 hours of study at home per week. A&P is generally a 4 credit hour course, so you're looking at 12 hours per week of study at home, not counting your class time. Some people might not need as much (though it never hurts), others might need more time if they don't have a strong science background.

There's no magical way to help you learn the information - the best way is to study effectively (longer doesn't necessarily mean better), so find a method that works for you and make the material your own; whether that means re-writing notes, drawing diagrams etc (my current A&P 2 professor has us drawing each of the body systems and their components from memory, and it really helps!)

The second thing is that you've got to learn to manage your time well - do meal prep if you've got to cut down cooking time and throw things in the crock pot that'll microwave well later. (Rice, and even potatoes can be frozen if you're looking for a quick starch)

If your college offers free tuition like some do, take advantage of it - that being said, if you're not making active steps to learn the material and make time for it, then there's not much anyone can do to help

Nursferatu · Mar 14, 2017

You either need to defer your course until you can make time or find time to study. Online classes have been difficult for me in the past so I normally do brick & mortar classes. I was failing AP2 last fall but was able to change to audit status and continue taking the class. I'm now taking the class through Portage Learning and surprisingly, I'm doing much better online than I was doing in class! But I definitely had to make time to study. I'm fortunate enough to not have to work full time but I still have life commitments that I have to manage in addition to class time. It's up to you to decide where your priorities lie. Even though you have a really tough & draining job in social work, you chose to purse nursing which means you have to choose to make time for doing the things that will get you through school.

Also, if you're very tired all the time, talk to your PCP, maybe you have some deficiencies that are depleting your energy. I found out I had a B12 deficiency and have to take additional supplements. Your health (physical & mental) comes first, so take care of you so you can take care of others!

hopefulFNP2017 · Mar 14, 2017

About vitamin B12--it does seem to help. I feel like it boosts my alertness in general, so I try to take it on test days.