In need of study tips that won't fail!

AliNajaCat · Nov 14, 2016

Get yourself the Anatomy and Physiology Coloring Books (yes, really, I mean it, they're at Amazon) and spend your off term working them religiously. The whole thing will make a LOT more sense to you if you do.

BrendanO, MSN, RN · Nov 19, 2016

Read the textbook now, so by the time you're taking the class again, you'll already have seen all of the material at least once.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Nov 20, 2016

Hi! Welcome to AN! The largest online nursing community!

I moved this thread to receive the best ideas. Explore this forum as here where students and nurse post their study tips.

UrNurseC · Nov 28, 2016

First of all, don't get down on yourself for having to retake a class. Always use failure as an opportunity to learn from you mistakes and succeed the next time. -End Rant.

Alright. I did a 2 year program also. It was very hard. I think the biggest hurdle for most people is time management. Think of it like a job. You go to class, study, go to clinical, and take tests. It seems like, and it is. However, approaching it the correct way is important.

I went to nursing school when I was 21. I had to work full time to pay for my living expenses. It was really hard to stay focused. After getting a few C's I realized some things had to change. I set up a system to manage my time and get the most out of my day.

With that said, get a planner and plan out all of your class and lab time per month. Then put in work and other necessary things that you have to do. Then look at your planned out time. Fit in some study time in there. I tried to get at least an hour a day, sometimes more.

Next, look at each class. For anatomy and physiology it is a lot of memorization and minor conceptual things that you have to understand.

So, I approached by using every class as more of a review. Before class, I would look over what I was going to be taught that day by skimming the book chapter or PowerPoint. I wouldn't really study because all I wanted to do was have some sort of idea of what I was going to have to learn that day. I would already have questions about things that I did not understand in my head and expect them to be answered during class. If they weren't discussed, I would ask the teacher after class to better understand what I was struggling in.

During the class, especially A&O, it is best to actively learn. Take really good notes. Print out the PowerPoint (6 slides to a page) and take notes on the side. Only write what the teacher says, but is not in the slides.

After class, during you designated study time. Organize your notes and review. I did a really time consuming thing but it really helped me drill everything into my head.

I would basically re-write the PowerPoint by hand on paper. I would add what the teacher said but was not in the PowerPoint. I would bullet things to make them stand out more. Then, after that, I would read my notes and highlight things that I had trouble understanding in one color, and questions that I thought could be on the test in another(Things the teacher really emphasized). Then I would sit down every day when I had some sort of free time and review.

When I came down to things that I had to memorize I would study the diagrams in the book. I would take pictures on my phone of the models in Lab. I would take sticky notes and cover up the labels in the book and just go over them until I had them into memory. I would act like a fool and stand up and point out landmarks, muscles, and bones on my own body starting at my head and down to by toes. I would grab my girlfriend and make her suffer through letting me point out every bone and muscle on her body. ( she hated it, but hell, she married me). I had a coloring book for muscles and bones, but I'm not a coloring kind of guy. After you have a good idea of what everything is, look at the pictures of the models that you have taken. It will help you get an idea of what you will be looking at when you take lab exams.

After spending a bunch of time doing what seems like stupid stuff you have put most of the material in your head. Spend time reading your notes at least once a day. The more times you put it on your mind and sleep on it before a test, the more you will know. I once had a test that I studied so much for I would dream about it.

Do not make the mistake of studying and getting the highest A you have ever had only to start to not study as much because you thought it was easy. It was more then likely only easy because you studied so much for the test. To be honest, every test should feel easy.

On a sad note, I didn't have much of a life in Nursing School. Many relationships suffered. But I feel like if I can do it anyone can do it. I was an adolescent "F-up"

The moral of the story is to manage you time, beat the information into your head everyday well before the actual test.

patterson1 · Nov 30, 2016

Do not make the mistake of studying and getting the highest A you have ever had only to start to not study as much because you thought it was easy. It was more then likely only easy because you studied so much for the test. To be honest, every test should feel easy.

Words of wisdom.

ireyes98 · Dec 5, 2016

You just have to put in the time for these science courses. It's like a huge elephant and you have to take it on one piece at a time, or else you will become overwhelmed. Study groups are also helpful.

OU812IC · Dec 8, 2016

Get the biggest cheapest greaseboard you can find. dray what youre trying to learn and label it using your book/notes as a guide (this helped me a ton in a&p 1 and 2 and also in first semester of nursing school) . Now erase the labels , wait a few minutes and study something else . comeback to the board and label the items. do this for like 5 inutes at a time ever 20 - 30 mins. after a few hours youll be able to draw the whole thing labels and all by heart. I think something to do with making the mistakes helps. When i made a mistake and went awww crap, It sticks in my head and that piece is locked in my mind then. Works for me, but I tend to learn a lot more from failing something once than I do by brute force studying.

Hope it helps

SouthernBelle85 · Dec 13, 2016

What has helped me, along with reading over my notes. Is writing them out and saying them out loud. Not writing every not out but complicated things that are hard to understand...sometimes putting in my own words help me grasp the concept. Like I've been struggling since day one and trying a ton of different studying techniques and finally my 2nd to last semester with last few test of the semester I made 90 or above from writing out notes. Granted I had to start studying a few days before the test....night before is not a good idea unless it's a small test.....and we don't have many small test in Nursing School. You just have to figure out the best way to organize the info into your brain. Writing out helps me...

vkay · Dec 18, 2016

I think by making my own flashcards help me the most. Even though I was basically remaking already available material. (there are tons of flashcard, websites, and books with premade materials) By me having to label my own cards by looking the information up, pointing to specific areas and writing the names of each point helped seal the information in my head. But I'm a kinesthetic type learner. If you can learn from others flash cards hit up quizlet. I'll even direct you to my account if you're interested. But I really recommend you do like I did and create your own.

Also the most helpful book I found for A&P lecture and lab was A Visual Analogy Guide to Human Anatomy & Physiology by Paul A. Krieger. It breaks everything down into body systems and gives plenty of helpful mnemonics. I bought the binder version so I could easily take out pages to make copies. Sometimes I would renumber the illustrations so I knew I wasn't just memorizing the order or the questions. This book was also very helpful in condensing key points of A&P lecture. I really loved this book and I'm not making any money by saying that.

If your school has a skills lab, use of it! My skills lab had all the models that we were to be tested on. I would go and hold each bone, muscle, heart in my hands and touch and identify each part. (again kinesthetic learning) Go with a friend and take turns where one points and the other identifies.

Record the lectures and listen to them at home as you read along with your notes and books. If I didn't understand the way my teacher explained it to me I went to youtube and Khan academy and listened to different explanations until I found one I understood. Professor Fink on youtube is one of my favorite, but find someone who explains it best for you. (I'm just so glad I didn't have to take these classes before the multi resources of the internet!)

Test yourself. I convinced a fellow student to make up 50-100 test questions and I did the same. We would then take both "test" and see how we did. This way we were able to tell where our strength and weakness were. Make sure to create an answer sheet with explanations to answers when necessary. Make some of the questions tricky so you know you actually understand the knowledge and are not just memorizing it. Doing this helps in multiple ways. You're actually studying while creating the test, you're anticipating what you should know, you're possibly helping and teaching another student, and also you're hopefully reducing your test anxiety by exposing yourself to the practice of test taking.

STUDY TIME This should go without saying, but you actually have to make the time to study! I was very fortunate in other classes to not have to take that much time to study and still do well. Not the case with A&P. There is just SO much material in such a short time, that if I didn't spend more time studying I wouldn't have passed. I made an A in all of my A&P I and II lecture and lab classes the first time around. And no, I'm no smartie pants. I studied my hard and regularly. I made social sacrifices to make it happen. When fellow students asked for hints or advice, I would first ask them how they studying. I was surprised at how little time they actually spent studying. I'm always willing to help or tell others what works for me, but none of it will help if you don't actually take the time and do it yourself. Learning if different for everyone. If what you are doing now doesn't work, try a different method. Try several methods until you find what works best for you. And most importantly, know that you can do this. It may not come as easily as you'd like, but I promise with hard work and dedication, it will eventually come to you. Best of luck!

Smashley101 · Dec 25, 2016

Read the test book, answer the questions in the text book. If there's an access code in the book use it, this was a huge help especially if the answers are based out of the book. YouTube channels like Khan were very helpful. Flash cards. Flash cards. Flash cards.

Momoskii · Dec 29, 2016

I think it's best to study a little bit each day if you can make the time. And before you start studying each day, take a moment to refresh what you learned in your previous study session.

I mostly studied off of the power point slides that my teacher provided. I would read and study each one and use the charts and pictures from the textbook as references. I would go over each slide until I felt like I had an understanding of what I just read, the big picture.

If something was difficult to understand, I would draw pictures or make my own charts. I'm a visual learner, so making my own charts and drawings helped me to recall things later. And doing your own drawings forces you to go over the material and helps memorization. But this method doesn't work for everything. I used an A&P coloring book too, and it helped me so much. There are chapters on everything, muscles, bones, cells, the brain... I think that the coloring is a really good way to study.

Flashcards work best for other sections. I had a difficult time learning the endocrine system, and flashcards turned out to be the best way for me to study all of the hormones and their functions.

Overall, I think it's best to have a lot of different study methods depending on the type of material you're learning and how difficult is to remember and understand. Be adaptive and good luck!