Last minute advice???

leonard_huh, BSN, MSN, RN, APN · Mar 11, 2013

Congrats on starting nursing school. the only thing you need to have prepared is your mindset. the beginning is a whole lot of different terms and information from skills to pathophysiology. My advice is just have good time mangement in studying and put in the extra effort in learning the material and not just memorizing them for the test.

eva123 · Mar 12, 2013

Learn good study habits, form a peer group fairly early to start study groups, don't just learn things for the test and forget them, grab sleep when you can, take notes during lecture, be creative in learning, use concept maps, try mnemonics, and don't be afraid to ask classmates and instructors for help

Trenata · Mar 12, 2013

I am not a nurse and only working on prereqs right now. However, I have seen this post numerous times. The two things that stand out - rest and use this time to enjoy family and friends - and learn critical thinking skills via an NCLEX study guide of some sort.

Bouncyball · Mar 12, 2013

I would start with lab values. Don't memorize values because every school has their own set of normals. But you can learn what the lab test means and why it would be high or low. You can also start reading about and getting comfortable with physical assessment.

Also, you can get the rest of your life organized to make nursing school easier.

gigi_marie · Mar 12, 2013

Thank you for all of your comments!

hodgieRN · Mar 12, 2013

Ah, I wish I found this thread sooner!

If there was one thing I wish I did before nursing school, it would be looking over the medical terminology and latin-based terms. All of the sentences you are going to read will have have these terms. There is no way to memorize them, but you can get more familiar with them. I wouldn't look at the whole word itself, but pay attention to the base term. Like -itis, -opathy, -oscopy, pneumo-, cysto-, coag-, encephal-, mening-, things like that. See if you can look at some words and then look up the definition, or even go online and check them out. Sometimes, I felt like it took an hour to read 2-3 pages b/c I had to translate everything I was reading.

One of the problems I had with reading was it all looked like a foreign language. I read, then had to stop, look up the term, go back to reading, stop, look up the term. Once you can decipher the base terms, you will have a better flow. Plus, when the instructors are lecturing, they are going to be speaking in medical terminology. It is like a foreign language. They will mention some test and some lab value, and your brain will just shut off.

Lastly, there are tons of videos online. I know there are fundamentals of nursing videos on Youtube. They go over protocols, tests, assessments, things like that. That can give you an idea of what you may learn. I wouldn't go to overboard with trying to learn everything on the videos. It's just a good thing for referencing. Good Luck!