What am I doing wrong?

Nursing Students LPN/LVN Students

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Hi! I'm in my second semester of LPN school. Last semester I barely passed so I am happy I made it this far but I am having difficulty with studying. My classes are Med/Surg and IV Therapy. So far we have had one test in each class and I made a 73, and a 76. My question is what am I doing wrong to make low grades? I study by reading the chapter, PowerPoints, and listening to lectures that I record. I study for about 4-6 hrs a day and I try to be in bed by 11. When i get the test I am familiar with the material but none of the answers jump out at me. At this point I am feeling really defeated and maybe even a little stupid. Maybe I just don't really know how to study ������ In order to pass the classes and go to medsurg clinical I have to have an 80 in each class. Do you all have any study tips? I'm all out of ideas and I really need help asap!

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Specializes in LTC and Pediatrics.

Think of what you would do first and on down the line. Start with the priority items to assess. Get something like the PN-NCLEX Mastery app and use it to study. Things like this are great for studying for classes, not just the NCLEX. Study the medications and for IV make sure you study the different fluids and why they are used in what situation.

Practice questions on the topic is a big help.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

Talk to your instructors and review your previous tests with them. They should be able to tell you what you are doing wrong -- which is the first, necessary step in correcting the problem.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Moved to the LPN/LVN Nursing Student forum

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Do you type or write out notes? I have discovered that writing notes in class vs typing on the laptop helps me considerably.

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Specializes in POST PARTUM/NURSERY/L&D/WOMENS SERVICES.

Nursing school tests are nothing like college tests....

You need a base knowledge, but you also have to be able to think outside the box...critical thinking...

every answer could be right, but you must pick the most right, based on your knowledge of ABC, prioritizing and other factors...

Rather than studying the notes, add in a few hours of nclex review questions. Knowledge means nothing if you can not apply it...

I had a really hard time in nursing school, and even as time has gone in in my ncc exam and annual recerts. The tests don't ever change...they are impossible...but I have learned to break the question down, dump extraneous information, and focus on what they are really asking. Usually the answer is much simpler than you think.

good luck

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I've had the same problems. You know I was making like 80 and below the beginning of last semester and a lot of it had to do with Text Anxiety. At the end I started making 90 and above. My technique along with what you are doing and is writing out the notes a few times and just going over it and trying to understand the content. For me I could remember it more if I wrote the notes a few times. I would go over the material everyday but seriously study like 3 days before the test.

Nursing school questions are tricky and not straight forward. Select all that applies questions and those questions that have two or three answers are right but only one is correct...it kills my soul, y'all haha.

Also if don't have one buy a Nclex book and they are section off, Like if you going over Respiratory...they have Respiratory section with questions...do those to practice because that is how nursing school test set up because they are preparing you for the Nclex. Good luck and you just have to figure out the best way for you :)

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