why is med/surg a hard class to pass??

Nursing Students General Students

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Hello everyone,

I am a new nursing student set to begin the clinical portion of the RN program spring 2012. After reading a few threads I see that people have a really difficult time when there in med/surg adult health rotation, why is this??? I have A's in both A&P I & II, B in chem I & A in chem II, C in micro, and actually enjoyed the challenge of the classes because they were interesting to me, but I hated. Micro. What should I expect in medical surgical nursing?? And why is it so difficult to pass???

malenurse23 said:
Njmomstudent,

thanks for the heads up on the test taking advice, is there a certain strategy that you use??

Well, it depends on the program. For mine, 1st year (fundamental, ob and peds, and a little medsurg) I had time to read the material a few times, and go over lecture multiple times as well. This last year is all med/surg and psych. There is NOT enough time to read everything. I say read all assignments in your main text for sure. If you have time, read the additional, but if its just reiterating your main one, skip it. (I always read my Brunner, but skip my Porth). If your program uses ATI, read it because you will have to take the ATI tests and there is different material in there. Practice putting things together. Look at labs you can get your hands on in clinical, and put the info together. Memorize your labs because they will be on your exam. Always remember your ABC's (airway, breathing, circulation) and if a question asks you to prioritize, and its not making sense, go back to your ABC's and remember pain is the 5th vital sign, but assessment of pain is the real priority, not treating it with meds.

The first test I didn't do as well as normal (I passed) because I didn't focus on lecture enough. The second test I did FANTASTIC because I had time to focus on both reading and lecture. This third test, I did BAAAAAD because we had our careplan due (focused on that instead of reading) and I didn't get to read all the material, but did prioritize my notes.

There are NCLEX books you can get. I will say, the NCLEX questions in the study guides are much easier than my programs exam questions. They say it prepares us to pass the NCLEX. They do help for sure, but sometimes, its really a no win situation. They usually put enough questions on an exam that you "should" get right to get a passing grade, and some you just won't. We are getting into a bunch of questions that look like med/surg, but really are psych, and its tough because you would respond totally different to a situation. Sometimes its very hard to figure out WHAT a question is really asking. Then there's the time you have to do it. First year I had no problem completing exams in the time they gave us. This semester, everyone is going right up to the end because it takes so long to really read the question and figure out what they are asking. I do my exams BACK to front, because we have math and check all that apply at the very end, so I do those first. The last thing you want to do is leave those one for the end because you will run out of time. We didn't have those types of questions first year. It was all multiple choice.

If you end up having problems, get tutoring. Also, we have "project assist" for those having testing issues. It gives them the opportunity to take the test in a different way if they need it. Some students need the test read to them, or in a quieter place, etc. You just have to use the resources available.

Its really different for every person. Some people swear by study guides and online text resources, however, they didn't do a darn thing for me. But they might for you. It can't hurt to try it for sure. HTH

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short answer? because nursing is harder than most people think.

there are the manipulative task skills, of course, but they are actually a very small part of your nursing education in the infinite scheme of things, even though students are so focused on them.

professional nursing requires a very complex skill set of observation, assessment, critical thinking, and knowledge application. people think the process of "weeding out" wannabe nurses who just don't have the aptitude or drive or both to acquire those is somehow unfair and mean, but in reality, it does a favor to the profession and to those people who can't cut the mustard. "if caring were enough, anyone could be a nurse" isn't just a sound bite.

if you think first-year m/s is hard, wait until you get to the end of your school-based education.

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Actually, the book is so heavy you can't hold it and read it. You'll need the jack off your car to get the front cover open and the Hubble telescope to read the eight point font. I think that's why people have trouble. They can't use the book. Fortunately, the pages are great for lining hamster cages.

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ImThatGuy said:
Actually, the book is so heavy you can't hold it and read it. You'll need the jack off your car to get the front cover open and the Hubble telescope to read the eight point font. I think that's why people have trouble. They can't use the book. Fortunately, the pages are great for lining hamster cages.

LMAO!! Thats sooooooo true!!. If you use Lehne as a pharm book, the font is even smaller. Thankfully my med surg book is in two volumes instead of just one. There's about 2500 pages.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/urology.

Lol yes my med surg book (by black & hawks) weighs about 8 lbs. It's massive! And not very understandable..even our instructors said so. But anyways I digress.

We lost 5 people in our Med-Surg 1 class. Four of them were trying to work full-time (nights) and go to school. Now, some people can do that..but if you don't have to work, than I suggest you don't (or work part-time or PRN). One girl was just used to Foundations being easy (like some posters mentioned) and she tried to study for med-surg like she would study for A&P,micro,etc..It's not just cut & dry material. You really have to study the pathophysiology of the disease, the nursing interventions, the medical & surgical interventions, and know how to prioritize (abc's, maslow's hierarchy, assess the pt. then the equipment, etc). And like the others have mentioned, buy an NCLEX book. I recommend Saunder's. It's great! Med-Surg is not an easy class, but it is possible to do well in it if you know how to study. Good luck!

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Nurse2bKimberly,

Thanks for the heads up. I am also faced with that dilemma of working and school, i currently work fulltime 40hrs a week, but i only work on weekends and my job isn't hard at all and i can pretty much study at work;in this economy I need to keep a fulltime job. But in all seriousness I am beginning to get the vibe of Med/Surg and see that I need to have a great studying tactic as well as good test taking skills in order to pass the didactic portion of the course. How is the Clinicals????

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Iluvpatho,

No Medsurg is the 2nd course, 1st its Dosage Calc, Fundamentals, and Pharmacology. But I like to prepare and study ahead of time.

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Njmomtobe,

Thanx agian for all of the great advice i will certainly put it to use, As for now I have a Dosage Calculations book and im studying trying to prepare myself for this 2 week Dosage Class I have coming up in January, not to mention math is not my strongest subject.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/urology.
malenurse23 said:
Nurse2bKimberly,

Thanks for the heads up. I am also faced with that dilemma of working and school, i currently work fulltime 40hrs a week, but i only work on weekends and my job isn't hard at all and i can pretty much study at work;in this economy I need to keep a fulltime job. But in all seriousness I am beginning to get the vibe of Med/Surg and see that I need to have a great studying tactic as well as good test taking skills in order to pass the didactic portion of the course. How is the Clinicals????

Clinicals is the most enjoyable part of nursing school in my opinion. It is applying the stuff you are learning in lecture& skills to the real world. Also, dosage & calculations was very easy to me..I was half a point away from an "A" in that class:mad: If you can add,multiply, divide & memorize some formulas..you'll be fine.

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Thats good to know, Im just hoping I do well. Its been a long time coming and im just hoping i can do as good as i know i can. What school do u attend?

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If people think med surge is hard is bc they study last minute or bc they don't know how to study for that class. If you think med surg is hard wait until you take critical care and compare them :p

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For our program it was hard for two fold:

1. because it is the foundation to nursing practice

2. to weed people out

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