Med/Surg Test over Diabetes -- HELP!

Published

Hey all,

I'm in my 2nd and final year of an ADN program. We'll be taking our 2nd exam next week over Diabetes. The first test was awful. The class average was a 58%. Ouch! That has me extremely worried.

I am trying to better prepare myself for this next exam.

I have read the book and highlighted. I am considering hand writing the highlighted portions out, or typing them out, or just re-reading the highlighted sections. I am reading over the PowerPoint presentation. I am going to do NCLEX questions related to Diabetes.

I do NOT want to fail this exam, too!

Is there ANY other advice? Study tips? Any great websites to visit that may have questions, etc?

I'm willing to do whatever it takes!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Diabetes was one of the easiest exams I took so far in nursing school. The reason I did so well, was the fact I understood the pathophysiology of the disease.

- All cells require glucose for survival

- Glucose is primarily acquired from the digestion of carbohydrates

- Starches and complex sugars are converted to the simple sugar glucose

- If glucose is not available from the ingestion of carbohydrates the body will break down glycogen (a sugar stored in the liver) or protein in the liver

- Insulin (a hormone secreted by the beta cells in the pancreas) is necessary to allow glucose to pass from the blood stream into the cells.

http://www.lbfdtraining.com/Pages/emt/sectionb/diabetes.html

Once you understand why things are happening, it becomes easier to answer the questions and know what the nurse suppose to assess.

The above statements are also great ideas.

Good luck to you.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Nursing Home ,Dementia Care,Neurology..

Good resource that, Futurenurse,what is "aeioutips" saw it mentioned in the article but can find no actual explanation of it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in MCH,NICU,NNsy,Educ,Village Nursing.

Subject matter you can memorize, understanding comes with processing and critical thinking (I know--words you may be getting tired of). How to take a test? Well....are there words in any of the answers that are similar to words in the stem? Can you narrow the responses down to two, then further narrow down based on your knowledge of the disease? Read carefully but don't read into the questions--"just the facts". Hang in there. You'll get it!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Good resource that, Futurenurse,what is "aeioutips" saw it mentioned in the article but can find no actual explanation of it.

I checked for acronym on google, I was able to find:

What does AEIOUTIPS stand for?

Alcohol, Epilepsy, Insulin, Overdose, Underdose, Trauma, Infection, Psychoses, Sepsis (causes of an altered level of consciousness)

I hope it helps :-)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER.

I agree with futurenurse, Diabetes and the endocrine system was prob the easist exam I have ever taken in nursing school... This is what I did to study.. I creased a piece of paper in half.. make one side Type 1 and The other Type 2, then for each side go through the Patho, Management , Drugs ect. for each disease.. I found this very helpful.. this also helps to learn the Endocrine Disorders (Hyperthyroidism and Hypothyroidism) because they are pretty much opposite each other.. so if you know the one really well you have to know the other.. Hope this helps and Good LUCK!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

you should know the underlying pathophysiology between the different types of diabetes and the symptoms. know how the doctor tests for and treats (this includes all the medications) each of those symptoms. your nursing interventions are based upon those symptoms as well as knowing the doctor's treatment. know the complications that occur as a result of diabetes. know diabetic ketoacidosis and the signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Do you have any good pointers on how to study for the GI & GU diseases? I have the test next Wednesday...1st semester in LVN program.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
do you have any good pointers on how to study for the gi & gu diseases? i have the test next wednesday...1st semester in lvn program.

you can find all kinds of information about the individual gi and gu diseases by searching on these weblinks listed on this thread:

these are the very same links i go to when looking for specific information about diseases.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion