need study help!!

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Specializes in LTC, Oncology/Women's Health; Med/Surg.

Ok I STILL haven't started studying for the first class for the excelsior lpn to rn program. I am so clueless on HOW to go about this. I have heard so many different ways to study and I just dont know what to do!! I really dont want to buy all the recommended books, but maybe I should? I have heard about lisa arend's notes and what not too. Can someone, anyone, shed some light on this? What worked for you? What didn't? Once I get some feedback hopefully I can make up my dang mind and get going!!! Please help!!! :)

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Specializes in Pediatrics/Adult Float Pool.

i usually started with a practice exam. that way i kind of got an idea of what they were really looking for. then i used the text books, study group 101 notes, and the saunder's nclex review book to break it down into sections. i would take the review book and a chunk of notes with me to work, and a couple of sg101 exams, and pick at them until i felt comfortable. then, on to the next section. i got through each exam by studying for 3-4 weeks on the material. usually about 4 or 5 days before the real thing, i took the other practice exam and studied the rationals on them. saw practice exam ?'s on each test. i passed every exam i attempted so far! now i just gotta study micro and a&p to be done! just jump in, cause it'll definitely be overwhelming if you let it! good luck!!

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Specializes in LTC, Oncology/Women's Health; Med/Surg.

thank u so much! so did you buy all the recommended books? like fundamentals, peds, med/surg etc?

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Specializes in Pediatrics/Adult Float Pool.

i bought all of them off ebay or amazon...the micro book i got was 1 edition back. i could have probably done without the books like leading and managing, just stuck with the fundamentals, the pharmacology, peds books, but i wanted those resources handy, just in case. and they have served me well. i have heard of several people just using the notes and the study guides, but that made me too nervous.

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Specializes in Home Health, Podiatry, Neurology, Case Mgmt.

I made a post about this awhile ago (i'm working on the first RN exam - Health Safety)

I downloaded the EC content guide and split up the sections into weeks

Example Section 1 April 1-7

Section 2 April 8-15

Section 3 Arpil 16-22

ect...

Then that week I just made sure to get through the reading assignment...I bought ALL thre recomended textbooks for the entire program on half.com ebay and alibris.com i spent a total of 180 for all books...mine are 1 or 2 editions back and the chapters and sections for the reading are labeled exactly the same. I also bought the practice exams and took the first one (got a 74%) and was only halfway through the required reading so i went ahead and scheduled my test early and will be taking is May 22nd. I felt that H&S was really basic stuff that i learned in LPN school so i feel really comfortable.

good luck and feel free to PM me if you like!

Tasha

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Specializes in Home Health, Podiatry, Neurology, Case Mgmt.

Here was my orig plan for H&S to take 7 wks to complete it...however, as i said before i'm doing so well on it i bumped it up a notch...but I took the EC content guide and broke it down as follows

week 1

April 18th-23rd Section I Nursing process 10% & first practice exam

week 2

April 24th - April 30th Section II Health, Wellness, and Illness 20%

week 3

May 2nd- May 8th Section III Environmental Safety 15%

week 4

May 9th - May 15th Section IV Biological Safety 20%

week 5

May 16th - May 22nd Section V Medication Safety 15%

week 6

May 23rd - may 29th Section VI Psychological Safety 20%

week 7

May 30th - June 5th final Review and 2nd practice exam

Take FINAL on or around June 7th

I did it this way because I am the type of person that needs deadlines as well as goals, i can't just sit and study and then just "feel" confident to take a test...i needed to go step by step and so far this has helped me a lot...of course I won't know how well it pays off until I take the actual exam on the 22nd though! LOL

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There are numerous threads talking about strategies for these tests. I got review books that I found helpful. If the test was going to cover maternity nursing, for instance, I would buy a study guide for this area. Also, use as many resources that provide practice questions as you can find. Like studying for the NCLEX. I would spend some time going through the threads to find different ideas and resources, then pick which ones you think will help you the most.

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Specializes in LTC, Oncology/Women's Health; Med/Surg.

ahhh Thank you SO much everyone!!!! tasha I really like ur idea of breaking the sections down into weeks. That would be the best way for me to go about it!! next step, getting some books and setting a "start" date!!!! :D

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Specializes in Home Health, Podiatry, Neurology, Case Mgmt.

If you still have your LPN books you can "start" now!!! I took my basic nursing book and looked up some of the info while i put bids in for my textbooks on half and ebay ect. I was able to find most of the first section in my basic nursing book and then when i got my fundamentals book i just skimmed and took the quizes at the end of the chapter! Good luck!

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Specializes in LTC, Oncology/Women's Health; Med/Surg.

oh crap i sold all of my books back to the school and on amazon! oh well. im going to start searching for the books today!! thanks again for all ur advice!!

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Specializes in Nurse Tech (Oncol.,Peds & Emer. Room).

Yes, like the others are saying....do all the readings...you dont want to take a chance missing any info. for CPNE...I use EC content guides, do the readings then use a NCLEX review book (Saunders, Lippincott, Mosby) to question myself for each section...take the practice exam...study some more take form B study more...also use studygroup 101 as an outline on sections Im not really understanding along with more reading....Best of wishes! Donna :)

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