New pre-nursing student "need advice"

hlfpnt, BSN, RN · Jul 31, 2006

I always e-mailed my instuctors prior to class start & asked for the first reading assignments. I also found it helpful to keep a large calendar with my assignment due dates, clinicals, & exam dates color coded...that way all I had to do was glance at my calendar & would know what was coming up. Try to stay as organized as possible & don't let yourself get behind in homework or reading. Keeping class notes in order by date & subject helped me in studying for exams. As for study habits...I picked out the most comfy place in my home & designated it my study area. It also helped me to try to study at the same time every day...I made it a routine. To me having a constant, familiar spot made it easier to concentrate. I think above anything else, though, keeping yourself as organized as possible is about the best thing you can do...good luck to you! :)

NJNursing, ASN, RN · Aug 6, 2006

The tips above are excellent! I agree - stay really organized with everything. Tape record lectures so that you can review them later if there was something you didn't quite get. Form a study group. If you're in pre-nursing classes (like micro or anatomy) more than likley you're going to be knowing these people a while and you'll find you're all taking classes together and many will be in your nursing classes. I found with a study group where we were truly friends, one would often make a funny comment about something or come up with a hysterical acronym and it makes it easy to remember tough stuff.

Good luck!

leeae85 · Aug 6, 2006

i just got through with nursing school, and something that helped me so much was always reading ahead the day before class. That way i wouldn;t be sitting there in class, trying to keep up with the teacher and not having a total understanding of what she was saying. good luck!

Anjann, RN · Aug 6, 2006

I just finished school too. We were always told to read ahead before class, but most of us never did. I found recording lectures to be useful until they banned it at our school for 'ethical reasons'. But if you can do it, go for it.

The syllabi are usually posted before class starts if you want to get a jump on the reading.

I also agree that getting the Month-At-a-Glance Calender and writing down the whole semester's obligations right away is important so you don't run out of study or paper writing time. You can clearly see when there is an exam coming.

Also, if you think you need 3 days to get ready for a test, plan for 6, etc. I have also learned the hard way that when we studied as a group, we always learned more because you remember someone saying something that never fails to end up on the test!

Good Luck!

nursingisworkRN · Aug 8, 2006

Well, I am done with nursing school now, but totally understand your concern. I whole heartedly recommend staying on top of the reading. Sometimes it is just impossible, but for me that was the difference between 90%=B and 92%=A on my exams. I got a day planner with daily entries and month at a glance views. I would take the assignments from the class syllabus and break it up so I would have read the material before lecture. Every day had entries of what needed to be done. Then at the end, I got smarter and entered it into a computer calendar. I printed out the month overview with daily entries and kept it in my binder. The other students would also make copies of mine. Our program was self paced with lectures "optional". As if you could pass without any lecture lol! Anyways, when I finished a task I would highlight it off my planner, and if I didn't get to something it would be added to the next day. This also helped because when I felt overwhelmed, I could easily see how much I had already achieved.

On a different note, some tests are really hard and do not relate to the lectures OR the reading (or videos or computer programs). I still don't know where some of the material came from. On those tests you will have to be happy to have passed at all. And yes, it sucks to spend 4 weeks on something and get a C. Don't let the GPA mean everything. If you are still in the program, you are doing good. As long as you know you gave it your best, that is all you can do.