New student nurse concerned about A and P

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I looked at the Gray's Anatomy website (not the tv show) and was shocked at the detail. Am I going to have to memorize each tiny little bit, or will the A and P for nurses be more general? Am I going to have to be able to name every vein and stuff?

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

You will definitely need to know a whole lot, but there is not enough time to cover everything.

Just relax. I'm sure you'll do fine!

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I had A & P one and two, and got A's in both....don't worry, that's what the class is for...to teach you all of this! Don't stress over it! It's a lot to know, but they pound it into your brain...Good luck!:D

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I took A&P both 1 and 2. I also own the book you speak of. My answer would be NO - you aren't required to know it in the detail. It's a nice book to have for reference, but just as other posters have said - your instructors will teach you and guide you. What you will be learning is more general. If you want, I can send you a copy of some of the notes I had from class (outlined by the instructor) to give you an idea of what is ahead. It was such a fun and interesting class. Just PM me if you are interested. Good luck.

ETA: A more applicable book for A & P would be the Anatomy and/or Physiology coloring books you can find just about anywhere. They really helped me solidify the information that I was expected to know.

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In our program we learned anatomy from a systems approach. Basically we went through all of the body systems and learned the body parts that our instructor thought would be important for us to know.

He explained that the med students learn anatomy from a gross anatomy approach where you take an area of the body and learn everything within that body part. For example- the left arm- you would learn all of the bones, muscles, nerves, blood vessels, etc.

My advice if you are concerned about the intensity of the class- talk to the instructor and ask what approach is used to learn the material.

Christie

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My advice to you is ask the professor you will have when you take the course. Different schools, even different instructors teach differently and in different levels of detail.

For instance, there are schools in my area where the nursing students only learned superficial (surface level) muscles. At my school we learned them all the way through.

As was said before, don't worry. DO work very hard on the class because you really do need to know that stuff, but you do not need everything in Grays.

Also, you will learn a great deal during school that will evaporate, but 'tis better to have learned and lost than never to have learned before.

Good luck.

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I am currently wrapping up my semester of A&P, and this is my second try. The first time I expected to zip right through it...wrong! This time around I have made sure to dedicate about 2 hours a night to studying and refreshing. It is not so overwhelming if you stay on top of it.

All programs are different, but my instructors have organized the courses in a way that the very basics are introduced first and all pulled together later. I feel like I have a nice grasp on all of the information presented. There is no way we will all remember every detail, and for this reason I think instructors skip a lot of what you don't need to know. Don't worry, if you work hard then you will be fine!

Good luck!:nuke:

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