Nursing School Lost

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Hello Nursing world!

I am looking for suggestions to help me be a more productive/proficient study-er!

My first semester was a huge learning experience for me! I really had to learn that what you do in the classroom isn't always exactly how it happens in the clinical setting. I had to learn to answer test questions based on this and leave out the "real world" stuff. It took most of the semester to learn how to answer nursing questions appropriately. That in and of its self is a skill to learn!

I started my second semester with relief and a more balanced approach. I have changed my study habits completely! I work with my clinical group 3-4 days a week for about 2 hours, one on one with another student for about 3 hours on Saturdays and spend Sundays reviewing. Our programs do not do any quizzes to test your understanding as you go through the semester, so I use ATI practice exams, complete the questions for each concept in the NCLEX book and do the chapter review questions. I do really well when I test my knowledge and I keep with my peers in group study well. (I don't find myself not participating due a knowledge deficit, haha). I feel confident going into tests but continue to do really poorly on each exam. I'm not really sure what else to do to try and get more information in. I feel like the school exam questions, while relate to our concepts, are always on the few things we didn't discuss or were led to focus on specific things and are then tested on items that were not directly lectured on. The questions don't seem to fall in line with NCLEX or ATI. My program does not allow study guides, so basically know everything, and we are only able to review the tests silently, no discussion or elaborations on the rationales.

I am curious if anyone out there has any tips or other suggestions that I haven't tried that they'd like to share! I am feeling really frustrated and discouraged. There is no other option than to just keep trying and pushing through but it would be nice to come out of test feeling just as good as I do going in. Any and all suggestions are appreciated! Thank you!

-Upside down Nursing Student

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For me, simply reading the material is what always helped. Review questions are good for review, but a chaotic and fragmented way to actually learn the material. Understanding the "big picture" enabled me to guess the right answer more often than not ...even if I wasn't 100% sure about the details.

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It also helps to speak with your instructor privately. I've noticed over each semester that with tests made by different instructors, they expect different things. I've had to adjust the way I study each semester because of this.

So, I read all of the assigned material and hit the areas identified by the instructor each semester extra hard.

As far as not going over rationals from the test in class, that's common around here because people will argue their points and it holds up the rest of the class.

We are able to make appointments with the instructor to go over the tests and get the rationals for what we got wrong. I would advise asking for an appointment for that. They should be able to see how you test based on what you got wrong and your rational, and give you pointers for future tests. Answering nursing School questions really is an art haha.

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Thanks, I may need to buckle down and try this approach. Depending on the semester it may or may not be doable. Last semester we were test on about 40 concepts, so 10 each test give or take. Reading all the chapters was almost impossible. This semester is much more focused and I have read the chapters for some concepts and merely skimmed for others. Our instructors do ppt slides to go along with lecture which is where a lot of the information gets lost in lecture. Some points are harped on, others barely acknowledged so it does get chaotic trying to study. I will try reading as much as can to hopefully gain more understanding of the bigger picture. Even guessing more accurately would be helpful.

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It also helps to speak with your instructor privately. I've noticed over each semester that with tests made by different instructors, they expect different things. I've had to adjust the way I study each semester because of this.

So, I read all of the assigned material and hit the areas identified by the instructor each semester extra hard.

As far as not going over rationals from the test in class, that's common around here because people will argue their points and it holds up the rest of the class.

We are able to make appointments with the instructor to go over the tests and get the rationals for what we got wrong. I would advise asking for an appointment for that. They should be able to see how you test based on what you got wrong and your rational, and give you pointers for future tests. Answering nursing School questions really is an art haha.

An art for sure! I think I will try talking with my department head and see if she can offer something new. My instructors have all offered what I am already doing. Thanks for the input!

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Moved to the Nursing Student Assistance forum.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

It is not unusual for test/quiz items to appear to be unrelated to the lecture or reading material.... this is because those items are designed to force you to analyze the underlying concepts. Ex: lecture covers respiratory pathophys, including the concepts of oxygen demand and blood gases. Then, you have a question like : Mr X has traveled from Tempe to Denver for a mountain biking vacation and discovers that he is experiencing shortness of breath, dizziness and calf muscle cramping after a relatively short period of brisk cycling. He has arrived at your clinic exhibiting high levels of anxiety and states he is fearful that he is having a stroke just like the one that killed his grandfather. What interventions should you initiate to help Mr X? Why? What should you do first?

Are you getting things like this? They want you to think about high altitude vs. low altitude; oxygen demand; lactic acidosis; signs of fear and panic . . . etc. You may not have had this exact situation in your book or lecture, but you should be able to figure out the basics.

Have you ever worked with concept maps? I've discovered that this is a very effective way to help students 'connect the dots'.

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Specializes in ICU + 25 years as Nursing Faculty.

There are three components that you must bring to an exam (classroom or NCLEX):

1. Knowledge of the content. You don't need to know it all... just enough. Knowing it all is not an option.

2. Test taking skills. You need to know HOW to work your way through the item so that you can apply the knowledge of the content that you have. There are LOTS of resources about test taking skills. I am fond of the Strategies for Test Success book by Silvestri.

3. Emotional Control. If you cannot be calm... you cannot use your knowledge and skills. There are lots of tools for this too. I am fond of progressive relaxation and visualization of the desired outcome. Some students need to go the next step and consult with a psychologist to use hypnosis. Laugh all you want, I have seen INCREDIBLE exam success by the most anxious students with the application of hypnosis.

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