Nursing student starting med-surg in January

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I am a current nursing student that is about to start nursing 2 in January. I would like to know if anyone could recommend study tips. I would like to do well. I tend to be a visual learner, and in the past did well memorizing. I struggled through nursing 1 and don't want to repeat that again. Suggestions?? I know that fluid and electrolytes tend to trip a lot of nursing students up. Is there any supplemental information that you could recommend that would be beneficial to understanding and grasping the material? Thanks so much!

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

Hello and welcome to allnurses.com

Just wanted to say hello and wish you luck in your nursing program. We hope you enjoy the site.

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Fluid and Electrolytes can be overwhelming but getting a firm grasp on them as soon as possible will make the rest of nursing school much more manageable, they will continue to pop up in every other organ system. If you are a visual learner I would recommend searching youtube for armando hasudungan - he has excellent videos for refreshing your A&P, he draws everything out by hand and voices over his drawings - many of his drawings are just like the cut-away pictures of organs and cells in an A&P book but it helps to see him draw it and explain each constituent aspect of an organ system. Having a firm grasp of A&P will ensure that you actually understand each disease process and don't just wind up memorizing an acronym, this allows you to reason through many test questions in a logical manner. Good luck!

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Memorization is like 'sight reading' .. you will recognize words you have learned, but it doesn't help when you come across a new word. OTOH, learning the underlying concepts is equivalent to phonetics... which enable you to 'sound out' new words.

A thorough understanding of basic chemistry concepts will really help you 'visualize' what is happening from a physiologic perspective ... molecular bonds (+ & - ions), diffusion, solutes & concentrations, crystalloids & colloids.... srsly, if you really understand diffusion, you'll have no problem figuring out the molecular/cellular consequences of hypo- or hyper-natremia.

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First semester nursing school was based around concepts that are clearly outlined in the book and it is very easy to breeze through and not really "study" the concepts.

Med/Surg is completely Different, its more an application of concepts, where the answer just doesn't pop out at you. You really need to read and understand the topic being covered. BUY A RECORDER!Before lecture READ, go through the book and powerpoint and highlight what is listed on the powerpoint! During lecture, re-highlight what they are talking about in the book and write additional notes on the powerpoint. After lecture, re read the book and any additional notes. This reinforces the topic three different times in three different ways! Its all about practice, do practice questions, most books for Med/Surg have one that comes along with your textbook. If not, look for this one: If you need any help feel free to message me!

http://www.amazon.com/Med-Surg-Success-Applying-Critical-Thinking/dp/0803625049/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419005812&sr=1-4&keywords=med+surg+study+guide&pebp=1419005819641

For F&E this book was very helpful:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1605472522/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687622&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1608312909&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0TGC0JCF7XFZVZCQ2BKG

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Thank you so much for taking the time to respond, and for the provided information. It is greatly appreciated.

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Awe thanks so much! I'll keep that in mind and take a look at your suggestions.

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Specializes in ICU.

Just got done with med/surg I. It was a tough class. Honestly one of the hardest so far. My instructors made us disease process worksheets to do for help with studying. We had the disease, patho, manifestations, and nursing interventions on it. I used it some but really just made the same thing on flash cards adding lab values into it. Make sure you understand the physiology of the body. It's very important.

Now I'm off to Med/Surg II. Yikes!

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I hope it helped! I am going into Med/Surg III Let meek now if I can help you!

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I really love Michael Linares of simple nursing.com. He has tons of videos and really breaks stuff down. He makes learning dry stuff fun!

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