Study Tips For Students

I am currently mentoring a fourth year nursing student in her leadership course. In addition to the student, I hire and mentor LPNs on my unit. Quite frequently, people ask how to study effectively. I managed to work and have a balanced life during school, with the following in mind: Nurses Announcements Archive Article

Study Tips For Students

First, assess your own learning style and know your limits. Everyone processes information differently. Are you a visual learner? Do you learn best alone or in groups?

Plan your assignments and know your due dates well in advance. A day timer or calendar is very effective. Review all your course outlines before class in order to gage the material. Do not wait until the night before to read or begin assignments!

Sleep and exercise regularly. Some people think they can stay up all night. Maybe you can, but all nighters are not effective. Your brain requires adequate sleep, food and exercise in order to function properly. Students who stay up all night usually perform worse on tests and assignments.

Take regular study breaks after 45 minutes of study. Go and do something else, and then return to your studies. After a certain point, you are not retaining information. Mental breaks are essential.

Learn the art of note taking and reading texts. Skim the objectives of the chapter and skim the headings prior to reading the text. You will not need to know everything in your text, only the key concepts.

As you read, the use of a high lighter to underline key words is useful since retention improves with active manipulation. Repeating key phrases out loud as you read can also prove effective.

Attend class regularly. The instructor will highlight key ideas and concepts which saves time later on because you will know what is important for testing.

Read before class. Even if all you have time for is a quick read of the material, you will have a greater understanding of the concepts that will be presented later.

The power of positive thought does wonders for success also. Tell yourself you can succeed and you will eventually, even if you think you won't. As in: "I'm going to achieve an A in this course!"

Using these principles, I've managed to achieve an A average. You can too! I hope that helps.

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joanna73

About joanna73, BSN, RN

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

All of those are tips that have worked for me, too. Especially the one about taking study breaks. It helps to realize that you will hit a point where you're just staring at text on a page. I like to walk around the block, at a pretty slow pace. I know if I'm near a TV or a computer I'll "just" watch this one thing or "just" cruise that one celebrity site-- switching gears for 15 minutes has a really positive effect on my ability to focus.

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