prep for med-surg?

JaaaeyRN · Jun 22, 2015

Med surg for nursing is everything from pathophysiology, etiology, diagnostic studies, lab values, pre-op, post-op and all other nursing process (yes, your ADPIE).

I see you are from Michigan I graduated from OCC. When I was in med. surg classes, I re-wrote every lecture notes, put them in different colors and drew picture related to that topics. Sometimes, I may diagram or table to help me memorize. Many of my friends loved my notes

If there were anything else that I didn't understand or had trouble. I would look in the book.

What level of med surg? Can you get a syllabus prior to starting the class? At OCC, you can purchase a syllabus before. What I did was put those syllabus page into a binder. And do more research on that topic. For instance, unit 1 Renal/Hepatic problems - I would gogle renal dysfunction and print out pictures and easy to understand or fact sheet from legit website.

I hope it helps. Good luck.

x0xerika · Jun 22, 2015

I'm not sure if we can purchase a syllabus earlier, and I'll be in Med-Surg 1. My fundamentals/assmnt instructor teaches at OCC! Or she did? Jenaye Lisbon. I absolutely loved her! I attend Baker College.

I do love to re-write my notes. Actually, what I do is read through the chapter and highlight the important information, then I'll write down what I highlighted either in notes or on notecards. Sometimes I will draw pictures because I'm a visual learner.

Our semester doesn't start until September and we have the summer off, but I learn over a period of time, so I want to get ahead by starting now. I promised myself no studying on weekends, only during the week. I'm still trying to figure out how to study. I have not found a way to retain the information I learn, besides drawing, but I can't draw everything because some stuff is information and not pictures. Any tips on how to study? I've tried notecards, but it doesn't work as well as I thought it would.

umbdude, MSN, APRN · Jun 22, 2015

I did a lot of practice questions...close to a thousand for med-surg.

JaaaeyRN · Jun 23, 2015

Maybe you should remove your instructor name. It violates privacy.

I personally dislike flashcard. I normally used A4 paper. This way I can put more info. I will make table

For example

Diease | GERD | Peptic Ulcer |

Path. | | |

Etiology| | |

Dx. | | |

Rx. | | |

Tx. | | |

NIC | | |

I didn't limit myself the day I studied. I studied whenever my brain let me. Some weekday I wouldn't function but weekends.

Also you might want to try group study. You can also log on to your textbook website. Sometimes they do have a summary of the chapter and NCLEX style of question. I did that a lot too. Remember your patho and cause. It's very important for a nurse to know. So we know how to deal with that problem. Like you know peptic ulcer, pt. has ulcer in the stomach. Therefore, eating wouldn't ease the pain.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Jun 23, 2015

How about just enjoy your time off? You won't understand it unless an instructor explains to you what they are teaching and what you need to know. Just grabbing a book and reading info that's not pertinent isn't going to help you prep.

Natasha A., CNA, LVN · Jun 23, 2015

I have a question. I am currently in Medical Surgical class on the GI system and as I am studying I am seeing a slight pattern of the s/s that most all relate to acid-base, electrolyte/fluid and inflammation. Is this the big picture? Most common s/s are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea.

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · Jun 23, 2015

I have a question. I am currently in Medical Surgical class on the GI system and as I am studying I am seeing a slight pattern of the s/s that most all relate to acid-base, electrolyte/fluid and inflammation. Is this the big picture? Most common s/s are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea.

Close but don't oversimplify.

Natasha A., CNA, LVN · Jun 23, 2015

please explain

JaaaeyRN · Jun 23, 2015

Feom what I learned / was taught about GI system.

If it can't go down, you throw up.

If it can't go up, you poop out.

pH - metabolic

Acid to a $$ (diarrhea) = metabolic acidosis

Base to mouth = metabolic alkalosis

When you think GI, think anything from mouth to orifice. What can happen in there? Perforation, bleeding, ..... etc. What does GI system produce? Saliva, gastric juice, ..... what would happen if bleeding occur in trachea area? Maybe aspiration? That would lead to? Aspiration Pneumonia?

Think BIG picture. Think the whole GI system. I'm not a nursing instructor but I was a teacher. So I love to teach my peers. If I was wrong, I was corrected. So the information remain with me better if I teach/talk it to others.

I always prepare before class That's the reason why most instructors want you to do prior to the lecture. So if you have question on certain topic, you can ask them in class. That way you will have clarification from your instructor. It's better to be prepared. Than being clueless in class. If you had an instructor who wanted you to participate in class, you looked better coming prepared.