I know just how you feel. I dropped my med surg class this quarter after never scoring above 70 when passing is 78. I am a practicing LPN and have been for years. I still haven't made sense of my "inability to put it all together" as I was initially told by my instructor.
I have done what a previous poster said not to do which is comparing myself to other students, especially those who aren't nurses or nurses that just graduated, got their LPN license, and continued with school. It does hurt and make you feel inferior.
With all that said, from someone who is currently in your situation let me say this....first, FIND OUT WHAT KIND OF LEARNER YOU ARE FAST! I am a visual and kinesthetic person. I can't stand a long drawn out lecture because it does nothing for me. So, when it comes to the nursing interventions, THEY ARE REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT TO ME BECAUSE I HAVE TO "DO" SOMETHING THAT REQUIRES ME TO "SEE AND TOUCH" SOMETHING OR SOMEONE. Next, READ THE CHAPTER BEFORE THE CLASS BUT PAY ATTENTION TO THE BOXES (it's everything in the reading SIMPLIFIED which is heavenly for me). Next tip was given to me by the Associate Dean, what ever chapter you are in there will be diseases and disorders; JUST FIGURE OUT WHATS DIFFERENT! PERIOD! EXAMPLE: UTI, cystitis, pyelonephritis, glomerulonephritis etc.... Now, FOCUS ON THE MAIN LAB FOR DIAGNOSIS SPECIFIC FOR THE DISORDER. Now, it's time for your interventions. From my understanding, she said that you will be pretty much DOING THE SAME INTERVENTIONS FOR EACH DISORDER IN THAT SYSTEM.
NEXT, I HAD TO LEARN THAT YOU MUST DO START DOING NCLEX QUESTIONS RELATED TO WHAT YOU ARE STUDYING PRIOR TO CLASS THEN AT LEAST 50 EVERYDAY THERE AFTER UP TO 2-3 DAYS BEFORE THE TEST. There are plenty of people here that can recommend books that helped them.
I never could get into a rhythm and I ultimately dropped the class to avoid failing it. I allowed myself to get "caught up" in the chapter and struggled to get out which was really bad when I had 7 others to "study;" so I failed the test which was expected. It caused serious test anxiety for me; and I couldn't recover. It had nothing to do with me not having the knowledge or me not being able to put it together, my problem was I was anxious, it caused a mental block, and killed my confidence. So believe me, I know just how you feel.
