cingulargirl21

The test taking book I got is called Test Success:Test Taking Techniques for Beginning Nursing Students, 3rd edition by Patricia M. Nugent and Barbara A. Vitale........I paid about $5 for a used copy from Amazon.com....it took time to read........but it helped alot. There are lots of other test taking books for nursing students at amazon.com....buy used!

Congratulations for choosing nursing! Here is some useful advice that would have helped me had I gotten it: 1. Try to read ahead as much as possible. It's tough to keep up with the reading but try to read everything at least once. 2. Study the material in different ways. Use workbooks that come with the textbooks, they help! Answer the questions at the end of the chapter, they help! The more practice questions you do, the better! 3. If you want a certain grade, realize that you will have to work 10x harder than you usually had to. This means cutting back on leisure time and replcing it with lots if studying. 4. Take care of yourself. Try hard to eat right and stay active. 5. Find some sort of outlet to relieve stress. You will need it. Nursing is stressful. Take an hour off each day to do something fun and dont feel guilty! You deserve it.....but then hit the books. 6.After exams go to your teacher's office and go over the test so you will understand what you did wrong. 7. You may want to invest in a test taking book for nursng school students. I have one, it helped so much since the tests are so different from what we're used too! Look on amazon.com for cheap used ones.........thats what I did! 8. Nursing school is a group effort. Try to make good relationships with our classmates.........everyone needs help sometimes and if you have been snotty to some people, they wont be there for you. 9. Take it one day at time. It's hard. It's brutal. But it will end eventually! 10. Work hard. Very hard. If you want to make 75% put in 85%. You must be committed to putting a lot of work into nursing school. And remember: Your ultimate goal every semester is to pass. Sure, we all want A's but passing is the most beautiful grade in the world! Aim to pass.........don't beat yourself up for not getting A's.......you will learm quickly how rewarding passing is. Just do your best.........and if you are not sure of something, ASK! Dont make mistakes in clinical because you were shy to ask for help. Always aks for help if you need it. Remember to keep a calender of what you have to do...do the most urgent stuff first, you will have lots to do...........try to prioritize things.......dont worry about a messy bedroom or anything....... Good luck! I'm in my 2 semester of solely nursing courses.....I'm in a 4 year BSN program.........so this is my 3rd year but my second semester of nursing courses.........it was tough but I made it. So can you.

Do you want to have better study habits? Better eating habits? Or exercise goals? What have you learned this semester about nursing school.............that will help you next semester! Share your stories!