how to read

Double-Helix, BSN, RN · Aug 28, 2012

Do you have a syllabus, power point notes or study guide from your instructor? If you do, read the sections that she has mentioned on the syllabus. Skim the rest, but read the "key concepts" or the chapter summaries at the end of the chapter and then go back and read more in depth about new topics or ones you don't understand as well. You could also skim the entire assignment before class and then take notes during lecture. Then after the class, do back and read more in depth about the topics your instructor mentioned in lecture. She's more likely to test on topics that she has mentioned in class or in her notes. Also make sure you do the practice questions.

Do you have some classmates who are doing really well on quizzes? If you do, ask them how they are reading/studying. They might have a good system that you can learn from, or they may have identified a pattern in how the instructor chooses her quiz questions.

trudiegrl · Aug 28, 2012

I look at my course objectives and plan what I'm going to be studying based on that. I read all of the assigned pages but concentrate more on the course objectives.

Ginnym1981 · Aug 28, 2012

I skim the chapter but mostly focus on the tables and boxes.

Then I focus on the power points and use the book to go over anything I don't really understand the "WHY?" of.

Then I do as many NCLEX questions I can get my hands on.

Of course the above is when studying for exams. I've only had one teacher do quizzes and to be honest, they were such a tiny portion of our grade that I just winged it. (Never got below a 75% luckily!) And I do NOT condone this! I was just super burnt out by then!

tammy_zeidan09 · Aug 28, 2012

I skim the chapter but mostly focus on the tables and boxes. Then I focus on the power points and use the book to go over anything I don't really understand the "WHY?" of. Then I do as many NCLEX questions I can get my hands on.Of course the above is when studying for exams. I've only had one teacher do quizzes and to be honest, they were such a tiny portion of our grade that I just winged it. (Never got below a 75% luckily!) And I do NOT condone this! I was just super burnt out by then!

I do have syllabi I go over but it'd be like the title of the chapter rather than main points. I feel like Maybe I am over loading myself?

Ginnym1981 · Aug 28, 2012

I do have syllabi I go over but it'd be like the title of the chapter rather than main points. I feel like Maybe I am over loading myself?

Your syllabi doesn't have key points or key concepts listed? Does your teacher not tell you what they are? If not, ask her/him...most of them don't bite and I guarantee others will have the same question.

Also, don't be afraid to ask a classmate (I actually do this before asking the instructor most of the time), just in case I'm missing something that's right in front of my face. (hey, it happens! haha)

Does your instructor use power points? If so, skim the chapters for things mentioned in your ppts and the boxes/tables related to those. Read what you need further clarification on.

If they don't use ppts, the chapters have key points listed at the beginning of the chapter. Focus your learning on those key points and then study the boxes. Ask yourself "What do I need to know as a nurse?" and then ask yourself "WHY?"

We have to APPLY what we know now, there is no more memorization (except for lab values, some pharm and a few other things).

Best way to practice application is to do NCLEX questions and read the rationales. I honestly, learn so so much from the rationales! They are telling you the WHY portion that is so important in nursing! And if I STILL don't understand something or something that I haven't seen, I use my book as a reference.

You may have to change up things until you figure out what works for you! I'm entering my 4th term and I *think* the above is what works for me but it may change depending on the content and the way my instructor teaches or tests on.

Good luck!

ImKosher · Aug 29, 2012

Just the other day I had a couple hundred pages to read. You need to learn how to read. It's like any skill. I write my Key Concepts (Learning Outcomes) down as a radar. I usually skim through until I hit one of these points, then go into detail to be able to explain and understand the concept and learning outcome.

There are several ways to read. I developed my way of reading by skipping every couple or several words and putting them together in my head. For example

"It's all about developing good methods of reading to improve your study efficiency".

I grab the key words of the sentence and put it together in my head. I don't need to worry about "filling" Just grab the main idea and move on. Look at the heading and title. Use these as a guide to formulate your main idea and then move on. Try it! Read through the whole sentence word by word, then compare reading the key words in bold. Can you get the same point? How much faster did you read?

Another thing I learned is, exercise your eyes. Your eyes are not used to skimming so much material. Take breaks and you will develop your own way of reading. Hope this helps!

KatieJ91 · Aug 30, 2012

Do your instructors use power points? In my program I have found that all the test material comes from the handouts. Every once in a while an instructor will say READ this chapter, or be sure to READ this article. Otherwise, I go with the lecture materials and handouts. I remember my first week of nursing school I broke down crying because I thought I would never sleep with all of the "assigned" reading. After I aced my first test with lecture, power points, study guides, and NCLEX questions I stuck with my "A" method!

Glenna, LPN · Aug 31, 2012

In my LPN program we were never given powerpoints. It was also four terms long and we had many classes to take each term (up to six) plus clincals. There was no way I'd be able to read the chapters fully. What I did was have the book open while my instructor was lecturing and highlighted all the main points they lecutred on and studied those. I made deans list each term and my lowest grade was a B in my LPN program.

Just gotta kind a method that works for you. That's what worked for me.

CrazierThanYou · Sep 1, 2012

It seems I am in the majority here but I did read every word of every chapter. We had course objectives but after one test, we all realized they were useless. I didn't take notes on everything as I read, that would have taken forever. Instead, I took notes on the stuff that might be confusing like the different kinds of kidney afflictions, etc.

GonnaAmazeYou, ASN, RN · Sep 2, 2012

Most of the time the pathophysiology is REALLY LONG and elaborate, so what I did was read the patho quickly for the basic disease process, and made sure I was able to teach it back to a patient so to speak, and then I studied the nursing interventions, responsibilities and complications THOROUGHLY as this info is the most pertinent to nursing care, and patho is more pertinent to patient teaching.

I also used YouTube A LOT for the patho side vs reading 10 pages of very dry content- YouTube videos explain patho in a way I could always remember, the best were videos made by student nurses.

edatri · Sep 4, 2012

I think it really depends on your instructor. Try to find students who have taken that instructor before and see what she focuses on. Some instructors you can get by with never reading the book and just reviewing lecture notes, powerpoints, and other handouts. Others you really need to read the book. I usually do the assigned reading word for word before the lecture so that the points of the lecture stand out and then just skim the text and concentrate on my notes and handouts when I study for my tests. It works well for me, anyway. :)