Reading Textbooks

[theviolinist]

I need some advice..I know there have been topics on this before but I was wondering how often do you read your books? I'm started my third semester of nursing school this week and I feel so overwhelmed by the reading! It's like first semester all over again! In previous semesters I haven't done all the readings (if at all) and was fine, but this semster some of my professors have said if we don't read the book we won't do well on the tests/quizzes. So, do you have any tips for me? I know I have to find what works for me, but your advice is appreciated!

[Soida]

I am starting my last semester and I can tell you that I rarely ever read the chapters. Our instructors lecture off of Powerpoints and those have been enough info. That being said, each person learns in a different way. What I suggest doing is taking your Powerpoints or lecture notes and go through the book and expand and clarify on what the lecutre notes say. This is especially true if you do not understand a concept.

The sheer amount of material assigned to read is too much to retain, so I would recommend a focused study approach.

[Jenngirl34RN]

I only read the parts of the chapters that correlate to the lesson objectives and go over the charts. I kind of skim over the rest unless I really feel like I need additional information. Last lesson there were 6 chapters in our med-surg book and 5 in our pharmacology book, so I really try to read only what I need.

[Compassion_x]

I read my textbooks. I find that it helps for me to go over the material over several times. So I read the books, listen to lectures, read over powerpoints, etc.

I don't read every chapter "required" by any means though. Mostly just on the subjects I'm not super confident in.

[RunBabyRN]

I mostly skim, because the sheer volume of reading is too much to actually read every word (which I find frustrating, but I've accepted at this point). I'll read as much as I can, but like Soida, many of my professors test off their PowerPoints more than the texts. I'll go through ATI a lot before ATI exams.

[PurpleLover]

I read the chapters but I only pay super close attention to things on the powerpoint and the unit outline that says what we should be able to comprehend and explain at the end of the chapter.

[VAgirl247]

I've been just reading the answers to the objectives. I also have the key points printed out from evolve for our med-surg book (so I can read those while I'm at work).

[springchick1, ADN, RN]

I usually skim through the chapters. However, this semester my instructor said she goes heavy with the patho stuff on the test so I'll be sure and read all that stuff closely. It's been a while since we've had an instructor do that.

[hermione77]

It is course and professor dependent for me, but I rarely read the textbooks. I do read the ATI books and I review the power points. I make a lot of notes on the power point slides during lecture, which also helps me. It seems that at my school the professors are pretty good about giving a heads up as to what information is important to know, so if I need more info I will read the sections of the textbook related to those.

[pixiestudent2]

I never read my books. I sometimes read when I'm bored, but it has never helped me do better on a test.

[ArrowRN, BSN, RN]

yep its was in 3rd semester that reality hit me that I really need to start reading. Not just reading but comprehension of the main idea. I really paid for it with my lowest grades since in nursing school. At least I passed and I'm now in 4th semester. Try different things because literally its impossible to read every single word in those books even if you spend 24 hours per day on it. However there's some techniques you can use in speed reading and the more you read the faster you will become. The point is to take it in small chucks and get the main idea, read all the summaries, do questions read a little more and ask yourself questions as you go along, like what is this paragraph really saying? what is most important? because the books makes it seems like every detail is important and this will only make your forget stuff.

Anyways, don't lapse on reading, and I'd be wary to listen to those who don't, it's really hard to play catchup. I try to make my reading as interactive as possible so I don't get bored and maximize learning for a test later on.

[jescalynn, ASN, RN]

Boxes are your friend! Teachers always test off the boxes in every chapter if your not going to read it all at least understand them at the minimum. I take each chapter and make a one page study guide to review for tests