Retaining info??? New nursing student

I will be starting my nursing courses (ADN) at a C.C. August 22.

It sounds like a LOT OF INFORMATION to have to RETAIN IN MY BRAIN.

After picking up all of my books, supplies, etc. and going through them, I'm TERRIFIED of not being able to retain the info in theory. There's just SO MUCH TO LEARN it's intimidating.

Are any of you worried about this?

See, I took my pre-req courses five years ago. I think that's going to be a major setback for me, too. Even though I pulled A's in all of those classes, I feel that "if you don't use it you lose it" and am feeling quite worried....

I don't have any of my books or else I would have at least brushed up on my A&P. :uhoh21:

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Emma

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

i will be starting my nursing courses (adn) at a c.c. august 22.

it sounds like a lot of information to have to retain in my brain.

after picking up all of my books, supplies, etc. and going through them, i'm terrified of not being able to retain the info in theory. there's just so much to learn it's intimidating.

are any of you worried about this?

see, i took my pre-req courses five years ago. i think that's going to be a major setback for me, too. even though i pulled a's in all of those classes, i feel that "if you don't use it you lose it" and am feeling quite worried....

i don't have any of my books or else i would have at least brushed up on my a&p. :uhoh21:

any thoughts?

thanks

emma

:balloons: hello and welcome :balloons:

you will do fine. just do not panic. this is normal.

siri, crnp, clnc, rlnc

[RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN]

:balloons: hello and welcome :balloons:

you will do fine. just do not panic. this is normal.

siri, crnp, clnc, rlnc

i second that. best wishes to you.

[NewEnglandRN, RN]

Hi Emma,

Try not to worry. I was out of school for 13 years when I went back last September. I had to repeat my A&P 1 and 2 since I took them over ten years ago. You'll get back into the swing of studying in no time :)

There are some great threads here on study tips & organizational hints.

Enjoy the rest of your break!

[lola4525]

Don't panic, you will be fine. A lot of that stuff comes back. Good luck. :cool:

[S.N. Visit, BSN, RN]

Hey, I'm worried about retaining information too I think we ought to just take it one day to see how out minds keep all the info. P.S Do you have a digital recorder? They are wonderful. I tape my lectures and listen to them while I'm cooking, cleaning, giving kids a bath, laundry and taking walks for exercise. They can hook right on to the top of your shirt so you can multi-task.

Best of luck and happy school days!

[youknowho]

It sure can be scary. I am going through finals of my first semester and I am AMAZED at the amount of information that I learned. You will do great!!

[jerryh55]

The way you learned info for A&P or Micro is pretty straight forward. The one thing you will have to adjust to is that nursing school info and ??'s are based on critical thinking. This for me was the hardest adjustment to make. You will begin to see what I mean when you start seeing those questions in NCLEX format.

Have Fun And Be Safe

Jerry

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

I will be starting my nursing courses...it sounds like a LOT OF INFORMATION to have to RETAIN IN MY BRAIN...There's just SO MUCH TO LEARN it's intimidating...I took my pre-req courses five years ago. I think that's going to be a major setback for me, too. Even though I pulled A's in all of those classes, I feel that "if you don't use it you lose it" and am feeling quite worried...

Dear Emma,

We all felt that way. You will learn these facts and information because you will be going over and over them, in class, in clinicals, during your reading. You will speak them, hear them spoken, read them and maybe even dream about them. You will learn a lot of them by osmosis. Don't worry about your sciences. Your nursing texts will reinforce any anatomy and physiology you will need to know. If something comes up with A&P that you have a question about, check the Internet before thinking about buying a replacement textbook. If you don't already have it, I would recommend you get a copy of Taber's medical dictionary. Even though you took medical terminology you are now going to run across some terms that never get taught in medical terminology class. Keep the dictionary with you when you are reading your nursing texts and look up any medical terms you don't know immediately. I'm a big fan of flashcards for when I have to memorize stuff. I've gotten very good at creating them on the computer using card stock.

Relax and enjoy your next two weeks of no school. Get ready for your first big learning challenge. . .how to do an aseptic washing of your hands! :stone (I'm not kidding. You are going to be taught how to wash your hands.) Don't lose any of the syllabi you get and make notes somewhere about tests, how clinical assignments will work, and other stuff. I would take a 3-ring notebook with pockets in the front and back covers for all the papers they are going to be handing out on Day 1. Figure out a way to keep some kind of a calendar at hand. Most of your first day is going to be orientation.

Sincerely,

A nurse of 30 years

[Aprilfool]

I start nursing school in the fall also, I've thought about the digital recorders but I didn't know how long you can keep the recording and how much time you can record. Any help would be great.

Thanks

Rob

Hey, I'm worried about retaining information too I think we ought to just take it one day to see how out minds keep all the info. P.S Do you have a digital recorder? They are wonderful. I tape my lectures and listen to them while I'm cooking, cleaning, giving kids a bath, laundry and taking walks for exercise. They can hook right on to the top of your shirt so you can multi-task.

Best of luck and happy school days!

[chattypattyCRNA2B]

There's been a lot of good advice. I worry about that too. Like the others have said, you'll do fine. The A's you have received is (believe it or not) a good indication of your ability to succeed in my opinion. I'm not saying it won't be a challenge, but you have a good starting point. I think our major worry will be how to answer the NCLEX style questions. I bought the Saunders review to use as a study aid while in school. You may want to try getting one as well. I heard quite a few people say that helped them prepare a lot for taking tests while in nursing school.

[leopold]

The thing about it is, at first it's a lot of new information to retain, but as classes go along most of them overlap all that information, using it in a different way. So once you get the basics down the other stuff kind of falls into place.