second semster.

RNstudent13renee · May 22, 2013

My instructors that came to talk to us at the end of first semester who are second semester instructors said, and I quote, "Do not study this summer", they said the best preparation is relaxation. Not sure if this is right but I am taking their advice after such a wild first semester. Seems like a good option.

calivianya, BSN, RN · May 22, 2013

Agreeing with the above poster!

You can't really prepare for Psych, IMO. The questions are just difficult because it's more of a thinking thing than a fact thing. I had the most trouble with Psych of all of my classes, and I have a previous bachelor's degree in Psych. It didn't help at all with the content. If you really want to prepare, if you don't have your normal lab values memorized cold do that. Most people in my class found the fluid/electrolyte/ABG info to be the most challenging part of med-surg, but those are just straight up memorization so that's a small thing you could do that would really help you in the long run.

Shorty11, BSN, RN · May 22, 2013

I would take the summer to relax because you won't have time to when classes start. I haven't taken pre-natal.. Take that in the fall. I just finished up Mental Health (what Psych Nursing is called at my school) and Med-Surg 1 (will take Med-Surg 2 in the fall). I have a minor in Psych and I can say that it really didn't help much in Mental Health. The questions in Mental Health are.. Just different. Lots of critical thinking. Safety is a major priority in Mental Health. How do I keep this patient from harming them self or others? I found the yellow Saunders NCLEX book to be a big help. I did lots of NCLEX-style practice questions to help with Mental Health and Med-Surg both. I didn't do any preparation before the class started though. I found Mental Health to be harder than Med-Surg, just because the type of questions were so different than what I had experienced in nursing classes so far. I got an A in both though. Best of luck!

Stephalump · May 22, 2013

I wish our instructors told us not to study! Instead they sent us next semesters reading list right away :-/

OP, this summer I'm using my Made Incredibly Easy books and reading the sections that pertain to next semester. It's pretty light reading but I think it'll give me a frame of reference for studying when school actually starts

But I really think the 2 most important things are

1)Brush up on anything you didn't master last semester (or it'll bite you in the buttocks)

And

2)Rest and relax! The only thing worse than end of the semester burnout is *I Studied All Summer and Now I'm Burnt Out 6 Weeks into Fall Semester* burnout.

On another topic, a degree in psych IS totally useless, I swear. I was all excited to mental health, and I ended up struggling in it just as much as anything else, thanks to the god-awful questions. I