Second Week

AgentBeast, BSN, RN · Aug 31, 2011

Just chillax. It gets easier as you move along and you get smarter with you time and smarter with what to concentrate on to be successful. Pretty much everybody goes through that holy **** what did I get myself into I don't think I can do this phase at the beginning. Once you make it through this phase you are just the much closer to putting the initial R.N. after your name.

mitral · Aug 31, 2011

I freak out if I look at all that I have to do in just any given week! I literally take it a day at a time. What works for me is to print out a blank calendar, then I break down everything I need to read/do before each exam into chunks. So if I have 15 chapters to read in 7 days, then I pencil in however many chapters a day i must read, leaving the day before for a review. This helps me remember all the stupid little nursing errands, projects and things I need to do, as well. It gets better :)

studentrnnurse · Aug 31, 2011

Thank you very much!!!!I would love to have a:yeah: nursing buddy!!!!

PinkNBlue, BSN, RN · Aug 31, 2011

The bottom line is, you're not going to be able to read every single box, text and footnote in the book (unless you're the fastest reader/comprehender ever and if that's the case, you're my new best friend ;-) ). My suggestion would be to find a few people whom you can trust and each read part of the assigned reading. Get together and teach each other about your assigned reading. A lot of the nursing material is about putting the pieces of the puzzle together; almost like a mystery story. Once I started studying like that, it became a little clearer to me (clear as mud still... but a little better ;-) ).

I was where you are in Jan of 2010. In fact, I made a post similar to yours completely freaking out, thinking I had made the biggest mistake and wasted so much time. Someone bumped that post for me recently and it was crazy to think how far I've come in almost 2 years. I am getting ready to graduate in December. It's no walk in the park, for sure. But it'll be so worth it in the end. It's ok to cry. Sometimes it's exactly what makes us feel better and it's a good stress reliever. But cry, then get back on the horse and start riding to the finish line. Because you CAN do this. :nurse:

xonursej · Sep 3, 2011

One thing that I do for each chapter is make an outline of the chapter. I make sure to write down important terms and any important info I need to know so that I can easily study. I also highlight in the book to. What I would do is read the chapter once and highlight. Then go back through the chapter again and make an outline with page references.

To study, I look over my outlines, run through the book a couple of times, study flash cards for terms, study ppt's, and I also use the study guide that comes with my book as a pre-quiz. A good way to remember and understand things is to teach other, whether it be your child, spouse or even your dog!

I also use either studyblue.com or Mnemosyne mac app to make flashcards, it takes much less time than writing out notecards. I just copy the terms from my outline onto the virtual flashcards. You can get studyblue on your ipod touch or smart phone as an app and study anywhere. Another good app to use to study is dropbox so you can save pdf files to your phone or ipod.

A lot of times they will have lecture and tests the same day at my school and sometimes I am able to pre-read, but not all the time. I would focus on studying.