So when do you find time to study and write papers???

[HeartsOpenWide, RN]

I have already come to the conclusion that my social life ended on Monday. But, this is "eye bleeding" reading! When to you find time to study and write papers? I read for six hours straight while taking notes and only dented my reading list.

[xomandalized]

If nursing school is really like what you're saying I think I might die.

Luckily, I'm a speed reader.

[moongirl]

some how, you just do :)

and no, you have no social life, you have NO life until Christmas break. sad but true. Good luck !!!!!!!!!!!

[MIA-RN1, RN]

try reading it without taking notes and then go back and highlight or make note of the important stuff. I always found that stopping and starting reading made me lose the continuity and I learned more if I just read. Granted it was BORING sometimes, and I didn't always read everything. We had objectives that we were tested on and sometimes I just looked for answers to the objectives. But I did read alot.

I don't know what to tell you about writing papers. We didn't do any in our program (Not bsn)

[BoonersmomRN]

I'm a skimmer. I read to supplement the powerpoints and lecture. Trust me I USED to read every single page but a lot of time was spent wasted reading material that was already covered in class. So now I skim past what I know, was covered, and I read the other stuff.

I read about 1 1/2 hours a night and then do flashcards, re-write my notes, and map out certain things. It's worked for me so far:)

[NurseyBaby'05, BSN, RN]

I CLEPed my English and Psych classes for that very reason. I knew I wouldn't have time to be writing a bunch of papers, doing group projects or doing research. Plus, it saved me some bucks.

[jessicaj]

yeah no social life here...you start making a list of things you promise to do after the exam and then you relax for about a day or two and then you begin worry about the upcoming test in 4 weeks...it's a ugly cycle of studying..but then the 15 weeks comes and goes and christmas break is here....

[Nurse-To-Be-Joy]

No social life for me either. I have to take note swhen I read. Otherwise, I just don't feel like I got as much out of it. So I read everything twice.... once to highlight and once to take notes. But it works for me. I'll have a social life come winter break. :)

[Achoo!, LPN]

Once you get started, you'll develop a system that works for you. It may take a few weeks, but you'll get a handle on what you need to focus on, what you can skim, how to take effective notes etc...

[jov]

Frequent breaks. Go put in a load of laundry. I tend to read it over for the big picture, go to the lecture. Then before the test I go through and re-write my notes into an outline using the book and the notes from the lecture. If there's something I'm struggling with (like B-cells, T-cells and the inflammation cascade) I will draw out diagrams. I'll copy all the number facts, like normal HR for a newborn, and put them on the last page. I have trouble keeping them all straight so I put them again on the last page so I can look 'em over one last time before the test.

And for papers, you always have the weekend...

[FNPhopeful]

eye bleeding thats funny. Just skim the chapters and try to answer the review questions in the back of each chapter. Most things you'll find are just common sense questions, you probably already know.

[luvmy2angels]

i went to school in the evening so my husband could watch out children. My study time was 11:00 pm to about 3 am, get up at 7 to get my daughter to school and start the whole process over again. Once we got into level 2 and 3 we didn't have a lot of homework so I did get more sleep during that time. It was tough but you can do it!!