94 on 1st exam but a 78 on the second one!!!

Can I ask how close you are to graduating? I graduate in may and I have had the same thing happen to me in almost all of my classes every semester. I just expect it now a days (as bad as that sounds) At the beginning there is so much time. I honestly only focus on passing at this point. Employers will not ask for GPA. But I try to keep mine up so I am able to go on to get my DNP. Just keep your head up and remember that you are becoming a nurse for a reason, whatever that may be! Good luck!

Can I ask how close you are to graduating? I graduate in may and I have had the same thing happen to me in almost all of my classes every semester. I just expect it now a days (as bad as that sounds) At the beginning there is so much time. I honestly only focus on passing at this point. Employers will not ask for GPA. But I try to keep mine up so I am able to go on to get my DNP. Just keep your head up and remember that you are becoming a nurse for a reason, whatever that may be! Good luck!

I am in my first semester of an RN program

-Study every single day as much as you can.

-Once you have a section down, go to the next one, then go back. If I came back to a previous section and didn't understand it, I knew I still had work to do. It was constant repetition, over and over. Then, when I though I knew the section, I would go about my day and try to recall it. I would be standing in line at the grocery store and try to recall all the normal ranges of electrolytes or all the steps of nerve conduction. If I couldn't couldn't recall a couple steps, I would go back and re-study the section.

-Always review your notes right after class, even if it's for 30 minutes. If you are taught something and then review it that day, you will retain so much more information b/c it's still fresh. If you just review it before a test, you have to re-learn it for the first time.

-On top of normal studying, dedicate every Sunday to studying your notes (for the week) as if you are taking an exam. Even though my next exam was 4 weeks away, I would have a mock cram section for the week. So when I had to take the real exam, I had already engrained it in my head 3 weeks ago. Then, I would constantly go back and review the same thing over and over until it was redundant.

-(you might laugh at this) but when I had to review something that had multiple processes, I would draw it out and talk out loud to myself and pretend I was teaching someone sitting next to me. Ever explained a test question to someone else and suddenly realize something new yourself? If I couldn't explain the pathway of blood through the heart, then I wouldn't be able to do it on an exam. If you can teach it, then you actually understand it.

- Learn the latin terminology of the each word, not the whole title itself. Most people know what meningitis is. Maybe a brain infection? Well, -itis means inflammation and mening- refers to the meninges of the central nervous system. So meningitis is inflammation of the meninges....which is caused by an infection that can not only affect the brain, but the spinal cord, etc. Encephalitis - enceph(al) mean brain...encephalitis is brain inflammation. Thorax means chest, lung and pneumo mean air, gas...pneumothorax means air in thorax aka collased lung. Based on this, I bet you can guess what a pneumocephalus is.; So, trying to learn that hydrocephalus (which is fluid (CSF) in the brain b/c hydro means water,fluid) is impossible to just memorize b/c there are thousands and thousands of terms. But if you know hydro.....and cephalus...then you know it. If you see a new word, only look at it in parts. Never try and memorize it.

-If you think you know a process, try and do it backwards or know the opposite You may be able to follow a drop of blood through the heart from the vena cava to the aorta, but can you trace it from the aorta backwards to the vena cava? See if you can trace the formation of a scab back through to the laceration. If you know it backwards, then you know it forwards. The side effects of hypokalemia are usually opposite hyperkalemia.

-Study the pictures in the book. Reading notes and power points may not turn on the light until you see a picture with with all the dissection, arrows, and labels. It's a difference between someone telling you to remember name vs. seeing a name with a face.

-Study over, over, and over. Know the "why" and "how," not just "what."

-Study every single day as much as you can.

-Once you have a section down, go to the next one, then go back. If I came back to a previous section and didn't understand it, I knew I still had work to do. It was constant repetition, over and over. Then, when I though I knew the section, I would go about my day and try to recall it. I would be standing in line at the grocery store and try to recall all the normal ranges of electrolytes or all the steps of nerve conduction. If I couldn't couldn't recall a couple steps, I would go back and re-study the section.

-Always review your notes right after class, even if it's for 30 minutes. If you are taught something and then review it that day, you will retain so much more information b/c it's still fresh. If you just review it before a test, you have to re-learn it for the first time.

-On top of normal studying, dedicate every Sunday to studying your notes (for the week) as if you are taking an exam. Even though my next exam was 4 weeks away, I would have a mock cram section for the week. So when I had to take the real exam, I had already engrained it in my head 3 weeks ago. Then, I would constantly go back and review the same thing over and over until it was redundant.

-(you might laugh at this) but when I had to review something that had multiple processes, I would draw it out and talk out loud to myself and pretend I was teaching someone sitting next to me. Ever explained a test question to someone else and suddenly realize something new yourself? If I couldn't explain the pathway of blood through the heart, then I wouldn't be able to do it on an exam. If you can teach it, then you actually understand it.

- Learn the latin terminology of the each word, not the whole title itself. Most people know what meningitis is. Maybe a brain infection? Well, -itis means inflammation and mening- refers to the meninges of the central nervous system. So meningitis is inflammation of the meninges....which is caused by an infection that can not only affect the brain, but the spinal cord, etc. Encephalitis - enceph(al) mean brain...encephalitis is brain inflammation. Thorax means chest, lung and pneumo mean air, gas...pneumothorax means air in thorax aka collased lung. Based on this, I bet you can guess what a pneumocephalus is.; So, trying to learn that hydrocephalus (which is fluid (CSF) in the brain b/c hydro means water,fluid) is impossible to just memorize b/c there are thousands and thousands of terms. But if you know hydro.....and cephalus...then you know it. If you see a new word, only look at it in parts. Never try and memorize it.

-If you think you know a process, try and do it backwards or know the opposite You may be able to follow a drop of blood through the heart from the vena cava to the aorta, but can you trace it from the aorta backwards to the vena cava? See if you can trace the formation of a scab back through to the laceration. If you know it backwards, then you know it forwards. The side effects of hypokalemia are usually opposite hyperkalemia.

-Study the pictures in the book. Reading notes and power points may not turn on the light until you see a picture with with all the dissection, arrows, and labels. It's a difference between someone telling you to remember name vs. seeing a name with a face.

-Study over, over, and over. Know the "why" and "how," not just "what."

Thanks for the great advice I appreciate everything you shared

I don't mean to be a downer but in all honesty....that's just the way it goes. I'm awesome with patients, on the floor, and technical skills. I passed AP with a 100% average, and have been a 4.0 student until nursing. The highest grade I've gotten so far is an 80! Those NCLEX style tests are really hard. If you worry too much about your GPA your gonna drive yourself nuts. Just focus on passing :)