Staying Up!!

NursingAgainstdaOdds · Jul 24, 2007

I generally didn't stay up late studying. I learned nothing on no sleep. What worked for me was getting some sleep and getting-up early.

EmmaG, RN · Jul 24, 2007

Can anyone give tips on what to do to stay awake and focus when it comes time to studying??

Get a good night's sleep. Not trying to be a smartass here, it really does help.

Don't overdo the caffeine, that will mess up your sleep pattern and then you end up with even more trouble staying awake and focusing (becomes a vicious cycle).

Take frequent breaks (5-10 minutes every hour). Don't cram it all in one session; if you have to, make a study schedule (X class on Monday night, Y class on Tuesday, etc.).

Know when to call it a night and go to bed.

If you can do manage to do it, make a date with yourself and take the night off from all studies every week or two just to decompress.

Having a study partner helps keep you awake and focused too. It doesn't have to be another student. My Mom would quiz me out of my texts; she didn't understand some of it, but she didn't need to. It really helped.

barbyann · Jul 24, 2007

I generally didn't stay up late studying. I learned nothing on no sleep. What worked for me was getting some sleep and getting-up early.

I agree. I retained nothing I studied after dinner. I went to bed early and woke before the rest of the house, poured a cup of coffee and was able to breeze through reading material, then as the day progressed I would regurgitate it. Try it!

purple1953reading · Jul 24, 2007

Fortunately, I am one of those who listened in class, and never had to crack a book, but I did take really detailed notes,and read through them every night. When it came time to study for a test, due to the frequent reviews, I would disregard the parts I already had a handle on, and just study those that I needed work on. Never stayed up too late, as had to be up by 4:30, as I traveled, with another student. The one not driving, quized the other, great review right before the tests. THEN when I got test paper, if there was something I was unsure of I wrote down all those things on back of paper immediately upon getting paper. GOOD LUCK

AprilRNhere · Jul 24, 2007

I lived on Mt Dew. Yes, it disturbed my sleep pattern. But..as a mother of 3 small children (3 under 3 at one point...twins) I found night was the only time to study. I studied best at night anyway. I did not sleep well, for the entire 4 years. I occasionally took sleeping pills when I HAD to sleep. My NP scolded me about this...but admitted to understnading too. Sometimes it's a fact of life.

BUT- I agree with the above. If you're not really awake...you're wasting time studying. For me though I could stay up until 1-2 am...and sleep until 7 and be ok. Then on the weekends I didn't work my husband let me sleep in.

ICRN2008, BSN, RN · Jul 24, 2007

Nursing exams are not about spitting back information, but require a certain level of critical thinking. To that end, you are better off studying as you go and not waiting until the night before the exam. My pharmacology and physics professors both advised not studying after dinner on the night before an exam. For most people it will just increase their level of anxiety without providing any measurable benefit as far as retention of information is concerned.

When I did cram (which wasn't too often), I did better going to bed at a decent hour and waking up early. I found that once I got down to school and settled into a study area (in the same building as my exam so that I didn't have to worry about being late), I was much more focused.

Good luck with nursing school!

nyapa, RN · Jul 24, 2007

I found if I read things every day I didn't retain them - weird huh? Cramming was the only way I learnt, however it was usually over a week, and I used acronyms in exams, which really helped me organise my thinking. But I agree re: the caffeine - it wrecks concentration. And having breaks is important, esp exercise / fresh air

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Jul 24, 2007

One lesson I learned the hard way: if you insist on studying at night, NEVER do it while lying on the bed or couch. More often than not I'd get really drowsy minutes after I started, or even wake up a few hours later with a face full of book. Either way, little progress was made. So be sure you're sitting up at a table or desk.

I also agree with not staying up too late. After a while you'll get so tired that it'll be fruitless. In that case, the textbook/bed combination seems to be a great sleep aid :)

deeDawntee, RN · Jul 24, 2007

One technique I learned, is that if you are memorizing material that you understand, do that before you go to bed and your mind will work while you sleep to remember the material and it won't keep you awake because of the anxiety of not understanding something. If you are learning new material do that in the morning so that you can process it during the day where it won't interfere with your sleep.

starlightwings · Jul 24, 2007

Hi,

I try to avoid coffee and Mountain Dew when I study and drink Yerba Mate tea with creamer. It tastes like alfalfa hay but I find it helps me focus and stay awake without the sometimes jittery severe up and down of coffee. Also the aroma of fresh Rosemary helps me with chasing away tiredness. I use it also for headaches though its effective only for a short time after smelling it so you have to keep sniffing the Rosemary sprig ever so often. Placing the Rosemary in a cloth drawstring pouch would probably help prevent poking yourself in the nose with the Rosemary leaves. I used to use Rosemary a lot when I worked nights as a CNA. For the Yerba Mate I use a french press (works wonderfully for coffee as well). You can use tea bags with it. The tea balls don't really work well with it because some of it is very fine.

Best of success to you and gentle day,

Lisa

starlightwings · Jul 24, 2007

Hi Mountainside,

I wanted to add I've used a MP3 player to help me study (it saved my bacon many times in Latin class!). I record myself or use other study recordings available on the net in mp3 or wma form. I listen to the mp3 player on the way to work, school, while waiting in line etc, before and during sleep. I try not to do the while sleeping listening often because I think sleep time should be processing time to give the brain a chance to transfer information gathered during the day from short term to long term memory. I don't want anything interrupting sleep. Many mp3 players will record as well as play mp3 files. You can make them on your computer if your mp3 player doesn't. I found it effective when learning lists of things to repeat each individual list item then pause, repeat it, pause then repeat again, pause. The pause is for me to repeat the item aloud or to myself silently. I do each item 3 times. This works for me and may work well for you. It may be useful to record class lectures as well but I found there is just too much wasted time in too many classes for this to be useful for me. It could be different for you.

If you have a video capable mp3 player there are video blogs and podcasts that are medical/nursing related as well as many on useful related subjects. I found it easiest to use a PDA for this as they usually play many different audio and video file formats depending on the specific PDA. I think the more senses you can engage in learning something the better and faster you can learn it. I agree with deeDawntee about studying just before sleeping. I think it has to do with how our brains process information. I like to nap between study sessions.

gentle day,

Lisa B