study habits for ABSN

[NurseSN45696]

I'm starting a 12 mo. ABSN in the Fall and I'm super nervous. I don't know what it the best way to study. I read a lot about people picking out the important topics and studying those...how do you pick those out? Any advice for studying is greatly appreciated!

[RookieRoo]

12 months? wow that's a super fast program! I don't really have any advice for studying other than to follow what has already worked for you. You got through your first degree and your prereqs right? Use the techniques that worked for you for those and ditch the ones that didn't. For example, for me I learned that I CANNOT study with music on and I do better if I have a whiteboard and markers to draw things out on/explain them to myself. Just an example! But everyone studies differently.

[NuGuyNurse2b]

Nursing school is a whole different beast. Rote memorization simply won't be enough - if that's what got you through A&P, chem, micro, etc, - rethink your strategy now. I know from my experience, knowing all the nursing concepts didn't mean squat if I wasn't able to tie them all together to answer the kinds of questions that the nursing exams ask. For example, the question won't ask you about a part of a cell - you're expected to already know that. You need to be able to take what you were taught and apply it to the question being asked. Some questions I can pick out the right answers immediately, some questions (like prioritization) I have problems with, and the "select all that applies" I never get right. I'm always picking one extra answer or didn't pick the one answer additional to the others that would've made the choices correct.

[nizzle]

in ABSN, instructors will dump a ton of info on you in a short amount of time. constantly interrogate the instructors until they narrow the field of study material for the test.