Study Help...This is so not working!

Imafloat, BSN, RN · Aug 17, 2005

I have learned in the last couple of quarters that reading really does work. I think once you take the first test you will see what your professor expects of you. Although my reading assignments were long, I could usually omit a big portion of them because the reading contained info that I would not need. When I was in adult health I skipped the sections in the chapters that were about pediatric or gerentologic considerations because I will learn about that stuff in other classes. I also skipped over the case studies. I could usually get down to about half the chapter. In classes like patho and pharm, I didn't read whole chapters, I read only what was in our notes. Best of luck to you in nursing school!

BootyBear83 · Aug 17, 2005

So you did read only the material related to class notes??? Because if that works it might be easier. There are a lot of places in the book where you can clearly see the instructor is refering to.

twinmommy+2, ADN, BSN, MSN · Aug 17, 2005

What I like to do is go through what the competencies are asking. Then I look at it like a question, and look through the chapter to find the information pertaining to it. Then when I find the info, there should be a table at the edge of the book with all the pertanent info all condenced.

If I concentrate on just answering the competencies from the study guide, I usually get most of what I need.

aegirl · Aug 17, 2005

I'm going into my last semester of PN school. I remember first semester I told myself that I was gonna read it all. Well that lasted until the first test which was about 700 pages of textbook reading...then I started skimming and then I just stopped reading all together. I'm lucky...we get a book from each of our instructors with there powerpoint lectures in the them. I just take notes right next to each slide and just study from that. It's too much reading all the stuff they expect you to read. If there is something I don't understand...i'll look it up in my textbooks...otherwise...I don't even use them.

wonderbee, BSN, RN · Aug 17, 2005

Like you, I was determined to do my reading. I learned to skim through the texts and instead of prereading, I read after the lecture so as to touch only on those points brought up in lecture for reinforcement. See, our professors tested only on what was presented in lecture. After first semester, I purchased books that presented information in condensed, bulleted outline fashion and pretty much let my text books collect dust. These are the books I use for study. Prentice Hall puts out a good series.

mom2michael, MSN, RN, NP · Aug 17, 2005

There was just WAY too much reading for me to keep up with and be sane, so I took our outline from class and went over in the book the sections on the outline and because I'm a bit of a freak, I re-wrote the outline and added points from the book to better learn and understand. It seemed to help. I never tried to read the chapters prior to going to class because we would have units where it appeared on 1st glance that the unit was over the entire chapter but in realitiy it was over 2 pages in the chapter and the rest was not needed (yet).

You'll get a better idea of what you need to do to be prepared after you see your 1st test. For us, our tests come from our outlines. Now we have some teachers that obtain additional info from the book, but again, it was on the outline so it was fair game (according to them).

Good luck!!

dave1117 · Aug 17, 2005

work for me.

First, I tape lectures and write notes and then type my notes thoroughly. This helps retain information more than you can imagine.

As far as reading, I read as little and as much as possible. I hate it so I read only what I think is important. Read the highlighted information. Read the information in any charts and boxes. If you see a word that you don't understand look it up. Reading every word in every chapter is worthless in my opinion. You can not retain 180 pages of information in a few day.

Then comes the kicker to this whole program. You need to buy a few...and I mean a few...review books for practice questions. NCLEX review books work well. The "Made Easy" series by Lippincott is excellent also. The key here is to do hundreds of practice questions on the material being covered and tested in lecture. This does two things. First it helps you see the information as a question which makes you thing "outside the box". Second it reinforces all the information you already read and typed in your notes by making you think about it again.

You definately have to review the text book, no question, but wasting that many hours reading every word is not necesary if you spend your time in a more productive way. It takes me about 4 hours to type a 2 hour lecture. But then I have perfect notes to study from. These notes also give you "trade" material for other students who may be able to help you later on with something you need. My practice review books I have all over the place. The bathroom, bedroom, work... Most good review books come with a cd so you can work on your computer if that helps.

I have been very successful with the above study techniques. They may work for you...

Good luck, it will all work out.

Dave :)

Rosa2Little · Aug 17, 2005

1. Prior to lecture, skim the material. This means do not read for understanding, simply -- what are the concepts, what are the tables and graphs in the book looking to convey?

2. Attend the lecture and take good notes. Record it on a digital recorder if that works for you (for some classes this helped me).

3. Read the concepts that your professor covered more in-depth after class. Read for understanding this time.

4. Use the book, and the web for sites that explain the same information in an alternate way. For me, sometimes no matter how many times I read the text, I didn't get it. All it took was a different perspective.

5. As another poster said, take advantage of the professor's office hours. And don't be afraid to ask the professor what is expected of you for the exams and/or practicums No, it's not asking to be spoon-fed, it's finding the best way to organize & prioritize your time! If you ask and it's beyond what they want to tell you, they can always say no, but you never know unless you ask!

Best Wishes!

stn2003, RN · Aug 17, 2005

1. Prior to lecture, skim the material. This means do not read for understanding, simply -- what are the concepts, what are the tables and graphs in the book looking to convey?
2. Attend the lecture and take good notes. Record it on a digital recorder if that works for you (for some classes this helped me).
3. Read the concepts that your professor covered more in-depth after class. Read for understanding this time.
4. Use the book, and the web for sites that explain the same information in an alternate way. For me, sometimes no matter how many times I read the text, I didn't get it. All it took was a different perspective.
5. As another poster said, take advantage of the professor's office hours. And don't be afraid to ask the professor what is expected of you for the exams and/or practicums No, it's not asking to be spoon-fed, it's finding the best way to organize & prioritize your time! If you ask and it's beyond what they want to tell you, they can always say no, but you never know unless you ask!
Best Wishes!

Great tips : )

MIA-RN1, RN · Aug 17, 2005

Ok i'm 3 days into the nursing program and I can see a huge problem with my study habits. They are good ones but obviously need some adjusting. it seems that we're going to have to read 80-180 pages for lecture 2 to 3 days a week.
After reading for 4 hours and coming to about 50 pages, (that's 1 page every
4 mins or so i guess), I realized that i was totally and utterly screwed. Reading the book has never been the best way to retain the knowledge for me. I don't know what to do here. Should I wait till after the lecture and only read what they went over in class with a few more details? I've already tried spilting the reading up through out the week and it would still encompass all of my time. If i did just highlight the things brought up in class and studied those, perhaps made my own notes from them and lecture, would i still do well? What do you do to combat this problem?
I can get it down to 3.5 mins per page sometimes but my eyes get tired and i slow up. I need guiadence people! Am i the only one with this problem?
PLEASE HELP!!!

I read for ideas not the whole thing. Look over the relevant bits, the first couple paragraphs in a chapter, the individual bullets and charts. I also look at my course objectives and really just look up that info in the book

Also, i found that some of the reading assignments were repeated. Like we might read pages 80 - 150 on something, and then later, in another unit, maybe they want us to go back over pages 90-95 or something.

I think what you are doing by trying to break this down into time and pages, is you are focusing more on what you have to get done rather than what you are doing. If you are not getting tested on it the next day, then just skim it briefly, go to lecture, and follow up by reviewing the stuff in your notes and book. its not like reading for pleasure,and that stuff in the texts can be dry as heck. Read for context instead of for bulk and you'll feel better and less stressed :)

saychez · Aug 17, 2005

I try to focus on reading the summery at the end of the chapter.Then go back to the areas you need more information to understand.

Hope it helps