Studying TIP needed

Hello everyone!!

I am currently taking Med-Surg, pharm/patho classes... Now reading the textbooks and reading over the notes and slides from class is very time consuming and I want to know what is the best approach for studying so as not to waste any time. Also, I know the Saunders review book is one helpful resource, are there any other very efficient ones? Such as "nursing made easy" and such... THanks so much for your time! :redbeathe

-Bella

[nurse2b2010]

I am taking med surg this next semester as well. I'll be interested as well to hear what others have to say about studying for this class. Best of luck to you.

[Bella Monroe]

Thank you, same to you :)

[Esther2007]

Last semester was my final Med Surg class. I have Maternity and a seminar class and I graduate. Over the past two years, I did the following:

I usually read the first week of lecture before I even start class, that way, I am ahead of the game

I recorded every lecture and listened to them ASAP.

I rewrote my notes as soon as possible along with the textbook.

I arrange my notes: Pathophysiology of the disease, assessment, nur diagnosis (most common), medical treatment (worst side effects, drug interactions), important diagnosis test ex. ultrasound, nursing intervention, teaching and evaluation

One week before the exam, I would do nclex questions using Lippincotts and Nclex 3500

I am also in a study group where we used other nclex books and test each other

I try to understand the material and understand the pathophysiology and the anatomy.

I hope this helps!

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

part of studying med/surg is learning about many different diseases. that includes learning the pathophysiology, signs/symptoms, usual tests ordered, and medical treatment for a medical disease or condition. this includes knowing about any medical procedures that will need to be performed on the patient, their expected consequences during the healing phase, and potential complications. surgery is a treatment for a disease or condition.

click on the link at the bottom of this post, the critical thinking flow sheet for nursing students, and print it out. use this to help you learn all the elements you need to know about each medical disease/condition you will be studying in your course. to determine priority of treatments and interventions consider the sequence of the appearance of symptoms and/or maslow's hierarchy of needs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs)

your instructors are more likely to focus on diseases and procedures that you are going to see most commonly in hospitalized patients. there are thousands of diseases, but not all of them require hospitalization.

[fiveofpeep]

I took MS over the summer so I definitely have some tips for getting the studying done in limited amounts of time.

• Check if your course textbook coincides with any other review book, for example, Saunders lists Ignatavicius (my txtbook) as it's source, so I knew tthe content was congruent. As such, then I was able to use the outlines and practice questions there if running out of time.
  
• I never went off powerpoints, and studied straight from the book the weekend or days before the exam. Others did just the powerpoints, but I got A's on every exam so... You have to judge powerpoints vs. books based on the teacher, which you will figure more after the first exam.
  
• If you're in a time crunch, forget flashcards, and just use the book's tables to memorize and test yourself.
  
• Also try workbooks specifically for your textbook if available.
  

Good luck.

[nurse2b2010]

Thanks everyone -- some great advice. Best of luck to all this coming semester. :heartbeat

[Bella Monroe]

Thank you all very much for the time you took to write me back, I truly appreciate it. My best wishes.

-Bella

[ZanatuBelmont]

Hello everyone!!

I am currently taking Med-Surg, pharm/patho classes... Now reading the textbooks and reading over the notes and slides from class is very time consuming and I want to know what is the best approach for studying so as not to waste any time. Also, I know the Saunders review book is one helpful resource, are there any other very efficient ones? Such as "nursing made easy" and such... THanks so much for your time! :redbeathe

-Bella

All the information presented in your text is excellent knowledge to learn, but not right now. You'll learn a lot of things when you're actually working on the floor. I look at it like this: the notes my teacher gives us is a skeleton of what to study. If the notes discuss Raynaud's disease, I'm going to learn all I can about that. I won't go looking into very specific numbers, though, unless mentioned in the text (instructors seem to mention the important stuff in notes, like the onset, peak and duration of insulins).

Something else I do:

Go through the notes teacher provides (or what you've written down from lectures) and organize them by what was covered most to the least. That is a good indication of how many test questions there will be.

If your teacher only spent five minutes talking about something, it's important to know, but probably not a test question, and if it is, it will be basic, such as: "Pick the best choice representing a client experiencing DKA - A.) High pH, B.) Acetone breath, C.) Kussmaul respirations, or D.) B & C. (Actually, we spent two DAYS on DKA, lol).

Maybe this is more simple to consider: If your instructor spends 20 minutes on a topic, multiply 20 by 2 and that's how many minutes you should spend on the topic. That's one of the ways I did it, at least!!

[Brenda123]

The nursing made easy series are a good review. But you need to understand the concepts. Also if you know anyone who took a Kaplan class ask if you can borrow their book. This is a great book!

[zerisse]

I usually read books "Made Incredibly Easy" before tackling the required books used in class. This just makes it so easy to understand while not overwhelming me with a lot of terms that I am not familiar with.

I find that reading the "Made Incredibly Easy" textbooks make it easier for me to understand and it helps with retention, too!

[whiteoleander5]

I really hate textbooks. I find that my brain only retains a tiny fraction of what I actually read. That is why, I strictly review the powerpoints. I just go over them repetitively. They are a more condensed version of the textbook chapters, and contain the highlighted information. Then when I need clarification, I go to the textbook. This has only been my first week of medsurg, and I have tried to do the required readings, but... I dont know how long thats going to last!

I try to get my information in a variety of ways. I record lectures, listen to them a few times after class, as I look over my powerpoints. I look up different things online that are good for review, and answer practice questions.

Good luck.