Tips for NEW nursing students on staying organized and taking notes:

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Tele, Vascular, Plastics.

hello to all the new nursing students,

i posted this under another topic in another section... but i thought maybe some other members might be interested in reading it so, i am re-posting it under the general section. i hope that this is of some help.

hello,

i started taking my gen ed classes with penn state and now i am a senior in nursing school. nursing school classes are much different than college classes. in college you may have 2 or 3 entirely different classes all in one day and several different courses each week. for me using spiral notebooks with folders worked just fine, one for each course.

but nursing school is a whole different ballpark. lets say you are taking nursing 100... you will have that class from 8 am til 3 pm, monday-friday... sometimes earlier or later... but you will be with usually the same instructor for the entire day. you may study cardiovascular for 2 weeks and then move onto neuro for 2 weeks and so on. this is what worked for me... and just about everyone in my class does this... get a huge 3 ring binder... a 1.5 inch or a 2 inch... and buy one of those slim 3 ring hole punchers for like 2 dollars at wal-mart, to punch holes in handouts and then keep them in the binder.... our instructors always gave us mounds and mounds of handouts. that was really nice because we didnt have to take separte notes... just add to the handouts if we thought something was important.... but some instructors dont give handouts and you have to write your own notes... so buy that loose notebook paper with the 3 holes... you will use lots and lots of notebook paper... then you can also buy those index dividers with the tabs you can label... whenever you finish with a section you can label it "urinary", "neuro", "integumentary", "nursing process", "fluid balance", "electrolytes", or whatever section you are working on... then keep all your handouts, notes, quizzes, ect on cardiovascular under the cardiovascular tab.... and so on.... then when its test time... you can easily find all your cardio stuff.... now you can also buy those really nice pocket folders for inserting into a 3 ring binder... they come in transparent or clear... and many colors... they are so nice to organize your clinical stuff... like all your med sheets can go in one, and all your care plans can go into another... all your patient assessments can go into another... the 3 ring binders with the clear outer cover is nice to insert your montly class/clinical schedule on top.... this way you always know where your schedule is.... and you can refer to it easily... so you can plan out your days... and on the spine of the binder you can insert a label for each nursing semester you are in... nursing 100, nursing 101, nursing 200, ect and so on.... i recommend keeping all the notes you ever take in nursing school... and keep those binders organized and in a safe place at home... because there are lots of times where i can not find the answer i need in a book... but i can remember learning about it in the beginning of nursing school which was like 2 years ago... and i can remember taking notes on that particular topic... so all i have to do is go back to my nursing 101 binder and look under alterations in oxygenation tab... and find the answer i need!

now as for highlighters... some people highlight everything and to me it just looks like a "pretty, pretty, rainbow".... doesnt seem to really serve a purpose other than looking nice... but there is a purpose to highlighting and that is to draw your attention to the really important stuff, such as test questions. our instructors would give a review at the end of each unit and thats what was going to be on the quiz. the method that worked for me... was highlight in one color only the stuff they reviewed or emphasized as a test question... then when the quiz was over... go back and highlight the stuff in another color that i had difficulty with on the exam.... then when it came time for the midterm or the final ( which were cumulative ), instead of studying 500,000 pages of notes... i would study only the highlighted material.

as for how to take good notes: outline form is okay... or you can even make it more simplified...

for example:

cardiovascular system ( at the top of the page ) note page #'s in text to refer to: ie: see p. 512-523 in text:

- key point

- key point

- key point

normal pathopysiology: see photo on p. 513 in text:

- key point

- key point

- ect ect ect

myocardial infarction: definition

etiology:

risk factors:

pathophys:

signs/symptoms (clinical manifestations ):

medical management ( treatment ):

nursing care (nursing implications):

medications:

angina: defintion

etiology:

signs/symptoms:

pahtophys:

* note how angina differs from myocardial infarction

treatment:

nursing care:

medications:

* asterics * anything that is important or a possible test question...

underline important defintions

highlight anything the instructor notes as important or outright tells you its a test question

in the margins make note of important page #'s to refer to from the text as your instructor draws attention to certain key images or tables in your books.

well thats all that i can think of right now... i hope this is a help to all the new nursing students! its going to be rough at first, but stay organized and you will do great! good luck,

angie

p.s. i just remembered, if it sounds like a 2 inch binder is going to be too big or bulky to carry in a backpack with all your books... just remember you probably wont need all your nursing books in the same day... you may just need one or two books that day... your instructors will let you know what book you need.... for instance you may only need a pathophysiology book every day for two weeks.... and there may be a day where you only need your pharmacology book.... so you don't have to carry every book all of the time... but always, always, bring your binder! it will be your best friend. it will have everything you need. plus if a friend wants to copy notes because he/she was absent... just lend out the pages which were missed, not all of your notes.... guard it with your life!!!

think of it this way:

your text book is that friend who is always around; but sometimes they are a pain in the ass, yet you just cant get rid of them because you may need them someday.

your binder is your best friend: you go everywhere together; without this friend you would be lost; this friend knows you better than you know yourself; always has just what you need!

ok, i know its corny!!! but it works! :rotfl:

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Good Tips

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Specializes in CCU.

That was some awesome information, thanks alot angie, I am starting nursing school in August and that information will come in very handy, thanks for taking the time to type that out for all of us.

Shelly

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Specializes in Hospice, Internal Medicine.

:yeahthat:

Great info. I was looking at the school supplies at Target today trying to figure out what would be best for Nursing. I ended up buying the standard portfolios and spiral notebooks that I always use. Your method sounds better so I'm gonna try it out.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
hello to all the new nursing students,

i posted this under another topic in another section... but i thought maybe some other members might be interested in reading it so, i am re-posting it under the general section. i hope that this is of some help.

hello,

i started taking my gen ed classes with penn state and now i am a senior in nursing school. nursing school classes are much different than college classes. in college you may have 2 or 3 entirely different classes all in one day and several different courses each week. for me using spiral notebooks with folders worked just fine, one for each course.

but nursing school is a whole different ballpark. lets say you are taking nursing 100... you will have that class from 8 am til 3 pm, monday-friday... sometimes earlier or later... but you will be with usually the same instructor for the entire day. you may study cardiovascular for 2 weeks and then move onto neuro for 2 weeks and so on. this is what worked for me... and just about everyone in my class does this... get a huge 3 ring binder... a 1.5 inch or a 2 inch... and buy one of those slim 3 ring hole punchers for like 2 dollars at wal-mart, to punch holes in handouts and then keep them in the binder.... our instructors always gave us mounds and mounds of handouts. that was really nice because we didnt have to take separte notes... just add to the handouts if we thought something was important.... but some instructors dont give handouts and you have to write your own notes... so buy that loose notebook paper with the 3 holes... you will use lots and lots of notebook paper... then you can also buy those index dividers with the tabs you can label... whenever you finish with a section you can label it "urinary", "neuro", "integumentary", "nursing process", "fluid balance", "electrolytes", or whatever section you are working on... then keep all your handouts, notes, quizzes, ect on cardiovascular under the cardiovascular tab.... and so on.... then when its test time... you can easily find all your cardio stuff.... now you can also buy those really nice pocket folders for inserting into a 3 ring binder... they come in transparent or clear... and many colors... they are so nice to organize your clinical stuff... like all your med sheets can go in one, and all your care plans can go into another... all your patient assessments can go into another... the 3 ring binders with the clear outer cover is nice to insert your montly class/clinical schedule on top.... this way you always know where your schedule is.... and you can refer to it easily... so you can plan out your days... and on the spine of the binder you can insert a label for each nursing semester you are in... nursing 100, nursing 101, nursing 200, ect and so on.... i recommend keeping all the notes you ever take in nursing school... and keep those binders organized and in a safe place at home... because there are lots of times where i can not find the answer i need in a book... but i can remember learning about it in the beginning of nursing school which was like 2 years ago... and i can remember taking notes on that particular topic... so all i have to do is go back to my nursing 101 binder and look under alterations in oxygenation tab... and find the answer i need!

now as for highlighters... some people highlight everything and to me it just looks like a "pretty, pretty, rainbow".... doesnt seem to really serve a purpose other than looking nice... but there is a purpose to highlighting and that is to draw your attention to the really important stuff, such as test questions. our instructors would give a review at the end of each unit and thats what was going to be on the quiz. the method that worked for me... was highlight in one color only the stuff they reviewed or emphasized as a test question... then when the quiz was over... go back and highlight the stuff in another color that i had difficulty with on the exam.... then when it came time for the midterm or the final ( which were cumulative ), instead of studying 500,000 pages of notes... i would study only the highlighted material.

as for how to take good notes: outline form is okay... or you can even make it more simplified...

for example:

cardiovascular system ( at the top of the page ) note page #'s in text to refer to: ie: see p. 512-523 in text:

- key point

- key point

- key point

normal pathopysiology: see photo on p. 513 in text:

- key point

- key point

- ect ect ect

myocardial infarction: definition

etiology:

risk factors:

pathophys:

signs/symptoms (clinical manifestations ):

medical management ( treatment ):

nursing care (nursing implications):

medications:

angina: defintion

etiology:

signs/symptoms:

pahtophys:

* note how angina differs from myocardial infarction

treatment:

nursing care:

medications:

* asterics * anything that is important or a possible test question...

underline important defintions

highlight anything the instructor notes as important or outright tells you its a test question

in the margins make note of important page #'s to refer to from the text as your instructor draws attention to certain key images or tables in your books.

well thats all that i can think of right now... i hope this is a help to all the new nursing students! its going to be rough at first, but stay organized and you will do great! good luck,

angie

p.s. i just remembered, if it sounds like a 2 inch binder is going to be too big or bulky to carry in a backpack with all your books... just remember you probably wont need all your nursing books in the same day... you may just need one or two books that day... your instructors will let you know what book you need.... for instance you may only need a pathophysiology book every day for two weeks.... and there may be a day where you only need your pharmacology book.... so you don't have to carry every book all of the time... but always, always, bring your binder! it will be your best friend. it will have everything you need. plus if a friend wants to copy notes because he/she was absent... just lend out the pages which were missed, not all of your notes.... guard it with your life!!!

think of it this way:

your text book is that friend who is always around; but sometimes they are a pain in the ass, yet you just cant get rid of them because you may need them someday.

your binder is your best friend: you go everywhere together; without this friend you would be lost; this friend knows you better than you know yourself; always has just what you need!

ok, i know its corny!!! but it works! :rotfl:

good morning,

i can't thank you enough for these great tips.

trd

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Thanks a lot! I definitely will follow this. Thanks for thinking of us!:)

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