To study group of not to study group...

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Some second year students are saying if I don't get into a study group I'll never make it out of nursing school, but I've found that I do best without study groups, the two times I tried studying with study groups I received my two lowest grades.

My technique is to make flash cards and study them along with the provided powerpoints and I maintained a B average in first semester nursing.

Do you guys believe a study group is essential? Helpful? Useless?

Chris.

Georgia.

:balloons:

Specializes in ED, Cardiac Medicine, Retail Health.

I tend to study alone. I must read the information multiple times before I understand it. It has worked for me thus far. Try the study group. See if it works for you. Good Luck!

This is an interesting subject. I am not trying to hijack the thread but I need some advice here. I am having a situation now that I am not sure how to deal with. I currently sit next to someone from a previous semester that I became friends with. She always wants to study with me. We tried it 2 times and it was a complete waste of time for me. I felt like I was the teacher...teaching her everything. I just don't have the time for this. I work sometimes 50 hours per week and am taking 2 classes and have a 4.0. She gets MAD when I am studying at home and have my phone off because I am studying and she calls and I don't return her call. She doesn't leave a message and so I don't call her back because I know I will see her in class the next day. I figure if it was something important that she would leave a message. She missed class on a Wed. and called me the following Sunday and didn't leave a message. I was very busy studing that I didn't realize she had called and when I did it, was late and I didn't call her back because I knew I would see her Monday morning. Then when Monday rolled around I had forgotten about it and she was mad. She said "You didn't answer your phone and you didn't call me back!" I was stunned. Then after class I called her and she said that she thought I was being unfriendly because I didn't call her on Wednesday to see why she wasn't at school. I told her that I figured she was busy or she would have been in class. Then I said "you missed Wednesday and you tried to call on Sunday", hinting that she must not be too concerned about what she had missed. She said that she would have called me if I wasn't in class. I have never missed a class and if I did, that would be my problem, not someone else's. The next week, the same thing happened..she missed Wednesday, called on Sunday and I was busy. Monday rolls around and she looks mad and won't talk to me. I am very busy and she knows this. She has even, in the past, called me at work when I have told her not to. Am I being unfriendly, or is she just being childish? Thanks in advance for your imput.

Specializes in Hospice, Med/Surg, ICU, ER.

Do you guys believe a study group is essential? Helpful? Useless?

Chris.

Georgia.

:balloons:

Helpful to some, but useless to most. Downright unwise to a few.

Also Chris in GA

Specializes in Hospice, Med/Surg, ICU, ER.
Am I being unfriendly, or is she just being childish? Thanks in advance for your imput.

You are not being unfriendly.

I'll not judge the other person's serum childish level, however.

Like you, I try to be friendly and helpful to my classmates when I can. I am also very busy trying to work fulltime, go to school fulltime, and be a dad to my little girl and a husband to my wife.

My NS class elected "officers" and they are pushing for fundraising activities so as to throw a graduation banquet and assist with graduation and NCLEX expenses. (We are all adults in this class, and only a few are in their early 20s). I had to spread the word, a little assertively, that I was in school to learn a new trade/profession, not to be part of a highschoolish "social scene". Also, that I was willing to assist anyone in any way that I could, but that my own life, livelyhood, and education took priority over any extraneous matters that the "officers" wanted to fool around with. (I did state that if they would come up with a $$$$ goal for the grad banquet, I'd cough up my fair share of it: 1/30th - as to the NCLEX and grad fees assistance; I'd pay my own and everyone else's was their own problem).

You can't worry too much about what other people think of you - you have your own row to hoe.

You can't worry too much about what other people think of you - you have your own row to hoe.

AHH!! Finally..someone who "gets it"!!! Thank you very much!

Specializes in Hospice, Med/Surg, ICU, ER.
AHH!! Finally..someone who "gets it"!!! Thank you very much!

Anytime, Amy. :D

I like to "go along and get along" as much as most people, but in the final analysis, my life is my own; it is NOT a "group project".

Specializes in Med/Surge.
Some second year students are saying if I don't get into a study group I'll never make it out of nursing school, but I've found that I do best without study groups, the two times I tried studying with study groups I received my two lowest grades.

My technique is to make flash cards and study them along with the provided powerpoints and I maintained a B average in first semester nursing.

Do you guys believe a study group is essential? Helpful? Useless?

Chris.

Georgia.

:balloons:

Go with what has worked for you in the past. Your the only person who knows how you study best. I worked better with a small group but the majority of my studying I did on my own, group was for questions, clarification, and working through the Nclex books.

Good Luck

Specializes in Med/Surge.
This is an interesting subject. I am not trying to hijack the thread but I need some advice here. I am having a situation now that I am not sure how to deal with. I currently sit next to someone from a previous semester that I became friends with. She always wants to study with me. We tried it 2 times and it was a complete waste of time for me. I felt like I was the teacher...teaching her everything. I just don't have the time for this. I work sometimes 50 hours per week and am taking 2 classes and have a 4.0. She gets MAD when I am studying at home and have my phone off because I am studying and she calls and I don't return her call. She doesn't leave a message and so I don't call her back because I know I will see her in class the next day. I figure if it was something important that she would leave a message. She missed class on a Wed. and called me the following Sunday and didn't leave a message. I was very busy studing that I didn't realize she had called and when I did it, was late and I didn't call her back because I knew I would see her Monday morning. Then when Monday rolled around I had forgotten about it and she was mad. She said "You didn't answer your phone and you didn't call me back!" I was stunned. Then after class I called her and she said that she thought I was being unfriendly because I didn't call her on Wednesday to see why she wasn't at school. I told her that I figured she was busy or she would have been in class. Then I said "you missed Wednesday and you tried to call on Sunday", hinting that she must not be too concerned about what she had missed. She said that she would have called me if I wasn't in class. I have never missed a class and if I did, that would be my problem, not someone else's. The next week, the same thing happened..she missed Wednesday, called on Sunday and I was busy. Monday rolls around and she looks mad and won't talk to me. I am very busy and she knows this. She has even, in the past, called me at work when I have told her not to. Am I being unfriendly, or is she just being childish? Thanks in advance for your imput.

CHILDISH!! Be honest with her and if she doesn't want to be friends any longer then so be it..........You really have to worry about you!! so glad to be done with NS drama!! Good luck

CHILDISH!! Be honest with her and if she doesn't want to be friends any longer then so be it..........You really have to worry about you!! so glad to be done with NS drama!! Good luck

Thank you for your input. And to think this woman is in her mid 30's. Anyways, I just wanted a 2nd opinion. I didn't THINK I was being unfriendly, but we never see our selves as other people see us. I am more than willing to change MY behavior, if it's needed, but I don't kiss anyone's a$$! :-)

I agree with some of the above posters, it is really up to the individual whether to study in a group or not. What also makes a HUGE difference are the people who make up the study group!! It's not really worth it to study with people who aren't keeping up with the material and counting on you to feed them the information. It may help to reinforce those concepts, but you're never gaining a better understanding of anything you might be struggling with.

On the other hand, it can be helpful to study with people who are a little more knowledgeable than you in some areas. I don't think studying with more than 3 or 4 people is a good idea. The best study groups I've been in, and seen, are made up of around 2-4 people.

I mainly studied on my own throughout nursing school, although once in a while I'd get with another student or two and review. It's all in the individual, just do what feels best to you, and what gets YOU the best results!

Specializes in NICU.

I used study groups occasionally, but I was very picky about who I could and couldn't study with. I found that I learned best by writing things down over and over again. I'd first recopy my notes by hand, then type them up, and eventually make flash cards. Even though I didn't usually have much time to go through the flash cards after I made them, having written down the material so many times was extremely helpful. I didn't get anything out of study groups until I was almost through studying, at which point they were good for clearing up anything I was still confused about. It was also helpful for me to explain things to other people in my group - if I could explain it in a way that someone else understood, that meant that I understood it myself. For the most part, though, I was happy studying on my own. My roommate and I would go to each other with quick questions, and get back to studying on our own.

The other thing with study groups is that you don't always get anything done! The first study group we had was with 7 or 8 people, a couple bottles of wine, tons of pizza, and by the end of the night, probably the tv...you can imagine how much studying got done, even with this being the night before the test!

I've gone to 2 study groups and did not find them to do well for me. I also study alone this way you can research info on line, look at pictures, read your books etc. I also get A's on my tests and find in the study groups the girls don't spend much time studying. I am more focused by my self. I agree what ever works best for you is the answer you are looking for.

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