trouble converting to ns study

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I have just started nursing school. In my prereq's I would pre read each chapter, go to lecture and take notes, get home and rewrite my notes, then do a final reading of the chapter. It was a great system. Pulled high A's the entire stretch. I never felt unprepared or nervous for an exam.

My plan is to do the same for nursing school. Worked well for the first two weeks. Now the list of chapters for this week is twenty chapters long. I just finished rewriting and rereading material from last week. It is already late in the day tuesday and I have yet to begin the reading assignment for Friday and Monday. If I continue this coorifice I will not be able to get through next week. I understand that but am having trouble letting go of a technique that I know will work. What in the world do I do now? I am feeling that overwhelming feeling that I have heard so many speak of that are ahead of me in this journey.

To make matters worse, in one of my coorifices we have two exams and each is only worth 35 points. They cover a million chapters in several texts and only 70 pts are possible in the entire class. I have no wiggle room.

What to do...what to do....

Good thing I found this post. I'm also having a little trouble adjusting to NS now that the prereqs are a thing of the past. I haven't had any tests yet(oh, they're coming) but these first few weeks, I'm just trying to find a method that works. I'm loving all the suggestions. I'm just hoping that because I really listen in class and not worry too much about note taking, I'll be good. I do try to participate in class discussions that way I can air my thoughts out and know if I'm on the right track(even if it means getting things wrong). I skim the chapters then read chapter summaries(like my life depended on it) and do tests from books and websites. I just keep telling myself to get the big picture and the details will fall into place. Good luck to everyone in the same boat.

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Specializes in Psych.
Do questions. Saunders is a good resource - and so are Mosby, and Davis, and Lippincott, and Hogan. I have them all. I've graduated, and I made straight As through NS. I read the text about 90% of the time, but I just read it once and didn't take notes. I went to class every day and took very good notes, then went home, converted the powerpoints to Word, and typed my notes in while I condensed the material. I'd wind up with a "study guide" that was about 20 pages per exam, and was essentially class notes condensed way down. Then I'd do as many questions as I could - I aimed for at least 1000 per test, although I coudn't find that many in every class. I have a previous degree, and I never studied this way before. However, I also never had so many multiple choice tests. You need to know how they're going to test you and study accordingly.

MB37 - I just wanted to say that your various posts on NS strategies have been very helpful to me since I started three weeks ago. :bow:

I wanted to ask you...could you tell me the name of a tool that converts PP to WORD? You had mentioned in a previous post that you had converted them (although I don't recall you mentioning WORD). I thought that was a great idea, although the tool I tried (zamzar) didn't allow conversion to WORD, so I tried PDF. (Unfortunately it still looked exactly like PP when it was all done.) Thanks in advance!

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Specializes in General adult inpatient psychiatry.
MB37 - I just wanted to say that your various posts on NS strategies have been very helpful to me since I started three weeks ago. :bow:

I wanted to ask you...could you tell me the name of a tool that converts PP to WORD? You had mentioned in a previous post that you had converted them (although I don't recall you mentioning WORD). I thought that was a great idea, although the tool I tried (zamzar) didn't allow conversion to WORD, so I tried PDF. (Unfortunately it still looked exactly like PP when it was all done.) Thanks in advance!

I'm pretty sure you can just send it to Word from Powerpoint. Just go to File -> Send to -> Microsoft Word. You can send the slides and make space for notes or you can just send an outline of the material.

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Specializes in CVICU, CPCU, Cath Lab/IR.

As far as studying,

I read all the key concepts at the end of the chapter. Then I go through and read all the boxes and tables that are included in the chapter. There is a lot of information that comes from these boxes and tables. Then after we go over it in class I read the chapter. Not all of it, but if there is a hi-lited term then I read the information around it.

Sometimes we begin new chapters before the old ones have been tested on and I don't think I could deal with having both on my mind.

GOOD LUCK

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Specializes in Psych.
I'm pretty sure you can just send it to Word from Powerpoint. Just go to File -> Send to -> Microsoft Word. You can send the slides and make space for notes or you can just send an outline of the material.

Thanks so much, dbl! I currently only have a PP viewer, rather than the full copy, so the 'File' menu is disabled. But I'm planning to purchase a student copy of Microsoft Office this week, so I will definitely give this a try! (I don't know why...but I just can't seem to take a liking to notes in PP slide format. The outline sounds much more appealing to me.)

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Specializes in General adult inpatient psychiatry.
Thanks so much, dbl! I currently only have a PP viewer, rather than the full copy, so the 'File' menu is disabled. But I'm planning to purchase a student copy of Microsoft Office this week, so I will definitely give this a try! (I don't know why...but I just can't seem to take a liking to notes in PP slide format. The outline sounds much more appealing to me.)

Oh I love outlines too! I always end up converting it because a.) it's easier to read on the go and b.) it's so much cleaner I think.

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This are all good ideas. Try them out and see what works best for you!

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To make matters worse, in one of my coorifices we have two exams and each is only worth 35 points. They cover a million chapters in several texts and only 70 pts are possible in the entire class.

NS does it this way, I guess, because the NCLEX-CAT works this way. For two years of intense study, you might only need to answer 85 questions to pass the boards.

I personally don't like that system. And even if it IS how boards work, as a student, I wanted more feedback on whether I was studying and retaining what I was supposed to be learning and what I would need to know as a nurse.

But it's the system you have to deal with. There's been some great advice given here on how to adjust to this different style of testing.

Since these questions aren't just asking about retention or comprehension, there sometimes ARE multiple interpretations of the question and answers. Your job isn't to find the "right answer" or to prove why a different answer could be correct as well. Your job is to take the information as presented and find the answer that the question is intended to test for. It may be testing your ability to identify independent nursing actions or ensuring patient safety or the importance of doing assessment before planning and intervention.

Good luck!

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