What can I expect the first semester?

ms mimi · Jun 6, 2006

i just finished my first semester and i think it took some major adjustments on my part. the pre-reqs are so much different than nursing classes. first we learned all about "critical thinking" and how to apply it. and of course you will learn about the "nursing process", which they said you will use from now on. the content wasn't too hard if i had to compare it with in-organic chemistry or algebra, but on the tests its the way they word everything. you cant just use common sense because there are at least 2 answers that both sound good, but its all about which is the BETTER answer. it can trip you up if you didnt study good enough. i had to read a lot, much more than any other classes, in fact reading took the majority of the time. just read and go over everything once, harder concepts go over a few times. and dont wait to read until the last minute, if you go over things many times they stick better, so start reading as early as possible. it was frusterating though, i was used to getting A's in my pre-reqs but for the life of me i couln't pull an A. 9 points away from it, but thats ok i'm happy to be there. good luck, you'll enjoy it.

smk1, LPN · Jun 7, 2006

it is the time management more than anything. Nothing is particularly difficult yet, not super easy, but the massive amounts of reading preclude you from "studying" in the way that you might be used to. You don't ahve a lot of time to review things, and heaven forbid if you get sick. It is doable though!

Daye · Jun 7, 2006

i just finished my first semester and i think it took some major adjustments on my part. the pre-reqs are so much different than nursing classes. first we learned all about "critical thinking" and how to apply it. and of course you will learn about the "nursing process", which they said you will use from now on. the content wasn't too hard if i had to compare it with in-organic chemistry or algebra, but on the tests its the way they word everything. you cant just use common sense because there are at least 2 answers that both sound good, but its all about which is the better answer. it can trip you up if you didn't study good enough. i had to read a lot, much more than any other classes, in fact reading took the majority of the time. just read and go over everything once, harder concepts go over a few times. and don't wait to read until the last minute, if you go over things many times they stick better, so start reading as early as possible. it was frustrating though, i was used to getting a's in my pre-reqs but for the life of me i couldn't pull an a. 9 points away from it, but thats ok i'm happy to be there. good luck, you'll enjoy it.

yes, the test questions were killers...me too straight a's until ~bam~ nursing. oh well ya know a b in nursing is like an a so there you have it just doesn't register in the gpa...

2 great answers or how about the tricky ones like an rn is a teacher, also the other ones that would throw me off when i wanted to choose the knowledge base answer but it was asking for further assessment. i think that is what makes it so hard to try to tell people how to study for nursing b/c it is a different concept than just knowing the material.

ukstudent · Jun 7, 2006

Congratulations. I am going into third semester and the most difficult thing about first semester is the question format. Nursing questions and tests are like no others. My best advice is to buy an NCLEX review book. It will help you as you go through the different sections and will start you getting used to the question format. Good Luck!!!!:nuke:

SoulShine75 · Jun 12, 2006

I just got accepted into nursing school for the fall semester(Aug. 2006). What can I expect during the first semester. I hear that it's the hardest one!!!

Everyone's experience of their 1st semester is different. For me it was incredibly difficult, but not because of the content, but because of the work load and adjusting to the schedule. I'm not saying the content is easy, because it isn't, but if you've done well so far in your pre-req's then you clearly have the intelligence to understand the content. It took me until the end of the semester to understand the test question format. :lol2: Nursing test questions are difficult. I suggest you get a nursing test for success book, it helped me out sooo much and broke down the questions and helps you understand the answers.

My best advice is manage your time well. Make a study schedule and stick to it. Example (if you have a family or other obligations such as work etc...) set aside 2-4 hours every day to study and stick to that schedule. That way you aren't thinking about what you need to do and you know at that the time you set aside is when you can worry about those things.

Another piece of advice I can give is don't study in groups unless that is how you study best. I study better alone and found when I went to study groups I was wasting my time because it was usually more about talk than study. You time during nursing school is valuable. Spend it wisely.

I hope this helps....and another thing. Always keep your eye on the prize. Don't forget why you're doing this because nsg school can be daunting and you may find yourself asking why??...a lot. :lol2: Focus only on what it due now and what you need to do now. As they say...how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!!!!!

Good luck to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :balloons:

pipersjo, ADN, BSN, MSN · Jun 12, 2006

Honestly, our first semester was the easiest semester that I have had in school. Second semester was definately hardest so far, but I am just in my third semster so what do I know :lol2: . I also had a background in the hospital setting so that probably helped!

pipersjo

fathernurse2b · Jun 13, 2006

I really appreciate the advice. This summer I'm coaching my sons all-star baseball team,which takes up a lot of my time. What nursing book do you think I should purchase before I start the program or is that even a good idea. I understand that the type of questions during nursing school are the same type that will be on the NCLEX. I know this will be my first semester but I just want to be ready.

Sheri257 · Jun 13, 2006

I don't know how it works at other schools but first semester at my school was really hard because you had to take pharm and NP1 at the same time. The school finally allowed people to take pharm during summer or winter sessions before the fall or spring semesters started. If your school allows this, it's a big help to get pharm out of the way beforehand, and people who didn't do that really regretted it later.

Other practical tips I would suggest:

Besides reading all of the material, do practice questions on as many NCLEX guides as you can get your hands on. This helps with critical thinking questions and helps you adjust to the tougher testing mode. It also helps you cover other material that the teachers may expect you to know, but don't necessarily explain or tell you about. I wish I had done this sooner.

A lot of teachers are disorganized and, quite frankly, lazy. They're not always going to give you all of the material that you need to answer test questions. This is just a fact of life in nursing school. The best way to cope with this is to get older notes from other classes. That way, if a teachers fails to mention something in lecture, hopefully you can pick it up in the older notes.

Teachers tend to recycle tests from years ago and they'll swear they mentioned the material in class and ... as it turns out ... they did, but two semesters ago when they wrote the test question. They just happened to forget to mention it to your class ... but they'll swear they did tell you anyway.

Same thing goes for new editions of textbooks. The teachers often do not update their material or test questions to go with the new edition. So crucial information in the old version may be found in the new book, but in a totally different chapter that's not assigned because they haven't updated the syllabus or, they missed something when they did. So ... try to get the older editions of textbooks so you can cover all the bases.

Also, try to read ahead as much as you can. For some reason, they love to test on material that you haven't covered yet. I can't tell you how many times I've missed a test question, only to find the answer in assigned reading for the next test. It's totally unfair, but it happens ... a lot ... probably because the above mentioned disorganization and their failure to update the assigned reading.

And ... last but not least ... study hard to grab every single point you can throughout the semester, because you're going to get screwed on points in nursing school. There's going to be many unfair test questions and, even when you can prove them wrong in the book, they still probably won't give it to you.

Most people who fail only fail by a few points because they didn't stay on top of it throughout the semester. You gotta build a cushion of points so when you do have those unfair test questions, or if you do bomb a test or the final, it's not that big of a deal.

They also like to pile on tests right before the final ... which makes studying for finals very difficult. This is another reason why you have to build a cushion of points as much as possible beforehand so you don't have to sweat the final.

:typing

Sheri257 · Jun 13, 2006

you will do great, you're previous experience will be very helpful for you as long as you can remember the "ivory tower" of the class room is not the same as the "real world" and therefore you will find yourself asking what the test question is really wanting you to know. i had field experience going in and it did help, but i had to learn to wrap my brain around the situation according to the text book.

this is very true. lvn's actually have the highest failure rates at our school, especially lvn's who have been working for a long time. too often they apply their "real world" knowledge to test questions rather than according to what the textbooks say.

:typing

camschuckie · Jun 26, 2006

this ismy second time around in the nursing department and the toughest thing the first semester was to adjust to the classroom..although i have an general degree and plenty of time in the classroom the nursing tests were I thought alot diffrent on how they word the test. be prepared that everything is usually in sentance form, but as long as you do all your required reading you should have no problems