What should first year students brush up on before school starts??

Scrubmouse RN · Jun 16, 2010

Anatomy and Physiology. It is the foundation of everything medical and nursing. It all makes sense if you know your A&P

meemer · Jun 16, 2010

I agree with Scrubmouse. Knowing your anatomy and physiology will serve you well in school. I wish I did a thorough review of A&P before I started nursing school. Pathophysiology and pharmacology would have been a lot easier if I did.

emptyboxcars · Jun 16, 2010

What areas of A & P specifically? I am currently studying my A & P book, but it's been years since I took A & P I and II. I got good grades when I took them, but because it's been a while, I would *love* to have some specifics on where to focus my energy, considering the book is 1000 pgs! I'm kind of nervous about the fact that it's been a while since I took these classes and can't remember every single bone, nerve, etc. in the body. THere's no way I can learn it all inside and out in 2 months, so I'd love to hear from others about this. THANK YOU!!

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Jun 16, 2010

I wouldn't say a full on review; I would say be familiar with your book and how it's organized so you can refer to it quickly. That's what I did and believe me, having that book handy was a godsend. Many times in Patho I'd pull out my old A&P book for a more thorough explanation.

You're not going to know everything. You're not even going to know everything you need to know. Don't let that intimidate you; just know how to use your resources and use them quickly (because your time is about to be at a premium!).

meemer · Jun 16, 2010

What areas of A & P specifically?

The big areas I would focus on would be the autonomic nervous system (specifically adrenergic receptors) and renal system. There are a lot of drugs that affect these systems so knowing the basics will help tremendously. For example, many of the patients you will care for will take blood pressure medications (like lasix or beta-blockers) so knowing how these systems work will help you understand the method of action and side effects of these medications. These are just systems I wish I had studied more before starting school.

Focus more on learning how the body works rather than trying to memorize every body part. In my opinion, knowing what the liver does and how it functions is more important than knowing what the different lobes are called.

Luanrmoonsky · Jun 16, 2010

I agree with everyone on A & P, but my issue was the foundation in Chemistry. That is one of the things that my course started with and sometimes its hard to get unless you're prepared beforehand.

kayty2339 · Jun 16, 2010

I took A&P about 6 years before starting the nursing program. Before I started school I was also worried about that and wanted to know what to brush up on....I didn't end up really brushing up on any A&P before school started because it was so overwhelming of a subject. It hasn't hurt me at all taking it so many years ago. In our text book, the beginning of each chapter does a brief overview on the A&P of that system and that's all we really need to know. In fundamentals, the students that got hung up on studying too much of the physiology rather than on what the nurse's role is/what the nurse needs to know, didn't do so well on tests. The one thing I've found is that yes you do need to know the basics of how things work (ie the heart/kidneys) but you don't have to go into a lot of detail on it. When you are tested, they are focusing on the nursing process, nursing interventions, priorities, patient teaching...critical thinking...etc. But, since you have time and want to brush up on it, I would say, brush up on the cardiac system, how the heart works, blood flow through the body, what happens during left or right sided heart failure; the endocrine system is a big one and I hear it is the hardest test in our program (taking it in 2 weeks), so knowing the hormones/what organ they affect and what organ/gland produces them would be good to know. Also, try to talk to students in your program already, they could give you an even better idea on what you will be doing and what would be good to brush up on since every program is different.

jil_ · Jun 16, 2010

I am planning on starting in the fall if I get accepted, and have been reading books about nursing school in general. I asked this question too and many people said A&P. Also suggested were nursing test success books. (I didn't even know those existed.) I checked out 3 books about nursing school in general from my school's library.

Test Success Test Taking Techniques for Beginning Nursing Students Has been very helpful in letting me know what tests in nursing school are going to be like and the best ways to problem solve. Plenty of practice problems that aren't too hard to figure out without much nursing knowledge. I am loving it.

Tour Guide to Nursing School A Student's Road Survival Kit gives a very broad look at nursing school, mostly tips on surviving throughout the program. I thought it was an okay book.

I really liked How to Survive and Maybe Even Love Nursing School! because there are several quotes from nursing students and it gives a good perspective of various situations we will be faced with in nursing school. Offers advice on all parts of the process, from picking a program to clinicals to NCLEX to your first job interview.

Hope I helped some!!

mammac5 · Jun 16, 2010

A & P is important; we assume everyone knows where the parts are located (the A) but many people get through basic courses without really knowing how everything works AND how it all works together (the P).

I would review the autonomic nervous system function, renal function, and all the chemistry that is in the A & P text. Chemistry is vital for learning about acid/base balance, appropriate fluid maintenance, and understanding how drugs work.

The program I'm in is an accelerated one, so everyone's experience is going to be different. I'm a pretty good student and not new to the world of healthcare, but I can say that the areas that have been the greatest challenge to me are acid/base, fluids & electrolytes, and hemodynamics. All of those require understanding of chemistry and memorization of lots of numbers.

Best of luck and hold onto your enthusiam!

emptyboxcars · Jun 17, 2010

You guys are awesome! :yeah: Thank you so much for the specifics. I feel so much better already knowing where to narrow my focus on studying A & P. I'm so excited about nursing school and your feedback has allayed some of my fears. I ordered my coursebooks the other day and should be getting them early next week. I'm so excited to see first-hand what's going to be covered this Fall. Thanks again to everyone!