What do you do to help you remember everything?

NurseKitten, MSN, RN · Aug 10, 2009

I'm a flashcard studier. I take everything in the lecture and notes, and transcribe it onto flashcards. It takes a while, but by the time I'm done, I've been through it all, had to think about how to rephrase it into a question, and have a set of cards I can quiz myself with.

Doesn't work for every subject, but is invaluable for some of them.

Mnemonics and songs are good ones, too.

Go to You Tube and enter "Diagnosis Wenckeback". It saved my BUTT during my 12-lead exam! LOL!

anoon · Aug 10, 2009

I agree with the above reply. I really like flashcards - they're easy to make, conveniently portable, and highlight all the important information to make it stick! Not all classes are flashcard friendly though, so for those I like to make outlines and study guides that include the information that I need to learn, but in a format that I can understand easily.

Check the textbooks that you buy too. Some of them come with study guides and most will come with an attached CD that has quizzes, reviews and diagrams. I never bought a book that didn't have a CD for this reason. I thought they were an invaluable way to prepare.

If you don't have one already, go ahead and purchase an NCLEX review book. They come in several varieties, some have mostly question and answer, while others have a more theory based review. I personally like the Q&A type so I have Saunders Q&A Review for the NCLEX-RN which is published by Elsevier.

Hope this helps!

Amber N

JBGC4 · Aug 10, 2009

I think color coding can be beneficial. I have bought colored printer paper to retype my notes. I like to reorganize my info, otherwise, at the end of 3 or 4 weeks, I'm confused by my notes. I have matching notecards to create flashcards, but for only the things I am having a hard time w/. It's easy to create a trillion flashcards and only need half of them. I have matching colored pens and tabbies. This comes to about 4-5 colors total. The plan is to have a color/subject broken down into units. This comes extremely handy w/ pharmacology. If you have a different color of card/drug class, it's easier to remember on a test or quiz, "which color was this one? Which class is it?" And go on from there. I also think that book companies have done an AMAZING job w/ providing nursing students w/ pre-made cards and mnuemonics. Don't buy them from a bookstore, buy them from amazon or ebay. I just bought my Mosby's Pharmacology Memorization and Mnuemonic Cards from amazon for 11 bucks!!! 3 buck s&h, but still, 14 bucks total. They wanted 27 buck and barnes & noble.