anh06005, MSN, APRN, NP 1 Article; 769 Posts Specializes in Cardiac, Home Health, Primary Care. Has 6 years experience. Feb 2, 2015 Hello everyone,I was asking for advice on how to study for a class that suggests "read everything in the book even the small details".......... this came from the instructor and past students too! I was informed that there is no study guide and the powerpoints are just to guide you for the studying of the textbook so the powerpoints don't really help. But I was informed that everything (even the small details) in each chapter of the book is fair game and can absolutely be tested upon. I asked the past students for advice and they only said to read the book/assigned chapters and know everything......I just have no idea where to start! I'm very worried for this class and since each chapter is A TON of information, I have no idea how to read/organize now since all the "fluff" in the chapters (or not so important details) might be important to the instructor to test us on.How do I even approach this to start studying?Please share your own advice on studying when you have to "know everything in the book for the exam?"Thank you!!!!You absolutely CANNOT know everything. Even nurses with years of experience don't know EVERYTHING. Doctors don't know EVERYTHING. Try to grasp the ace the main concepts first then start looking into more detail. I remember in my assessment class there was a test question I remembered to look up because I had NO idea. Turned out there was ONE sentence in the multiple chapters we covered....they got a test question from ONE sentence. No I didn't know it. No I never aced a test. But I passed as did my classmates. Again: you CANNOT learn every detail especially in a few weeks. Study your best and hardest and I'm sure you'll pass. Not every question will be a minuscule detail in the book....
AJJKRN 1,224 Posts Specializes in Medical-Surgical/Float Pool/Stepdown. Has 6+ years experience. Feb 2, 2015 A humble opinion wouldn't be so judgemental. Everyone has their strong and weak points; maybe the new grad nurse wasn't an expert in opioids.No she was apparently not and she was not "made fun of" for it either. I know you are an intelligent being from reading a lot of your posts but I'm not sure if you're a practicing nurse though. I used the incident as an example and regardless of whether she was an expert didn't mean that she isn't the patients last line of defense when she is the one physically giving the medication. ANY medication a nurse gives should prompt the nurse with being familiar with it. That is nursing 101, and may not be learned while doing a bunch of NCLEX questions. I understand the work smart not hard mentality but not paying your dues in nursing school as far as learning the expected content only puts our patients at risk. Would you be so humble if this were you or your family member that could have died in a hospital simply because of narcotic induced respiratory depression?
malamud69, BSN, RN 575 Posts Specializes in Emergency. Has 13 years experience. Feb 2, 2015 "Learning everything in nursing school" has nothing to do with the real world...and I hope nobody follows the idea one of the previous poster said about..."third worry about getting a job" seriously? You best be applying way before you graduate or you'll end up waiting not working...and I cannot think of a better example of critical thinking than preparing for nclex, getting a job and navigating all the ridiculous games one must play in nursing school...all at the same time...post conventional morality will always get you farther than pre...
AJJKRN 1,224 Posts Specializes in Medical-Surgical/Float Pool/Stepdown. Has 6+ years experience. Feb 2, 2015 "Learning everything in nursing school" has nothing to do with the real world...and I hope nobody follows the idea one of the previous poster said about..."third worry about getting a job" seriously? You best be applying way before you graduate or you'll end up waiting not working...and I cannot think of a better example of critical thinking than preparing for nclex, getting a job and navigating all the ridiculous games one must play in nursing school...all at the same time...post conventional morality will always get you farther than pre...[/!QUOTE]So you have experience to pull from right? You've passed nursing school, the NCLEX, and are currently working right? You can apply for a job as early as you want, by all means do so! My point being, concrete thinker, is no pass NCLEX, no workie job. Good luck either way, eventually a real life experience may come along and change your perspective.
HelloWish, ADN, BSN 486 Posts Specializes in IMCU, Oncology. Has 3 years experience. Feb 3, 2015 I too study NCLEX questions (from several different books)! I learn a lot by reading rationales from the NCLEX books too. I have a 4.0 so far... I particularly like my Saunders NCLEX book and learn essential material by reading the outline before the NCLEX style questions. If I need clarification, I read the text on the specific subject I don't understand. I learned that opioids cause respiratory depression from this learning style. I read my professors power points and record lectures...and then SKIM through sections in my text that are covered on our test review just to make sure I covered my bases. When I first started out, I read all the material and barely passed my first round of tests because the texts are good at giving you the info but not at explaining nursing interventions/rationales and what is important to know as a nurse...IMO. I started studying questions and learned what was important to know as a nurse, nursing assessment, planning and interventions...So far my critical thinking has developed from this study method! Reading the textbook material really didn't help me in that regard!!! There is so much reading to do that you cannot really retain the info...focusing on what is important through NCLEX books makes the job of sorting through a textbook essential!
malamud69, BSN, RN 575 Posts Specializes in Emergency. Has 13 years experience. Feb 3, 2015 To answer AJJKRN...YES! I can back up my words...and is "workie" a word or an attempt at sarcasm? Just saying from an all the above concrete 4.0 perspective.
Loo17 327 Posts Feb 3, 2015 HI everyone,Thank you so much for all your advice! The thing that just worries me is that I was just told to "know everything in the book even the small details" without a sense of direction to where to start. And I wasn't sure if something was important or not (like unnecessary fluff) so I try just to know "literally everything" just in case. So I wonder if there is an effective way to do this since I am not sure on how to study per se. And thank you for responding with your advice! I have heard to Success series but my class is Health Assessment, anything specific for that? I got the other classes under control for now.....I do hope that I will do well in this class! :)My suggestion would be to read the chapters but also pay attention to the small details such as the images, graphs, etc and the captions. Read the chapter summary and whatever is at the end of the chapter including the practice questions. I do think nclex style questions are important to do as well but the chapter will help tremendously with the content. When I was a student I read/skimmed the chapter prior to class then did a thorough reading after class.
classicdame, MSN, EdD 2 Articles; 7,255 Posts Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator. Feb 3, 2015 I would read, and take notes. If there is a test at the end of the chapter, take it. Pay attention to theings pertaining to assessment, intervention and teaching. These help you plan care for the patient. If there is a picture you need to memorize, copy it in a LARGER format and then write all over it what is important to label or remember. You need to eat it like an elephant, one spoon at a time!
jena5111, ASN, RN 1 Article; 186 Posts Specializes in Tele, Interventional Pain Management, OR. Has 8 years experience. Feb 4, 2015 Well, I guess I would read the book!Skim assigned chapters before class, go to lecture (and pay attention/take notes), then use the textbook to supplement lecture content.Use the first test of the semester as a guideline. Based on test content and your performance, you may have to continue reading "everything in the book." Or you can get by with paying close attention during lecture and supplementing muddy points with the textbook. Focus on nursing interventions, considerations, and rationales so that you're applying knowledge rather than memorizing facts prerequisite-style.
2k15NurseExtern4u, BSN, RN 369 Posts Specializes in L&D. Feb 5, 2015 To be honest with you, reading everything in the book will do nothing but confuse you. There is wayy too much information in the to actually absorb it all. Very few people have the time, or the attention span. Well, I don't, at least. What helps me is to make sure I understand the concepts of what im learning. If you understand the BIGGER picture, you will be able to actually apply you knowledge. All the small, minute details will only prolong your studying process and make it difficult. For instance. If you're the topic of study is CHF, focus on the patho behind it and interventions. No need to go into too much detail with it. When you get ready to test over it, knowing the basics and foundation will help you choose the right answer.
Summers3 201 Posts Feb 5, 2015 I want to thank you to everyone who took time to comment on this thread to share their own advice for me! THANK YOU! I'm still very anxious and scared about exams coming up all week long. But I will take all of your advice into consideration.Thank you again for your time! If you have any other comments, please post them underneath! :)
