You have to know everything

[mandymarie7791]

Does anyone else have this frustration? When we ask our instructor for "clues" as to what will be on the test, she says, "you have to know everything". I mean, cmon now!! How can you expect us to know EVERYTHING from 3 chapters, and then figure out what 50 questions will be on the exam?!!

To top it off, we have a seperate 10 question pharm test on who knows how many drugs. It is soo hard to try to learn so much over a 2 week period (sometimes one week) and then try to figure out what out of a million things could be on the test!!

I study for hours every day. And I understand that it's important to know what we are studying, but sheeesh!! I guess I just needed to vent!

[SFCardiacRN]

Pick out the main point in each section of each chapter. Do the critical thinking questions at the end of each chapter. Take meticulous notes from the lecture and rewrite them. And RELAX!

[llg, PhD, RN]

It can be frustrating ... but it is necessary. Students have to learn that they can't "skip" material and not take responsibility for knowing it in a field where other people's lives are at stake. That's one of the things that make health care professions different from many others.

The trick is not to rely on pure memorization -- but rather, organize your thoughts in such a way that helps you to make sense of the material so that the correct answers on a test are the ones that make sense to you. Understanding the fundamental principles and why things are the way they are will go a long way towards helping you on a test (and in real-life patient care) -- much more so than relying on your memory to sort through all the millions of facts that exist to pinpoint the one that matches the situation.

Gotta go ... good luck,

llg

[det01]

I agree with the PP...also listen very closely in class. Teachers tend to either amphasize or repeat things they think are important.

If a CD with practice questions came with your book or there are ? at the end of the chapters KNOW them. I have had teachers take the ? directly from there. YOu see lots of textbooks come with a test bank (well the teacher's version does anyway) and instead of writing the ?s themselves, the teachers use these ?s. Sometimes the ones in the testbank are the same ones in the book itself.

DO NOT try to memorize the book. What you want to do is to UNDERSTAND it. They are not going to ask you to regurgitate info...they are going to ask you to apply it. Make a ? for yourself out of the main points..SOmething along the lines of...Okay this is happening to the patient. The nurse knows that she should do what next? or The nurse knows that an underlying cause could be this...

As far as pharm goes know the classification of the drug, know the action of the drug, know the side effects and which ones are life threatening, know what do to counter side effects, know signs of toxicity, know what to do if signs of toxicity show, know what the drugs treat, know drugs/foods the person should not have when taking the drugs. Think about those things along these lines.....The patient is suffering from this disease..she is currently being treated with this drug. She is exhibiting the following...(insert side effects). What should you do next? or The patient is an alcoholic and has had several drinks already before coming to the ER. Which of these drugs would you ? if the MD ordered them? - of course here you would need to know which drug is contraindicated if taken with alcohol. I know it sounds like a lot...but from what I have heard from people taking boards, you will be glad your teachers had you know stuff like this when you are sitting there taking them!

Sorry it is so long....HTH

[mandymarie7791]

I totally understand the fact that we should know everything. I just think it's sad that we are forced to know it in such a short amount of time which sometimes leaves you no choice but to memorize as much as you can. Don't get me wrong, I want to get out of nursing school as soon as possible, but at the same time I wish it was spread over a bit more time so we do have more time to actually learn what we are reading.

[SFCardiacRN]

Nursing is NOT about knowing or memorizing everything. Facts can be looked up. It is about critical thinking. It is about knowing what to do in a given situation, how to prioritize tasks and master those tasks.

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

I totally understand the fact that we should know everything. I just think it's sad that we are forced to know it in such a short amount of time which sometimes leaves you no choice but to memorize as much as you can. Don't get me wrong, I want to get out of nursing school as soon as possible, but at the same time I wish it was spread over a bit more time so we do have more time to actually learn what we are reading.

There is always longer programs.

[crb613, BSN, RN]

I understand how you feel, but just know all this studying will pay off. As the previous posters have advised do not just memorize......understand/know how things work, & by doing this you can sort through Q's to figure out the correct answers. I had an A&P instructor that I knew would surley kill us all because he always said you need to know it all.....no tips, study guide for his tests. Guess what??? I learned & I understood how the body works. I thank the Lord for him just about everyday his class made my nsg. classes so much easier........why because I understood whereas a lot of my classmates did not have a clue. Good Luck to you.