Yeah, you read that right... I failed a time or two. By failing I don't mean actual hard F by the way, I mean I missed passing by 0.03%. Let's go back to the beginning.
When I was applying for nursing schools I had a 3.89 GPA, I had, what I thought, were decent study habits, and writing skills. Then I entered nursing hell...okay that's a bit dramatic, but really, nursing school is time consuming, stressful, and very difficult! Whether it's pre-reqs or actual nursing classes if you don't have good study skills you will drown.
My study skills I had prior to nursing school are actually what killed me... I "failed" anatomy 1 which held me back an entire year from my original cohort. Was I upset? Yes... did I turn out better because of it? Yes... would I recommend it? NO! God No! I also "failed" a nursing class but that is an entirely different story all together that we are just not diving into right now.
Anyway...I would never wish anyone to fail or barely miss passing any class which is why I decided to do this post! After barely not passing A&P I took a good hard look at what I was doing with my studying time. I sat down with my professor and we talked about what I was doing wrong, the concepts I wasn't understanding, and my study habits. I completely changed my way of studying and in the end, with all of my classes combined, transfer and nursing school, I had a 3.6 GPA. So when I tell you to utilize these study skills, trust me! It's coming from personal experience!
1. Figure out what type of learner you are! This absolutely key! Do you prefer study groups or being on your own? Do you need soft music or white noise playing or do you need absolute distraction free silence? Are you visual, tactile, auditory, or a read-write learner? It's also okay to be a mix! I loved group study sessions but when it got down to crunch time I was the person to put my headphones in and go into my own world. Also, I know the sim lab may seem scary at first... utilize it! It really helps pull all of the concepts from theory into a patient based situation.
2. Don't focus on memorizing the material and then "dumping" it after the exam. Focus on comprehending and understanding. Memorizing was my biggest flaw and part of what caused me to not pass anatomy. I was SO focused on making sure I knew the names of things, the basic function, and location that I completely lost track of connecting it back to a real, live, human that would one day be my patient! YIKES! Completely dropping "memorization" from my vocabulary helped me IMMENSELY through the remainder of my schooling. If you don't understand a concept, ask your professor, ask a fellow student or nurse you trust, research it a little further until you feel comfortable with it. Know the "why" not just the basic information. Do this in EVERY class even pre-nursing classes. Start gearing them back to real people and it will dramatically help you understand the process of things. Truly, the ONLY thing that will ever be acceptable to memorize is lab values, flash card it up baby!
Hint: If you are in nursing focused classes right now, always remember Maslow's and ADPIE. This will help you understand the reasoning for every intervention done! (It's also super important to know for the NCLEX!)
3. Break studying up into 20 minute sessions. No distractions; no cell phone, no facebook, no TV. Set an alarm for 20 minutes and zone in! Whether it's practice questions, a particular topic you need to review more, whatever, just focus on THAT! Your brain will know that after those 20 minutes are up you can check your texts, scroll through facebook, and grab a snack. It makes the time more manageable and you don't get as easily distracted, annoyed, or fatigued. STUDY WITH A PURPOSE! That's what this technique helps you do!
Hint: After a lump of 20 minute intervals I would take a longer break and bust out one of my home workouts. It got the blood flowing through my entire body again and got my brain fresh to either restart studying or take a quick review quiz.
4. If you are in nursing classes don't let those NCLEX style questions trip you up! There will always be 2 right answers! So make sure you do practice NCLEX questions on the topics you are going over while studying! The Saunders NCLEX Comprehensive Review Guide is one of my favorites! It really breaks down rationales for questions and gives plenty of practice questions on all topics you'll be learning in school and need for the NCLEX
Tip: They have a PN version of the book as well if you aren't studying to be RN
5. Find your method. Some people prefer making study guides, some people prefer reading and taking notes. There are many different methods of retaining the information, like I said before we are ALL different learners. These two methods of learning may or may not work for you, however, they were the two I loved the most!
----- Concept maps - pick your topic and then branch off everything you know about it and keep going and explaining until there is nothing left! Drawing it, writing it, compare and contrast version. These really helped me visualize what would be happening with the patient
---- I recorded myself teaching and explaining concepts to my cats, using terms that people not in nursing school would understand. Then in the car or whenever I felt I would go back and listen to these "lectures". The act of recording and then listening to myself was really helpful is understanding the material. If you can teach it, you know it! Similar to the see one, do one, teach one method.
6. SLEEP! Don't pull all nighters unless you know you are night owl! If you are not regularly up at night then studying in the wee hours of the night is not good for your brain or health! Study a little bit every day of the week, even after lectures. This way, you aren't waiting until the night before or a couple nights before staying up all night trying to cram! A well rested body and brain will study and take tests more effectively.
7. Get organized. Find your way of keep your class notes together. I used binders broken down by class and further broken down by section. Some people used accordion folders and others used online notebooks and scanned papers in. Whatever keeps you organized is important so you aren't wasting time looking for papers.
8. Lastly, NEVER GIVE UP! Studying is a trial and error type situation until you figure out what works best for you. If you don't pass a class or need to drop a class... the world won't end. You will pick yourself back up and get through this!
These are just some of the main ways I improved my studying skills but these are not my only methods nor are these the only methods ever! If you want some more tips or are struggling message me! If you have tips of your own drop them down below!