Yes, it's been a fun-filled week in nursing school. I had the privilege of taking three exams back to back in one week. That's right, Friends and neighbors, my brain got a workout. Fifty or so hand-written pages of notes from my "how to be a nurse" class. After studying close to 72 hours total for it, all I got for my trouble was a 76. While that would be passing in regular classes, the range for a C is 78- 83 in nursing school. I missed passing it by one question. We covered: asepsis, infection control, nutrition, range of motion, order for putting on and taking off, personal protection equipment, glucometer skills, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and how it applies to nursing...I think that was it. It was pretty intense. My teacher told me I did better than alot of people on this test, but there was no comfort in her words.
Pharmacology was much better, I got a B. And the online Intro to Nursing class I got an A.
I think I realized my problem regarding my studying. I spent all my time dissecting the textbooks and comparing them to the outlines. Basically, I couldn't see the forest for the trees and made it much more complicated than it needed to be. Not playing on my strengths hurt me, too. My thing is visual learning. I've been trying to rewrite notes, and use auditory learning with an Echo Smartpen. What did help me were sites like
Study Blue,
Quizlet, and
Flashcard Exchange. I can make my own study guides and the sites will quiz me on the definitions or theories.
I saw this on a t-shirt that I want to get. It pretty much summed up my week. Day of the exams, I had gone to bed at midnight and got up at 3:30 AM to study until 6:30 AM. I left early and sat in the parking lot to study. Nobody had on any makeup and nobody cared, either, including me.
I get to do it all again in 2 1/2 weeks......YEA! But at least I know now how to approach it.
And for those of you wondering, yes, the bag with the wheels
is working pretty well. I went with the Samsonite because the company is as old as me.....lol! Anyway, it holds about 7 books, nursing that is, 6 or 7 composition books, and two nookbooks, plus all my extra pockets of stuff. Thanks for asking! I would get another one!
