how to study as a nursing student
Keep a study schedule.
This semester, I’ve been struggling to stay on top of my work. I know that if I want to be a good nurse, I need to study every day. But without fail, every single day of the week is busy with classes, volunteer activities and other responsibilities. And when you’re so tired you can barely move, some days it’s hard to even do pushups or lift your backpack. So how should I make studying count?
Use your time wisely.
You should maximize your time by being organized and focused. We recommend making a list of what you need to study on any given day, and then setting some goals for yourself about how much time you want to spend studying. You can then use a calendar or other to-do list system to keep yourself accountable.
Try not to get caught up in one topic for too long. If you know that you have a test coming up soon, make sure you give yourself enough time to cover everything the test will cover, not just the subject that interests you most.
Study with others.
The power of your mind is immense. Your brain is capable of learning new things and storing vast amounts of information. What’s more, you have access to a huge pool of knowledge in the form of your classmates. This makes studying with others an effective technique that can help you get through nursing school.
When you study with other people, you learn from each other. You can ask for help when needed and motivate each other towards academic excellence. In the long run, this will make it easier for all of you to pass the NCLEX exam and qualify as nurses.
Use memory tricks.
To succeed as a nursing student, you will have to master an immense amount of material. To achieve this, you may want to use memory tricks. Memory tricks can help you retain information more easily and make it easier to quickly recall concepts when it comes time to take the NCLEX-RN exam. These tips are especially useful for students who aren’t auditory learners or haven’t previously excelled in science courses.
First, try using mnemonic devices, which is a way of taking key points from various nursing topics and transforming them into a meaningful word or phrase that’s easily remembered. For example, BATHE is an acronym that can be used as a memory trick for reminders of how nurses should interact with patients: Beware of Aggression/Agitation (is patient upset?), Touch (establish physical connection), Help (aid patient; listen), Ask (ask about needs), Empathy (show empathy).
Acronyms are another popular mnemonic device nurses use. Acronyms can be turned into sentences with each letter in the acronym representing the first letter in each word in the sentence. For example, if you wanted to remember symptoms of GERD, you could create an acronym: Gassy Eats Really Deliciously (“Gassy,” “Really,” and “Deliciously” would not be included in your sentence because they would not be words that describe symptoms). Then create a sentence such as “Gary eats raspberries daily.” Each word begins with one letter from the acronym GERD so that when Gary eats his raspberries daily he experiences gas and heartburn!
Attend a class regularly.
Your attendance in class is a major factor in your success. Nursing students who attend regular classes are more likely to succeed on exams than those who don’t. This is because they understand the material better since they were present to ask questions while the lecture topics were still fresh.
Before starting the term, have an honest conversation with yourself about how many days you can realistically attend class each week. Then do everything in your power to make that happen—even if it means bringing a small desk fan or wearing layers of clothing for comfort during long lectures [1]. You’ll find that your ability to absorb and retain information will be much greater, and your stress will be markedly lower when exam time rolls around.
Don’t try to cram in your studying the night before a test; spread things out over a period of time and you’ll be more likely to remember the important facts!
Spreading out your study sessions. Rather than trying to cram all of your studying into the night before a test, you should try to spread it out over time. At the very least, plan a few days in advance to review the material. Spacing out your studies will help you remember any important facts for longer periods of time. You can also study in short bursts and focus on a particular topic at a time if that works better for you.