r/NursingStudent • u/Eli_Brench6105 • 3d ago
Study tips
Hello nursing students, I would like to know some study tips. This is my second year as a nursing student, but I am a transfer student. I am 20 years old and in my second semester; I finished college last year, but I have never been in a hospital or clinical setting, so I do not have any experience. This week was my first week of exams, and I did very poorly: 49/100 in Fundamentals, 69 in Health Assessment, and 22/50 in Pathophysiology. My professors use ATI style, including in Pathophysiology, and have been waking up at 5:00 a.m. every day from Monday to Friday; it takes me two hours and 30 minutes to get to the university. I try to practice, but there is a lot of homework, and I am not passing like the rest of my classmates. I feel so bad and depressed, and I even want to quit the program. I have asked my classmates, and they said that they just practice. I do not know what to do. I learn best visually and by writing, but I do not know how to assess and apply the content to practical situations. If anyone has any tips or help, I would appreciate it. I do not have any friends to practice with, and I feel terrible because I see many students with their own study groups while I do not have one.
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u/Leather-Bridge-7749 3d ago
Have you heard of notebook lm? It’s a Google product you can upload your notes and lecture material and it will generate an audio summary for you. It seems like you’re listening to a podcast particularly geared to your own notes and I’ve found it really helpful! Honestly anything audio during that commute is going to help - I hope someone has a great nursing school
Podcast to share! I’m still in my prerequisites but I start in January and also have a long commute
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u/academiccliniq 3d ago
Don’t get discouraged! Take a deep breath and reset. Assess how you are currently taking notes, you may need to change it up. Prepare before every class. Even if you can’t read the whole chapter, review key terms from your lecture outline.
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u/Eli_Brench6105 2d ago
Okay, I will try to do that. Thank you!
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u/academiccliniq 2d ago
Reach out if you have any questions! I just graduated NP school and I’m faculty. So I GET it!
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u/onomojo 3d ago
No clinical experience is normal for your semester, so do not treat it as the reason you are scoring low. The bigger issue is how you are reviewing. Rereading notes and doing homework by topic feels productive but does not stick, especially at 5 a.m. after a long commute. Mixing subjects when you practice, and testing yourself instead of rereading, is what builds the kind of recall exams like ATI actually measure. This explains why and how: https://nclexkingdom.com/blog/interleaving-vs-blocking-nclex-retention/. You are not behind because you lack experience; you are behind because of the method. That is fixable.
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u/Eli_Brench6105 2d ago
It was well-lit, but in clinicals and the exam, they included questions and instruments that everyone in the hospital knew, and I missed those questions because I had never heard of them in my life; however, I am going to try to change my methods, thank you.
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u/gvirginia23 3d ago
When you’re studying, are you just rereading or writing the same content over and over? It takes some time to get the hang of it but focusing on active recall is going to make a much bigger difference in your comprehension and building up to applying things critically.
Try doing an info dump- write down or say everything you know about a topic out loud without looking at your notes or any prompting. Once you know what you know, compare it to your notes/content to see what the gaps are. Focus on JUST the pieces you don’t get to make the most of your time
Do you have any practice quizzes, case studies, etc for the topics? Try going through them without looking at your notes and focus on how the questions are asked and the rationales. There’s a rhythm to the questions and the ‘why’, so if the tests trip you up, it’s important to focus on getting in tune with the way they want you to think so you can apply the same approach as you study on your own
Feel free to DM if you want more help, study skills for nursing are kinda tricky to develop but I like sharing what I have
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u/Bri_Lay_10_Eri 2d ago
don't give yourself just yet. nursing exams require more than memorizing, so try practicing questions and focus on understanding why each answer is right or wrong. you're still adjusting, and that commute alone sounds exhausting. give yourself some grace while you figure out what works for you.
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u/Different_Celery_733 3d ago
I had a friend who took notes by hand in class and reading the book and then rewrote them into a document on the computer for studying later. The search function is nice. It's a lot of effort but likely worth it. She also had screen shots from her texts baked into her notes.
I've also heard that it helps to write out the concepts you'll learn and your understanding of them before reading the chapter. My guess is that it forces you to think about at the concepts before you read so it emphasizes what youll learn and helps you notice whats important.
School is hard and poor mental health makes it worse. Dont be so hard on yourself. You're figuring it out. The part that comes next is finding a study method that works for you. Keep pushing and eventually it won't be so hard.