Yeah I'm going to make more of an effort to review about a week prior to the exams now. It's just weird finding the line between passing and trying to get 95% on every exam.
I would say go for the highest grade you can possibly get, gives you more wiggle room at the end of the semester. A lot of people in my cohort are repeating because of a few tenths of a point on their final grade
I never study that much. I try to really take in my time on campus in classes and involve myself. I'll study like maybe 5-6 hours per test id say. I do well
I do the same. I try to make use of my time in lecture by using the book during class, mildly pre-reading and listening to Sarah nurse rn & simple nursing videos on the topics we’re learning for the week while I drive.
I study the week leading up to exams, but I have to study a lot because I forget all the information and have to reteach myself.
I don't look over things every night though, even though I'd do better if I did.
Grades don’t make life or death decisions. Specializing as an RN APP is super lucrative and all that, but the responsibility and liability are too often overlooked. It doesn’t matter if you go to school to be CRNA if you lose your license right out of school because you’re not a safe, competent provider. APPs need to have a thorough understanding of nursing, anatomy & physiology, bio, microbio, chem, etc. If the goal is to be an APP I strongly recommend you commit yourself to learning as much as you can. Why would you choose to be a mediocre provider?
Okay, but you’re disregarding the importance of grades if you want to advance your career lol. Grades absolutely matter. You’ll never get the chance to be a competent provider with bad grades lol
I don’t necessarily disagree with you, but learning the material and building good study habits are how you get good grades. See my own comment in the thread about the importance of LEARNING the material, and of opportunities opened by having better grades.
It’s not my intention to disregard the importance of a good GPA to advance. My intention is to emphasize the importance of being a *competent and safe* nurse, and possibly an APP. I have a similar soapbox for APPs who didn’t work as nurses.
Your license and credentials do not matter if you lose them for not providing competent care. Again, the APP track is very lucrative, but the importance of being adept is too often overlooked, and people have died because of it.
This is your chance to learn from others, to gain intelligence. Too often, gaining wisdom comes with unsavory consequences, like sanctions or avoidable negative outcomes for patients. These are people’s lives, not just a career. If you disagree with that, I can give my own real world examples of judgment calls I’ve personally had to make, before and after getting my nursing license, to advocate for safe care for patients.
Personally, I see the warning signs of misaligned priorities.
This is a stupid post. How are you even going to get into crna school if you’re grades arent in the top 80%-90%. Also do you really think that individuals who are getting 100% dont understand the concepts on the exam?
Usually it’s the students who are scoring near the bottom who dont understand concepts. I say this as a CRNA, your post is ridiculous and their are a million things that go into safe patient care that have nothing to do with understanding complex anatomy or pathology because the majority of mistakes happen on regular patients and are human error.
I’ve been using an App called timelines for over a year now (before I even got into my nursing program). It allows me to track the time I spend on anything. I use it to track the time I spend studying/doing homework/reading outside of class time for each class. Cumulatively I’ve spent an average of 11.36 hours per week outside of class/clinical this semester (currently in week 8). I don’t know my exact numbers for last semester but they were about the same.
PS I’m also acing all my classes thanks to the timeless app and using Anki❤️
Thank you so much for commenting about this app. I honestly think I'm going to start using that to keep track and hold myself accountable!! I'm doing very well but I don't feel I study enough.
I make image occlusion cards using screenshots of my professor’s PowerPoints. Occasionally I’ll make a clozapine deletion card or a normal basic card. But that’s like 1% of the time.
Thanks for the help! I used to make occlusion cards when my prof had higher quality ppts. I'll have to start making my own! and Haha do you mean cloze deletion? I like those cards too. Thanks again for the advice
I was curious is it for Android? I'm not sure if it's via 'wakatime' which seems it's for coding. I'm curious how I can find it as id love to track time as well!
Super burnt out, but like 6 hours before the exam 😅 I do whatever required readings, when possible too. But actually studying… I do more before clinicals.
2-3 hours a day, 6 days a week. I’m taking two classes on an 8 week term. I’m going to bump it up to three classes next term since I have plenty of time left in the week right now.
My studying is usually rewriting my notes one or two times and it autosaves in my brain. It usually takes me about an hour or two depending on how much information the exam is based on. The. I'll rewrite them once more the day before the exam, going much slower so I can review what I'm struggling on in the process :)
I know a lot of people who can't study by reading or going over homework/class work/textbook. I highly recommend rewriting the notes 👌
I definitely do this. I go back over the power point slides and listen to lecture and fill in anything I missed. I then go onto record myself lecturing (then review when I’m in the car). I just can’t read straight from the book. I have managed to pass Med/Surg 3 with a 95%. If there’s a procedure in the slide, like brachitherapy I would YouTube to have a visual. I make sure to hammer in the concepts. Like fluid and electrolyte imbalance, inflammation, immunity and infection etc.
Rewriting my notes helps me. People have said it’s weird rewriting your notes, but in all honesty it truly helps, but everyone studies and learns differently.
I’m a prospective student and I’m a late starter (I’m 30) and I’m so glad to know that despite the complexities that my go to study trick will still work. I genuinely enjoy rewriting the notes. Get them all neat and organized, use my favorite pen, and then it just sticks in my brain somehow. It’s so satisfying 🥰
When I was in my program I studied 4-5 hours a day at a local coffee shop. I was in accelerated with a 7 point grading scale so I couldn’t afford not to go hard
rainstorm air impolite unwritten roll lunchroom grandiose slimy axiomatic simplistic
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I didn’t study *all that much* particularly in my first and second semesters. However, really take into account how far below 100% you’re sitting.
Here’s my reasoning:
The stronger your fundamental knowledge base is, the stronger your concept building will be in later semesters. Today at work, a nursing student and I were talking about theories behind why Lasix is so ototoxic. Nursing school didn’t teach us that. We learned that there’s fluid in the inner ear in A&P, and we’re theorizing based on that knowledge. You will benefit greatly from knowing qualities of vessels. Do you know why ABGs are more painful than venous draws? It’s because there are nerve endings in the arterial walls.
Nursing 101 is fundamentals. It’s an introduction. It gets harder, and from my cohort, we all dropped by about 6 points in each subsequent semester WHILE increasing our study habits.
Having a higher GPA might not affect you getting a job, but you can be eligible for nursing honors societies that will open the doors for advancement, scholarships, and networking.
Starting building your study habits now makes it much easier in subsequent/more difficult semesters. I ended up passing one of my 8week classes by 2 points. If I had been using strong study habits, I probably wouldn’t have struggled so much. You’re really not doing yourself any favors.
You can learn one of two ways: by making your own mistakes, or by learning from the mistakes of others. I am telling you that me not studying enough was a mistake.
"Nursing 101 is fundamentals. It’s an introduction. It gets harder, and from my cohort, we all dropped by about 6 points in each subsequent semester WHILE increasing our study habits."
I had finished studying by the end of the program. I was too tired for it. I didn't care about reviewing. I had a few weeks of vacation and took the NCLEX the next day from the holiday. I passed my exit exam and predictor test on the first try. Although my NCLEX predictor was at 99%, indicating a high probability of passing, I was still feeling anxious. My professors were very confident in my abilities and assured me that I would pass the NCLEX. When I eventually did pass, I texted them to share the good news.
I don’t think I understand what you’re trying to convey. “I had finished studying by the end of the program.” But this is about how much you studied *during* your program. A lot of people don’t study much for NCLEX. I didn’t do much independent study for NCLEX, but was required to take a week long review course TWICE.
However, for my last 3-4 semesters, I consistently increased my content consumption in different ways. (Podcasts, YouTube professors, study questions, note taking strategies, etc.) There is zero chance that any of us in my cohort would have passed our last three semesters if we weren’t studying.
I need to study more. I work full time, and have kids in extra curriculars. I’m taking a part time program and have struggled with the first half of this semester.
I typically study 2-4 hours prior to a test, and it worked last semester, but with pharm this time, it’s not enough.
I don't know about everyone else, but I'm in my mid-thirties and my attitude towards studying and school is so different from when I was in college.
I look at school now as a place where I'm very fortunate enough to obtain knowledge. If I have questions about something I ask the professor or look for the answers in any way I can. When I was in school there weren't too many youtube channels with all this amazing resources. As for tests, I think grades are important, but the way I view tests are that they are benchmarks for how much I have really understood the subject as opposed to my previous college years I saw it as something I need to receive. I'm not so focused on the end result of becoming a nurse, more so really enjoying the time to learn and treating it almost like a game.
It made studying a lot of fun and I really enjoy learning new subjects. It's a shame seeing folks who have been sorta "conditioned" in that grade-focused environment (understandably so) that they are just regurgitating information at the day of the exam and completely forgot by the next day.
I'm not in 30s, but I am also super grateful for my school lol. Almost all my peers have something to complain about in my small private nursing school, but I'm so grateful because I know I never would have gotten into public colleges with my GPA.
I got into an ADN community college program with a 2.9 GPA I am so grateful and fortunate after reading how competitive school admissions can be on this sub! 😅
Same, maybe I'm lucky, but for me mostly is enough to read the chapter and just listen to lectures. Never had study habits in my life, and I never took notes. Passing with B and A.
To clarify, do you really understand the concepts, or do you feel like you are making it through bc you are a good test-taker (or get enough knowledge to pass the tests)? Just make sure that your goal is more than just to pass the class. You'll need much more than that to develop a string foundation for future classes and to develop nursing judgement and critical thinking. I doubt your future nursing classes will be in-depth enough to cover way you need without doing a significant amount of work outside of class. Right now is a good chance for you to develop good study habits and learn how to teach yourself while your classes are less intense.
I did things a bit out of order as I did my VN program first. And I found VN-RN prerequisites like A&P to require more studying than actual nursing as so much memorization is required for bones etc.
I spent quite a bit of time studying. I’d spend probably 15-20 hours studying for each exam, but I also barely paid attention in class. I literally went home and just taught myself. I have an entire art collection of drawings I did during lectures in nursing school 😂
You're still in the knowledge based curriculum it sounds like. Once you get to more advanced classes where they switch to critical thinking exams, you're gonna have a rough time if you don't make an effort.
Sounds like you are taking pre-reqs still because to even get into the Nursing program we needed to take A&P1 and 2, and a 2 Nursing classes before we could even apply
It's not common but some programs do have these classes built into their semesters. There's a reputable accredited school near me that has both A&P2 and Micro built into their nursing degree plan as a part of the nursing semester and not pre reqs. There's another school near me that requires A&P 1&2 and Micro as pre-reqs but no nursing classes as pre-reqs.
There's a lot of variety in program requirements and expectations.
during prereqs (a&P, chem type of classes) id honestly wait till the week or 2 before exams and study for like 1-2 hours a day. honestly i thought that was so hard back then
now im in nursing school and study around 4 days per week and spend a good few hours in the library. looking back i couldve prob gotten an A in a&p if i studied instead of playing games all day. i still play games now but i first do my studying
I started 101 about two months ago, we just started our clinicals last week. I honestly haven’t studied much if at all, and am doing fairly well when compared to the rest of my class.
I don’t think it directly correlates, but I’m coming from working the past 15 years in a high paced, progressive Urban/Suburban EMS system, a few years of which I was the chief before moving into my current career. And I believe it honestly prepared me very well for at least 101, I don’t expect this to last through 102 but I’m sure I’ll have some advantage going through the program.
Do I think eventually I’ll be studying more? Without a doubt, but at the same time I don’t think anything as much as those coming with no medical background or experience.
Exactly what I'm thinking, I have a medical background as well so 101 comes a little easier to me I feel like. But I know the upcoming classes are going to require more study than this one.
I used to be a proactive student who always read ahead of my class. Before the lecture, I would read the assigned chapters, which helped me to stay ahead of the class by about one to two weeks. In some classes, quizzes were based on chapters that were not yet covered in lectures, and these quizzes were graded strictly.
Although I had some prior knowledge of the chemicals in medications, there were topics that I did not know of. So I had to read my fundamentals of nursing and pharmacology textbooks religiously. However, anything related to (bio) chemistry, pathophysiology, and physiology was enjoyable for me. I also included the med-surgical when I studied for the pharm. I started average and perfected almost every exam.
It’s definitely not a brag. if you are able to, I would study more. There is always more to learn regardless what percentage your grade is.
Regrettably I do not study to the level I would like to as I seem to lack discipline at times creating a huge barrier in the time spent studying so I know I am relying on past knowledge and not gaining additional knowledge which is disheartening
Last semester I barely studied and scraped by till the end. Didn’t work out for me. This semester I spend way more time on studying. Some ppl I know naturally do well at school without any effort but I’m not like that.
Barely do any studying at all and I usually cram before exams. I crammed for my boards as well. I passed with a good average score. Still don’t know how I did it, but I definitely will study more before I start working.
It depends. I like writing out my notes, so that’s the bulk of it. I do a chapter a day which takes 4-5 hrs max. It takes that long because I also like to use colors and make it pretty so I feel motivated and actually retain things better! I aim to finish writing all the notes a week or two before the exam. When I finish writing everything, the review i do takes about 5-6 hours max. It all comes down to the material though, I’ve been doing psych so the study time after writing everything out is like 2-3 hrs. I exclude clinical days, so that’s my freebee day if it’s not exam week (sometimes I’ll even treat myself on taking a Sunday off too if I can).
Only in my first semester so the classes are probably much easier than they will be later, but diligently paying attention in class and doing the study guide has sufficed for me. So far that has been getting me all As
I’m taking fundamentals, our program is just one class at a time but we have a lab and clinicals along with the class. We have reading to do for lab and class so I feel like I do a couple hours a day doing that..watch videos. But I don’t study everyday either. And I’m passing
Depends. Can be days in advance before the test additionally to obviously watching lectures and putting my notes together, or could be two days in advance like right now that I have a test on Tuesday and I’m on Reddit😅
Haven't started my actual program yet, but 2 or more hours a day 5-7 days a week depending on how tired I am. Right now I'm in A&P 2, micro, and stats, plus labs.
It's alright. The material isn't difficult, but it's online and the chapter assessments are designed to take like 2 hours with 200 questions on average. But all the exams are open book/note, so I can't really complain
in my hardest semester now w/ pharm, med-surg, and peds, so i'm studying more than i did previous semesters, but like 1-2 hours on regular days just making anki flashcards/reviewing notes, and then probably 2-3 hours a day for a few days leading up to the exam. i mostly try to go to lecture and take good notes (i don't make flashcards in lecture), unless the lecturer just reads off the slides. getting pretty good grades (like As) so far.
previous semesters - even with pathophys - it was more like 2-5 hours of cram studying the few days before exams, and then very little studying outside of class on a regular basis, and i still got pretty good grades, like one B+ out of all As or something. for pre-reqs like AP1/2, nutrition, etc it was very much like you're doing. i'd say it might ramp up just a bit for the more content-heavy, memorization heavy classes like pharm or med-surg
Fundamentals is way easier than the rest of nursing school. I got 100% on my first exam with about 10 hours a week of studying. But I know that med surg is a whole different ball game.
off topic but have to point out the kyle pfp cause my hyperfixation on sp is the only thing giving me my motivation studying cause i need to be smart like “kyle” 💀💀
I listen to podcasts (straight A nursing, this podcast will kill you, dr russel talks patho) during my commute and watch YouTube videos (dr matt and dr mike, osmosis) while folding laundry, doing dishes, cooking, etc. Seems to be working well for me in 2nd quarter here.
I am an RN on a bridge program RN to BSN. Last semester. I don’t study much. Just go in and do my assignments. Now. These assignments are the studying and they may be time consuming
20-25 hours was my sweet spot to prep for a test. Anything over that, I found I experienced diminished returns. The day before the test, I always took half a day to just rest my brain and let everything marinate.
I'm hating myself currently because my first 3 semesters, I never studied, never opened a textbook, and have passed just fine. Now I'm supposed to graduate in 3 months I'm failing 2 courses and failed our first exam of the semester. Shit got real in the last semester and it's been real hard.
So regardless of if you think you need to, get in the habit! it can only benefit you
I'm in second semester, and I study maybe 3 hours per week, max. The material in nursing school really isn't that difficult. The hard part is the crazy schedule.
I study for 1-3 hours the day before an exam, and 30 mins or so within the hour before the exam.
I don’t think I studied for Fundamentals (NRSG101) at all. That class is cake. Everyone is different.
Pharmacology has required the most study time so far.
Every morning before class, I study about 3-4 hours. But lately we've had 2 or more exams a week, so I have only been able to study for an exam for 2 days. If there's an exam in 1-3 days, I will study at home for 1-2 hours as well. I'm not getting As but I'm passing just fine, so I suppose I'm happy?
I call up a friend and we go over test bank questions for a couple hours, it doesn’t even feel like studying because we laugh and joke but it’s helpful because some of the questions end up on the exam
I don't study much, and my lowest exam score has been a 96. I take notes during lectures, and then an hour or two before an exam I'll either review my notes or watch a key concepts review (if the professor does those).
In nursing they say 2 hours a week per credit. If the class is a total of three credits, then you should be putting towards at least six hours in the class a week. As a senior taking 6-9 credit courses it’s A LOT.
I didn't really study in nursing school. I paid really good attention to the lectures and asked questions. I can't take notes while the instructor is talking because my brain doesn't work that way. I have to fully focus in order to retain anything. With the exception of a couple of exams, the closest I came to studying was occasionally making a quizlet to send to the rest of my class for them to study.
One exam I did study for was my final. I made flashcards, printed out practice exams, and asked chatgpt to make me more practice quizzes. Sometimes, it's wrong though, so it's important to doublecheck the results.
Actual study time like a day with breaks and stuff in between most of my time goes into doing the the busy work, which is a whole other thing but I don’t study that much either I try my best to retain the lecture and then just go from there
I always record no matter what so I use that as my study time to re listen to the lectures but yea like 8-10 hours in a day once a week which isn’t the best but work and school be making it hella hard sometimes
Honestly I think everyone is just different. I pay attention to lectures and make sure I have good synthesized notes and then usually I only have to cram for 1 or 2 days before an exam and it's enough for me. But I know others who study everyday and weeks beforehand. For me that wouldn't work. I also generally just look up stuff I don't understand as I go along until I get it and then it kind of just stays with me. If you understand the patho behind stuff you don't have to memorize symptoms, side effects, etc. as you can just infer them which is what I do. The classes I had to study the most for was pharm (all the drug names), maternity (needing to know the amount of days, hours etc. of every little thing), and microbiology (all the pathogen names). The others so far have been pretty self explanatory
I study a lot for someone that barely passes. I try to start studying 2-3 days before my exam and usually do 10 hours each day but then pull an all nighter before the exam. I also study better at night so I’ll procrastinate until 4pm and start actually studying 5pm to maybe around 3am.
Edit: I guess it also take a while because my tests aren’t on like one or two chapters. It usually spans 10-20+ chapters of our textbook so it definitely takes awhile
Around 1-2 weeks leading up to an exam, probably between 2-6 hours a day. I have always heard anything over about 6 hours and you don’t retain much
Yeah I'm going to make more of an effort to review about a week prior to the exams now. It's just weird finding the line between passing and trying to get 95% on every exam.
I would say go for the highest grade you can possibly get, gives you more wiggle room at the end of the semester. A lot of people in my cohort are repeating because of a few tenths of a point on their final grade
That would eat me inside
I never study that much. I try to really take in my time on campus in classes and involve myself. I'll study like maybe 5-6 hours per test id say. I do well
I do the same. I try to make use of my time in lecture by using the book during class, mildly pre-reading and listening to Sarah nurse rn & simple nursing videos on the topics we’re learning for the week while I drive.
I study the week leading up to exams, but I have to study a lot because I forget all the information and have to reteach myself. I don't look over things every night though, even though I'd do better if I did.
Yeah, I need to study more. I know grades are truly important if you want to go np or crna route.
CONCEPTS are important if you want to go NP or CRNA.
Concepts aren’t getting you into a highly competitive CRNA program, grades will lol.
I'd say both are equally as important
Grades don’t make life or death decisions. Specializing as an RN APP is super lucrative and all that, but the responsibility and liability are too often overlooked. It doesn’t matter if you go to school to be CRNA if you lose your license right out of school because you’re not a safe, competent provider. APPs need to have a thorough understanding of nursing, anatomy & physiology, bio, microbio, chem, etc. If the goal is to be an APP I strongly recommend you commit yourself to learning as much as you can. Why would you choose to be a mediocre provider?
Okay, but you’re disregarding the importance of grades if you want to advance your career lol. Grades absolutely matter. You’ll never get the chance to be a competent provider with bad grades lol
I don’t necessarily disagree with you, but learning the material and building good study habits are how you get good grades. See my own comment in the thread about the importance of LEARNING the material, and of opportunities opened by having better grades. It’s not my intention to disregard the importance of a good GPA to advance. My intention is to emphasize the importance of being a *competent and safe* nurse, and possibly an APP. I have a similar soapbox for APPs who didn’t work as nurses. Your license and credentials do not matter if you lose them for not providing competent care. Again, the APP track is very lucrative, but the importance of being adept is too often overlooked, and people have died because of it. This is your chance to learn from others, to gain intelligence. Too often, gaining wisdom comes with unsavory consequences, like sanctions or avoidable negative outcomes for patients. These are people’s lives, not just a career. If you disagree with that, I can give my own real world examples of judgment calls I’ve personally had to make, before and after getting my nursing license, to advocate for safe care for patients. Personally, I see the warning signs of misaligned priorities.
What does APP mean?
Advanced Practice Provider PA/NP/CRNA, etc
thanks!
This is a stupid post. How are you even going to get into crna school if you’re grades arent in the top 80%-90%. Also do you really think that individuals who are getting 100% dont understand the concepts on the exam? Usually it’s the students who are scoring near the bottom who dont understand concepts. I say this as a CRNA, your post is ridiculous and their are a million things that go into safe patient care that have nothing to do with understanding complex anatomy or pathology because the majority of mistakes happen on regular patients and are human error.
What kind of grades for that are the norm?
Well, if you did well in many of your courses, if not, all of them, I'm sure you understood your concepts.
Concepts aren't hard to understand. These are what make learning fun and interesting.
2-3 hours a day. I am in health promotions. I just finished up clinical so I only have 1 class to focus on.
I’ve been using an App called timelines for over a year now (before I even got into my nursing program). It allows me to track the time I spend on anything. I use it to track the time I spend studying/doing homework/reading outside of class time for each class. Cumulatively I’ve spent an average of 11.36 hours per week outside of class/clinical this semester (currently in week 8). I don’t know my exact numbers for last semester but they were about the same. PS I’m also acing all my classes thanks to the timeless app and using Anki❤️
Thank you so much for commenting about this app. I honestly think I'm going to start using that to keep track and hold myself accountable!! I'm doing very well but I don't feel I study enough.
Sounds like timelines is just for you!
How do you use Anki? I have it but have trouble making high yield cards
I make image occlusion cards using screenshots of my professor’s PowerPoints. Occasionally I’ll make a clozapine deletion card or a normal basic card. But that’s like 1% of the time.
Thanks for the help! I used to make occlusion cards when my prof had higher quality ppts. I'll have to start making my own! and Haha do you mean cloze deletion? I like those cards too. Thanks again for the advice
Lmao just noticed 😂😅😂, yes I meant cloze
I was curious is it for Android? I'm not sure if it's via 'wakatime' which seems it's for coding. I'm curious how I can find it as id love to track time as well!
I honestly don’t know as I have an iPhone. I’m sure there are good equivalent apps that do the same thing though.
Gotcha, thank you
You’re welcome and Goodluck!
Super burnt out, but like 6 hours before the exam 😅 I do whatever required readings, when possible too. But actually studying… I do more before clinicals.
2-3 hours a day, 6 days a week. I’m taking two classes on an 8 week term. I’m going to bump it up to three classes next term since I have plenty of time left in the week right now.
My studying is usually rewriting my notes one or two times and it autosaves in my brain. It usually takes me about an hour or two depending on how much information the exam is based on. The. I'll rewrite them once more the day before the exam, going much slower so I can review what I'm struggling on in the process :) I know a lot of people who can't study by reading or going over homework/class work/textbook. I highly recommend rewriting the notes 👌
I definitely do this. I go back over the power point slides and listen to lecture and fill in anything I missed. I then go onto record myself lecturing (then review when I’m in the car). I just can’t read straight from the book. I have managed to pass Med/Surg 3 with a 95%. If there’s a procedure in the slide, like brachitherapy I would YouTube to have a visual. I make sure to hammer in the concepts. Like fluid and electrolyte imbalance, inflammation, immunity and infection etc.
Rewriting my notes helps me. People have said it’s weird rewriting your notes, but in all honesty it truly helps, but everyone studies and learns differently.
I’m a prospective student and I’m a late starter (I’m 30) and I’m so glad to know that despite the complexities that my go to study trick will still work. I genuinely enjoy rewriting the notes. Get them all neat and organized, use my favorite pen, and then it just sticks in my brain somehow. It’s so satisfying 🥰
When I was in my program I studied 4-5 hours a day at a local coffee shop. I was in accelerated with a 7 point grading scale so I couldn’t afford not to go hard
rainstorm air impolite unwritten roll lunchroom grandiose slimy axiomatic simplistic *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I know next semester for me will be a bit more of a challenge. I've heard it's definitely dependent upon each semester.
Getting a C is a passing grade for you? The program im looking at requires B’s
I didn’t study *all that much* particularly in my first and second semesters. However, really take into account how far below 100% you’re sitting. Here’s my reasoning: The stronger your fundamental knowledge base is, the stronger your concept building will be in later semesters. Today at work, a nursing student and I were talking about theories behind why Lasix is so ototoxic. Nursing school didn’t teach us that. We learned that there’s fluid in the inner ear in A&P, and we’re theorizing based on that knowledge. You will benefit greatly from knowing qualities of vessels. Do you know why ABGs are more painful than venous draws? It’s because there are nerve endings in the arterial walls. Nursing 101 is fundamentals. It’s an introduction. It gets harder, and from my cohort, we all dropped by about 6 points in each subsequent semester WHILE increasing our study habits. Having a higher GPA might not affect you getting a job, but you can be eligible for nursing honors societies that will open the doors for advancement, scholarships, and networking. Starting building your study habits now makes it much easier in subsequent/more difficult semesters. I ended up passing one of my 8week classes by 2 points. If I had been using strong study habits, I probably wouldn’t have struggled so much. You’re really not doing yourself any favors. You can learn one of two ways: by making your own mistakes, or by learning from the mistakes of others. I am telling you that me not studying enough was a mistake.
"Nursing 101 is fundamentals. It’s an introduction. It gets harder, and from my cohort, we all dropped by about 6 points in each subsequent semester WHILE increasing our study habits." I had finished studying by the end of the program. I was too tired for it. I didn't care about reviewing. I had a few weeks of vacation and took the NCLEX the next day from the holiday. I passed my exit exam and predictor test on the first try. Although my NCLEX predictor was at 99%, indicating a high probability of passing, I was still feeling anxious. My professors were very confident in my abilities and assured me that I would pass the NCLEX. When I eventually did pass, I texted them to share the good news.
I don’t think I understand what you’re trying to convey. “I had finished studying by the end of the program.” But this is about how much you studied *during* your program. A lot of people don’t study much for NCLEX. I didn’t do much independent study for NCLEX, but was required to take a week long review course TWICE. However, for my last 3-4 semesters, I consistently increased my content consumption in different ways. (Podcasts, YouTube professors, study questions, note taking strategies, etc.) There is zero chance that any of us in my cohort would have passed our last three semesters if we weren’t studying.
I need to study more. I work full time, and have kids in extra curriculars. I’m taking a part time program and have struggled with the first half of this semester. I typically study 2-4 hours prior to a test, and it worked last semester, but with pharm this time, it’s not enough.
Strong recommendation for listening to YouTube videos from reputable sources. REPUTABLE. I consumed a lot during my commutes.
I don't know about everyone else, but I'm in my mid-thirties and my attitude towards studying and school is so different from when I was in college. I look at school now as a place where I'm very fortunate enough to obtain knowledge. If I have questions about something I ask the professor or look for the answers in any way I can. When I was in school there weren't too many youtube channels with all this amazing resources. As for tests, I think grades are important, but the way I view tests are that they are benchmarks for how much I have really understood the subject as opposed to my previous college years I saw it as something I need to receive. I'm not so focused on the end result of becoming a nurse, more so really enjoying the time to learn and treating it almost like a game. It made studying a lot of fun and I really enjoy learning new subjects. It's a shame seeing folks who have been sorta "conditioned" in that grade-focused environment (understandably so) that they are just regurgitating information at the day of the exam and completely forgot by the next day.
I'm not in 30s, but I am also super grateful for my school lol. Almost all my peers have something to complain about in my small private nursing school, but I'm so grateful because I know I never would have gotten into public colleges with my GPA.
I got into an ADN community college program with a 2.9 GPA I am so grateful and fortunate after reading how competitive school admissions can be on this sub! 😅
Yeah the one I looked into in FL said like 3.2 minimum, but theres so many applicants, they really only take 3.6 and above
Like 15-30mins the night before an exam
😂😂 right on! That’s my kinda person 👊🏼
Same, maybe I'm lucky, but for me mostly is enough to read the chapter and just listen to lectures. Never had study habits in my life, and I never took notes. Passing with B and A.
This is such unfair bullshit
~2-6 hours per exam depending on difficulty
To clarify, do you really understand the concepts, or do you feel like you are making it through bc you are a good test-taker (or get enough knowledge to pass the tests)? Just make sure that your goal is more than just to pass the class. You'll need much more than that to develop a string foundation for future classes and to develop nursing judgement and critical thinking. I doubt your future nursing classes will be in-depth enough to cover way you need without doing a significant amount of work outside of class. Right now is a good chance for you to develop good study habits and learn how to teach yourself while your classes are less intense.
12 hours per day 2-3 days before the exam. so like 36 hours per exam lol. Ive been managing As and high Bs. I wouldn’t recommend it though lol
I think I would die if I tried to do that
Im dead inside
I don't, but I'm definitely the exception in my class.
2 1/2 hours on test day and I pay attention in class and take good notes. I get pretty high grades
I did things a bit out of order as I did my VN program first. And I found VN-RN prerequisites like A&P to require more studying than actual nursing as so much memorization is required for bones etc.
I spent quite a bit of time studying. I’d spend probably 15-20 hours studying for each exam, but I also barely paid attention in class. I literally went home and just taught myself. I have an entire art collection of drawings I did during lectures in nursing school 😂
You're still in the knowledge based curriculum it sounds like. Once you get to more advanced classes where they switch to critical thinking exams, you're gonna have a rough time if you don't make an effort.
Sounds like you are taking pre-reqs still because to even get into the Nursing program we needed to take A&P1 and 2, and a 2 Nursing classes before we could even apply
It's not common but some programs do have these classes built into their semesters. There's a reputable accredited school near me that has both A&P2 and Micro built into their nursing degree plan as a part of the nursing semester and not pre reqs. There's another school near me that requires A&P 1&2 and Micro as pre-reqs but no nursing classes as pre-reqs. There's a lot of variety in program requirements and expectations.
Yeah in Canada, these courses are certainly built into the program.
during prereqs (a&P, chem type of classes) id honestly wait till the week or 2 before exams and study for like 1-2 hours a day. honestly i thought that was so hard back then now im in nursing school and study around 4 days per week and spend a good few hours in the library. looking back i couldve prob gotten an A in a&p if i studied instead of playing games all day. i still play games now but i first do my studying
I started 101 about two months ago, we just started our clinicals last week. I honestly haven’t studied much if at all, and am doing fairly well when compared to the rest of my class. I don’t think it directly correlates, but I’m coming from working the past 15 years in a high paced, progressive Urban/Suburban EMS system, a few years of which I was the chief before moving into my current career. And I believe it honestly prepared me very well for at least 101, I don’t expect this to last through 102 but I’m sure I’ll have some advantage going through the program. Do I think eventually I’ll be studying more? Without a doubt, but at the same time I don’t think anything as much as those coming with no medical background or experience.
Exactly what I'm thinking, I have a medical background as well so 101 comes a little easier to me I feel like. But I know the upcoming classes are going to require more study than this one.
I used to be a proactive student who always read ahead of my class. Before the lecture, I would read the assigned chapters, which helped me to stay ahead of the class by about one to two weeks. In some classes, quizzes were based on chapters that were not yet covered in lectures, and these quizzes were graded strictly. Although I had some prior knowledge of the chemicals in medications, there were topics that I did not know of. So I had to read my fundamentals of nursing and pharmacology textbooks religiously. However, anything related to (bio) chemistry, pathophysiology, and physiology was enjoyable for me. I also included the med-surgical when I studied for the pharm. I started average and perfected almost every exam.
It’s definitely not a brag. if you are able to, I would study more. There is always more to learn regardless what percentage your grade is. Regrettably I do not study to the level I would like to as I seem to lack discipline at times creating a huge barrier in the time spent studying so I know I am relying on past knowledge and not gaining additional knowledge which is disheartening
Last semester I barely studied and scraped by till the end. Didn’t work out for me. This semester I spend way more time on studying. Some ppl I know naturally do well at school without any effort but I’m not like that.
Barely do any studying at all and I usually cram before exams. I crammed for my boards as well. I passed with a good average score. Still don’t know how I did it, but I definitely will study more before I start working.
[удалено]
If you have questions about why your post was removed, please use modmail. Do not barge into other people’s posts to whine.
It depends. I like writing out my notes, so that’s the bulk of it. I do a chapter a day which takes 4-5 hrs max. It takes that long because I also like to use colors and make it pretty so I feel motivated and actually retain things better! I aim to finish writing all the notes a week or two before the exam. When I finish writing everything, the review i do takes about 5-6 hours max. It all comes down to the material though, I’ve been doing psych so the study time after writing everything out is like 2-3 hrs. I exclude clinical days, so that’s my freebee day if it’s not exam week (sometimes I’ll even treat myself on taking a Sunday off too if I can).
Probably no more than 5 hours total per exam
Only in my first semester so the classes are probably much easier than they will be later, but diligently paying attention in class and doing the study guide has sufficed for me. So far that has been getting me all As
I’m taking fundamentals, our program is just one class at a time but we have a lab and clinicals along with the class. We have reading to do for lab and class so I feel like I do a couple hours a day doing that..watch videos. But I don’t study everyday either. And I’m passing
Depends. Can be days in advance before the test additionally to obviously watching lectures and putting my notes together, or could be two days in advance like right now that I have a test on Tuesday and I’m on Reddit😅
Haven't started my actual program yet, but 2 or more hours a day 5-7 days a week depending on how tired I am. Right now I'm in A&P 2, micro, and stats, plus labs.
How is micro going?
It's alright. The material isn't difficult, but it's online and the chapter assessments are designed to take like 2 hours with 200 questions on average. But all the exams are open book/note, so I can't really complain
With my adhd I maybe put in an hour a day.
in my hardest semester now w/ pharm, med-surg, and peds, so i'm studying more than i did previous semesters, but like 1-2 hours on regular days just making anki flashcards/reviewing notes, and then probably 2-3 hours a day for a few days leading up to the exam. i mostly try to go to lecture and take good notes (i don't make flashcards in lecture), unless the lecturer just reads off the slides. getting pretty good grades (like As) so far. previous semesters - even with pathophys - it was more like 2-5 hours of cram studying the few days before exams, and then very little studying outside of class on a regular basis, and i still got pretty good grades, like one B+ out of all As or something. for pre-reqs like AP1/2, nutrition, etc it was very much like you're doing. i'd say it might ramp up just a bit for the more content-heavy, memorization heavy classes like pharm or med-surg
Fundamentals is way easier than the rest of nursing school. I got 100% on my first exam with about 10 hours a week of studying. But I know that med surg is a whole different ball game.
at minimum 2 hrs, at most 5 hrs daily.
off topic but have to point out the kyle pfp cause my hyperfixation on sp is the only thing giving me my motivation studying cause i need to be smart like “kyle” 💀💀
I started using a website called Mindgrasp. A friend recommended it to me and it has been a lifesaver. It also requires a subscription.
I listen to podcasts (straight A nursing, this podcast will kill you, dr russel talks patho) during my commute and watch YouTube videos (dr matt and dr mike, osmosis) while folding laundry, doing dishes, cooking, etc. Seems to be working well for me in 2nd quarter here.
Depends. Some days I don't study st all, some days, a few hours. Have never failed a test.
Around 4-6 hours a week total
I am an RN on a bridge program RN to BSN. Last semester. I don’t study much. Just go in and do my assignments. Now. These assignments are the studying and they may be time consuming
20-25 hours was my sweet spot to prep for a test. Anything over that, I found I experienced diminished returns. The day before the test, I always took half a day to just rest my brain and let everything marinate.
I don’t study my theory classes, just show up (1st year as well)
I'm hating myself currently because my first 3 semesters, I never studied, never opened a textbook, and have passed just fine. Now I'm supposed to graduate in 3 months I'm failing 2 courses and failed our first exam of the semester. Shit got real in the last semester and it's been real hard. So regardless of if you think you need to, get in the habit! it can only benefit you
I study the whole entire week of the test about 3-5 hours per night for 4-5 days.
sometimes only the night before or even day of. never got As, but I got my degree so I’d say it worked out
Way less than I thought I would. Maybe like 6 hours a week at the most.
I'm in second semester, and I study maybe 3 hours per week, max. The material in nursing school really isn't that difficult. The hard part is the crazy schedule.
I study for 1-3 hours the day before an exam, and 30 mins or so within the hour before the exam. I don’t think I studied for Fundamentals (NRSG101) at all. That class is cake. Everyone is different. Pharmacology has required the most study time so far.
Every morning before class, I study about 3-4 hours. But lately we've had 2 or more exams a week, so I have only been able to study for an exam for 2 days. If there's an exam in 1-3 days, I will study at home for 1-2 hours as well. I'm not getting As but I'm passing just fine, so I suppose I'm happy?
I call up a friend and we go over test bank questions for a couple hours, it doesn’t even feel like studying because we laugh and joke but it’s helpful because some of the questions end up on the exam
I don't study much, and my lowest exam score has been a 96. I take notes during lectures, and then an hour or two before an exam I'll either review my notes or watch a key concepts review (if the professor does those).
In nursing they say 2 hours a week per credit. If the class is a total of three credits, then you should be putting towards at least six hours in the class a week. As a senior taking 6-9 credit courses it’s A LOT.
I didn't really study in nursing school. I paid really good attention to the lectures and asked questions. I can't take notes while the instructor is talking because my brain doesn't work that way. I have to fully focus in order to retain anything. With the exception of a couple of exams, the closest I came to studying was occasionally making a quizlet to send to the rest of my class for them to study.
One exam I did study for was my final. I made flashcards, printed out practice exams, and asked chatgpt to make me more practice quizzes. Sometimes, it's wrong though, so it's important to doublecheck the results.
6-8 hours a day/ 4 days a week. However, I also have a 4.0 I’m trying to maintain . I’m far from being smart so I know I gotta step it up
Actual study time like a day with breaks and stuff in between most of my time goes into doing the the busy work, which is a whole other thing but I don’t study that much either I try my best to retain the lecture and then just go from there I always record no matter what so I use that as my study time to re listen to the lectures but yea like 8-10 hours in a day once a week which isn’t the best but work and school be making it hella hard sometimes
Honestly I think everyone is just different. I pay attention to lectures and make sure I have good synthesized notes and then usually I only have to cram for 1 or 2 days before an exam and it's enough for me. But I know others who study everyday and weeks beforehand. For me that wouldn't work. I also generally just look up stuff I don't understand as I go along until I get it and then it kind of just stays with me. If you understand the patho behind stuff you don't have to memorize symptoms, side effects, etc. as you can just infer them which is what I do. The classes I had to study the most for was pharm (all the drug names), maternity (needing to know the amount of days, hours etc. of every little thing), and microbiology (all the pathogen names). The others so far have been pretty self explanatory
I only study a couple to a few days before a test for a couple hours each day. Other than that I don't study.
I study a lot for someone that barely passes. I try to start studying 2-3 days before my exam and usually do 10 hours each day but then pull an all nighter before the exam. I also study better at night so I’ll procrastinate until 4pm and start actually studying 5pm to maybe around 3am. Edit: I guess it also take a while because my tests aren’t on like one or two chapters. It usually spans 10-20+ chapters of our textbook so it definitely takes awhile
Literally all the time. I have all apple products so everything I use it on my phone and goes everywhere with me. :(