Schooling especially when taking up nursing school takes a lot of hard work and perseverance in studies. From lectures, exams, researches, both in writing and in practice, among others require tedious work and patience. In studying, there are different strategies to make the load easier or the process more simplified, especially during the exams.
Here are some tips you might want to try out.
Make a plan and stick to it. You should be able to take note and track all of your projects, exams, research, deadlines, and other activities and then plan ahead on how to review or prepare for it. Take them down in a personal planner or a pocketbook calendar and always follow your planned schedule.
Attend your classes and stay informed. This is the best way not to be left behind, especially if you have fast-paced syllabus that you follow in the subject. It would be easier for you to review and study if you attended all the lectures.
Always take notes. You may like to try doing this in alternative fashion, such as using Post-It Notes. This is a general rule in schooling and please do not depend on your classmates notes. You can place notes in outline format with headers, subheads and/or bullet points to help you memorize items and organize your thoughts on a subject.
Try a tape recorder. Other students use tape recorders that they can hear and transcribed for review. In this way, you can always go back to the lectures and check the item/s you missed out during the lectures. This is also handy on test review instances when instructors share what material is likely to appear on the exam. But take note to check with your instructor first. In fact, some educational institutions actually provide their own software lecture capture that can make it easier for students to learn and revise information shared in lectures.
For more structure and strategy in studying, you can also try to use the textbook to your advantage. You can start to outline each chapter, then write down questions about concepts you don’t understand and then refer to other resources for extra help such as the Internet, other nursing aid and materials.
An old-school style but also effective is the use of flashcards. This is a quick and easy way to quiz yourself until the test day. You may use flashcards for making a file of for example diseases and conditions together with their treatments; listing signs and symptoms; diagnostics and interventions.
Lastly, and the most important strategy is to ask questions. You may ask questions, like the things or topics you don’t understand and or issues raised in your book, or clarifications on from the lectures and notes and then consolidate theses questions and check for the answers from resources such as books, internet and most especially from your instructors. It is important that you stay in touch with them, because they are the ones who will not just teach you but also guide you in school and your future profession.
