First quarter RN student

[donna5599]

I am a first quarter RN student, I am a little overwhelmed, there is so much you have to study that I dont know where to start, Is there anyone that could give me some really good study guides.....PLEASE HELP ME this is the first week of school and I am already stressing......

[orionseal]

It does help to have a study partner, but if you realy want to succeed just read, read, read and then read some more. If you take notes in class (NO IFS ABOUT IT)(WELL MABY JUST ONE)(IF YOU DON'T TAKE NOTES [HANG IT UP NOW] YOU ARE IN TROUBLE) copy those notes a couple of times the very same night you took them (yes I said a couple of times). This sounds like a lot of extra work, but it ""WILL"" pay off come time for exams.
Take frequent breaks (this allows you to digest some of the valuable knowledge you have been trying to swallow).
Drugs, drugs, drugs, you will (IF YOU STUDY THE PROPER WAY) get sick and tired of looking up drug after drug after drug after drug after...... GET MY POINT. you will be able to recite verbatum the possible side effects of TYLENOL.... ett-all.
You will "KNOW" why you don't give levathroid with a multi-vitamin, and why its so important to give P/O zink to someone with a pressure ulcer.
I hope you kept that old Anatomy and Physiology book you thaught you wouldn't need any more, it's a good place to find some of those hard to understand meathods/ routs of action like the first pass effect, IE: Halflife and why some drugs given in small doses (mcg) treat this dissorder, but in larger doses (Mg) it has a different therapeutic effect.....
These are just a fiew of the study habbits I adopted with the girls in my study group, they say it was great to have a man in the groop,because we(men vs women) think slightly differently and a perspective that is slightly off from our own routting of the old brain-neropathways is bennificial to all in the groop. (this does require we all have an open mind)(we did kick one girl out of our study group for being too closed minded)(someone like this WILL drag the group down and hold everyone back) THIS SAME KNOW IT ALL FAILED THE N-CLEX THREE TIMES. She is now a unit secretary (it is sooooooooo important to keep that old knowledge trap in the open position).
So those are some do's in studying, (they may be modified as needed).
These are some don'ts
Don't choose partners that think exactly the same way you do.
Don't take anyones word for it.(look it up)
Don't exclude that person who thinks too differently from you/the group.
Don't choose teachers pet for a study partner (they may be included in a group though).
Don't choose a leader.(you are all equal)
Don't allow yourself to get frustrated and "I MEEN IT" socialy, spiritualy and yes as embarassing as it is to think of publickly, sexual frustration can be a dangerous thing to someone under as much stress as a Student Nurse.
And last but deffinatly not the least important thing to get into your head is this, Don't forget to plan time for FUN this is so important; I think it should be part of every schools course of study, you must not ever forget to "DO" some things for yourselves, do it alone or togeather with the group, spouce girlfriend, boyfriend, sister, brother..... get the point?
Do something for yourself sometime each day, even if it is a miniscule little thing like listening to your kitten purring just because you want to.

These and several hundred other suggestions are milling around in my head, but these are the ones I look back on and see as the ones that helped the most.

Hope this helps.

P.S. If you are Married/Involved please have them come to the computer and read this next entry.
( If it seems like your spouse/Girl/Guy isn't interested in you, or You think He/She is cheating on you, or you think your growing apart. This is cause for you to be proud of Her/Him, this means that your "Nurse" is on the track to success. Please be patient with them as they go through the "meat-grinder" they call Nursing School. They are not trying to hurt you and they realy need your sholder to lean on and cry every now and then. This is the thing they need most from you at this point and time and remember School dose not last for ever.)