Nursing Student Coach

Conquering Nursing Exams: Strategies for Early Preparation and Efficient Studying with Lauren Chapnick

Lauren Chapnick Season 1 Episode 26

Imagine cruising through your nursing exams with the confidence of a seasoned professional - we're here to help you make that a reality! Join me, Lauren Chapnick, on this insightful episode of Nursing Student Coach where we delve into the art of early preparation and efficient studying. We discuss the significance of starting your revision at least two weeks in advance. We'll navigate the best ways to set up your own distraction-free study haven, whether you're at home or searching for that perfect spot in the library. 

We can't wait to hear about your success on your exams, and see you on the other side! Until then, keep studying, keep sharing, and keep being amazing.

Speaker 1:

Nursing school is a wild ride, but that doesn't mean you have to run and hide when the going gets tough. Don't leave your stress undiagnosed. You gotta call the nursing student coach. Real-life tips from a registered nurse, in school and out. She's seen the worst. Now, without further ado, yeah, here is your host. It's the nursing student coach.

Speaker 2:

Hello everybody and welcome on in to Nursing Student Coach. My name is Lauren Chapnick and I am your host, and I want to talk today about studying. I want to cover the where to study and the how to study, because you guys are all either in the midst of finals or about to be. Maybe finals are coming up in a week and you're feeling the intense pressure, and I just want to review some of the basics on the art of studying Really, because sometimes we all just need a little extra boost, an extra dose of motivation to get us through and just tap into that deep well In our souls to just get us through. I know you're tired, I know you just want this semester to be over. Maybe some of you are on the verge of meeting a certain grade to pass a certain class, and I am just rooting for each and every one of you Because you can absolutely do this, it is so worth it, and I hope that today's show can just give you a quick little boost of what you need. So I want to start off by saying that when I speak to each of you individually, whether in coaching or in person, when I come and speak to your classes, a lot of you say.

Speaker 2:

I've heard this a lot. You know I do so much better on exams. I've noticed, when I start studying at least two weeks before, when I save it until the very end, when I save it and I only have a week to study or, god forbid, a few days Then it doesn't go my way. I don't do as well. But this one exam where I really started preparing two weeks before, three weeks before, I did so much better and I say yes exactly Because it doesn't just start a few days before. This is nursing school, so you know that you are going to do better when you start preparing in advance. So that's number one. That's just the overall theme. It starts the preparation for the upcoming exam starts the first day that that topic is covered in class. So start with a plan for yourself of how you're going to break down. How are you going to study for this class? Is it textbook heavy? Is it PowerPoint heavy? Is it really just notes that you take in class? Is it really just all over the place and you're better off just drilling a bunch of practice questions? What is it? How can you be the most successful on this exam and start doing it as early as you possibly can, minimum of two weeks before the exam. Okay, I want to first get into where to study, because where you study has a huge impact on how that session is going to go and what your results are going to be.

Speaker 2:

So, in my opinion, there are three places you can study your home, your school or out in the world. So let's break those down a little bit. If you're going to study at home, wherever you live let's say you live in a dorm room, so we're gonna talk about your dorm study space. Or if you live in an apartment or a house, or wherever an RV, a tree house, wherever you live, the place that you study at home needs to be a place with zero interruptions. So if that's not possible in your situation, if you have a roommate and they just won't give you the space to study, whatever it may be, if you don't have a place in your home where you can be interruption-free, then that's not your study space. If you can have a place where you're interruption-free, great. So let's break it down even further.

Speaker 2:

Your home study space should really be your sanctuary. So, whether it's your own room or just a little area that's carved out where you study. That should be a place that you love to go. So that means you can decorate it any way that you want, like put a nice little candle that's there that you can light when you're studying, or fresh flowers, or pictures of people that you love just a place that you love to go. And the workspace itself should be cleaned off. If you're working on a desk, get rid of the piles of mail, the textbooks, whatever. The only thing that should be on your workspace is what you need to study, what the materials that you need that day. So, before you study, take five minutes, set a timer, put on a nice song that you like and just clean it off. Clean off your area and it clears out the clutter in your brain so that you can focus only on what you need to be doing in that moment. Okay, no interruptions, neat, and it needs to be well lit. So if there's not good lighting where you are, go out and get yourself a nice little lamp, because it should be a very well lit place and just a place where you enjoy spending time. So that's home. Then you've got school.

Speaker 2:

I personally loved studying at school and for me it was so much fun to discover new places where I could study. So if you have a campus, let's say if your school is 100% online unfortunately this doesn't apply to you but if you have an actual campus that you go to, where you go to classes at least part of the time, there are so many places that you haven't even discovered yet where you could sit and study and it is quiet and you will get so much done. The first place to start is the obvious place the library. But within the library there are so many little nooks and crannies, little spots where you can find an interruption-free zone. Personally, I'm not a fan of the big open spaces with all the tables, because somebody will always find you and start talking to you or you'll be distracted by the other people. My favorite spots in a library are where I can sit by myself. I'm a one-man show when it comes to studying. I like being alone. I like total quiet. That's me. So this is what I am suggesting to you. If it works better for you to be in a noisy environment, that's fine. That works for you. But in your library, just walk up and down all the levels, go in between all the shelves. There are little desks and little tables tucked in places that you may have not discovered before Empty classrooms.

Speaker 2:

Go into buildings where you've never taken a class before. Maybe there's an art building or a dance building. There's a student center on my campus where there was a dance studio and there's a couch right outside and nobody was ever there. So I would go there early in the morning before class started and sit on that couch and study. That was a big plus for me. But if you wander around and at different times and you kind of make note, well, lecture Hall 400 is open on Thursdays before fundamentals, whatever.

Speaker 2:

I have spent so much time studying in an empty huge lecture hall and it's so quiet and it's great Early in the morning before anybody is. There is a wonderful time to find those spots. There will always be empty classrooms and they're just waiting for a nursing student to just come in and Do what you got to do. And what's the worst thing that could happen? People start coming in, fine, so you leave and you find someplace else. But just explore. There's so many places you can go and if the weather is nice, if you have athletic fields, find some empty benches to sit on. Maybe pack a blanket you could sit like on a nice open fields in the grass, find the spots on your campus when it's quiet and you can go and do the studying that you need to do.

Speaker 2:

Now let's talk about just out in the world, out in public. Well, you got public libraries, which I personally love. I love going to different libraries and seeing what the energy is like there and finding my quiet spots to study. So that's always an option. But you can also always find like a cafe, a coffee shop, where there's lots of different characters that go to coffee shops. So these old men love to go to coffee shops and play chess and talk to you and it's kind of fun. But Coffee shops are a great place to go.

Speaker 2:

But I have one Really big recommendation when it comes to going to cafes and coffee shops, and that's headphones. Bring your headphones, because it can drown out noise. First of all, you can put on some nice Meditation, focus music or something. But it also, even if you're not playing anything in the headphones, it tells other people to leave you alone. So it's sort of a social cue, especially like the big headphones that you can wear. I Always, always. If I'm working at a coffee shop, I always have those suckers on because, as much as I love talking to people and sometimes I'll take them off you know, of course, if I'm taking a break or I'm doing something that doesn't require as much focus. I do love talking to strangers it's one of my quirks but when you got to study, when you have an exam, pop those headphones on. Nobody's gonna bother you.

Speaker 2:

So, okay, let's talk about how to study. Once you sit down for your study session, how should you study? How should you spend that time? So, first of all, you should have everything that you need for that session when you sit down, so you don't have to get up to get anything. So we're talking water, snacks, coffee and, of course, everything that you need to study. Whatever books you need, your laptop, whatever you're using, have everything you need for that session so that you are prepared.

Speaker 2:

Have a plan. Number two is to have a plan. Don't just sit down and say, well, I guess I'll maybe study Fundamentals today, maybe I'll read a chapter, I don't know. No, and I have a whole podcast on this and a whole YouTube series on how to use your planner so you can go back and listen to that. But have a plan when you sit down to study.

Speaker 2:

If you have two hours that you're spending at the library, that is valuable, precious time. Know how you're going to spend that time. So you could say, alright, from 10 to 10 30. I'm going to drill practice questions in ATI or Hesse or Coursepoint, whatever your school uses. I'm going to drill questions from 10 to 10 30 to kind of warm up my brain. Then from 10 30 to 11 30, I am going to review the PowerPoints from Lectures 1, 2 and 3, and then from 11 30 to 12, I'm going to close my session with more practice questions. So that's just one example. Maybe you want to spend the entire two hours Reading the textbook, outlining Chapter one and two, let's say.

Speaker 2:

But whatever it is, have a plan for yourself, know how much time you are working with and how you are spending that time. Okay, you want to eliminate all distractions. So if you are sitting down to study, even if you have 20 minutes, you take your cell phone, put it on silent, put it far away from you, face down, so that it is not even an option for you to look at that thing. So that is number three. Number four is get up and move your body every 30 to 60 minutes. So we've all heard my 27 three rule, where you study for 27 minutes, you're focused on that one thing and then for three minutes you get up and you just do something. You move your body, maybe in a coffee shop or a public library. You're not going to get up and do a crazy dance or run around in circles, but at least get up and move your body for a minute or two and then sit back down again. Don't spend more than an hour sitting in one spot, so you want to just break that focus for a little bit so that you can come back refreshed.

Speaker 2:

So those are the top four on how to study. We've got have everything you need when you sit down, have a plan, eliminate distractions and get up and move every 30 to 60 minutes. So that's all I got for you today, guys, I hope that this helped you with kind of your mindset of how to study, because you cannot approach it with anything other than complete clarity and specificity and you cannot study while you're trying to do other things. It's not a good idea to sit there and have Netflix on and maybe coast through some flash cards. You've got to just get prioritized, get focused and know exactly what you're tackling that day, have a plan, know where you're going and what you are going to do.

Speaker 2:

So until next time, guys, it is my personal mission to help put more great nurses into the world. Thank you for sharing episodes that you love with a friend who could also benefit, and thank you also for your ratings and reviews. It takes just a minute and it really helps put the show in front of more people who may not have found us otherwise. So have an awesome day, guys. I love you. I wish you the best of luck on these finals and I will see you next Thursday. Bye-bye.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for tuning in to the Nursing Student Coach podcast.

People on this episode