Do you really need to know EVERYTHING in nursing school??

That's like the end goal, right, is to be a good nurse. Not just do well on your exams, but to be a good nurse. So in order to do that, we have to think outside of the list of signs and symptoms, right? We have to think, like, what's actually happening and what could be happening and why am I doing these assessments? And so I feel like this part that's missing, where we go from memorizing to having to critically think is, like, the key part of nursing school.

Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Nursing School Show. We are joined again by the the lovely Nicole Palmer. She is our lead nurse here from Nursing sos and my name is Christina Rafano. If we have not met yet. Hello. Welcome to our YouTube channel. So today in this video, we're going to talk about. Do you really need to know everything in nursing school? No. No. I'm pretty sure we all know the answer is no. We think the answer is yes, but the answer is really no. We're going to talk about it today. If you are feeling like you are overwhelmed, you are burned out, you are unmotivated, you're procrastinating on things, if this is where you're at in nursing school, you're just feeling stuck. This video is for you. Because most likely my guess is, is that you are expecting too much of yourself and trying to do all of the things and. No. All of the things in nursing school.

Exactly. Because when you try to do all the things, you only get a little bit of everything.

It's really a problem. It really is. And so, Nicole, why do you think this happens? Why do we do this to ourselves?

I mean, it goes along the lines of we just set these expectations of, like, you go to nursing school and you're like, all right, I'm going to go and I'm going to be this, like, amazing nurse who knows the answers all the time. I never have to ask for help, and I'm like the go to person. And you think that to do that, you have to learn every single thing. And I think we just have that in our heads. Like, we don't think that, like, there's ever going to be help, we're ever going to be able to ask the question and just all these high expectations are set for ourselves when in reality it's not that way at all. And you will constantly be learning. I think that's something that is not stressed enough in nursing school that, like, you learn so much in nursing school and then you learn so much more after nursing school.

Right, Right. It's like, just this, like, little smidgen. And then you have a lifelong learning.

You know, And I feel like if we were actually learning everything in nursing school, we probably wouldn't be as good of nurses as we could be, right?

Probably because we're always. You always are going to be learning. I mean, that's just the reality. Like, you're always going to be learning new stuff. You know, you go to different specialty, new floor, new hospital, new facility, wherever. You're always going to be learning new stuff. And I think just like kind of what you said, we just. We have this high expectation of ourselves. And I think it's like nursing students, right? Like work. We kind of tend to be. Maybe not everybody. Of course, I don't like over generalize it, but a lot of us tend to be that kind of type A personality or where we just. We want to know everything. I find myself doing this where I just. I want to know all of it. Tell me everything. And, you know, I. It's just this. It's just kind of this barrier. And it really hurts you in nursing school a lot because you can't. You cannot. Like you said, you cannot know everything. And if you are trying to study everything and, you know, read the whole textbook and not even you. You're not just assigned one textbook in nursing school. You're assigned all of them.

A whole stack. Like, two feet high. Yeah.

Like, seriously, how did you ever have, like one of those. What do they call them, like, milk crates or crates or bins in your car for your textbooks? Is that what you used?

Yeah, a milk crate, because. And then you could carry it from your car to your house and you're not carrying, literally, like a backpack that weighs 50 pounds. It's instead, like a milk crate, which I'm sure still isn't good for you, but still.

No kidding. But it's way, way better than. I feel like having it on your shoulders. I'd rather carry it in front of you than. But it is so true. Like, your car in nursing school is just packed with textbooks and notes and clinical stuff and all the things. You've got this pile. I mean, it's crazy. Like, the. Our YouTube, like, set right here is right next to me. And so, like the bookshelf. So if you watch our YouTube channel a lot, like, you've seen the bookshelf behind me. Like, these are not textbooks I have collected over the years. These are textbooks I collected during nursing school. Like, those are all my nursing school books that you see behind in all of our YouTube videos. There are so many. It fills a bookshelf.

Yeah.

You cannot, you can't cannot know everything in those textbooks. In the short span of time that we have in nursing school, it's not really. No, I think that we just get caught up in that. And I wish, I wish I could say that there's a good way to stop it. I don't know, Nicole, maybe you have better tips than I do, but I also think that this is kind of the life that this is our life's long work. Right. It's trying to not set so high of expectations for ourselves.

Exactly. And I think that part of it is that you have to, like, trust yourself. You have to trust yourself that you're studying the right stuff and that you know enough about it. Because I feel like that was always my like, barrier where I would be like, no, I just need to, like, study a little bit more. Like, instead of like crossing something off. Because I totally knew it. I'd be like, oh, no, I just need to, like, look at it one more time. And I don't know, was it the same way for you? Like, you, like, would just keep going over things or like, keep reading and just keep going? And it's like, you don't actually have to do that.

Yeah. And you, like, you read. I think for me, maybe specifically, I think other people do this, but maybe this is just a me problem. It makes me feel good to know what I know and to know that I know it. So I reread the same thing over and over and over again. I'm like, yeah, I got this. And then I don't move on to the harder stuff.

Yes.

So it's just, you know, you. You want to know. I mean, of course you do want to know all the things, but I don't want to, you know, I kind of procrastinate on the hard stuff, I guess. And it's just overwhelming you. You get stuck in that. There are way too many textbooks. There's way too much to know. I can't learn it in time before my next week or in three days. And so that really is like pushing up against that barrier of there's so much to know. And now I'm just gonna get caught in overwhelm and I'm gonna procrastinate. I'm not gonna study because I am just so stressed about it.

Yeah.

Type of thing. It's like that, that self fulfilling prophecy. Right. Or that, that spiral of, you know, burnout and overwhelm.

Yeah.

But it's like, okay, like, Nicole, we just talked about this recently on one of our coaching calls, right inside the nursing SOS membership community where it's like, like I said, that self fulfilling prophecy, it's that vicious cycle of, okay, there's so much to study. I want to know everything. Like, I want to be the best nurse I could be. I'm going to try to know everything. And then you get stuck in that and you, you don't pass your next exam because you are trying to. You're not studying efficiently. Y, because you're trying to know everything. Then you don't, you know, don't do as well on your exam as you want to. And then you're not motivated to study for the next exam. Then you don't do well on the next exam. It's like this cycle of terribleness. The cycle of terribleness.

It's true. It really is. Because then you're not motivated to then continue studying because why would you keep studying if you're just doing poorly when in reality we try to like break that? Like, you don't, you need to know a lot, but you don't need to know everything. And I think that's part of the tricky part of like figuring out where exactly you need to go and what you need to learn and where to spend your time.

Yeah, where? Well, we get that question all the time. Like, where do I spend my time? Like, how do I know what to study? And it is. Yeah. So especially coming from a mindset of, well, like A and P. Right. Micro, like the prereqs, where you do have to memorize everything. It's a little bit easier to, you know, just memorize stuff and not have to really critically think about it or think about it at all, really.

You know, you're just mindless memorizing.

Exactly. You're just, you know, memorizing the bones of the body and regurgitating it on an exam. That's not nursing school. Right. So like in amp, it's a lot easier to know everything. Like, sure. You could know all the bones in the body. Sure. You know, in the 10 weeks, like we had to. Right. Like you had to in A and B. That was normal. And then coming from that into nursing school and then suddenly being inundated. Inundated. Did I say that right? I don't know.

So inundated.

Someone check me in the comments. Someone correct me. Oh, well, how Nicole said it is right. You inundated with all of that information that you, you just, you quite frankly, just don't have time for.

Yeah.

You have to study more effectively, more efficiently.

Yep. And I think that's where you get started in that cycle. Because you try what worked for A and P, and you try what worked and what's worked your whole. Basically your whole life. Because a lot of school is just memorizing. Right. We learn how to read, we learn how to memorize. It starts very young.

Right.

You have to, like, break that cycle. Because if you just try to memorize a nursing school, first of all, look at the textbook, like, you are never going to memorize all of it. And when you memorize it, you're not actually able to, like you were saying, apply it, which is what your nursing exams are going to be all about. They're going to be all about that applying and critical thinking and really breaking down what you know and making sure that you know it and not that you memorize the list, but that you know it.

Yeah. Because. Right. Like, Nicole, we were just talking about this, but like, signs and like Santa questions. Right. Of signs and symptoms. Like a select all it apply question. Like, it could ask you the signs and symptoms for a particular disorder, but maybe some of the ones that they list are not ones that you memorize, but they're still correct. And if they weren't on the list that you memorized, then you're kind of out of luck. But if you can critically think through it, if you knew the pathophysiology of that disorder and could apply it to the signs and symptoms and critically think about it, then you're going to do a lot better on that question, you know, so we cannot just spend our time memorizing things and, you know, just trying to know everything. Because that's really what happens is when we her trying to know everything. You spend so much time reading and reading and reading just for the sake of reading your textbook is not helpful for you. You don't have enough time to critically think about it and apply the information that you're learning.

Yeah.

Did you get caught up in this in fundamentals? Yes.

Because fundamentals, I feel like, is that big. It's usually your, like, first class. And you feel like that's when you have to change how you're studying. And it's usually that first exam. And I know we hear it from all our members all the time thing like, I just did terrible. I don't know what to do. I studied so hard. And I never doubt that they studied hard. Right. Because I'm sure all like, I did it too. I studied so hard. And then you just don't do as well as you hope. And it's just because we're spending so much time studying the wrong things because we're. That's how we're used to it.

Right.

Any other test you've taken, you just memorize it. So really retraining your brain and how you're studying is, like, the biggest part of making sure you do well in nursing school.

Yeah, we hear it. So it's so funny. Like, we hear it so often from, like you said, our nursing SOS members where, like, before they join the community, like, they had just failed an exam or something like this happens all the time. So it's like they. They just failed an exam or they can't. They feel like they cannot get traction, and then they join the nursing SOS membership. And then all of a sudden it's like, how do you explain it? It's like gold, you know, it just.

Like, they just, like, skyrocket because they finally understand. Like, oh, I'm supposed to look at this. Like, I'm supposed to learn this, and then I can connect it all together. I feel like that piece was something that I always struggled with. Even, like, I started doing better on exams, but it was always that peace. Like, I could never figure out why I was doing better until, like, probably Med Surg 2, and I was like, oh, I'm actually critically thinking about this stuff. I'm not memorizing it.

Yeah, absolutely. Like, med surg really is where, like, the rubber meets the road and you have to connect everything together. And so many students get caught up in that. Trying to know everything about a disorder is not possible. Like, you cannot know everything. Like, that's the whole point of this video. Right? We just want you to know that you cannot know everything and you will not be able to. And that's okay. You know, if you're in fundamentals or if you're in med surg, or if you're in pediatrics or OB or mental health or critical care or wherever you're at in your nursing school journey. It's okay. You don't have to know everything. It's not possible to know everything. And I think the good news is, is that you can still pass your exams even if you don't know everything. And even, like, the honest truth is that if you try to know everything, you're not going to do well on your exams. But if you focus, if you focus what you're trying to learn, that's when you're going to do so much better on your exams.

Exactly. And I think that's the real difference within the membership and when our members start to see those really big changes is that they're focusing on specific areas for. For their studying, which helps connect it all and pull it all together. And they're not just studying all the signs and symptoms or all the assessments, they're actually understanding why they're doing them and why that's happening, which is going to ultimately make them a better nurse. Because, I mean, not every patient, they're human beings. They're not all going to be like your textbook. That's like the end goal, right, is to be a good nurse, not just do well on your exams, but to be a good nurse. So in order to do that, we have to think outside of the list of signs and symptoms, right? We have to think, like, what's actually happening and what could be happening and why am I doing these assessments? And so I feel like this part that's missing, where we go from memorizing to having to critically think is like the key part of nursing school.

Absolutely. And it's so like, like we were saying before, you cannot just memorize a list. You cannot, cannot do it. It will not work like an amp. Sure it works. Microbiology, sure it works. Biology, chemistry, all this stuff before nurs school, but now we're in nursing school. When you're in nursing school, you've got to bring it all together, critically, think through it and understand it in a way that you can apply it to those case scenario questions, right? Patient situations, patient scenarios. You've got to understand it on a whole nother level. So I do want to mention there, Nicole, like, we have several videos on our YouTube channel. So if you, you know, students are watching now and they're not nursing SS members, on our YouTube channel, we have critical thinking videos, right? We've got a few med surge videos on there. We've got some patho videos, right. So hopefully I can tell Matthew to put up some of the videos somewhere around where we're at. So what do you. So, you know, I'm just gonna point around, like, click on whatever, you know, videos. Yeah. Or check the description description box below. But we will put links to the other videos if you are struggling with critical thinking right now, you know, we have critical thinking videos on our YouTube channel. If you're studying. If you're struggling in med surg, wondering how to study. We do have videos on our YouTube channel for how to study med surge, how to study fundamentals. We've got it all there. So if you're not inside the nursing SS membership community. Check those videos out, because that will really help you if you are a nursing SS member. You know that we've got you covered. So just, yeah, log into your dashboard. You know, we've got all the med search courses. The whole course on fundamentals, fluid and electrolytes. I think that fluid and electrolytes video. Video course is actually my. One of my favorite courses inside there.

So starts to pull it all together. Like, that's where you, like, see it and you're like, oh, okay. Like, you have those big breakthrough moments of like, this is happening because of this.

Yes. And it's like, it's. I think when students try to study anything in nursing school, right. Like we've been talking about, you want to know all of it and you don't know where to start. And I think inside that, you know our courses inside the membership, we do such a great job of paring the information down for. For you so you don't have to study everything. We tell you exactly what to focus on. And it is beautiful. Like you said, like, when our students join, if they really have struggled before, and then they join and then they just skyrocket, like you said, it's just. It's like gold. I love it. So it's just you. You have to take that leap from trying to know everything. You're being that, like you said, kind of that type A personality.

I'm gonna learn it all.

Wanting to know everything about everything. We're kind of in this culture too, of just information overload. Yeah. There's so much we are so used to wanting to know. Like Google. Right. I mean, it's just. It's at our fingertips all the time. Everything, all the knowledge in the universe kind of is. Is like on the Internet. Right. Everything is out there. And we're kind of trained to just want to consume more and more, but that's not helpful. That's not helpful in nursing school. You have to take that leap and apply it.

Yeah. And I think you brought up a good point that I think something that shifts, especially I see it in our members, is that instead of trying to memorize the list of things and feeling like they know everything by memorizing the list, they actually feel like they know everything. When they start asking the questions of, like, well, why does this happen? And they get really deep in that critical thinking. And I remember that as a nursing student as well, being like, wow, like, that's so amazing. But, like, why is this happening? Like, why is there sodium going up and there's all these different changes that you don't. By memorizing a list, you're not going to be able to critically think about it and get to the point where you're, like, really deeply thinking and understanding. And so I feel like when you make that shift to the critical thinking and applying it all, you really feel like you start to learn more. And you do know more. Closer to that. Knowing everything.

Yeah.

You're never gonna get there, but you get a little bit closer.

Yeah. Well, at least, like, you will be more prepared for your exams.

Right.

Because even though they're not going to test you on, of course, everything in the textbook, but you're going to be more prepared because you are going to know more about what is actually on your exam, on it. You're gonna know more about the things that you're actually tested on, which is what a concept nursing school is. So it's just this. It's just this totally new. It's like a game, you know, you have to. You have to figure it out. You have to, like. I don't know what's a good analogy? It's like a little puzzle. You have to play, like, to repeat it all together. Exactly. Yeah.

You're always having new instructors, different ways of teaching. You got to figure out how to work with this class. And it's just kind of like a game, right?

It's like a game. A very not fun game sometimes. Oh, man. Yeah, it's. You know, Nicole, I know we said this on our last YouTube video that we did, but we just want these videos to be helpful for students in the way that is, like, just as nursing students, we feel so alone. Right. Oftentimes. And I know that you and I, like, we just want nursing students to not feel like they're alone. Right. And it's. It's hard because, you know, you look around your class and it feels like everyone else understands more than you do. Everyone else knows something you don't. You know, they're all doing. You always feel like everyone's doing better than you are, and you're one step behind that. You're exactly that. You're one step. You always feel like you're one or 17 steps behind. No kidding. Yeah. And so, you know, just for all the nursing students watching, you know, we want you to know you are not alone. It is totally normal to want to know all the things about all the things in nursing school, and that's okay. But just constrain yourself, you know, constrain yourselves to the things that matter, the things that you will be tested on. Right. And so like we said, if you need help with study tips, if you need help with critical thinking, if you need help with med surg or fundamentals or what have you, you know, we have those videos there for you on our YouTube channel. You can search in YouTube. Just search our channel. Or, you know, in the YouTube search bar, you can type in nursing SOS, you know, pharmacology or nursing SOS critical thinking or nursing SOS study tips. It'll pop up there for you. Now, if you're a nursing SOS member, of course, you know, we have the whole nursing school study system inside the community for you. We've got, you know, I don't even know how many med surg videos we have. It's. I. We have so many. Like, we walk you through everything you have to know in nursing school. We walk you through it step by step. Check it out. It's going to make it so much easier. Like, I can't even. I get so excited talking about it because it's just incredible. It's an incredible resource for you as you go through school.

Yep. It's something I wish I had.

Me too.

It's something that, like, you just having someone tell you that you're studying the right things and that you're spending your time where it's going to matter really makes all the difference. And it makes studying that much easier because you're not questioning, like, is this going to be on the test? Because you know, it will be.

Absolutely. It will be. Trust me. Yeah, yeah. The things that we teach you, exactly what you need to know inside the community. And yeah, you need to know that stuff. Not all the stuff from your textbook. Don't read the whole book. It's a waste of time. Oh, man. Do you have any last minute thoughts, Nicole? Anything you want to leave our students with?

I mean, just like you said, like, we. We all feel this way, right? We all go into it feeling like I'm going to learn every single word in this textbook and I'm going to ace every single exam. And if you get that way and you get acing every exam, then that is awesome. But if you feel like you're not doing as well as you want to do, you're not alone in feeling that way. Like you. You're not doing something wrong. We just need to shift where we focus your attention.

Yep. That. That is actually great, actually. Now I just want to keep going. So I just. Sorry. Sorry, everybody. Not quite. Christina's not quite done yet. I think that is actually a really good point. That it's not. It's not you. You know, like, it's not. Don't feel like you're doing it wrong or like you're a bad person or like you're a failure. Right. It's just if you don't feel like you're getting the grades that you think you should be getting, it doesn't mean that you're a failure.

Yeah.

It just means that we need to refine your study strategy a little bit. And so don't think that it's this big problem that, you know, like, that you're the problem or that, you know, don't think bad things about yourself at all. Like, it just, you know, you just need a different study strategy. That's it. And so that's what we're here to help you with.

So, yeah.

There you go. We are here for you. 100 so friends, we will see you next time. I love having Nicole on here. Thank you so much for doing these videos. I think they've been so helpful for students. The feedback that we've gotten from these YouTube videos has been amazing. So we're really glad to help. Thanks for being here, Nicole.

Of course.

Bye, everybody. We'll see you next time.