How to Take Notes in Nursing School

Do you ever sit in your lecture class frantically scribbling down every word of what your instructor says? Then when you leave class, you have no idea what actually happened. Well, my friend, that ends today. I'm going to walk you through the best way to take notes in nursing school so you can remember things faster and pass your exams. Let's do it. The first step to taking super effective notes is to plan ahead onto how you will take notes and what you need to bring. If you are able to print off your lecture slides like PowerPoints beforehand and write directly on those, definitely do that. I would print them out just like this with three slides on one side and then a note taking section on the other side. This is how I recommend that you do it. That way you won't need to rewrite everything on the PowerPoint that your instructor is going over in class and you won't miss anything. So if your instructor gives you the slides beforehand, make sure to print them off. I like to do it this way. Now the only other things that you will need are two different color pens. And if you don't have access to lecture slides, that's totally fine. Don't freak out about it. It's fine. Just plan on taking a blank notebook with you to class along with a pen. No need to worry. That is good enough. Now here is what to do before class so you can be successful. So before class, take a peek at your lecture slides. Go through the assigned reading and focus on the bold words, the charts, the pictures. Just skim it, focusing on what you're inst instructor is going to talk about in lecture from the PowerPoint. Now if you can come up with any questions you already have, great, fantastic. Jot them down. If not, just familiarize yourself with what you will be learning about in class. Now, during class, here's what you'll do. Take notes using one color of patent. I'll tell you why this is really important in just a minute and take notes on everything your instructor is saying. If they drop any hints about your exams and what might be on the test, put a star next to it. If they outline any key points or talk about one thing for a super long time, you know it's important, so make a note of it. Try to write down as much information that they say as possible. Anything you learn in class and make sure that you leave space around the sides of the slides. Or later, I'll tell you why that's important in just a minute. So printing out the slides like I did, I always like to write my in class, notes here on the lines and I would leave space around the edges. Now, if you're using notebook paper, only fill up half of the page with notes and leave the second half blank. Now, this part is something we don't talk about very often, but it could be a total game changer when it comes to making sure you have comprehensive notes. You are going to need a buddy for this part, but after class, compare notes with them and fill in any gaps that either of you may have missed. Now, it's really important that your notes from class be super comprehensive because your instructors most likely know what you're going to be tested on and they will most likely test you on those things. So using an app like Google Docs allows you or another person to be on the same page with your notes and make sure that you have it all, keep it all organized, make sure everyone has all the notes. Now, I can't stress this enough how important this is to have good notes from class. And having a buddy or buddies to help make sure you're not missing anything can be super, super helpful. Now. All right, before we keep going, if you're a Nursing Essence member, make sure to head on over to your dashboard and click on the Study Success course where I walk you through my entire step by step study process, including how to study after class and then how to study for finals too. So if you're not a Nursing SS member yet, you absolutely must join. It is going to change the game for you in nursing school. It is so, so great. So there's a link down below in the description for you to check out all of the details. You do not want to miss it. Now my friend, this is the secret that will save you so much time studying after class, focus on reading the sections of the book that your professors talk about in class. Now, I know it's hard to focus on just those things. I know. But I've told you again and again and again, this is the most effective way to study. Think about this. Your instructor is the one who will most likely be creating your exams or they will at least know what's on your exam. So they're going to cater their teaching to the main points that you will be tested on. So don't waste your time time reading every word in the textbook. Instead, focus on the topics you talk about in class and those notes that you took in class. So you aren't going to read every single word in the textbook, right? Instead, you are going to find the sections of the book that correspond to what you learned about in class. Read those sections of the book. Take notes on them on that same paper that you took notes on in class, but using a now a different colored pen. Now, do you remember when I told you that you need to have one color pen when you take notes in class and only fill up half the page? Well, here's why these two things are super important. When you get home, you're going to take notes from your textbook using a different color pen than you did in class, and you will write it in the leftover space. Now, like I said, I always wrote notes from the textbook on the side margins and the notes in class on the lines. Now, this does two major things for you. It allows you to keep all of your notes in one place. And then second, it lets you see exactly where your notes came from, what came from the instructor, and what notes came from the textbook. Remember what we talked about? Your nursing instructors will often test you most on what you covered in class. So those are the notes that you're going to want to study the most. The textbook notes are helpful to give you more understanding and context about it. But it's important to keep these two notes separate so you know to prioritize studying the things that your instructor talked about in class. Your time is too valuable to read the textbook just for the sake of reading the textbook, right? So focus on what your instructors talked about in class and start critically thinking about it. Okay, now, if you're not totally convinced yet, think about this. Will there be some random, obscure questions that your instructor pulls out from the Footnote on page 912? Yes. But the time that it will take you to read the whole book, you won't have time to critically think about it, my friend. And will your nursing school exam test you on how well you memorize things from the textbook? Of course not. They're going to test you on how well you critically think about it. So trying to read the whole book is a waste of time that you should be spending critically thinking about the info that you're learning about. Now, if you want the step by step study process for how to critically think in nursing school, be sure to snag this free cheat sheet after you watch this video. Now, the link is down below for you to snag it. Awesome. You're going to love it now, my friend. Then, after you're done taking all your notes, put that textbook away and start studying from those notes. Make flashcards. Draw pictures and notes on a whiteboard. Fill in concept maps. Answer practice questions. Do anything that's going to help you remember the information and help it come together for you to critically think about it. Like we said, if you're a nursing assessment member, dive into the resources. Watch the videos inside the community on that topic that you're learning about. We break it down for you in simple step by step processes to make sure that you are able to fully understand the concept and critically think about it. We give you the key points that you need to know and we connect them to help you critically think which is going to be so important when it comes to your nursing school exams. So all you will have to do as a nursing SOS member is login. Find the topic. Let us explain it to you. It takes the guesswork out of figuring out what is important and what you need to learn. It's all there laid out for you already. Now one other tip. If your professor allows you to record class do it. Then you can go back re listen to the recordings and take notes again and make sure that you caught everything. This will also help you learn the material, listening to it again and again and again. And like I just mentioned, critical thinking is everything. It is the next part of this. You have to be able to critically think to pass your nursing school exam. So click on this video right here to walk you through exactly how to do that and go become the nurse that God created only you to be. And I will see you over there in that next video.