MAR 13 LIVE SHOW | The Nursing School Show | ASK US ANYTHING!
Christina Rafano and Matthew answer nursing school questions live. They explain why practice questions matter for HESI, ATI, and NCLEX exams, and stress that mindset beats grinding. They cover failing classes, career-change anxiety, and how to stop treating study work like busywork.
Chapters
Happy Monday everyone. Hi. Good morning, friends.
We're back.
Hopefully you guys had a great weekend. Great week last week. We are back on our lives. Welcome everyone. For those just joining, we are Nursing School of Successroom.
Nursing School show.
Nursing School show.
What are we?
What are we? We're nursing sos. Yeah.
Who has a cooler name?
Post down below if you have a cool name for our Ask Us Anything show. Ask me anything. And by me, I mean Christina. So that's Christina.
Hello.
This is Matthew.
Nice to meet you.
Hello. Happy Monday.
Good morning.
We are here to help you guys get through nursing school. Thrive in nursing school. Have a fun time in nursing school.
Hi, Leah.
Fill in the blank in nursing school.
Good morning.
Go ahead and shoot us any questions that you have about nursing school and we are here to answer them. Welcome. We do lives every Monday and Wednesday.
Hi, Margaret.
Usually we did not do a Wednesday one last week.
We were under the weather, sick. Well, I was sick.
I am now under the weather.
But we are here, so.
So hello and welcome. Anyone else feeling a little under the weather? A little down?
Actually I talked about that on Instagram last week and a bunch of people said they were sick. So I really think that it's, it's like a thing. Hey, do you guys feel like you get sicker in nursing school than you did before?
That's a great, great question.
I got sick all the time in nursing school and that's really not fun.
Hello. Hello. Sean from the uk. Let us know also where you're joining from.
Yep.
So yeah, that's a great question. Do you guys feel like you were getting more sick in nursing school and why do you think that could be?
It's just the sleep.
And do you guys feel kind of down under weather now? I am curious because I do.
Leah, just put your question in the chat and we will get to it. We will do our best to get to it. We do have a list of questions from last week that we didn't get to yet. Can you write down Brooke's question?
Brooks question?
Test taking strategy.
All right. Yes, we'll definitely get.
So today you guys, I want to talk a little bit about the NCLEX and the HESI and how to remember information we didn't get that I didn't answer that last week. So yeah, man, I just feel like this has been such a crazy time because, well, our baby got what, four teeth in like a week and a half and then the no sleep that comes with that and then we all got sick. It was like a like cold flu. Thing because everyone had fevers. Some of us were throwing up, some were not throwing up. I mean, and it's tough when you have, like a big family. It takes a long time for it to get through everyone.
You know what?
That's the craziest thing.
That's a really interesting way that you put it when you have a big family. And I think I'm still kind of wrapping my head around that, that we.
I think we have a big family.
We can consider ourselves to be a big family now. And I think that that has not really hit me yet.
No. So that's fun because you grew up with just.
Yep. I just grew up with myself and an older brother.
Yeah. So there were just two of you.
Yep.
We have more than that.
We.
We do have more than that, I think. Yeah. It just takes. It takes a while for it to work itself out of the family. It's the craziest thing. So it does. It like, extends it.
I am a pharmacist student. So you can share your experiences of.
Yeah, I'm not a pharmacist, for the record. And actually the most wonderful thing about nursing school that I thought was amazing was that we don't have to know all the nuances and all the ins and outs of all the medications. Like, we need to know the nursing stuff. And we're so good at teaching that you guys, like, I don't think anybody teaches pharmacology like we do. We have such an amazing process for teaching pharmacology. We. For nursing students, it's amazing. But thankfully, I'm. I'm just very thankful that I am not a pharmacist because I do not want to know all the pharmacy stuff. So, Mr. Pharmacist out there. Good for you.
That's funny.
Yep.
Amber, first year student.
Hello.
Hello, Hello. Welcome. Do you have any interesting school questions? Shoot them in the comments below. Yeah. Let's go ahead and get started with some of these questions. Which one do you want to do first? He. Nclex Test taking strategies or what was the other one that you want to do?
Remembering information.
Remembering information.
See how to remember stuff.
How to remember stuff.
Let's start with. Let's start with hesi.
Hesi. All right, so we had some questions last week. Let me know if these questions are your questions as well. How to study for HESI exit exams or just testing in general.
Yeah. Okay. Raise your guys's hand. Read or like put emoji. Emoji emojis. Y' all know that the turtle is my favorite Emoji right now. Put up turtle. Someone put up a turtle emoji. Put up a turtle emoji if you are a hussy or an ATI program. Okay? And I, I put those two together because they're so similar. Like, so so many students come to us and they're like, you have a video on ATI or you have a video on hesi, but does it work for the other one? Like, I see your video on hesi. Do you have one for ati? They're basically the same thing. Okay, so what it is, what HESI or ATI is, if you are not familiar with them, those are just like curriculum. Like, think of them as curriculum that your nursing school uses. Okay. To teach you what you need to know. So they come with the ati, comes with books. He comes with, like, a lot of online modules and slides and PowerPoints and stuff like that. So does ATA. ATI has online resources, quizzes, tests, practice questions. So does the hesi. So they're think of them as like, curriculum, and also they're a test bank. So what your school is going to do, they could either do one of two things. They could teach you from the ATI curriculum and then write their own tests for you to take. So, like, your nursing instructors write your exams, or they could teach you from the ATI curriculum and then use the ATI test bank questions. Same thing with hesi. Use the HESI curriculum. Use the HESI questions.
Or, you know, so those are the, the two top ones, right? HESI and ati. As far as the standardized curriculum, are there any others out there?
Yeah, there's about a thousand.
Kaplan.
Kaplan.
Kaplan.
Kaplan's the first one that comes to mind. Are you guys okay? Who's in a different program, like a different curriculum? Because. Yeah, Kaplan, Hussey, ATI, UWorld. I've been told that actually, so UWorld, when I was in nursing school, to my knowledge, that just used to be a, like an NCLEX prep program. So, like, when you graduated, you used uworld. But now I've been told by some nursing students that they actually use it in school. So their school actually uses it, which is really interesting.
Yeah. So let us know which curriculum, if any, standardized curriculum does your school use? So ATI, HESI, Kaplan, UWorld or other or none. Yeah.
Yep. It's just. It's so common. So really the first thing I want to say about HESI and ATI that's going to help you be so, so successful is friends. You have to do the practice questions that they Give you. It sounds like busy work. I promise you it will come back to you tenfold. Do the practice questions. So there's a couple of benefits for doing the practice questions for HESI and ati. I'm going to tell you a secret. Okay? You're ready for it. So many schools give you the HESI or ATI practice question, like database online, so you have access to that as you study, which is great for helping you understand the information and really obviously, like, learn the content better. But also, here's the secret, you guys that nobody talks about is that they will actually repeat those questions on the actual exam. So come on, we have heard. I have heard it over and over and over from nursing students. Do the practice questions. Do the practice questions. Do the practice questions. Have you guys found this to be true if you're in an ATI or HESI program? Have you found this to be true? If you do the practice questions, they will show up again on your exam. They might not be worded exactly the same, but they're going to be similar. It's pretty wild.
Yeah. I mean, that's the thing about test banks or curriculum, right? Or just like, almost automated. Like, there's a bunch of questions and the computer is just going to randomly pick some out in order for them to be efficient with their time as well. They're going to use the same concepts or, or same even wording or even the same questions over and over again and slightly different things. So, yeah, by doing the practice questions, you get used to the way they ask things, which is kind of why we also say to do a lot of NCLEX practice questions as well. So you get used to how they ask questions and also you get used to their questions, which may pop up again.
Yes. And there's so HESI and ati, you guys. So here's the thing about, like, the nclex. So we can kind of pivot to that too. They're very similar. So the NCLEX is a test bank too. HESI and ati, y'. All, if you are in a HESI or ATI program and you are doing fine on your exams, if you are passing your exams, you are going to do just fine on the nclex. Like we tell students all the time, like, do not freak out, okay? Like nursing students, we tend to be like type A personality, right? Like, we get a little nervous, we get a little anxious about things. We want to know everything about everything. But the thing is, when you are in a HESI or ATI program, they do A fabulous job. Fabulous job of preparing you for the nclex. It's very similar, so don't freak out about it. Okay, so we're doing those practice questions, Caitlin.
Yes, I noticed that our honor test, it's pretty much the same as the modules.
Yes.
Yeah. Modules.
That's a good 100%. Yeah, Caitlin, spot on.
So if you're in that curriculum or if your school uses a curriculum or a test bank yet.
Yeah, Brooke, you're talking about Prep U. Same thing.
Definitely, definitely go through the practice questions. Like Christina said, it may seem like a waste of time, but it is not.
Yes. Especially like, well, Caitlin, you just said those modules. Right. Okay, so here's the thing, you guys. When you get all this stuff from your instructor, it seems so overwhelming. Like, there's so much.
Right.
But I am telling you, don't think of it as busy work. Like, back in the. A little while ago, I was talking to a nursing student who, like, didn't do any of it for her first exam. And she's like, christina, I thought it was all busy work. It's not. Because when you get to your exam, it's gonna be the same thing. It's crazy. It's so wild. It's so crazy.
Yeah. And maybe that's another slight pivot, but just something that we talk about a lot is having the right mindset. Having the right mindset about things. Because if you think that it's busy work, if you think that it's useless, then you're not gonna put enough effort into it. You're not gonna regret. You're going to just pick random answers and say, well, whatever, it doesn't really matter.
Yep.
But if you change your mindset, because we're telling you right now, it is useful, it will come back. So if you change your mindset and not think that it's useless or that it is just busy work, and instead think that, oh, this is great additional practice. Oh, this is getting me ready for the exams. I need to remember this information because it's popping up in these practice questions. So they think it's important information to know to be a good nurse. So let's think about it that way. So if you replace your mindset to. Instead of being useless to be useful, then you will put your effort into it. You'll remember it better and you'll study more.
100%. Yes. It really is like, it's so funny because, like, doing practice questions, nursing students, oftentimes you want this, like, magical test bank that has. Is like, where your School pulls from. And so yes, HESI and ATI could be. You know that they use that test bank. Right. But really what I want you to be thinking about with practice questions is that they're not just so that you can find this magical test bank out there that has the exact same questions for your exam as what you practice. That's not the point. The point is two things. You learn the content more and you understand how they actually ask the questions. And that's what HESI and ATI are so great at doing, is when you're in a Hessie and ATI program, you're not only learning the content, but you're also kind of like rewiring your brain for how they ask these questions. It's very different than like the question questions you were asked in amp or microbiology or biology, all your prereqs and stuff. Right. Nclex questions are very. Are worded very differently. And so the more practice you get with answering those types of questions, the better off you're going to be for your exam. I really like this questions. Are you people a couple or.
Yeah.
So Aiden, Aiden, why does everyone ask us that?
So, yes, we are a couple.
I guess I assume that everyone knows us already, but no, we are married.
We are married. But I am also curious what, what the alternative is that you put in. Because it's like the two emojis and like, is that like a high hand or. I don't, I don't know what the alternative is to us being couple or.
Is like a couple. That word couple is kind of funny. Yeah.
We are married.
We are a couple.
We're a couple of.
We've been married for like almost a decade. Up top. Boom. Check that out. Friends. So fun.
Lee. Leah. Leah, you're still on. On Instagram. You're. You had a question that kind of relates to this a little bit because we were talking about your mindset and it taking too much time to do test questions and that tangentially has your question in it. So let's go with that. Your question is what does it mean for a student to fail three classes by the end of their program? And then you also said I feel like prep U and ETI took so much of my time. So I think you're saying that it took up so much of your time that you didn't have time to study other things and that could be a reason. And then you also let us know that you have two classes left and you have to appeal. So there's a lot in there.
So, okay, Leah, it's really interesting that you use that wording. I want you to answer that question. What does it mean? What does that mean for you? What does it mean that you may fail three classes? What does that mean for you? When we do. When I do coaching with our nursing SS members, I don't let them go with unanswered questions in your brain. Your brain loves unanswered questions. Your brain loves the what if? You know, what if this happens? What if this happens? Am I gonna fail? Will I be accepted again? What if they don't allow me back in? What if I have to find another program like the what if questions? What if. Let's answer those. When you answer those for your mind, your mind will calm down. It's a pretty amazing thing. So, Leah, what does it mean? What does it mean that you failed three classes? So I know where Matthew and I stand. Like, it's totally up to you. You get to decide what that means for you. It doesn't have to mean anything negative. You don't have to beat yourself up about it. You don't have to make it mean anything bad or negative about yourself. It can just be a fact. I failed three classes. So what? Moving on now, you know, I'm going to appeal. I'm going to get accepted again. I'm going to find another school, whatever. Like, that's. That's it. We've coached. I've coached a lot of students over the years on this exact thing where you fail a class, have to appeal, get back accepted into your program, and really, the. The biggest sticking point is that question, what if I fail again? But the thing is, my friend, what I always tell students is that you already understand half the content. Now you just need to learn the other half. Like, there's a reason that you got whatever grade you did. Let's say you understand you got a 50% in your class or 60% in your class, you understand 50 or 60% of the content. Now, when you get accepted again, we're just going for the other 50 or 40%, right? That's it. You just have to do it, do it again. That's no big deal, right? There's really no loss there. So it's that shift in perspective, really. Failing a class, failing a term does not mean anything until you tell yourself it means something, right, jb don't go.
Anywhere because we're doing you next as far as coaching. All right, let's do it. So, yeah, I like your question, JB So we're gonna. We're gonna jam on that here a little while. It is similar. Okay.
Solid.
Yeah. But again, it is really just like what we talked about a little earlier. It's. It's that shift in mindset. What mindset will. Will help you the most to push you forward to what your goals are.
Yes.
And it's. It's really hard because you do think negative thoughts a lot and the default to go to the negative, so. Oh, I failed through classes. What does that mean? Like you said, you have that unanswered question. What does that mean?
Yes.
Does that mean that I'm a failure? No. Does it mean the fact is that you just failed a couple classes? I. I like what Christina said. Oh, you already know a lot of the content. You just need that little bit more. You did not get a zero on your class. Right. So you learn something. So mindset of. I learned this much already. I want to be the best nurse I can. Let me really focus on this other stuff and get it done. And again, at the end of the day, it's really just helping you prepare to be the nurse that you want to be.
Yes. Yes.
So what are those mindset shifts, those changes to get the results that you want.
So there is a phrase that we coach our students on, and I just always recommend I got it from my life coach. Maybe Matthew started too. Is the so what? Like, so what? Have you heard this one?
I think you've told me that. I told you that you've told me so what? I'm not sure if it's in the same context, but yes.
So what? So, okay, so here's the thing. Anytime your brain gives you a question, right? What if I fail? You're like, what if I fail? Answer the question. Do not let your brain spin around with unanswered questions. It will just increase your anxiety, increase your stress. Not helpful for you. You have to answer the question. So what you can do is write out, literally write out on a paper, write out all your questions, what if I fail? What if I can't get accepted in another nursing school? What if, what if, what if, what if, what if? Right. So answer all those questions and ask yourself, so what? So what if I fail? So what if I fail three classes? So what if I fail out of the program? Then what? Well, I'll just apply to another one. Like, I just coached one of our members on this a couple weeks ago. She's like, what if, what if I fail? Like, so what? So what if you fail? You just apply again, you try again, you try Again, you try again. Friends, here's the thing with nursing school. It is such a mental game. It is not really about study strategies. The thing is, you're not going to study effectively or productively if your mindset is trash. All right? This is exactly what Matthew was just saying. If you're stressed, you're feeling overwhelmed, you are not going to focus on studying. Like, I can give you all the study strategies in the world. You are not going to utilize them effectively if your mindset is trash.
Right?
If you are just all in this space of like, I can't do it, all these unanswered questions, right? That's not helpful for you. Like, I love giving you study strategies day in and day out. That's great. But you've got to get your mind right so that you can actually apply those study strategies. Right? Because this is the key. Really, this is the key. And this is why we do coaching in our membership community, because it's so powerful.
So a couple things. If you find this useful or helpful, be sure to follow or hit subscribe, hit the bell. If you're on YouTube, follow, I think on Instagram or whatever so that you're notified when we do our lives and other content. For example, we post YouTube videos every week, and the one that I'm posting later on today is the question, what do you do when nursing school gets hard?
Yes.
It's basically what we've been talking about, so be sure to check that out when it posts. So if you're on YouTube, hit Subscribe, hit the bell so you're notified when that goes up. Also, isn't coaching fun? Christina does a lot of coaching and we'll be doing a lot of coaching with our members. So we do have a membership community that Christina actually gets on calls with people and coaches them through on video mindset stuff.
So, like, you'll be on video with me and we're having a conversation in real time and I'm coaching you through all of the mental drama that your brain creates.
So if you find it helpful, if you think that, that that will be helpful for you, go ahead and take a look at that. Currently our enrollment is closed, but it will be opening again soon. So go ahead. NurseSchoolSuccess.com join to join the VIP list and you'll be the first to know when it opens.
Yes.
That being said, let's jump into.
That's funny. Leah, you said. I'm sorry, I'm back. We just answered your question. You gotta go watch the replay. Sorry, it was so Good, though. Leah, you've gotta go back and watch the. The replay. The replay will be up on YouTube. Well, it'll also be up on Instagram, but YouTube is a better place to watch.
Yeah, you can kind of back up.
You can forward and back up and stuff on YouTube anyway.
All right.
You'll find it. It was a fabulous answer. Leah, watch the replay, okay? It's gonna help you so much.
And stick around because we're answering JB's question, which is related.
Similar.
Similar. So, JB, you ready?
You ready?
Any tips on how to change up my study skills as a career changer? Coming into nursing? I'm so nervous that I. Okay, so here's a couple things. I'm so nervous that I will get in and fail because I won't be able to shift my mindset and study skills. And then you also said, I'm also very nervous that ABSN programs are not for me because everyone seems type A.
Yes. I love that. That's so funny, jb, that you mentioned that. So. Okay, I actually want to talk about that first.
First.
Jb, this is so funny. Yes, everyone's type A. And that's the problem. There, I said it. So, okay, if you are not type A and you're going to nursing school, oh, friend, you are gonna have such an easier time. It's just. I mean, like, I can't even imagine Matthew going to nursing school. So. Matthew's not a nurse.
I am not. I'm not a nurse, nor am I type A.
There you go. I am a nurse. I am type A. If he went to nursing school, jb, he would just do so much better than. He's very analytical. He's very, like, into the, like, numbers. And. And just, like, he doesn't get caught up in the drama, right? He doesn't get caught up in, like, the brain mindset, like, everything we were just talking about, right? He doesn't get caught up in that. Like, the, oh, what if I fail? Or, like, what if I don't pass? Or, like, all this stuff. Like, he just studies. Like, that will. I mean, you have studied in college. If you went to nursing school now, you would study. But it's like, he doesn't get caught up in that, like, the brain drama.
Yeah. High type A. High, high stress.
He's not.
I'm not that way.
No, no. He sleeps at night, you guys. I don't even know what that's like.
And yes, I mean, a lot. It's interesting because a lot of times, if you hear out there, it Almost sounds like Type A is always put on pedestal, especially in today's, like, culture. And like, I need to be ultra productive. And if hustle and grass. Yeah. If I'm not working 23 hours a day and getting an hour of sleep, then something's wrong.
You're doing it wrong.
And I just need more caffeine or something like that. Type A is really put on a pedestal nowadays that you really need to grind. Right. And I think I feel that way too, that I kind of left out, but that that is not healthy. And as long now, obviously it's not healthy the other way either.
Right. Like, not do anything.
Yeah. Just lay around and binge watch everything all the time, every day. Yeah. That's not okay either. So we're not saying that. But definitely there is a. There's a sense of priority set to Type A people nowadays and extreme Type A's. So we definitely want to hit the balance in the middle there. And so just that you're not a Type A does not mean that you're not going to do well in nursing school. Like Christina said, a lot of times you'll probably fare better because that stress, that high anxiety is not going to get to you. And there's a lot of work in nursing school. There's a lot of work that you need to do and to be able to just sleep and get the sleep you need and kind of turn that off. That. That does help.
Yes.
So don't worry that you're not a Type A. You're not the only one. Like you just said, you're not the only one. And again, mindset shift. Right, right, right. You don't need to be a Type A to succeed. So just change that mindset a little bit there.
100%. I. JB, it's so. I love that you asked this question because it's fabulous. I just. I personally, I think you're gonna do so, so much better than your classmates. And you'll notice it too. Like, I seriously, like, when I went through nursing school, Matthew's like, why are you freaking out? Like, I don't know, crying. You know, it's just. It's. It's a. It's a different. It's just a different, like, threshold of energy. I don't know, like, anxious energy. I don't know how to explain it, but, like, I have a very high, like, energy, like, anxiety level. Like, it's very high typically. And he just doesn't have that. And so that allows him to sleep. That allows him to be more productive. Oftentimes, do you hear the children? Daddy always calling for daddy. That allows Matthew to, like I said, get more sleep, just be more productive because he's not obsessed with the brain drama in his mind. Right? And so, gb, I think you're gonna do so, so well. And what I want to tell you about, like, stuff, study, study skills. Like, those things are so easy to learn. Like, yes, Nursing school requires a different study strategy, a different study process. And we teach you all that. Like, you're on YouTube now. Check out our channel. Like, we've got tons of study videos on there to walk you through how to do it. And actually, if you get inside our membership community, like, we're going to walk you through step by step, how to study. Like YouTube. We have a lot of tips on there. And inside our membership, we literally break it down for you step by step. So we tell you what to do, what to do next, what to do next, what to do next, all of that. So we literally hold your hand through everything inside our membership community. Highly recommended. We also have tutors and all that. So if you ever get stuck, like, you guys, I know this is the middle of the term right now. This is a tough season, right, where you've got midterms, you've got exam after exam after exam, you've got finals coming up in a few weeks. Ah, like this. This is the craziest time in nursing school. If you need help, get help, right? We are here to help you. Like, we are here to hold your hand through everything. So definitely join the VIP list to get inside the community. It's going to change everything for you guys. Like we said, coaching, like, I do coaching with our students. We have nursing tutor hours. We have our tutor form. It's just incredible. Like, you get tons, hundreds, literally, of step by step nursing lectures. But it's not just that. It's not like, we give you a video and tell you to figure it out yourself. That is absolutely not what we do. We are literally here to hold your hand through everything. All right? We tutor you, we tell you exactly what you needed to know. All of it. It's so, so great. So, jb, I hope that helped. Thinking of joining. Good. I'm so glad you both are so helpful. Thank you. I'll be applying this spring. Yes. So exciting. And so, like you said, jb, like, an accelerated BSN and ABSN program. It is fast. Like, it is fast, but, like, study strategies are only, like 30% of the game, you know, 70% of the game is all of the brain Stuff that comes along with it like we been talking about. It's so, so important.
Did you talk about his first part?
Yeah, the study strategies? Yeah.
The career changer. I've found that with the career changing, I'm not, I'm not sure what career you're coming from and going to, but again, just, we won't dive into it too much. But just like I said, the, what we've been saying, the mindset shifts. Right. And then instead of saying that, I, I'm not sure if I'll be able to shift my mindset to study skills, think what, maybe, maybe what can you bring from your previous career that's about.
Yeah, that's a good one.
That will help you in nursing school.
Yeah, yeah.
So.
And there's a lot. Yeah, there's a lot.
Yeah. We have a lot of people that are switching careers or they're LPNs and.
Then continuing on or they're entrepreneur. Like they're, they own a business now with their spouse and then they're going to nursing school.
School.
Or they, what was it? We had like an engineer inside our membership community. She was an engineer and now she's going to nursing school. So. Yeah, all the whole, the whole spectrum. It happens all the time.
Yeah.
Yep. Leah, new nclex. Okay. When was it?
Or I guess we, we've, we've talked on and off about NCLEX and the new NCLEX on different lives that we have.
I think there's one I found it last week with for our members because our members were asking. I think it's the one from August. It's like our most comprehensive one. So Leah, if you go back on our YouTube channel to our lives, find the NCLEX one from August of last year. Pretty sure it's August. I'm like 99% sure. That is going to break everything down for you.
Yeah, so we talk about that. A lot of people have questions about the NCLEX and nervous about the new NCLEX because it's new and unknown or less known rather than the existing one. And again, since we're jaming on it, let's just talk about it. It's mindset stuff. Don't let that mindset bog you down or use an excuse of oh, it's brand new. So I don't know what to do. No, I mean if you know the nursing content, you know nursing content, it doesn't matter in what form they're going to ask you, you'll know it. So yeah, if you want more information, then definitely look at the August one. So on YouTube. YouTube.com nursing SOS, there's a little live tab that has all our lives, and there's a lot of them, so you'll need to scroll a little bit, but, yeah. It's one in August, you said.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is so great, JB read that. I manage a team of 10 people right now, and I think I can bring something to nursing. No, duh. Not to be sassy. That's so funny. Social science is a nonprofit. Are you kidding me? You are perfect. Oh, it's gonna be so, so great. You're gonna do fabulous. I love that. Manage a team of 10 people. Yeah. You're gonna be a fabulous nurse. Are you kidding me? Hello, Aliyah. On my books as I watch in level two now. Yeah, this is not for the faint of heart. Yes. Yes. Oh, this is so good. Actually, your question kind of spins on the other one. We got how to remember information that we said we were talking about.
Okay. How to remember information. Let's jam on that. Where is it?
Right there.
Oh. How to remember information. And your.
This one from Aaliyah. Can you give us simple things on ways to effectively study or grasp the content? Okay, so definitely go back and watch the rest of this life, because we talk about mindset, and you have to get that set first. Like I said, you cannot study if your brain is trash. Okay? If you are just beating yourself up, if you are spinning an anxiety and you're just, like, overwhelmed and unmotivated and just all the things, you're not going to study effectively, and I can give you all the study strategies in the world. They're not going to help you if your brain is trash. Okay? So that's number one. Number two, yes. Let's jam on study strategies. The. The number one key to studying in nursing school is you cannot focus on memorizing things. Right? Your nursing exams are not going to test you on how well you memorize a list of stuff. They're going to test you on how well you critically think about it, right? So critical thinking is where you are literally connecting the dots between what you're learning. You're connecting the pathophysiology to the side symptoms to the nursing assessment and the nursing interventions. Like, you understand why we do the nursing interventions the way we do. You understand why we assess a patient in the way that we do. You understand why you're giving this medication. You understand how it works. You understand how a particular disorder works in the body and what signs and symptoms stem from that. Okay. You have to make that leap from memorization to critical thinking. And actually, now that you mention it, now that I mentioned it, now that you mentioned study tips, I'm going to throw a cheat sheet at you. We have a free critical thinking cheat sheet. Totally. Download it. It's going to help you so, so much. So the link is in my bio. If you're on Instagram, the link is in my bio to the critical thinking cheat sheet.
Oh, I guess I can put that in for YouTube in the comments.
You can put it in the chat. It's. It's just nursingschoolofsuccess.com forward slash, critical thinking. That's it. That's a forward slash, right? Not a backslash. Yes, I think critical thinking. Yeah, that's spelled right.
Okay, there you go.
Nice.
So on YouTube, it's in the comments if you want to pick that up. It's just a free cheat sheet of nine, right? Nine critical thinking questions to ask as you study.
And I also walk you through what critical thinking is and how to do it. So that's going to help you so, so much. Do not discount that as you study. Okay? You have to make that leap between memorizing things like. Okay, friends, here's an example. Memorizing a list of signs and symptoms for a disorder like stroke or heart failure is not going to help you. Because here's what's going to happen when you get to your exam. They're going to ask you what signs and symptoms you might see for a patient with stroke or heart failure. But if their list doesn't match what you memorized, you are in big O trouble. What you want to do instead is understand the pathophysiology behind everything. The pathophysiology of stroke, what is actually happening, and then the pathophysiology of heart failure. Right? What is actually happening in the body. And then you can critically think through the signs and symptoms that might happen based on that pathophysiology. That is going to serve you so much better. Totally, totally crazy. So this is actually why inside our membership community, we don't just give you a list of signs and symptoms memorized, okay? You guys notice when you go to YouTube, like random YouTube videos or random YouTube channels, what they do, or even in your textbook, right? What they do is they give you lists of things. Like, they give you a list of nursing assessments that you need to do or a list of nursing interventions that you need to do, but they don't tell you why. That does not help you. Right? That doesn't help you make that leap to critical thinking. They don't tell you why we do those things, they don't tell you why it happens. That's the key though. So inside our membership community, that's why we break it all down for you. We give you that why we do the critical thinking for you. Like we help you understand the connections between things and why you know, why those sciences of this happen, why we do those nursing assessments, why we do the nursing interventions. That is what is going to help you pass your exams, not just memorize the.
So I'm trying to think of a good analogy because I think it would be helpful for analogies and like kind of comparison. And we haven't really done this before. Indeed. Or I haven't really thought about this, but I'm just gonna jam on it.
Go for it.
Think about nursing and nursing school. Everything is related. And that's why critical thinking is so important. Because if you know one piece of information of the pathophysiology of a disorder, it is connected to the signs, symptoms, nursing stuff, assessment, nursing intervention. It's not all alone in its little bubble. So for example, so that's why memorization doesn't work and does not serve you well. Because there's so much information that if it's in its little bubble on its own, then it's really hard to remember it. So I guess my example right now is if you take a little die or dice, let's say, and you roll it and whatever number, then you have to remember that number, then you pick it up again and you roll it again. And the next number you need to remember it. So you roll it, you get a six, okay? You roll it again, you get a three, you roll it again, you get a one. And you're just trying to remember this string of numbers from what you roll, right? That is pure memorization.
Don't do that.
That is pure memorization. The number does not relate to anything else because you're re rolling every time. That is pure memorization. And the longer it gets, the, the harder it is for you to remember all the previous numbers. That's basically what you're trying to do. If you're just going to start memorizing lists because you're not critically thinking that they're actually all interconnected. Instead, what you want to do with critical thinking is think of it like a building, right? So you have your foundation and once you learn the foundation, then you can build on top of that other information knowing that there's a relation that, okay, the Next things you learn, the signs and symptoms are actually related to the foundation of the pathophysiology. So ideas for the most part are all interconnected. And that critical thinking is just trying to find those connections. Because once you find those connections, your brain can remember it better and more easily.
Yes, that's a really good example. Actually. While you were thinking about it, I came up with a nursing specific example. Like, okay, here's, here's, this is a really fabulous example, you guys. So think about stroke. Stroke seems like an easy thing to know. It is not because there are so many different kinds, right? Hemorrhagic, thromboly, thrombotic, embolic strokes, left, right sided. There's, it's like, it's massive. The things that you have to know for sure. Crazy. And they all have like different signs of symptoms, different assessments, different interventions. So think about this. The treatment from a, for a hemorrhagic stroke versus a thrombotic stroke and an embolic stroke. Very, very different, okay? Very, very different. But you have to understand why if you memorized a list of nursing interventions to do right, you might get it wrong on your exam because you're gonna get, you might want to give particular medications for one and not for the others. Is these things are going to show up on your exams and you have to be prepared for them. Okay, so stroke is just a fabulous example because you have to understand like how the brain works. Like the left side is different from the right side. So if you have a stroke on the left side, how is it going to appear in the body based on what the left side of the brain does? If it's a right sided stroke, you know, how is that going to appear in the body based on what the right side of the brain does? Right? If it's a hemorrhagic stroke, how is that different from a stroke where, you know, there's a, there's a, there's a clot, okay? They're very, very different. They're very, very different. So you, you have to make that leap to critical thinking. If you are trying to memorize a list of signs and symptoms for all of those things and you get to your exam, your memory is going to fail you, my friend. It just is. You, you, you, you have to do the critical thinking ahead of time. Set yourself up for success. In that way you'll thank yourself later. Like, seriously, so, so helpful. Yeah.
So everything is related. I mean, that's how our body works. So yeah, 100% nursing, nursing school works so yeah. Making that leap of lists totally unrelated to each other rather than interconnected parts that if you learn those connections, then it just makes things easier down the line.
Yes, 100%. Okay, so on Wednesday, let's talk about. Oh, care planes. We need to talk about care plan. Care plans. And then let's talk about med surge.
Okay.
So those two things. And then we'll jam on one of the other questions. Oh, this is a good one. How to mentally prepare for a second program after failing out of your last semester. That's a good one. How to mentally prepare for the next program for a second program after failing out of another program.
Okay.
Which is kind of what we talked about a little bit before. But we can jam on that specific question on when? Wednesday. That's a great one. Yes. Yep. So we'll talk about med surg. We'll talk about care plans. Who is struggling with care plans right now? Anybody? Actually, if you tell me, tell me in the chat. Okay. In the comments. What your. Are you struggling with care planes right now? Because I have some care planes that I want to start posting on Instagram. I just. I had other posts that I wanted to do this week, but I can change them out if I need to. So if you guys want more care plans this week, tell me, because I can start posting those on Instagram.
Also, be sure to go to YouTube. Our past two or three, four, I.
Think, like four videos.
Videos have been about care plans, including examples of going through a care plan for couple disorders. Copd, Diabetes.
Sepsis.
Sepsis.
Big one.
Yeah. So Definitely go to YouTube if you're have some questions about care plans. And you can watch those while waiting for Wednesday where we'll talk about them more.
Yes, Struggle bus here. Yeah, totally. Okay. I will probably post some care plan post this week on Instagram or next week. So keep an eye out on my Instagram grid. Instagram post. I will be posting some care plans there very soon. Okay. And so Wednesday. We'll see you guys on Wednesday.
See you guys on Wednesday.
All right, see you. Bye. Same time, same place. Bye. Bye, Austin.
