What it REALLY TAKES to Pass Nursing School PLUS My Top Study Tips!

In this video, we're going to talk about what it actually takes to pass nursing school. Plus, I'm going to be giving you my top study tips so that you can start the term off strong and keep that going so you can pass your exams and pass this term. Let's dive in. So the first thing that's so, so important to have in nursing school that is often overlooked is dedication. It sounds very simple. It sounds like doc. Christina, I know I need to be dedicated, but here's the thing, my friend. So many nursing students fall into this trap of thinking that it's going to be easy or because they were studying a certain way in their prereqs, that that's going to be the same way in nursing school and it's just not the case. How you were studying before is not going to work. When you get into nursing school. It's a completely different study strategy in order to pass your ex for nursing school because the tests are totally different. It's going to take a lot of dedication, a lot of perseverance to try new things, try out different study methods to make sure that you find what works for you so that you can pass your exams. You have to stay dedicated to that and then perseverance and diligence. If something's not working, you have to be willing to change it. Nursing school is this whole new ball game. Especially, especially if you're just starting, you know this. It is really different than all the classes that you've taken before, whether that be A and P or statistics or biology or microbiology, any of that, that was all based on memorization. Your prereqs are based on memorization. But now in nursing school, your core nursing classes, your fundamentals classes, your med surg classes, your skills, your clinical, your head to toe assessment class, your nursing process class, all of those things, things that you have to learn in nursing school. It's critical thinking base. You have to make sure that you are persevering and staying diligent through it all and making sure that you are focused on critical thinking. We're going to talk about critical thinking in a few minutes, so stick with me. I have a ton of tips for you to help you out with that. Now the third thing it takes to really pass nursing school that unfortunately no one really talks about is succumbing to distraction. This is so common, my friend, like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, whatever, Netflix, all of these things are out there to distract you. But here's the thing. This is really the secret. When you say that you will study. You actually have to study. All right. It sounds so simple, right? Like, it's like, duh, we get this, okay? But here's the thing. It rarely ever happens, right? If we're all honest with ourselves, that rarely is the case. Oftentimes you'll sit down to study, and then five minutes later, you'll find yourself scrolling through Instagram or scrolling through TikTok. Not good thing. When you say you're going to study, you actually have to study, or else you're just wasting time. Nursing school moves way too fast. You learn so much in such a short amount of time that you really have to make sure that you are focusing your study time on the things that actually matter and you are not succumbing to all those other distractions so that you can actually focus and study when you need to study and pass your exams. Now, let's walk through my top study tips for you to help you pass your exams. Now, before we get started, I want to make sure that you have this free critical thinking cheat sheet that we have for you. It's going to change the game for you when nursing school, my friend, like I just said, critical thinking is huge. It's like everything in nursing school, right? You cannot study the same way in nursing school as you did in amp or as you did in microbiology. It does not work. You have to make the leap to critical thinking now in nursing school, in your core nursing classes. So download that cheat sheet. It's going to help you so much. I'll put the link down below in the description for you to check it out. So one of the biggest tips that I have for you that so many nursing students forget about, unfortunately, is taking really good notes in class. When you are in nursing school, you have to make sure that you are really paying attention in class, like way more than you ever did in your prereqs. You have to make sure that you are paying attention in class because what your instructors talk about in class is what is most likely to show up on your exams. The topics you're covering in class are the topics you're most likely to be tested on, right? So your instructors, they either know what's on your exam, roughly, or they wrote your exam. So you have to make sure that you are focusing your study time on the things that matter most. And that is often what your instructors talk about in class. Please do not miss this. It is such a key point. So when you're taking notes in class, make sure that you are trying to keep up with Everything that the instructor is saying, make sure that if they say something multiple times, times that you star it or highlight it because it's really important if they are saying it over and over again, like if they're repeating themselves, that means that it is a key point. You really, really need to know that for your exams. It also could be really helpful to get with another classmate after your lecture class to kind of compare your notes and make sure that if you missed something that you catch that if your other classmate missed something that you just compare notes to make sure that both of you have everything that the instructor said for from class so that you're prepared to study. Now I have a really great video that walks you through step by step how to take notes in class. I'll put the link down below in the description for you to watch that after this video. Now, one of the biggest questions that I get is what in the world do I study when my instructors don't actually teach? That is so common in nursing school as well. So you're kind of going to fall into camps. Either your instructors are going to test you based on what they talk about in class, which is tends to be the most common. But then there is that other camp that you might fall into that your instructor doesn't teach anything really that will be on the exam. Now here is what exactly what you're going to want to do. You're going to want to follow our four core method for studying. This is our proven step by step framework for how to study in nursing school. Especially if your instructors are not teaching the things that are going to be on your exam. This four core framework will walk you through exactly what to focus your study time on so that you can pass your exam. Now here is how this process works. Now we go deeper inside the nursing ESSENCE membership community where I walk you through step by step, exactly how to use it, exactly how to apply it. But I'll give you a high level overview here. Okay, so the first one is pathophysiology. You have to make sure that you understand the pathophysiology of everything that you are learning about in class. So what is actually happening in the body with, let's say you're in a fundamentals class. What is happening with fluids and electrolyte imbalances, with any of the medications, medications that you are learning about, any intake and output issues or any other med surg disorders like stroke or diabetes or heart failure. Those are really common ones that you would study in fundamentals. And then as you advance through your program and go into med surge and critical care and pediatrics and OB and all of the things you have to make sure that you are studying the pathophysiology first. What is going on with the disorder in the body that is the foundation for everything else that you need to know. And then we build off of it. So you'll connect the pathophysiology to the signs and symptoms, the nursing assessment and the nursing interventions. But it all starts with the path though. You have to make sure that you understand the pathophysiology first. Now this is exactly like I said, how we teach inside the nursing ESSENCE membership community. We break these down for you step by step. The patho, the signs, symptoms, the nursing assessment and the nursing interventions. But here's the thing, my friend, we talked about critical thinking. That is everything in nursing school. You have to critically think through everything that you're learning in nursing school. Everything connects to the pathophysiology. Why do the science inceptives happen? Why does the nursing assessment happen? Why do the nursing interventions happen? Why do we do those things the way that we do them as nurses? Those are really key for you to know before your exam. That is critical thinking. So that's exactly why we walk you through all of that inside the nursing association membership community. So if you're confused about that at all, if you are confused about how to critically think in nursing school, you absolutely, my friend, have to join. It is going to change everything for you. We really give you the key critical thinking points that you need to know about to pass your exams and we help you connect the dots for all of it. And then of course, you're going to get all of our proven study frameworks that walk you through step by step, how to study in nursing school. It is such a fantastic resource for you as you go through your program so that you can go into your exams with confidence and make sure that you pass. So really, so much of it comes down to critical thinking. You have to understand the why behind everything, the rationale, the reasoning behind everything that you're learning. You cannot just learn something in isolation in nursing school. Let's say, like if you're in fundamentals and you're learning intake and output issues, you cannot learn those things in isolation. You have to connect the dots to the other things that you're learning. Say, how does an intake and output disorder or issue cause edema? Right? Or how does a fluid and electrolyte disorder cause abnormal lab values? And things to change in that way, you have to be critically thinking through everything that you're learning about in nursing school or else you're really going to struggle on your exams. Nursing exams are not going to test you on how well you memorize things. You have to be able to make that leap to critical thinking and actually apply what you know to a case scenario question, to a priority question, to a SATA question. Right? Those select all that apply questions. These are all critical thinking questions. So you have to make that jump to critical thinking, which is exactly why we have that free critical thinking cheat sheet for you and why we walk you through, step by step, all the key critical thinking points that you need to know about for nursing school inside the nursing SOS membership community. Now, like we said, you know that your exams are going to test you on all those SATA questions, all the priority questions, and the case studies of the case case scenarios and all of that. There are some really specific test taking strategies that you can use to make sure that you are choosing the correct answer on your nursing school exams, even if you're not exactly sure what that correct answer is. And I'm going to walk you through those really fantastic test taking strategies in this video here. So make sure that you check that out after watching this video and write love in the comments below if you love this video and go become the nurse that God created only you to be. And I will see you over there in that next video.