One of the hardest lessons to learn in school isn't nursing information. It's how to memorize and comprehend the nursing information! It took me until my last year of nursing school to figure out a system that worked for me. (Um, sure wish I had done so, like, in high school?) On another day, we will tackle the common pitfalls of study strategy, but in the meantime, let's focus on some basic principles to get you started.
1. Figure out how you memorize information best.
Are you an auditory learner who picks up everything just by re-listening to a recorded lecture once or twice? Are you a visual learner who needs to look up pictures and videos on Youtube to understand concepts? Are you a reading/writing learner who needs to read the book and then re-write notes? Or, lastly, are you a kinesthetic learner who needs to actually get up and perform the activity to learn?
Many people are not simply one type of learner; they are a mix. But knowing your mix and using it to your advantage will maximize the effectiveness of your study time and, ultimately, cut down on the amount of hours you will need to spend with material before you know it backwards and forwards.
2. Be methodical and do it the same way every time.
Establish your strategy and stick with it. If you notice something works, take the time to do it every time. This doesn't mean to ignore new techniques and tricks you think could be effective, simply because you've never done it that way. What it means is not to be lazy and ignore tools that worked before just because they took a lot of time and effort!
For example, I had a system where I would make a series of obsessive flashcards. I would literally break down an entire nursing powerpoint (no easy feat!) into tiny bite-size pieces of information on each card that were phrased as a question and an answer. (More on that another day.) It worked great for me, but I did need to plan ahead. If I let too many powerpoints accumulate, I could be in for a four hour session of just making flashcards- and that didn't include actually going over them to test myself on the information either.
3. Invent a way to know when you're done studying.
One of the biggest mistakes is to think you're never really done studying. The second biggest mistake IS to think you're done studying when you're not. How can you achieve a happy middle ground?
For whatever tool you choose, however you decide to study, come up with a way to know when your process has reached its conclusion.
In my study system, I would go through my flashcards after I had finished making them and create a "know" pile and a "don't know" pile. If I could answer the question on the card easily, the card would go into the "know" pile. If I couldn't answer it easily, hesitated, or simply had to flip it over without a clue, it went in the "don't know" pile. Eventually, I would get all the cards into the "know" pile. When I could run through the stack and answer each and every flashcard without hesitation, I knew I was done studying.
4. Don't give in to distractions.
It's so easy to sign up for more work in order to passive-aggressively avoid studying or simply think to yourself "I've done good enough, I should be okay." Don't get lazy! The NCLEX is hard. There are no freebies and the easy questions are rare and far between.
Figure out your method, make time to carry it out the right way, and believe in your process. It will make a world of difference when it comes to NCLEX questions that have you stuck between two answers, and knowing the ins and outs of the information is all that separates you from a pass as opposed to failing. The effort will be worth it!