Medical-Surgical Nursing is the mothership of nursing/nursing school. A few research articles have correlated success in Med/Surg Nursing class with success on the NCLEX. That being said, if you dislike Med/Surg you will have to learn to develop an affinity for it. Med/Surg nursing questions are heavily present on the NCLEX, so developing an understanding of this material is important. I wish this post could consist of 20 knowledge points to remember in order to master med/surg, but that is not the case. Med/Surg consists of developing a vast knowledge base. I was pregnant and working fulltime during nursing school. I saw a lot of my fellow peers struggle with the amount of content in meg/sug, spending way too much time reading all the details. I developed a few study tools that really helped me. Here are some tips and strategies for succeeding in Medical-Surgical Nursing.

First, let’s identify what type of learner you are in order to help you succeed. Auditory (audiobook)? Visual (videos?) Read and Write (pen to paper)?

Auditory Learners: I found reading med/surg material challenging at times. You can get lost in the depth of the textbooks. For this reason, I found supplementing my readings with auditory information was very beneficial. NCLEX Essentials: Med Surg is an audiobook. You can listen to it while driving, exercising, getting ready for the day, cooking dinner, etc. It is outlined based on the concepts of med/surg nursing: cardiac, respiratory, neuro, renal and GI, metabolic and endo, musculoskeletal, immunological, integumentary, hematology/oncology, ear/nose/eye/throat. I found it really helpful to listen to the material after reading it; listening to someone deliver the material allowed me to comprehend it differently than reading it myself. Click on the audiobook to check it out:

*Worth noting* Amazon now has Audible– this is a membership (you can try the first month for Free) that allows you one free audiobook a month (regardless of price, and you change exchange it if you don’t like it). This is a cheap way to have access to audiobooks as you go through your nursing classes. I really wish this was an option when I was in school; I was desperately trying to find CDs (haha, the idea of a CD now makes me laugh) to play in my car and computer. I have had a handful of nursing students, that I mentor, rave about Audible and how it benefits them in nursing school. Click the Audible image if interested.

Visual Learners: There is a lot of information delivered in the average med/surg nursing textbook. The key is not to focus on memorizing all of the material, but to understand the processes. Videos/DVDs can be really helpful when trying to understand content you are reading. The ATI Medical-Surgical Nursing Video helps understand different processes ranging from cardiovascular, endocrine, fluid and electrolytes, GI, neurosensory, etc. The best part? Not only is this DVD super helpful, but you can get it for less than $5 on Amazon. Copy and paste the link to your browser to check it out.

http://amzn.to/2GmXjTy

I would also suggest flashcards! Using flashcards is a great way to test your knowledge after reading about it. Making your own flashcards will help you retain the information. I would suggest making flashcards with each chapter, then reviewing all of them with each new chapter. If you prefer to buy flashcards these are great and are cheap ($12)! The link will take you to amazon to order: http://amzn.to/2DIol6d

Read and Write Learners: For those of you who learn by writing/note taking, I suggest mastering your note taking. A fellow blog follower shared with me how to take Cornell Notes; it’s a way to take great, organized notes. Here’s a link to a YouTube video, that she shared with me, explaining how to take Cornell notes:



Also, an important note is that research shows that those who take notes by writing them, instead of typing them on a computer, retain the information better. This is because we write our notes in our own words; whereas when we type notes on the computer we tend to write them verbatim. So, handwrite your notes instead of typing them.

Okay, we’ve identified what type of learner you are and a few tips to help your learning style, what else?

If your teacher gives you a study guide, use it! I would typically write out answers according to the study guide, then myself and a few other students would exchange our study guides. It was really helpful to see others notes—it helped identify ideas/topics that I needed to further study.

If you have med/surg NCLEX practice questions, use these and make sure you study the rationale behind the answer (even if you answered the question correctly). Use these questions for each body system as you’re going through it in class (the study questions are usually categorized this way anyways). These questions will test your knowledge and if you truly understand the concepts you are studying. If you don’t have your own NCLEX study questions I would suggest this book (its breaks the questions down by body system, provides rationales for correct and incorrect answers, and provides test tips):



Utilizing study groups is a great way to study. This allows you to teach information, which is an effective way to learn it; and learn material from your peers presented in a different way. I am an independent learner and did not enjoy participating in study groups. For this reason I found a small group of students who shared their notes, study guides and flashcards. Seeing others material helped me immensely, when trying to understand and study material.

Finally, it is important to understand and accept that the amount of information you have to read for med/surg can be very overwhelming. I would suggest by starting each topic/chapter by reading the study tips at the END of each chapter to understand the concepts you will be learning throughout the chapter. Use “smart reading”, identifying what is important and what is not. This is a skill you will develop throughout nursing school. I was able to develop the skills of skimming and picking up on important information, and I feel I spent about half the amount of time reading as my fellow classmates. Again, the best way I did this was starting every Chapter with reviewing the summary at the end of the chapter, and using this as an outline while reading the chapter; the time I save on reading I then put forth on listening to audiobooks, watching quick DVD clips and utilizing flashcards and quiz questions.

Good luck, and let me know if you have questions, comments, suggestions!

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