Critical

Instead of wasting time and energy attempting to memorize everything – the trivial, as well as the vital information – focus on learning the critical underlying principles and understanding the pivotal concepts. “First understand what you need to absorb, because it’s usually not as much information as you might think,” says Brenda Cherry, RN, PhD, dean of the College of Nursing, University of Massachusetts, Boston. “Most of the information is filler, such as examples, to help students to remember principles and concepts.”

Information, according to Cherry, is divided into facts, principles, and concepts. Most students concentrate too much on facts, the part of their education that is the most likely to become obsolete quickly. “Some facts must be memorized,” she admits, “but there’s not really a lot of facts because testing in nursing usually doesn’t rely on facts.” One useful strategy for memorizing facts, such as lab values, involves identifying the red-flag numbers that might put the patient in danger: the values at the bottom, the middle, and the top of the normal reference range.

Cherry recommends another strategy to study for classes, such as pharmacology, that introduce too many facts to remember easily. She advises students to first classify drugs into categories, then learn the action, metabolism, and adverse effects for the entire class of drugs. This strategy helps students to distill the fundamental principles while cutting down on the number of facts to memorize. But for clinical assignments, Cherry reminds students that they must learn the details of all the patient’s laboratory results, medications, and procedures.

She also suggests that students extend their memories by using their pockets as much as their minds: Carry note cards, clinical guidelines, and reference pocket manuals to look up details and facts. “Unfortunately, many nurses are ashamed to let others see them look at a reference,” she says. “Other professionals use references and so should nurses.”

Instead of skimming the surface for facts that may be obsolete tomorrow, Cherry wants students to search deeper for principles. “Basic principles you have to know cold, be able to quote the principle and what it means,” she says. Principles are more enduring because they form the building blocks of concepts. “After reading, list the facts, principles, and concepts,” says Cherry. “If you don’t understand the principles, you need to go back and review until you understand.”

Productive

To spend less time reading, but more time understanding, engage the material in a dialogue. Instead of reading from beginning to end, approach an article by asking questions, then look for the answers. Or if a question is raised in the abstract, skip forward to the methods, results, or discussion sections to find the answer.

You can also use your time more wisely by recognizing when it’s time to quit. The outcomes of studying – passing grades – are more valuable than the process of studying – reading every book and article. Start by tackling the most important and respected sources. When you understand what the experts know, you don’t need to waste time with the rest. When you recognize that the information is repeating itself, that’s the time to quit reading because you have gained mastery.

Remember to make use of small moments; no one can remember everything they read during a five-hour study session. Instead, divide your time into 30-minute segments, and change activities every 30 minutes. Make a mental agenda for each 30-minute period, and after you’re done, summarize what you’ve learned during the session. Respect your level of fatigue and give yourself permission to stop studying when you’re too tired to learn, at least for the moment. Nothing can make studying painless, but to keep your head above water practice critical, productive reading – concentrate on principles and concepts, use references as sources of facts, and know when you have mastered enough.