Learning Strategies in Nursing: Reading, Studying, and Test-Taking

By Susan M. Palau and Susan Marcus Palau

Book Overview

Designed to equip nursing students with the active learning and test-taking strategies they need to excel in nursing school. Students are guided to make better use of their time and derive greater value from their course work. In the process, they'll alsomaster important skills to use throughout their professional career. The 2nd Edition offers students concrete strategies for improving their reading comprehension, concentration, vocabulary, and time management.
Uses excerpts from current nursing textbooks so readers become familiar with the actual materials they will be studying.Increases reading comprehension through activities that ask students to paraphrase sophisticated information and technical vocabulary.
Presents methods for successful listening and note-taking.Develops critical-thinking skills with exercises in every chapter that focus on the interpretation and evaluation of course material.
Prepares readers to take exams more effectively with 2 full chapters on test-taking.Promotes vocabulary development with coverage of word parts, using context clues to define words, and more.
Provides approaches to time management that help readers organize their schedules.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0721663427
• ISBN13: 9780721663425
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Saunders
• Length: 347 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.3" x 0.8" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Much Needed Strategies for Nursing Students!

This book rocks! Did I really say that? I'm a 40-ish second career student who has had plenty of practice grasping difficult concepts, remembering and applying them throughout my life. But nursing and related classes are much different than anything most of us have ever experienced.First, a lot of the stuff you'll be reading is wordy, complicated and at times seems it uses a foreign language. Deciphering, comprehending, and remembering it can seem impossible, esp. when you're brain dead from being bombarded with SO MUCH information at once. It's easy to feel overwhelmed. That's where this book is really terrific. The strategies and techniques given are not rocket science, but are invaluable when applied to these kinds of subjects. Problem with study skills is that there are SO many different kinds, which ones work best for nursing and for you?My first cursory scan of this book improved my study skills the very first night. I ran through the test taking skills the night before a major pathophysiology test and probably scored a few points higher than I would have normally (doesn't sound like a big deal, but for those of you taking these kinds of courses where anything less than 80% is failure, you KNOW how important a few points can be sometimes. I studied hard for this test, but where I had to guess - I think the book came in super handy.) There's some really simple stuff here that you may feel doesn't apply to you if you've been running your life for a while (in my case, the better part of 30 years!) Yet, there is something helpful about a book that asks you to examine how you actually spend your time - and reasons why you may be procrastinating about studying. While I didn't need to analyze what I do with my time on an hourly basis (as mom, breadwinner and student, I'm usually always in motion in one of these roles!) it was a good exercise to analyze my goals, what I was doing to get there and make up a list of things to do (as the book suggests) so I could stop worrying about what I wasn't doing and get my mind on my studies when I need to as this was one of my problems.The softbound, pliable, floppy physical format of this book was a comfort in itself. Even though its format is large, it's easy to hold in bed, in the tub, bend back - you know, the things we do to books when we really get into them!Well worth the cost! I would recommend this to anyone who is dedicated to good grades and wants to extract the most out of their education! This one is a keeper and one I'm sure I'll be reviewing many times as I navigate my way through the nursing school maze!