In this article, we’re going to give you some practical tips to make sure you know how to take notes in nursing school.
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When most people think of nursing school, they imagine the practical application, which is great.
It’s crucial to go into healthcare settings and get experience with different rotations and patients.
However, before that can happen, student nurses need to go through the typical classroom lectures and exams other college students do.
Note-taking is a big part of training to become a great practical nurse.
Unfortunately, without the right skills and expectations, the classroom quickly becomes one of the toughest parts of nursing school.
Below are some tips on taking notes that will improve your chances of acing your exams and passing through those lectures with flying colors.
What a time to be in school!
These days professors and students have a whole world of technology at their fingertips, so don’t let this critical tool slip past you.
Lots of professors create PowerPoint presentations for their classroom lectures.
If this is the case for you, then you’ve got a straight shot to stellar note taking.
Grab your laptop and download your teacher’s PowerPoint presentation.
This will allow you to see each of the slides. Once you have it, go to “View” and choose “Outline” format to see all of the slides and their content in a typical outline view.
With this information spread out in front of you, it’s now possible to build a study guide straight from your professor’s notes without any need to drastically scribble down what he or she is saying.
To make the most of this, copy the outline of the slides and paste it into your own Word document.
From there, you can add your own helpful notes as the professor gives their lecture.
You’ll have a comprehensive set of notes that only took half the effort.
Now, if you need to do things the more traditional way, don’t worry.
Let’s say you can’t bring a laptop to your class. If the professor has the PowerPoint presentation available to students ahead of time, spend a few minutes printing out the slides at the library.
A format of four to six slides per page should be good.
This way, you have a sheet of paper that shows the content on the slides, but there’s also enough blank space for you to add in your own handwritten notes as you listen to the lecture.
This brings us to our next tip!
Hire a Tutor for School
If you need a tutor for school, you can find one using this online platform. The tutors are vetted, and you pick the time that works for your schedule. Whether it’s for nursing school, nursing school prereqs, or any school-related subject, this is a platform you should check out.
In my humble opinion, this is the best way to take notes in nursing school.
This is the primary note taking method I’ve used in undergraduate and now for my master’s degree in nursing.
Yes, this sounds tedious and maybe even useless, but it’s not.
Just think about it for a second.
You have your own notes scribbled on those sheets of paper, or maybe you typed them straight into the PowerPoint outline.
Odds are, those notes are a hot mess, and there is no way you’re going to understand them if you look at them two days from now.
So, your next task is to copy those notes down, rewriting them in a coherent way so you can study from them in the future.
It may seem like a bother now, but you’ll thank yourself later.
The benefits of rewriting your notes is that you’ll be able to see them clearly and concisely, making them much better study guides.
Moreover, the more you write down the same content, the more it gets stuck in your head.
You could even think of copying down your own notes as a form of studying in itself.
Just try to copy these notes down the same day or the next day.
If you wait any longer, it will become harder to rewrite the notes because they’ll be scattered and indecipherable.
You want to rewrite everything while it’s still fresh in your head.
Let’s say your professor doesn’t allow laptops in the classroom, nor does he or she supply the PowerPoint presentation beforehand.
You’re seeing all of the lecture information for the first time when you sit down for class.
It’s a less-than-ideal situation, but it’s one that lots of students face, so you’re not alone.
One tried and true method that many people swear by is the Cornell Method.
In the Cornell Method, you use your notebook paper strategically by creating two columns on a sheet of paper.
Draw a dividing line down the paper; make the first column about two inches wide, so you have space to write lots of notes on the right-hand column.
The thinner left-hand side is for the bigger questions that the lecture is addressing, such as “What’s Phlebotomy?”
Then, on the right-hand side you can jot down notes that pertain to that big-picture question.
Odds are that you will be scribbling down notes frantically, so you’ll probably need to rewrite your notes later on.
It’s annoying, but remember it’s another form of studying, so it ends up working out for your benefit.
Your notes look neat and tidy, plus you have retained a bit more information thanks to writing the notes down a second time.
It’s important to note that the Cornell Method is specifically for those who are taking notes on a physical piece of paper.
If you’re using a laptop to write your notes, it’s better to just open up a Word document and start typing as you listen to the professor speak.
Yes, your notes will be a jumbled mess, but this is why we rewrite things, remember?
A couple of things to keep in mind before going down this route. Make sure the lecturer is OK with nursing students recording lectures.
Also, do a test run to make sure the recorder can pick up the sound.
From my experience, even if the recorder does pick up the lecturer, they tend to struggle to pick up the questions other students ask.
So keep that in mind otherwise you’ll get a recording to an answer without knowing what the question was
This is something that’s often overlooked. Many students shy away from sitting in front of the class and instead opt to sit at the very back.
While the advantage is primarily, you get to be overlooked and never called upon, there are serious disadvantages students always overlook.
It’s harder to hear and see from the back.
Depending on how your lecture room is set up, you might have a hard time hearing and seeing what’s going on.
This pales in comparison to what I believe is the worst part of sitting at the back of the class which is…
There’s a lot of distractions.
As someone who has sat at the back of the class on numerous occasions, I know how hard it is to concentrate in a class when you’re all the way in the back.
Add a laptop into the picture, and you could be playing games and surfing Facebook all class long.
All of this makes it really hard to take really good notes.
Most teachers who’ve been teaching the same class for a while know what’s on the test.
Even if they use randomized questions, they know what subjects or topics they want to emphasize.
Many of them will highlight those topics in their lecture. Make sure you’re paying attention to the material they emphasize with phrases like…
“this is really important.”
“you should know this.”
Or my absolute favorite.
“this is going to be on the test.”
Hire a Tutor for School
If you need a tutor for school, you can find one using this online platform. The tutors are vetted, and you pick the time that works for your schedule. Whether it’s for nursing school, nursing school prereqs, or any school-related subject, this is a platform you should check out.
Each nursing student is going to study differently. What works really well for somebody else might not work for you.
The same goes for note taking. For those reasons, don’t be afraid to keep testing out what works well for you.
Don’t be afraid to change it up or try something completely new if what your doing is not working.
It’s all about creating good study habits and good note-taking practices.
Let us know what your thoughts are below in the comments sections.
Also, don’t forget to share the article.
Thomas Uzuegbunem is a registered nurse who graduated with a bachelor’s in business and went on to get his bachelor’s of science in nursing. He’s worked in the ICU, mental health (inpatient, outpatient), & GI specialty areas. He’s the lead editor and founder of Nurse Money Talk.
