Remember this!

I’ve definitely been dragging my feet this week, hoping to make vacation last a little longer, and to squeeze every last drop of sunshine out of my days before I have to huddle behind my books to finish another quarter. I was in some serious need of motivation. I had to meet up with my class co-president at Barnes and Noble, and decided to take a quick look in the nursing section while I waited for him to arrive. I scanned to books, picked out the ones I had and looked for something that sparked my interest. Everything looked like another HUGE book haunting me, reminding me of the quarter ahead. And then I saw something on the edge of the shelf… it was real! A thin nursing book!  I picked it up – I had to know more. And then I found something that I am hoping will change the way I see, think, and learn nursing from here on out.
What was this fantastic discovery, you might ask? Memory Notebook of Nursing by JoAnn Zerwekh, Jo Carol Claborn, and C.J. Miller. It’s a nursing review book made especially for all us visual learners out there. It’s full of pictures, mnemonics, and stories to help you remember those tedious nursing factoids. I don’t know about you all, but I am a visual learner, and memorizing facts about drugs has never been my forte.  I usually can’t even remember drug facts unless I can recall a specific time, place, or patient I’ve given it too. And disease are so much easier to remember when you can relate them to a patient you have actually taken care of. If this sounds like how you learn too, this book might help you out!

Each page is filled with pictures and jokes, and they even encourage you to color the pictures in and listen to music while reading, as it will help your brain trigger the ideas when it’s time to recall the facts.  Flowsheets instead of charts and tables, and picture to tell the difference between hyper and hypo glycemia work way better for me. There are two volumes of the main review books, and others that include information about pharmacology, diagnoses, and  a whole CD of more images.

I’m just making my way through it and so far so good. It’s that extra element I needed to help me learn the material, and the new approach to studying actually got me motivated about this quarter, I’m even using a notebook for class that has room for drawings (in case I should be so inclined!). It was a much needed boost to launch me in to a new quarter. I recommend this book for all you visual learners out there – check it out and maybe it will help you too!