Nursing Exam Prep Flashcards

What is Nursing?

Imagine a world without nurses. What would life be like? Well, this phrase should strike fear to anyone – a life without a nurse.

If you have never wondered about it, think about what happens if you stepped into a hospital without someone assisting you, or someone taking your vital signs and asking for your complaints. What would happen if this profession just ceased to exist?

No matter what hospital or healthcare facility you go to, it is the nurse who assists you, who takes your vital signs, and performs the initial health exam. From there, a doctor evaluates your condition and prescribes some medication, which, the nurse proceeds to administer. If you get hospitalized for a couple of days or so, it is the nurses who watch over you, answers to your calls, and talks to the doctor on your behalf.

Although the responsibilities of nurses vary by unit or specialty, most nurses share more similarities than differences. Licensed vocational/practical nurses are entry-level nurses, they provide primary patient care, and the title they use (LPN/LVN) is dictated more by state/geography than job function. Registered Nurses, on the other hand, are the fulcrum of patient care. They communicate with families, patients, physicians, and other members of the healthcare team.

RNs can be specialized in specific areas like pediatrics, cardiology, obstetrics, gynecology, oncology, surgery, orthopedics, critical care, geriatrics, psychiatry, neurology, childbirth, epidemiology, phlebotomy, and other key disciplines. In the US, all states necessitate RNs to at least earn an associate degree, but some employers, however, ask for candidates with a bachelor’s diploma. To practice, nurses must pass the National Council Licensure Exam for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) exam and be licensed.

Many people define Nursing as a profession focused on caring. It is true because nursing is an integral part of the healthcare system that strengthens a patient’s journey to health and wellness. It encompasses the self-governing and collaborative care of individuals, families, and communities in all settings.

While nurses around the world provide care within the ordering scope of physicians, they have the broadest role compared to other healthcare professionals. Nurses’ role is not just limited to providing care and assisting in cures, but also in promotion of health, prevention of illness, rehabilitation, and support. Nurses advocate, innovate and cultivate practices that ultimately contribute to the advancement of individual and collective health.

Nurses care for people from womb to tomb, making a difference in people’s lives from birth and bringing families hope during death and suffering. It is a very rewarding career, both academically, and emotionally.

Careers in Nursing

Nursing is an interdisciplinary subject that allows you to apply factual and procedural knowledge and skills toward different career paths. With a nursing degree, you can be a Registered Nurse, a Licensed Practical Nurse/Licensed Vocational Nurse (LPN/LVN), a Nursing Assistant (CNA), Nursing Instructor/Teacher, Psychiatric Nurse, Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse, Pediatric Nurse, or Community Nurse. And if you are looking to take your career to the next level, you can pursue a master’s degree in nursing (Masters of Science in Nursing) to be a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), Nurse Practitioner (NP), Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM), or Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA).

Learning Nursing

Nursing is a lifelong learning. And, there is no doubt that a nursing course is challenging. Imagine studying nursing theories, anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology, and so on in just a short amount of time.

Though the amount of studying needed to pass exams seems insurmountable, anyone with the right attitude or study habits and right study tools can slay nursing school.

If you’re going to ask senior nursing students or RNs about tips in learning nursing concepts, study groups are pretty common. However, effective learning often requires much more than that. As a nursing student, you need a study plan, an environment conducive to learning, and essential tools to aid in retaining all the information and necessary facts in different ways and much more.

Also, it is crucial to study nursing concepts like you are advised to eat small frequent feedings. It means that when you study, you should break topics down into smaller concepts and do it frequently. Don’t memorize facts in one sitting or do some binge-studying the day before the exams. You’ll retain more information if you study a bit each day as long as you try to comprehend and not memorize.

If you are a visual learner, you can search for resources such as video lessons; if you are more of auditory type, download some audio podcasts or audio lessons for helping you study while you are on the go. Always augment your classroom resources with complementary tools like Brainscape.

Brainscape is a great tool that personalizes your nursing study sessions to focus on your weaknesses while ensuring that you periodically tackle topics that you already know.

Getting a nursing degree may not come easy for most. You need some serious ninja skills to develop a nursing mind. Brainscape is a near perfect tool for that!

Nursing in Brainscape

In Brainscape, you’ll find several classes, decks, and study cards for Nursing – beginning with the Brainscape Certified Class for Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) below. If you are planning to take the ANCC / AANPCP Family Nurse Practitioner exam in the near future, you've come to the right place! This class is a collaboration project from Brainscape and Jones & Bartlett Learning to produce a comprehensive set of adaptive digital flashcards aligned to their Family Nurse Practitioner Certification Review Guide.

If in case you need more flashcards on Nursing, we have classes created by users all around the world including anatomy, foundations of nursing, pathophysiology, pharmacology, and all the necessary concepts you need to know about Nursing.

Another benefit you can experience with Brainscape is that you can create your own set of flashcards. Several studies show that curating your own flashcards leads to higher levels of memorization and learning. It helps your brain to remember tons and tons of information – another technique to learn Nursing as swiftly as possible.

Learn Faster in Brainscape

Brainscape is a unique learning platform that utilizes the existing cognitive learning techniques. This process, called Confidence-Based Repetition, is scientifically optimized to boost the learning process.

CBR makes use of highly-effective cognitive science techniques: Active Recall, Metacognition, and Spaced Repetition.

Active Recall is a method of efficient learning. It occurs when you try to “actively” retrieve information from your brain to stimulate memories. It means that instead of “passively reviewing” the correct answer from multiple choice options, you make a mental effort to recall the answer.

Reading a text about Florence Nightingale with no further action is an example of passive review. Answering the question "Who is the founder of modern nursing?", is an example of active recall. Research claims that this process reinforces the connection between your brain and what you are studying, which can help lessen the time studying overall.

Metacognition, on the other hand, asks you to reflect on how deeply you understand the concept. Upon displaying each answer, Brainscape’s platform will ask you to rate, from 1-5, of how well you knew your answer. This process strengthens memory trace – the actual method of storing memories.

Brainscape also utilized a learning process called Spaced Repetition. It works side by side with metacognition. While metacognition assesses how well you understand the answer, Spaced Repetition calculates how soon the cards will appear again. This personalizes your studies to focus on your weakness while ensuring that you still periodically review the topics you know well.

All these study techniques applied in Brainscape can be an excellent supplementary tool to your study plan.

How to Get Started

The best possible way to enjoy the benefits of Brainscape is to start browsing some of the Nursing classes below. You may browse further into any of the classes prioritized for nursing to see how they are organized into decks. You may also check each class from different decks to determine if they may suit your needs.  Once you have selected classes, jump in, and start studying!