How to TAKE NOTES in Nursing School

Study Tips and Getting Organized

In this video, I’m walking you through the step-by-step process I used to take notes in nursing school and get straight A’s.

I’ll also walk you through my STUDY HACK for how you can take notes once, and never have to open your textbook again.

HERE’S A BREAKDOWN OF WHAT WE’LL TALK ABOUT:

STEP #1 Plan ahead on HOW you’ll take notes (1:00)

STEP #2: Take notes using ONE color of pen (1:46)

STEP #3: Read the sections of the book your professor talked about IN CLASS (3:08)

STEP #4: Take notes from the book on the SAME page as your notes from class (4:00)

STEP #5: Start STUDYING (5:19)

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VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

In this video, I’m walking you through the step-by-step process I used to take notes in nursing school and get straight A’s. I’ll also walk you through my study hack for how you can take notes once, and never have to open your textbook again. Now hit that subscribe button and click the notification bell and let’s dive in.

So I’m going to go through my step-by-step process for taking notes here in this video. But if you’re a NursingSOS Member, head on over to your dashboard and click on the Study Success Course, where I walk you through my entire study process, including how to study after class and then how to study for finals. And if you’re not a NursingSOS Member yet, you absolutely MUST join, it will change the game for you in nursing school. It’s like having me as your personal nursing school tutor. Pretty awesome. There’s a link in the description below for you to check out all the details.

Now let’s get to it.

  • The first step to taking super effective notes is to plan ahead on HOW you’ll take notes and what you need to bring.

So for me, I always loved to print off our lecture slides beforehand and write directly on those. I would print them out just like this, with 3 slides on one side and a note taking section on the other. This is how I recommend that you do it! That way, you won’t need to re-write everything on the power point your instructor is going over. So if your instructor gives you the slides beforehand, make sure to print them off.

If you don’t have access to lecture slides, that’s TOTALLY fine, don’t freak out. Just plan on taking a blank notebook to class with you, along with a pen.

Now, during class, here’s what you’ll do:

  • Take notes using ONE color of pen (I’ll tell you why this is really important in a minute), and take notes on everything your instructor says.

If they drop any hints about your exams and what might be on the, put a star next to it. If they outline any key points or talk about one thing for a super long time, you know it’s important, so make a note of it. Try to write down as much information as possible that you learn in class. And make sure you leave space around each page of notes (I’ll tell you why in a minute). So if you’re taking notes on lecture slides like I did, I always liked to take my class notes in the lined sections here, and then I would leave all of this extra space around the edges. If you’re using notebook paper, only fill up half of each page with notes, and leave the second half blank. This is really important, and I’ll walk you through why in just a minute.

After class, if you have a nursing school buddy, compare notes with them and fill in any gaps that either of you may have missed. It’s really important that your notes from class be super comprehensive, because your instructors most likely know what you’ll be tested on, and they’re more likely to teach you about those things. So make sure you take good notes.

Now, when you go home, here’s the secret:

  • Focus on reading the sections of the book that your professors talk about IN CLASS.

I know it’s hard to focus on just those things, but I’ve told you again and again, this is the most effective way to study.
I’m going to walk you through exactly how to do this, but first I want to give a shout out to David for our YouTube comment of the week, which says:

“Don’t listen to the online haters, you keep moving those hands.”

Thank you David! I will!

And if you’re not sure what video David’s referring to, it’s THIS one where I talked about dealing with nursing school bullies. It’s a fantastic video with some really life-changing tips, so make sure you watch it right after this one.

Now let’s get back to how to take notes in nursing school.

  • Find the sections of the book that correspond to what you learned about in class, read those sections of the book and take notes on them, on the SAME paper that you took your class notes on, but use a DIFFERENT colored pen.

Now, do you remember when I said that you need to use ONE color of pen when you take notes in class, and only fill up half the page? Here’s why these 2 things are super important: when you get home, you’ll take notes from your textbook using a DIFFERENT colored pen than you did in class, and you’ll write it in the leftover space.

This does 2 MAJOR things for you:

  1. First, it allows you to keep all your notes in one place. So when you’re studying for your exam or for your final, you won’t need to break open your textbook again, or flip through 2 different notebooks to get all your notes. They will all be in ONE place.
  2. And second, it lets you see exactly what notes came from your instructor and what notes came from the textbook. Your nursing instructors will often test you most on what they cover in class, so those are the notes you’ll want to study the most. The textbook notes are helpful to give you more understanding about it. But it’s important to keep these 2 notes separate, so you know to prioritize studying the things that your instructor talked about in class.

Then after you’re done taking all your notes,

  • Put that textbook away and start STUDYING.

Make flashcards, draw pictures and notes on a whiteboard, answer practice questions, do anything that will help you remember the information and critically think about it. Check out THIS video if you need help with that.

And in the next video, I’m giving you my top tips for getting more sleep in nursing school. You won’t want to miss that video, since you’re probably not sleeping a lot going between school, and clinical, and work, and studying, and all the things in life. So don’t miss those tips.

And don’t forget to print off your free nursing school study checklist that outlines my whole study process for you. The link is in the description below.

Now make sure to like, comment, subscribe and share this video with a friend.

Now click on one of these videos here so you can keep rocking nursing school, and go become the nurse that God created only YOU to be. And I’ll catch you in the next video.