After much anticipation, the newest Stressed Out book will arrive this week. Stressed Out About Pharmacology features information about everything from learning strategies, to drugs (of course), to patient safety tips that will combine to make you feel prepared in your career as a nurse. We’ve looked at how to keep up your learning hygiene, spent some time with neoplastic medications, and taken it to a higher level of patient safety. Today, we’ll feature one final pre-publication excerpt.

Be the teacher. We all, generally speaking, want to like and think well of ourselves. We try to make ourselves feel good. So we unconsciously tend to study stuff we know because when we remember it, we feel good. What’s the tip here? Pretend you are the teacher.

Deliver the week’s lecture(s) to your dog or cat or kid (if they can be securely restrained). You will prattle on and on but eventually will get stuck. The information you get stuck on is the only stuff you need to study. Don’t put any effort into rehashing the things you’ve already learned other than quick periodic run-throughs to keep it cemented and to deepen the memory groove. Do focus most of your energy on the areas you are less sure about; your lectures will invariably identify them for you.

Make use of automatic memory. This is memory that, eventually, you don’t have to think about. Quick, what’s your phone number? See, you can just rattle it off automatically. Flash cards will help you develop automatic memory, but don’t make a card for everything. (It really may not help to have 500 or so for each chapter.) But do make one for each important concept, drug class, individual drug, and so on. Take them with you wherever you go, as repetition is the key. Shuffle them. Study both sides. Do them 10,000 times (a hyperbolic figure of speech, not a prescription), and your memory will be automatic.

The down and dirty about cramming

Don’t do it! The only way to actually learn is through repetition, and devoting time and energy DAILY (sorry for shouting again). Even 15 or 20 minutes a day of focused effort will pay off better than pulling an all-nighter.

That being said, did you ever wonder how actors in a TV drama learn new scenes every week? They cram! It does work! Life happens; sometimes our best intentions can’t be carried out, and we need to cram. If you are up against a wall and have to cram, use all of the tools you can: pegs, mnemonics, posters, etc.

Tip: If you have to cram, eat high energy foods (protein), drink lots of water, drink small amounts of caffeine (larger amounts are counterproductive), take cat naps, and take frequent short breaks.

You will remember a lot of the information–for less than a day. Cramming can be a useful tool, but ultimately you will put nothing in long-term memory if cramming is all you do.

Don’t do it alone

We are social creatures for the most part. Though hitting the books with someone doesn’t take the place of frequent solitary study, it is a useful adjunct and can be a valuable strategy. The benefits include:

• Having someone urge us on when we would just as soon put it off until tomorrow.
• Our partner(s) often give us a new perspective and prevent us from overlooking important information.
• Trying to explain something to someone else really helps us see if we understand it.
• Misery loves company. It often is truly a comfort to know we are not alone and are supported. This, in turn, reduces our frustration and improves our learning.

Editor’s note: For more information or to order your copy of Stressed Out About Pharmacology today, click here.