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Learn what type of learner you are! I’m a little bit of everything. As an auditory learner, I learn best by listening over and over to lectures (I recorded my patho lectures and found I learned something new every time I went back and listened). In addition, if I didn’t fully understand the material presented in lecture I went back and read it in the textbook and my notes. In addition, I re-wrote my notes and explained the material to myself and taught others. Pick what works for you and do it! No one is the same in how they learn!
Pathophysiology Study Tips for Success
Are you taking pathophysiology and need some tips on how to succeed in this class? If so, this article will help you! In this article, I share some tips I used to pass pathophysiology.
Most nursing school programs require students to take patho. Pathophysiology can be an intense class because of all the information you have to learn in such a short time frame. However, I would say that pathophysiology is one of the most important classes you will take in nursing school because it helps you understand why a patient is presenting with certain signs and symptoms and why you are performing those certain nursing interventions.
What is Pathophysiology? It is where you will be studying what is happening in the body when diseases or injuries cause the body to react in an ABNORMAL way.
Video on How to Succeed in Pathophysiology
Some reasons why Patho can be a difficult class?
- Heavy in content for each exam (may cover up to 5-9 chapters per exam on detailed content)
- Most of your grade is based on how well you perform on exams
- Not a class you can just “wing it”! You must develop a study plan and stick to it.
- Requires you study for it weekly! It isn’t one of those classes where you study the night before the exam.
- You have to remember the basics about Anatomy and Physiology! So, don’t forget what you have learned in A and P!
Tips on How to Succeed in Pathophysiology in Nursing School
Know your Anatomy and Physiology! You don’t have to be a genius in A and P but know the basics. If you are covering the respiratory system this week, prior to going to class brush up on lung anatomy and physiology and how everything works NORMALLY. So, when you go to lecture and your professor is talking about pneumonia, you will understand how the alveoli start to become inflamed and why gas exchange is impaired (and why the patient will have respiratory acidosis etc.).
Know your professor! Every professor is different in their teaching style. Some give you a study guide prior to the exam, are great at presenting lectures and cover everything you need to know for the exam. While others make it a “scavenger hunt” and require that YOU find the important information in your textbook or through research. If you have the “scavenger hunt” professor, ask previous students who took the professor to get an idea about how to study for the exams. Also, know you are going to have to study a lot on your own and research concepts to understand the material.
Learn what type of learner you are! I’m a little bit of everything. As an auditory learner, I learn best by listening over and over to lectures (I recorded my patho lectures and found I learned something new every time I went back and listened). In addition, if I didn’t fully understand the material presented in lecture I went back and read it in the textbook and my notes. In addition, I re-wrote my notes and explained the material to myself and taught others. Pick what works for you and do it! No one is the same in how they learn!
Don’t memorize the content but UNDERSTAND IT! Every chapter builds up itself and the final exam will probably be comprehensive, so REALLY understand the material. Plus, you need to know the patho as a nurse.
Make this class your number one priority over your other classes! If you can, try to take easier classes while taking this class, so you have time to study for this class. Every week you need to review material covered in class and study (prior to class and right after class). Don’t just attend class and then a week before the exam start reviewing because you will feel very overwhelmed and won’t give yourself enough time to learn the material.
Create mnemonics for similar content! Mnemonics are great memory aids and make learning less mundane. In patho, you will be covering diseases that are very similar, so use mnemonics to help you keep them separate. My YouTube videos and review notes have many mnemonics to help you learn.
Get a study guide to help breakdown the IMPORTANT material! *Pearson Reviews and Rationales: Pathophysiology is a great study guide I recommend. It helps break down the material in an easy way and focuses on what you need to know for exams. You should use this as a supplement to your class notes and textbook.
*Disclaimer: The book I recommend is based on my opinion and personal experience. If you click the link to the book that I recommend it will take you to Amazon.com, and if you choose to purchase this book through Amazon.com using the link, we receive a commission which goes to fund this FREE resource for nursing students.
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Pathophysiology Tips!
Pathophysiology is a tough course that can be particularly intimidating if it’s one of your pre-requisites required to gain entry into your school’s nursing program. What really makes this course so intimidating though? Well, to be honest, there are probably a few reasons that come to mind. This class will require quite a bit of reading on your part and you’ll likely have to study routinely to develop an in-depth understanding of the material. In addition to the time committment required, you also have draw upon your prior knowledge of anatomy and physiology as well as biology. This means that you have to be able to accurately recall material from those courses so they can serve as a strong foundation. The sheer amount of topics that you’ll cover in a patho class can also be imposing. Finally, the majority of your grade in a pathophysiology course is likely derived solely from your grades on quizzes and exams. Whew! Now that the negative aspects are out in the open, let’s discuss how you can approach this course to best set yourself up for success. It’s the week or two prior to the start of your classes, and you don’t have your books or a syllabus yet. What can you be doing to prepare for patho? First and foremost, review any of the notes and study guides you kept from your previous science courses…particularly A&P and biology. Heading into this course with a strong foundation in these subjects will make it THAT much easier for you to comprehend the basics of pathophysiology and the pathogenesis of the most common diseases and conditions. Once your professor begins to release course information, be sure to read the assigned materials PRIOR to each lecture. Pro tip? If your professor is anything like mine was, we had plenty of pop quizzes in the first 10 minutes of lecture. How on earth do you know what material to anticipate for a pop quiz? Check to see if they post power point presentations for your lectures. Review these presentations and read the assigned sections prior to class. The readings will likely be more extensive than the presentation (and their presentations will queue you into which points to focus on). Ding ding ding! This will likely be where your quiz questions come from. Another recommendation I have for you is to get organized from the very beginning. Have a binder ready and section off your notes either weekly or by exam. Be sure to take quality notes that are concise. To save time and enhance comprehension, try summarizing what you’re reading into a condensed version…in your own words. Try not to use textbook jargon unless it’s unavoidable. Your prof doesn’t provide a study guide? No problem! Take the objectives provided at the beginning of you assigned readings and answer them. If they include objectives in their presentations, answer those as well. Do them in chunks after your lecture to cement the information you’ve listened to for the past few hours (of course, take a break to regroup first). Another reason to do this after class is to make sure you’ve learned the material accurately before attempting to study it for the exam. Don’t put this off until a day or two before your exam, because the material is less fresh in your mind and you’ll be cramming at that point anyway. For this course, you HAVE to prioritize comprehension of the material because it will serve as the building blocks for nearly every other nursing course you will take in your program.
When you study, break it down in to small sessions. What worked best for me was to focus for 30 minutes, take a 10 minute break, and then study for another 30 minutes. After this, I would take a break and switch courses. Studying like this helps maintain your focus. Don’t be afraid to form a study group! In fact, I highly suggest it. Take your group to the library and reserve a conference room (preferably one that has a whiteboard). Then discuss the pathogenesis for the diseases and conditions you’re learning about and draw it out! Having other students present prevents you from leaving out key points. Plus, it gives you and your group members the opportunity to teach one another. Teaching someone helps you understand the material better, that’s why we have patients return demonstrate key actions like checking their blood sugar or tell us why they’re taking a specific medication.
As for the patho flow sheet template, the components I found helpful to include when I took this course were: the name of the condition, what it is, risk factors/causes, pathogenesis, manifestations, diagnostic tests/diagnostic criteria, nursing interventions, and miscellaneous pertinent info (basically anything important that doesn’t seem to fit into a particular category). If you’re taking the pathophysiology course prior to entry into a nursing program (like I did), the nursing interventions section may not be applicable quite yet and that’s okay. You don’t have to include it now. In fact, you can always add a second sheet of paper to that section later on, since you’ll be keeping this “Bible” throughout your program…or at least I highly recommend doing so. If you want a standardized sheet you can use, I put together one that resembles the hand drawn one I used when I was in school. It’s available as an instant digital download in our Etsy shop. Pssst! We also have a similar one to use for handwritten drug cards when you take your pharmacology course.
I truly hope these tips get you off on the right foot as you head into the next semester! I know you’re going to excel with these recommendations, but if you have any that I might have missed, drop them in the comments below to help your fellow nursing school comrades.
