Memory Mastery: Encoding, Storage, and Retrieval (Nursing)

00:01 Now, I want to talk to you a little bit more about encoding, storage, and retrieval.

00:05 This is going to make you feel uncomfortable. Now, look at the picture.

00:09 It's like we've taken a puzzle box and we've dumped it out on the table, right? Can you tell me what picture that puzzle is? No. This is much like when you first start studying a new concept.

00:21 You have really no idea how it fits together. Now, you do some studying.

00:25 You might want to underline but you know that that's a beginning step.

00:30 You're asking yourself, "Why would a nurse need to know this? How does it keep a patient safe?" You're pausing and recalling while you're doing your studying.

00:39 You're actually thinking about how these pieces should start to kind of fit together.

00:43 Now you have a basic scaffold or a general idea.

00:46 Another way to do this when you're reading a textbook is look at the bolded headings.

00:50 And get an outline, an idea of why you're looking at this topic.

00:54 That's like putting all the straight edge pieces of a puzzle together.

00:58 Now still, can you tell me what the picture is? No, you can't.

01:02 But at least we have a basic scaffolding and a general idea.

01:06 You know what would be the bomb? If you did these two things before class.

01:11 If you walk in the class having been exposed to the I-hear-you-yelling.

01:16 Yes, I hear you telling me.

01:18 Let me tell you everything you're saying right now.

01:20 I don't have time. Are you kidding me? I barely make it. What do you do about it? Yeah, those are excuses.

01:26 What if you tried never giving or receiving an excuse? You said, “What can I do in my life so I can at least take one small step? What can I control?” These thoughts are based on emotions.

01:38 What can I control so that I can walk into class with some little bit of preparation and see if it makes a difference in what I learn? And then try adding that slowly to your study habits.

01:50 Because once you've got this structure out, once you've got the basic scaffolding and the general idea, when you start going to class interacting with the faculty and studying more, and as you invest more time and energy in that in an appropriate and strategic way, the picture is going to come into focus.

02:08 Now, you'll notice there are still some pieces missing, right? It isn't a complete and total puzzle picture.

02:15 There are pieces missing. That's okay.

02:17 This is the part where I told you you're going to feel uncomfortable.

02:21 I want you to know that when you're feeling uncomfortable, that's where the learning has happened.

02:26 Now, that's different than einstellung.

02:28 When you're frustrated, and you're angry, and you don't know where to go, that's different.

02:32 But what I want you to know is when you're learning something new, it's going to feel wonky like that new information piece.

02:39 Everything looks like you can't tell what it is.

02:41 Then you barely feel like you've kind of got the outline of the information.

02:45 But at least you have the scaffold.

02:47 So when you go to class, and you're listening to lecture, and you're interacting with your peers, and you're doing further study, slowly that picture will come into focus.

02:56 I want you to be comfortable at each stage and say, “This is what learning is." Learning feels uncomfortable.

03:04 If I'm struggling, I'm learning.

03:07 Not einstellung but I'm struggling.

03:09 That means I'm learning and I'm building new relationships between my neurons.

03:14 Remember, change the charge of your thoughts.

03:17 Reframe it. Don't make it negative.

03:19 This is so hard. I'm so slow.

03:21 Uh-huh, no, learning is uncomfortable.

03:24 If I'm uncomfortable, then I'm learning.

03:26 My goal is I'm going to make the connections. I'm going to apply it.

03:30 It's going to live in my long-term memory where it's going to change the way I take care of patients.

03:35 Because I'm going to be that type of nurse that every patient I interact with has a better day or better quality of life because I took care of them that shift.

03:46 So when you've got it at the end, see what it does.

03:49 You're trying to focus and memorize facts.

03:51 Look at the picture there. Look what you're missing.

03:54 If you just try and memorize things without actually applying them and understanding, you're missing the big picture.

04:01 That's what we're after.

04:02 Mastery is understanding the big picture.

04:06 That way, you encode the information in a regular way.

04:09 You store it in a way that it can be retrieved because that's what you want.

04:14 When you're taking care of a patient, you want to know what to do when you hit a crisis, or an emergency, or an everyday event with a patient.

04:23 Also, I know you want to be able to retrieve it when you’re taking a test.