Preparing for the NCLEX

Preparation for the NCLEX • Start preparing as soon as you finish school. Starting your studying too early/while you are still in school (and studying for exams) may cause burn out and lead to a more stressful NCLEX studying experience. On the other hand, if you take off a large amount of time in between school and NCLEX studying, you’ll start to forget key information you learned in nursing school that’s needed for the NCLEX. • Order your study material during the last couple of weeks of school to ensure you have all your resources ready for the upcoming weeks of studying (my favorite resources are listed below). • Read over the National Council of State Boards of Nursing detailed test plan (there is an overview of what you’ll be tested on and what percentage of the test is made up of what topics; e.g. 12% of the test will cover Safety and Infection Prevention + Control). • Create a study schedule and stick to it – my study calendar is found on the next page. • Learn about the various alternate format questions and tips/tricks on how to answer them (e.g. Select All That Apply [SATA], hot spot questions, fill in the blank questions, chart/audio/graphic questions, and drag-anddrop/ordered questions). • Find a study space that works for you. Personally, I studied at a library every single day and found it to be very beneficial as I was able to focus without distractions and could also separate my study space and personal space. • Remain positive and confident! If you find yourself over-worked, know that it’s okay to take a day off for selfcare… it’ll benefit you in the long run. The following are resources I personally used while studying for the NCLEX and would highly recommend: • Test-bank: uWorld o This is the #1 resource I recommend o The layout of uWorld is essentially identical to the NCLEX o The test bank questions are slightly more difficult than the real NCLEX, which I believe will help prepare you best for the test. It will also have you thinking more critically! o You can go through the questions in a random order or system by system (which is what I chose to do) and once you’re finished with the test bank, you can write a mock NCLEX with results that show you the likelihood of you passing the NCLEX • Book: Saunders Comprehensive Review for the NCLEX-RN o This book includes everything you need to know for the NCLEX o Not necessary to read every single page, but it’s a great resource to refer to when you are struggling with a particular system or concept. If I got a uWorld question wrong, not only would I read the rationale, but I would also read up on that particular information in my Saunders book Study Material: • Cue cards: I wrote out all my lab values on cue cards and reviewed all lab values every single day before my study session began • Binder split into sections: writing out uWorld rationales and keeping them in a binder for you to review weekly is a great way to ensure that you don’t forget what you learned the previous week(s) • Calculator, pens, highlighter, sticky notes/tabs, and earplugs 3 Study Schedule • I set aside 2 months for my NCLEX studying, however, 1.5 months would have been enough for me personally • Monday – Saturday: 1. Review lab value cue cards 2. 10 uWorld questions 3. Read rationales, write out every single rationale in binder (unless you’re 100% confident in the topic) 4. Read extra information from Saunders book and add into the binder 5. 15 minute break 6. Repeat steps 2-5 for a total of 30-50 questions per day • Sunday: 1. Read over all the rationales in my binder 2. RELAX! • I started off my NCLEX studying with the section I was least confident in: maternity. I had the most energy and determination at the beginning (obviously), so I knew that I could tackle and conquer my weakest section with ease. If you don’t have a particular “weak section” I suggest the following schedule: Month 1 Monday ADULT HEALTH Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday ---------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ----------------→ PEDIATRICS Monday MATERNITY CRITICAL CARE MENTAL HEALTH ---------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ----------------→ Tuesday Wednesday Month 2 Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday --------------- ----------------------- ------------------- ------------------ ------------------- ---------------→ ---------------→ PHARMACOLOG ---------------→ --------------- ------------------ ---------------→ ------------------- DELEGATION/ LEADERSHIP ---------------→ REVIEW REVIEW BREAK TEST DAY 4