Make Time for Studying
Nursing school is a whole ‘nother ball game. The study habits that worked before are not necessarily going to work now. For two years or four years, depending on your program, school will be your primary focus. You worked hard to get here, so don’t blow it now. Make time for studying every day.

Invest in an NCLEX Review Book

I tell my students that it is never too early to get an NCLEX review book. It might not seem like it now, but school will be over before you know it. I recommend a comprehensive review book; these are the ones that have content outlines with questions at the end of the chapter or section. Whichever book you choose, make sure that the book gives not only answers to questions, but also the rationales. This way, if you get the question wrong, you can go to the rationale and find out why the correct answer was the right one. If, while answering questions, you identify a weak area, go back and study that content area. These books usually contain information from basic to complex nursing skills. No matter whether you are a beginning nursing student, or getting ready for graduation, these books will serve you well. As you go through nursing school, go to the section (or sections) in the book of the content that you are studying, read over the outline of the material, and answer the questions. If the question contains content which you have not yet covered, simply skip those questions. You will be able to go back to those questions when you get to more advanced courses. Another nice thing about comprehensive books is that if the reading in your text is becoming overwhelming, you can review that content in outline form. An NCLEX book should never be used in place of you regular text book, but it is a good supplement.

Note Cards

I made note cards all the way through nursing school and they served me very well. A lot of people I have talked to don’t like to make note cards because they feel they are too time consuming. It’s true, writing note cards can take some time—but I will tell you why I feel it is time well spent. If you are writing study cards, you are reinforcing content because you are writing down the information. Many people like to re-write their notes to study. Well, if you write out note cards, you are basically doing the same thing. Remember, though, not to put too much information on one card. True, you will have to invest in more cards, but the information is easier to learn in small pieces. I wrote a question for the front side of the card and put the answer on the back. Another advantage of note cards is that you can carry them with you. If you are sitting waiting for an appointment, pull out the cards and do some studying. I used to start off with a huge pile of note cards and as I learned the material, I would pull out the questions that I could answer. By doing this, I was focusing on the content area with which I was less comfortable. I never did completely eliminate the entire pile of cards by the time test day rolled around, but I sure did get make that pile of cards a lot smaller. I was always told that I could not memorize nursing content. This is true, you can’t just memorize facts. You have to understand how to apply the content in the question. I found, however, that if you memorize some of the facts on those note cards, that information can then be used to rationalize your way through the test question. That information that you memorized might just help trigger the correct answer.

Read the Entire Question

I am not going to go through all of the nuances of nursing test question construction. There are books on the market that do a superb job of explaining how to read test questions. My one piece of advice is to make sure you read the entire question. Nursing questions are generally written in multiple choice format. If the question gives you four choices, read all four of them. Don’t choose the one first answer that looks right Okay, I’ll give one more piece of advice that you’ve probably heard a thousand times: don’t change your answers—your first instinct is generally the right one.

Seek Help

If you do not understand the content, use your resources. Don’t be afraid to talk with your instructors. They have been doing this for a long time and can probably recommend study resources that you haven’t even thought of. It sounds corny, but they truly want nothing more than to see you succeed. In addition, if your school provides tutoring, then take advantage of it. Not everyone benefits from a study group, but some people swear by them. If studying with fellow students works for you, then, by all means, find some study partners. My only advice would be to make sure that the study group does not turn into a social gathering. If this is the case, your time would probably best be spent studying alone.

About to Take the NCLEX?
	Do practice questions—as many of them as you can. Make sure you get a book that has a CD-ROM with computer questions. The NCLEX is a computerized test. I know that most people are more comfortable answering questions in a book, but you will not have that luxury when you take the actual test. Get used to answering questions on the computer now.

Looking for More?
	Visit the "Test Taking" page on StudentNurseConnections.com.