You are getting ready to take the NCLEX test and you are not sure if you are prepared enough.
Test taking is an arduous process and some people are intimidated by the entire process so much that it is hard for them to stay motivated to study. The right approach and good planning will really help to ease this journey. Find out how can you effectively prepare for the exam that will open the gates for you to be a licensed nurse in the U.S.A.
1. Get mentally prepared: How do you get mentally prepared? Even before that, as a pre requisite to making up your mind for the NCLEX, you need to know well about the test itself! What is the pattern of the test? The syllabus? The style of questions? The hurdles that people face? Why have people failed? What is it that you dread or your weak area? A good analysis of all the stuff will help you prepare yourself mentally to beginning your preparation with the right approach, convince yourself for the much needed hard work and get through in your first attempt!
2. Know your content: Nursing content is lengthy and tough. It is of course an uphill task to remember it all! First of all you need content based on the updated syllabus keeping view of the present requirements. The content should be organised and NCLEX oriented. A good review provider will cut down the irrelevant part of your nursing syllabus and focus more on the important areas. Moreover it should be studied in new and innovative ways, covering a wide array of topics, to keep you adept and updated with the most needed information on various facets of nursing that you have no chance to regret later.
Certain tricks and short cuts should be used to remember the stuff so that you do not keep on lingering with content and focus on other aspects of the exam too.
3. Master the NCLEX questions: NCLEX, comprises of a wide array of questions. It tests your all round abilities. There is no single approach to answering such a variety of questions. You should try to analyse all types of questions and practice them enough develop the clinical reasoning and critical thinking skills that you need. A good study should focus on helping you develop strategy to handle the exam and the variety of questions that will be hurled upon you.
“A good and balanced NCLEX review course, a live or an online one will ease your journey to clearing the NCLEX and being a licensed nurse! Help and support is needed to relieve you of anxiety and address all your hidden fears too. Be confident before you appear for the exam, since confidence is really important.”
The NCSBN which is responsible for developing the Licensure examination provides all the detail very vividly about the content and confers to proportionate setting of the exam with respect to the syllabus. They provide detailed syllabus and instructions and any changes made in the recent upcoming exams, You can visit their website to know about NCLEX RN and Pn and then understand the needs of the exam.
NCSBN provides information related to test planning and how the content of the NCLEX-RN/PN Test Plan is organized into four major categories that focus on client needs:
- Safe and Effective Care Environment
- Health Promotion and Maintenance
- Psychosocial Integrity
- Physiological Integrity
The following processes are fundamental to the practice of nursing and are integrated throughout the Client Needs categories and subcategories. The percentage of test questions assigned to each category are provided by the NCSBN, so that you can asses their weightage and importance for the exam and prepare accordingly! You can visit their website to get detailed information.
A well planned schedule and the right direction in your preparation will lead you to passing the NCLEX in your first attempt.
NCLEX Study Plan!
A good study plan comprises of a balanced distribution of your entire syllabus according to the number of days you have dedicated for your preparation. But, as we have mentioned earlier, you also need to be mentally prepared for the rigorous hard work and discipline that it will demand. So target yourself to revising your content alongside practising the NCLEX style questions. Each new question will help you revise some important fact and will help to develop your thinking in a way that you can apply your learnt knowledge!
We are providing you with a demo plan which will help you. brush up your content and keep on practising questions alongside to help you win the battle.
A SAMPLE 30 DAY STUDY PLAN
- Fundamentals – Nursing (Day 1)
- Fundamentals – Lab Values (Day 2,3)
- Fundamentals – Physical Examination (Day 4)
- Maternity Nursing (Day 5,6)
- Pediatric Nursing (Day 7,8)
- Nursing Pharm Endocrine Medications (Day 9,10)
- Nursing Pharm Respiratory Pharmacology (Day 11,12)
- Nursing Pharm Neurological Pharm (Day 13,14)
- Nursing Pharm DiureticsNeurological Disorders (Day 15,16)
- Pharmacology GI Pharm (Day 17,18)
- Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders (Day 19,20)
- Cardio Disorders (Day 21)
- Oncological Disorders (Day 22)
- Genitourinary and Renal Disorders (Day 23)
- Integumentary Disorders (Day 24)
- Eye and Ear Disorders (Day 25)
- Musculoskeletal Disorders (Day 26)
- Immune Disorders (Day 27)
- Visual and Auditory and Wounds (Day 28)
- Physiological integrity of patients (Day 29)
- Psychological Integrity of patients (Day 30)
NOTE: Along with revising your content according to this schedule, focus on practising 50 NCLEX style questions daily. This will lead you to covering at least 1500 questions before you appear for the exam. While practising questions read about rationales behind the right answers and hence it will help you to develop the much needed critical thinking skills!
For this we recommend Brilliant Nurse: A very affordable yet dependable program that will not only help to brush up your knowledge but also give a good practice for the questions and also case studies that mimic real clinical scenarios to help develop your analytical and reasoning skills. Check out the given links: 30 day DIY NCLEX-RNÆ Test Prep Track & Practice Assignments and 30 day DIY NCLEX-PNÆ Test Prep Track & Practice Assignments
The real problem!
If you have analysed the NCLEX questions then you must be knowing…..What lies at the heart of the problem…
It is true that you’ll learn a lot in nursing school…..But you are bound to learn much more in an NCLEX review course! There’s a fine line separating the two. In nursing school, you’ll acquire theoretical knowledge and gain nursing practical experience.What is important to note here is that if you’ve been a good student in the Nursing school and only need to revise your content OR if even if you’ve been an average student and need to really brush up the whole content again, in any of the case both types of students need a rigorous practice of the NCLEX questions and need to develop critical reasoning and analytical skills which will lead to decision making.
NCLEX questions are really tricky sometimes, can leave you totally confused even if you know your content well! So, you need to take help from experts who will provide you with a good number of NCLEX style questions, make you practice them, provide you reasons for the right answers and help build a foundation the at will make you handle the exam really well.
EDITOR’S NOTE: If you’re looking for an NCLEX review program that not only provides you with updated and sound content, but helps you build the ability to think confidently, train you to analyse questions by making you acquainted with case studies, practical scenarios and simulation tests; we recommend Brilliant Nurse, which offer a variety of courses for RN as well as PN aspirants. Check out the links below:
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