© nampix / Shutterstock.comRead each question in its entirety
When you read a question, you may identify a keyword or phrase right away and think you know the answer. You check out your four answer options; see the answer that you came up with; say to yourself, “That was easy”; and choose that perfect answer. But if you were to read the question more carefully, you may see that your perfect answer doesn’t really answer the question — it just seems like it does. Sometimes all the answers are right and you must choose the best one. Speed-reading questions and jumping to answers isn’t an effective way of identifying the real problem the question is presenting and often leads you to an incorrect answer.The best approach is to read the entire question at least once before reading the answers. Take the opportunity to think about what the question is asking before you rush to the answers. Part of the skill required for success on this exam is reading comprehension, so read carefully and thoroughly. And make sure you read all of the answer, too, checking carefully for any bits that are wrong.
Don’t read into the question
Many students fall victim to the pitfall of thinking too deeply about a question and inserting bits and pieces that aren’t actually in the question. Adding information to a question— from words to responsibilities and situations — is deadly. It almost always encourages you to choose an incorrect answer because your mind is already heading in one direction. Instead of reading into a question, take the information in the question and choose an answer that best reflects the stated problem.For example, you may read a question that asks a nurse to complete a very time-consuming task. You may ask yourself, “How could I possibly have time to complete that task when I have six other patients to care for?” Well, the question never presented any other patients in the scenario. If the question asks you about one patient and doesn’t tell you that you’re responsible for any others, don’t assume that you have that responsibility — just answer the question.
Answer questions with the ideal situation in mind
One tried-and-true characteristic of the NCLEX-RN is that all the questions reflect nursing practice in a perfect world, which is majorly different from the NCLEX-RN world. On the day of the test, remember that the real world doesn’t belong on the NCLEX-RN. When you read a question and its answer options, ask yourself, “If all conditions were optimal, what would I choose to do?” Follow all the steps you learned in nursing school regardless of how time-consuming or laborious they may seem. The exam is testing your knowledge of how you’d provide care for a patient under the most optimal circumstances.Many students choose an incorrect answer even though they’ve identified a better and safer choice; they say to themselves, “I saw a nurse do that in clinical, and if an experienced nurse does it that way, then how could I know better?” The truth is, most new graduates practice safer nursing care because they follow all the steps in the process and don’t take shortcuts. Don’t use what you see other nurses do at work. The people who write the exam are aware of how many nurses in practice may take shortcuts to save time but also may put the patient at risk. Therefore, they test to make sure you aren’t taking any shortcuts. Always choose an answer that includes all the steps in a process in the correct sequence.
Avoid changing your answers
Most students change their answer to a question only to find out that they changed a correct answer to an incorrect answer. Second-guessing yourself is probably one of the most dangerous things you can do on a test. Students change answers because they don’t trust their judgment or knowledge about a subject. As a new nurse, you probably don’t have much experience to draw on, so when faced with a situation in which making a choice confirms your decision about how to handle a particular situation, you may feel that you aren’t “qualified” to make that decision.You couldn’t be more wrong. By virtue of your graduation from nursing school, you’re qualified to make the decisions that new graduate nurses are allowed to make. The exam asks only questions that are within the scope of practice of a new graduate, not of an experienced ICU nurse. Nursing schools are very careful about making sure that all graduates are able to safely and competently make the decisions necessary to care for patients.
Your first choice is usually well thought out and rational; changing your answer indicates doubt and insecurity. Be confident in your instincts!
Don’t call the doctor until you’re sure you need to
Calling the patient’s doctor is always a tempting choice because, after all, who better to make patient care decisions than the doctor? However, the NCLEX-RN examiners have prepared this test as a nursing practice test and are testing you on what a nurse would do in a particular situation, not what a doctor would do. Doctors have their own tests!Besides, anytime you call a doctor, he or she asks questions about the patient, such as what vital signs and symptoms you’ve observed and what actions you’ve taken to address the problem. Always think about what appropriate nursing actions would be important to implement before calling the doctor, and you have your answer.
Also remember to consider what you can do to help this patient prior to calling the doctor. The doctor won’t magically appear when called; getting there takes time. Can you do something in the meantime? Both scenarios help you find your answer.
Avoid answers that make you choose all or nothing
Very few things happen either all the time or none of the time. Life’s just not like that. Even if you want things to be black and white, they never are. So avoid choosing answers that include specific, finite words like all, every, always, none, and never. These words should be a red flag that the answer has some flaw. Rarely can you describe a situation in such concrete terms. Even if the rest of the answer seems possible and only that one little word gives you doubt, the fact that the situation is presented in an all-or-nothing way makes it very unlikely to be correct.Nurses must be prepared to function in an ever-changing environment, so answers with words that indicate the flexibility of a situation are more likely to be correct.
Don’t memorize facts, questions, or other useless trivia
Memorizing a lot of factoids, questions, and other information is a lot of work and very time-consuming. It exhausts you and takes up time that you could spend studying the really important stuff. Anyway, questions in books or in online testing for the NCLEX-RN never show up word for word. Memorizing them isn’t worth your time. You may see a question with the same content, but it’s likely to be asking something completely different than the question you memorized.Knowledge and understanding of content is a much more successful path to take; believe it or not, actually learning the information doesn’t take any longer than memorizing it. The main difference is that the information you learn and understand stays in your head much, much longer than what you memorize by rote. And you can apply learned information to many different situations, which enables you to answer so many more questions correctly. A little knowledge can go a long way.
Don’t think you can be ready without hard work
Many new graduates and NCLEX-RN candidates are accustomed to cramming for exams. In nursing school, you may have only had a few weeks to prepare for a test in a particular course because the next test was just around the corner. Well, cram no more — you can take more time to prepare for the NCLEX-RN than any other test you took in nursing school. This is the test — the last test you need to take prior to receiving your nursing license — so you can spend all your study time preparing for only this test.I recommend that you begin to study as soon as you graduate. Continue to review your notes and study your textbooks every day until you actually take the test. Don’t leave long gaps in your study schedule. As time goes on, most people tend to forget more, not remember more; continuous review and practice keeps much of that precious nursing knowledge in your head until the big day.
Know your strengths and weaknesses
As you prepare yourself for the NCLEX-RN, you should take as many practice tests as you can. Practice tests reveal two things:- Content areas that you need to spend more time reviewing
- Test-taking strategies that you need to brush up on
Write down the content you missed on practice tests, and any other content on that topic you don’t know. Review this content at least daily to limit the number of times you look up a specific subject. “One and done” is my motto.
Be kind to yourself
For many, taking the NCLEX-RN is so overwhelming that it seems more like a punishment than a reward. Remember, taking the NCLEX-RN is a reward for successfully completing nursing school. Therefore, you should treat yourself extra well during the time you spend preparing for this exam. Many people lock themselves away from family and friends and just study day and night. But that approach may not be as beneficial as you think. Having the support of those who are closest to you and care most about you makes the triumph of passing much sweeter.Taking good care of yourself during preparation time ensures that you have maximum energy and can get the most out of the hard work you put in. Continue all your regular healthy habits, like exercising, eating right, sleeping well, and, most of all, taking some time to relax. (If you lost those habits during nursing school, get them back!) Pick family outings or events and go spend time with the people who are important to you. People who are successful in what they do know how to take good care of themselves.