New to studying for nursing exams - learning to critically think as a nurse

[Scramer1231]

This is my first semester in school for my RN degree. Of course nursing exams are a huge concern, but my biggest worry is the way to study for the critical thinking questions. Really, how to get my brain to critically think for the way the questions are asked for the exams. Any help, advice, suggestions?! Would be greatly appreciated!

[Tammy Nightingale]

StatPearls has great questions with explanations and gets you used to NCLEX style questions. They have flashcards and ebooks. Access is free for all students. Link is posted on their facebook page. Uworld is really good as well as Hurst. Questions, questions and more questions. Practice with these type questions will foster your critical thinking skills.

[pmabraham, BSN, RN]

is very helpful

[AliNajaCat]

Try not to think about "critical thinking to pass the exam." Think about how critical thinking is EVERYthing in nursing. We sometimes call it "learning to think like a nurse." That means integrating everything you have learned up until the present moment-- prerequisites, last semesters's classes, last week's lecture, last clinical experience-- into what you are looking at TODAY.

Nursing education is different from every other kind of education you've had up until now. You WILL be held accountable for all that came before, so you can apply it in your assessments and problem-solving and diagnosing. (Yes, you will be diagnosing.)

P.S. "RN" is not a degree, it's a license granted you by the Board of Registration in Nursing after you pass the NCLEX examination. You are in school for your bachelor's degree or your associate's degree in nursing; after you earn your degree at an approved school, you apply to the BoRN for permission to take the licensure examination.