Exam Study Techniques!

JROregon, ASN, BSN, RN · Sep 24, 2011

I think that will help a lot. We are able to pick our patients in the hospital and write up a prep before caring for them. The next day, we do our care plan. So during the med/surg portion of our lectures, I would pick patient with health conditions that were the same as our lecture/test subjects. That was the ticket to a couple of A grades.

SnMrsSmiley · Sep 24, 2011

i write absolutely everything down on note cards. Not really flashcard style just small bits of info that I can process better when im not looking at a page with tons of stuff to remember. I take ten to 15 practice tests on the chapters. I use test success books, fundamentals success book, every disc that came with all thirteen required books we bought, iphone apps that have nclex style tests and rationales, the studyguide that came with my primary textbook, and a reallllly important thing to do: When taking practice tests online or in the books that have rationales i read EVERY SINGLE ONE even the wrong ones because they tell you why its wrong which gives you more info and reinfocement. Sounds like overkill right? Well maybe, lol. But i did make a 96 on my first test and a 90 on my second ( i actually made an 88 on my second but I challenged one they said I had wrong by using one of my study books that they asked us to buy as my backup and i got the points! so did everyone else in my class that got it "wrong")

In my opinion you cant overstudy this stuff. The more you know the better you can put it into context when taking these wild "all options are correct but ONE is better tests"

Good luck!

Certifiable, BSN, RN · Sep 24, 2011

i write absolutely everything down on note cards. Not really flashcard style just small bits of info that I can process better when im not looking at a page with tons of stuff to remember. I take ten to 15 practice tests on the chapters. I use test success books, fundamentals success book, every disc that came with all thirteen required books we bought, iphone apps that have nclex style tests and rationales, the studyguide that came with my primary textbook, and a reallllly important thing to do: When taking practice tests online or in the books that have rationales i read EVERY SINGLE ONE even the wrong ones because they tell you why its wrong which gives you more info and reinfocement. Sounds like overkill right? Well maybe, lol. But i did make a 96 on my first test and a 90 on my second ( i actually made an 88 on my second but I challenged one they said I had wrong by using one of my study books that they asked us to buy as my backup and i got the points! so did everyone else in my class that got it "wrong")
In my opinion you cant overstudy this stuff. The more you know the better you can put it into context when taking these wild "all options are correct but ONE is better tests"
Good luck!

All I can say is.... Wowwwwwww!

santina44 · Sep 25, 2011

I do outlines. I have done outlines since day 1 in the program. I get my book and computer, and type notes. This way, I have a hugely shortened portion of the book written in MY language. Once I am done with outlining, I read my outlines over and over and over again. I also sometimes get a scrap sheet of paper and write down important sentences or lab values 2-5 times. Writing really helps get concepts into my head because it causes me to actively think about what I am writing.

I only use flash cards for short information (lab values, drugs, etc) and I find this to help.

Also, I cannot overstress the importance of practicing NCLEX questions. Usually the books come with CDs that have questions about the material in your book. Practicing these questions "warm up" the brain on how your actual test questions will be presented to you. If your book is from the publisher Elsevier, there is an excellent website called evolve.eslevier.com and it has NCLEX questions for every chapter. I suggest you check it out!