How do you study?

sigshaRN · Mar 2, 2006

To be honest, I dont think that you really can study for the nclex. Im saying this because before I took mine, I went over all my notes from school and I even studied off of the disc to the nclex book that I bought, but when I took the nclex none of the information that I learned in school or the information that was in my nclex book was on the exam. The nclex in my opinion, had more to do with if you knew the ABC's, Nursing process,Maslow, and most importantly would you know how to provide safety (in other words, would you make a safe nurse). You can study every nclex book in the world but it all goes back to the things I listed above. In my opinion it was not testing you on your knowledge of any particular disorder or subject. Also you need to know which patients take priority. If you apply Maslow, ABC's, etc. to answer every question, you will do fine even if its a disorder that you never learned. So dont stress about trying to learn every disorder or cram on a particular subject. I hope this is very helpful to you. And good luck on your exam. I was in your shoes not too long ago. :)

Butterflybee · Mar 3, 2006

Thank you for that much needed information. What type of questions do they ask pertaining to the nursing process. It would be helpful if you could give a for instance....maslow too because we really didnt focus on maslow. We sort of passed over it while focusing on the other hierchy of needs.

To be honest, I dont think that you really can study for the nclex. Im saying this because before I took mine, I went over all my notes from school and I even studied off of the disc to the nclex book that I bought, but when I took the nclex none of the information that I learned in school or the information that was in my nclex book was on the exam. The nclex in my opinion, had more to do with if you knew the ABC's, Nursing process,Maslow, and most importantly would you know how to provide safety (in other words, would you make a safe nurse). You can study every nclex book in the world but it all goes back to the things I listed above. In my opinion it was not testing you on your knowledge of any particular disorder or subject. Also you need to know which patients take priority. If you apply Maslow, ABC's, etc. to answer every question, you will do fine even if its a disorder that you never learned. So dont stress about trying to learn every disorder or cram on a particular subject. I hope this is very helpful to you. And good luck on your exam. I was in your shoes not too long ago. :)

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2006

The best way for me is the tried-and-true method of 'drill and kill'. I read my textbooks and do practice NCLEX-style questions because the devil is in the details. I'll miss the important stuff if I don't read the textbook chapters thoroughly.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Mar 12, 2006

I'm an Lpn student who will be graduating in July. I was just curious about everyone's study type. I myself, still don't have one! Do you read your textbooks, or do you find it more helpful to read the NCLEX books? Sometimes there are so many chapters with tons of inbetween words, where as the NCLEX books are more straight forward. Thanks

Are you asking about study type while in school, or study type for the NCLEX?I wasn't clear about your question. But, I would say for NCLEX that I wouldn't bother with textbooks anymore. They each have their own focus, and at this point, there is no need for all of the details per se. I just graduated from my program almost two weeks ago, and I put those books away.

But for either way, I would have a comprehensive review book like Saunders or Lippincott, and while you are in school, you can practice the questions in the CD ROM and book, because they get to the main point of the exam.