Testing help please!! (reading vs.practice tests)

tnt714 · Sep 16, 2011

you should definitely read the material.. that is obviously the most important... you can't answer practice questions if you dont know the material ..... what i found useful was reading each chapter thoroghly, then do the end of chapter questions immediately. so the info is still fresh ... our book even has a companion website that offers more practice questions .. so i did those too. and if your teacher does any type of review or powerpoints in class, that should highlight the info from each chapter that you should go back and really focus on once youve finished reading.. hope this helps!!!

BeenThereDoneThat74, MSN, RN · Sep 17, 2011

you should definitely read the material.. that is obviously the most important... you can't answer practice questions if you dont know the material ..... what i found useful was reading each chapter thoroghly, then do the end of chapter questions immediately. so the info is still fresh ... our book even has a companion website that offers more practice questions .. so i did those too. and if your teacher does any type of review or powerpoints in class, that should highlight the info from each chapter that you should go back and really focus on once youve finished reading.. hope this helps!!!

What she said :)

Just remember, it's not about what you know, it's about what you do with what you know. You can have all of the information memorized, know all the facts. But that will not be enough. I still remember my first fundamentals exam; after memorizing facts, the first question was so incredibly vague (IMO), I was like "*****" (and that wasn't even an expression back then :lol2: ).

It is a great idea do go over NCLEX questions, because it shows you what we are looking for. It shows you how you need to apply the knowledge of the readings. You have to get into the habit of anticipating what needs to be done. As you get more experience in clinicals, you should begin to think about applying your clinical experiences to theory. Visualize the patient, and think about what they need, what you would do first clinically. That should help to keep you focused on why you are chosing the answer you are.

AZMOMO2 · Sep 18, 2011

I found it helpful to get this book HESI Comprehensive Review for the NCLEX-RN Examination... they have one for PN too.

It has an overview of the systems and practice questions. It condensed the reading into bullet points. Generally this type of content review is what they do in NCLEX review classes. It's how I did all of semester 2 Med/Surg, OB/Peds without reading the textbooks.

samera · Sep 18, 2011

Thanks so much!! I now realize I've been wasting alot of time trying to memorize the chapters and not spending enough time on how to apply the basic info from each section....I truely appreciate yals adivce:)

anneuhbanana · Sep 18, 2011

I usually just skim over the chapters and I highly recommend using the website that comes along with your book. Usually it's evolve... but sometimes they have chapter reviews (and they are very good) and practice quizzes. The quizzes are good and I learn from them also because they will have answer rationales. So they work pretty great.

Another good option is if they give you ATI books at your school, use those!!! They are a outline of WHAT YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW. Goes over the same stuff from your book just puts it in an easy to read, shorter version. I don't have the patience to sit and read all the chapters from our books, they are soooooooo long.