Studying for the NCLEX
©2010 Kathy Quan RN BSN
One of the best suggestions I can offer you is to get together with a group of your former fellow students and have group sessions to review for the NCLEX.
Purchase a couple of study guides as a group and divide up the sections of the exam. Divide your group into sub-groups and have each sub-group select a section or two and "tutor" the others in their particular section topic(s).
You can do this in a variety of ways.
- Either you pick a subject that you feel very confident in and "tutor"/test the others; or you pick a topic which you are not confident in which forces you to bone up on it in order to "tutor"/test the others.
- Make flash cards, word searches, crib sheets, vocabulary lists, crossword puzzles, etc. to make it more fun and challenging.
- For clinical exams, practice on each other. Make short videos to share with the others. Do some things wrong and see who figures it out.
Use tools like iCal, Outlook, etc. to set up schedules for study sessions. You can then use tools such as Drop Box or Google Drive to share materials. Use Skype, Face Time or Google Hangouts even when you can't get together in person.
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Below are some suggested sources for review.
Here's a great post from Brittney Wilson, The Nerdy Nurse on How to Pass the NCLEX with 75 Questions in One Attempt.
Study Guides and Courses are available from a variety of publishers and corporations to assist students in preparing for the NCLEX. Consider several before choosing.
Visit your school library, local library or local book retailer to look through these guides before you buy one. They can be expensive, and one might be better suited for your study style than another.
You might want to consider one or two of these study guides from Amazon.com (see links below) for you or your group to use. Amazon includes reviews from readers, and suggests other books or materials that others purchased along with these items. These reviews can be helpful in deciding which study guides may be helpful to you.
DISCLAIMER: I offer you links to texts and study courses as a matter of convenience. I do NOT endorse any particular product.