So you have figured out what you did wrong the last time you took the NCLEX. Now it’s time to make a plan for how you’re going to pass it the next time you take it.
Time – how much time are you going to be able to spend studying. We recommend 2 or 3 hours / day. It is better to study some every day than it is to study 10 hours one day and then not study again for a week. You want the time you study to be the most productive. Anything over 3 hours (unless its with a group) you learn less.
By now you should now what time during the day you study the best. I study the best during the morning, I read / comprehend better at night. I’m not sure why but that is the way it works. The best time for you might be different.
You’ll have a few different things you’ll want to be doing.
Memorize – there are some things that you need to memorize. There is no way around it. How you memorize is up to you. We teach in our boot camp course to write it down. Write down things like lab values 2 or 3 times in the morning and then 2 or 3 times before you go to bed. When I took the NCLEX I used flash cards – you can use those to. Just memorize them.
Reading – some people don’t like to read. Read over content that you had trouble with. Reading just to read doesn’t really work, you should be reading so that you understand it, if you don’t understand the concepts then find someone that can explain it to you (this could be a class mate or a teacher).
Answering Questions – hands down the best way to pass is to answer questions. Review questions that you miss, but more importantly begin to learn why you’re missing them.
We’ll continue the series on Thursday – we’ll talk about making a schedule.
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