Nursing Exam Hacks: Essential Tips for Nursing Students

That is my whole mission behind starting the show . I hope that you take something valuable from the lessons that I share with you and our guests share with you . If you like what you hear , all I ask is that you share it with a friend .

If you could be so kind as to leave us a positive rating and review , that would be amazing , because then we can help put the show in front of more future nurses who could benefit . The rest of season two is dedicated to nursing exams . Let's ace those nursing exams .

Let's just keep getting those scores higher and higher so you ultimately pass that NCLEX and put those letters R and N after your name . Today I am going to answer who , what , where , when and why when it comes to your study habits . So first let's tackle who . Obviously , the who is you . You are the one who's doing the studying .

But think about this have you been successful in who you have been studying with . Now , I've shared before that I am not a fan of study groups and if you do study in a group , I say , proceed with caution . The reason I say this is because all too often , study groups can turn into just another excuse for distraction .

In nursing school , some of my best friends , who I love dearly , I could not study with because 20 minutes would go by and we'd say why are we talking about M&Ms and the bachelor and whatever the heck else we're talking about ? Because we are not talking about pharmacology or med surge or whatever we came here to talk about .

I also found that in a group that's too large , there's always going to be somebody who comes not prepared and you spend the entire time catching that person up and it can be frustrating . The point is , your time in nursing school is so valuable . Really , really strongly consider who you are studying with and is it serving you .

Studying alone , in my opinion , is the way to go . Or one other partner who you trust , who you know you can stay on task . Also , if you do choose to study in a small group , proceed with caution . Make sure everybody shows up to the study session prepared .

I do have coaching clients who swear by their study groups , who like to meet in the same small group every time there's an exam and it really helps them . That's great . For whatever reason , it never quite worked for me . I am a one woman show when it comes to studying , but you have to do what works best for you .

So I want you to take a look at what you've been doing and just ask yourself has it been working for you ? How's it going ? Is studying by yourself more of a distraction because you don't exactly have a plan when you sit down ? Or is studying in a group not really helping because you get distracted ? Think about it and stick with what's working .

If you are consistently doing well and you have been studying in a group at least part of the time , keep doing it . You don't have to listen to everything that I say . You got to pick and choose what works for you , right ? So that's the who . Now let's answer what ? What are you studying ? This is a problem .

I see a lot where people just don't even know where to start . They know that they have to study because they've got three exams coming up in the next two weeks , but let's say they have three hours . They don't have a plan , they don't have a clue as to how they're going to spend that time . So to answer that question , what ?

When you sit down to study , I want you to know exactly what you're going to study In that session and keep it very simple . Start small , don't overestimate what you can do . If anything , underestimate , and if you have more time , move on to the next thing .

But let's say you have a pharmacology test , right , and you've got seven PowerPoints to get through and you're going to sit down to study . Just say to yourself I am going to get through the first PowerPoint , I'm going to listen to it or I'm going to make my outline on it , or I'm going to read through it , however many times it takes .

Make notes , I'm going to study this . Don't sit down and have no idea what you're going to do , because I promise you you will get overwhelmed . Small chunks , small bites and take breaks . I love , I swear by the 27 three method . That is my own method that I kind of adapted from something else .

What you do is you have a timer , you set it for 27 minutes , you study hard and you study only on that one thing for that 27 minutes . And when the timer goes off , you reset it for three minutes .

At that point you get up , you move your body , you take a break , you do whatever you want to do run up and down the stairs , dance to a favorite song for three minutes . Then the three minutes is up . You sit back down , you start over again . Break it up , make it realistic , make it practical .

If you sit down with a giant textbook and you say , oh my gosh , this test is on 14 chapters Like how am I ever going to get through this ? No , you're going to get through that first chapter right now and then you're going to plan out the next one for the next time . You can only do so much . You can only do a little bit at a time .

Your brain can only be in that peak flow state for only such amount of time that you have to recover and you have to take breaks . So the whole point of that tangent is know what you're studying . Have a plan for what you're going to study . If you're studying farm , great , say , I'm going to study the first PowerPoint .

If you're studying med-surge , I am going to read chapter two . Whatever it is , be specific . The more specific you are and the more attainable that study goal is for that session , the more motivated you're going to be .

You're going to feel good when you accomplish that small goal and it's going to keep the momentum going and keep the trend going of your great study habits , where this is so important . A scattered messy study space is a scattered messy mind . Take five minutes before you start studying or , better yet , set it up the day before . Clean up your study space .

Have a really clean desk with maybe a nice plant or a candle or just something that inspires you or picture somebody you love . Have your study space be your sacred spot where you love to be . But , most importantly , it has to be free of clutter . I can't tell you how .

Just subconsciously , just piles of garbage and just bills , the pieces of paper and pens that don't work and coffee spills and water that was from three days ago . Get it off your study space . That's if you study at home , if you study in a library , amazing . Find a really quiet area . You all know I love libraries .

I love exploring new libraries , finding the quietest spots in a library where I can focus . Some libraries have amazing views . I just love libraries . They're always quiet . They're always quiet , that's first and foremost . But where you study is crucial . Your environment is everything .

And here's a little hack To throw in your backpack always have some sort of noise canceling earbuds and , at the very least , just buy a cheap package of ear plugs . Okay , you can get those at Walmart or any pharmacy . Have some sort of noise blocking device , because in a pinch you're going to need it .

You don't know when some annoying noise is gonna be going off If you're sitting at the library and all of a sudden they start mowing the lawn outside and you can't make that part of your background and you can't focus . Throw in some ear plugs , throw in some headphones and put on some focus music .

Go to YouTube and type in brain focus music or classical study music or Spotify . Whatever you listen to , your environment is very , very important . So hopefully those tips help you out a little bit . When to study .

Not only should you have a very specific plan of what you're going to study , but I have a whole video on time blocking and how to use a planner . But when you study is very important . You gotta do it at a time where you are at your best . Are you a morning person ? Are you an evening person ? But have your time of when you're going to study set .

Don't just say , oh yeah , I'm going to study tomorrow afternoon . I don't have class . No , the more specific you can be , the more successful you will be , I promise you . Try it and see what happens . Don't say I'm gonna study in the afternoon . Say , okay , write it down in your planner .

From 2 to 4 pm , I am going to go to the library , I'm going to sit on the second floor at the table in the back with the view of the tree and I am going to read chapter 5 of my psychiatric nursing . The point is have a specific plan , know where you're going to be , what time and what you're going to be studying . So that covers so far .

We did the who , the what , the where and the when to plan out your time blocks . And then , lastly , is the why . This is the driving force behind why you're doing all of this . Why are you in this crazy difficult nursing program ? Why ? Why do you want to be a nurse ?

Because when the going gets tough , when you're crying , because it's just so much material and it's so confusing and you know maybe your borderline not passing a class and it's just so stressful . Close your eyes and think about why you got into this in the first place .

What is your life going to look like once you're a nurse , once all of this is behind you ? Because , I promise you , nursing school ends this madness , this exam , taking anxiety , this stress ball of your life right now it ends .

There is a whole other world out there beyond this , and once you pass that NCLEX and you are a registered nurse , you have your license . There's a whole life that you're going to live . You're going to have this whole career and this nursing school is just going to be a blip in the radar . So what's that going to look like for you ?

Why did you want to be a nurse in the first place ? What inspires you ? Why do you want to do this ? Because you're going to have really , really tough days in nursing school and you have to just think why am I doing this ? What is your why ?

And sometimes you got to just close your eyes and imagine what your life is going to be and let that keep you going . Write down your why I want to be a nurse , because , whatever it is , what inspired you to do this , and let that be the force behind all of this .

I believe in you . I know you are going to do so well . We just have to get specific . We have to have a plan when we sit down to study and we have to just crush those nursing exams , have a great mindset about it and not worry so much . Just do it . When you don't feel like doing it , do it anyway .

Okay , listen to my voice saying get off your butt . Get it done , because it is so worth it . I promise you you're going to be an amazing nurse . I love you , I believe in you and until the next time , this is Nurse Lauren . It is my personal mission to help put more great nurses into the world . Thank you so much for listening . Bye-bye .