Best NCLEX® Prep Tips from a Nursing Professor

• The Best NCLEX® prep advice often comes from nursing professors.
• Slone-NCLEX Professor Tanya Killian breaks down her top three tips for passing the exam.
• Most importantly, you’ll want to focus on the quality and quantity of your preparation leading into exam day.

As a professor of nursing, I’m not sure there’s a question I have received more than, “What do I need to do to pass the NCLEX® exam?” 

I am sure you have asked yourself and others this exact question. Likely, you received all different answers. What I have found in my years as a nursing student, a nurse, and as a nursing professor is that the best NCLEX® prep involves remembering what the NCLEX® is, what it’s testing over, taking a lot of NCLEX®-style questions every day, and using a structured prep program, such as Slone NCLEX.  

Best NCLEX® Prep Tip No. 1: Remember What the Test is About 

First things first, remember what the NCLEX® is and what it is ultimately testing you over, which is one thing, SAFETY! The exam evaluates if you can be a safe practicing licensed nurse. So, when preparing for, and taking, the exam be sure to read each option and then pick the answer that is going to save your patient.  

So, if it’s a question about administering a blood pressure medication, make sure you are selecting answers that ensure patient safety. Assess if the dose being given is safe. Does the client have an allergy to that medication? Is the client stable enough to receive that medication, or is their blood pressure too low so you should hold that blood pressure medication? Always keeping in mind that safety is the priority. 

Best NCLEX® Prep Tip No. 2: Practice, Practice, Practice  

Next, take NCLEX®-style questions, and take a lot of them. When I was preparing to take the exam, I took more than 2,000 practice questions and I started reviewing questions during the last part of my final semester in nursing school.  

In one of the best NCLEX® prep tips I’ve received, a very wise professor told me not to wait to take the exam and to start preparing early. That way, the moment I received my authorization to test (ATT), I was all set. Follow this advice!  

Begin preparing six to eight weeks before you graduate and take your NCLEX® the moment you can. The more questions that you can take ahead of exam day, the better prepared you will be. Make sure you include a variety of questions that cover a variety of topics and feature a variety of item types.  

In 2023, the National Council State Board of Nursing developed a new NCLEX® that increased the testing of clinical judgement and added new item types for students to be evaluated with. This update was called the next-generation NCLEX® (NGN NCLEX®), so make sure when taking questions that you also find ones that are labeled NGN or next-generation. 

Best NCLEX® Prep Tip No. 3: Use a Prep Program 

Finally, use a prep program. I did, and it helped me prepare better than anything else. It is so hard to stay focused and organized after nursing school. A prep program like Slone NCLEX will help you remain structured and do what you need to do to be fully prepared.

Find a prep program that provides you with a quality review and LOTS of questions. There’s no substitute for practice questions. You NEED them, so make sure you trial the preparation program’s questions, ensure their quality and check that the rationales help you understand the content.  

The Bottom Line

The other piece that is important in preparing is to keep your mindset positive and believe in yourself! You’ve got this and we’ve got you!

Begin your NCLEX® preparation journey with Slone NCLEX today.