NCLEX-RN® prep is a requirement to put yourself in the best position for a passing score on exam day. However, we know that finding time in an already busy schedule is a challenge for nearly every new graduate. Planning ahead and recording study sessions can help you stay on top of your studies when life...
Using an NCLEX® test plan gives future nurses a go-to guide and a strong foundation when preparing for the NCLEX®. But it’s most valuable when combined with other study materials. The plan, created by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), is formulated through surveys of new graduate nurses that are conducted every...
You should practice NCLEX® questions and various item types regularly to be most prepared for exam day.
Daily practice will help you determine your pain points and create a study plan to increase your competency in those areas.
Practice NCLEX® questions featured in this blog will give you an idea of what to expect on exam day.
Do you find yourself finished with nursing school and question what to do now? How do I prep for the NCLEX®? Do I even need to prepare?
The answer is simple, YES. Your new life motto until you take (and pass) the NCLEX-RN® exam is, “Practice NCLEX®, Practice NCLEX®, PRACTICE NCLEX®!”
Practicing test-specific questions and taking readiness exams, or exams that mirror the NCLEX®, before exam day is vital to your success. It familiarizes you with the test format, question types, and style while empowering you to identify areas for further study. This practice sharpens your critical thinking skills as you apply essential nursing ... Read more
NCLEX-RN® prep is a requirement to put yourself in the best position for a passing score on exam day.
However, we know that finding time in an already busy schedule is a challenge for nearly every new graduate.
Planning ahead and recording study sessions can help you stay on top of your studies when life gets in the way.
Everyone is busy, and it feels like there are never enough hours in the day. Between work, school, and personal obligations, squeezing in study sessions for the NCLEX-RN® can be a challenge.But when it comes to NCLEX-RN® prep, you have to make time.The stakes are high, and your career is dependent on a passing score. Consider these tips to maximize your study time.
1. Record your study groups
If you know your schedule is unpredictable and you’re not guaranteed to make every study group, consider recording them. That way you can listen to the discussions again at your own pace (maybe even while cooking dinner or getting in a quick workout). Just make sure that everyone in the group is aware and consents to being recorded. Not every state is a one-party consent state when it comes to recording laws, and you want to play it safe.
2. Plan Ahead for NCLEX-RN® Prep Time
If you’re someone who likes to schedule out your to-do list for the week ahead, add studying to that process. When you sit down on a Sunday afternoon or evening to map out your week, figure out where you can add in some prep time. Whether that’s 15-minute increments between tasks to review practice questions, deciding in advance that your lunch break will double as a solo study session, or setting aside a larger block of time for a study group, putting it down on paper (or on your phone) will make you more likely to stick to the plan.
3. Take Voice Notes During Solo NCLEX-RN® Prep
The simple act of recording yourself as you talk through a rationale or discover why your answer to a practice question was right (or wrong) can be beneficial in the long run. Similar to recording a study group, being able to listen back to your thought process will reinforce the information. That second (or third, or fourth) listen can happen when you’re driving, running errands, or even doing yardwork or cleaning the house.
4. Create a Cram Sheet for Your Most-Needed Focus Areas
There is a lot of information to absorb as you go through NCLEX-RN® prep, and some focus areas will need more attention than others. Once you’ve determined what those are (possibly through using a prep program like Slone NCLEX), you can create a cram sheet dedicated to those items. Say, for example, you’re struggling with questions about safety and infection control. The cram sheet can include key elements of that topic for you to reference as you make your way through those questions in practice tests and study sessions.
The Bottom Line
Finding time to for NCLEX-RN® prep is one of the biggest challenges leading up to exam day. You’re likely trying to balance work and studying with personal obligations. But taking simple steps like recording voice notes during solo study sessions and creating a cram sheet for your trouble spots can go a long way in helping you maximize the free time you do have to dedicate to studying.
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[post_content] => Using an NCLEX® test plan gives future nurses a go-to guide and a strong foundation when preparing for the NCLEX®. But it’s most valuable when combined with other study materials.The plan, created by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), is formulated through surveys of new graduate nurses that are conducted every three years with the goal of preparing future nurses for the exam, guiding “item development” and how the item types are classified.Because the NCLEX® test plan has a three-year shelf life, prep programs like Slone NCLEX serve as one of many supplemental resources. But we don’t discount the value that the plan has in setting up a solid foundation for your study plan.
Why is the NCLEX® Test Plan Important?
The year-to-date 2024 pass rate for RNs taking the NCLEX® was 76.76% (data is not yet available for October through December), including first-time and repeat candidates and U.S. and internationally educated. If you want to be among those who pass on the first attempt, the NCLEX® test plan is a perfect place to start.The NCSBN-provided plan is a more than 50-page document that outlines what topics you need to study, how the exam itself is administered, and includes practice questions. Using this as a guide, you can figure out where you need to focus your studies.If after reviewing the document, you realize that the Next-Generation NCLEX® (NGN) questions are tripping you up more than others, make those a priority. If learning about the structure of the exam brings up feelings of anxiety, consider taking multiple practice tests to familiarize yourself with the flow of the exam.
How to Supplement the NCLEX® Test Plan
Your supplemental NCLEX® test plan materials should be multi-faceted, including official documents from NCSBN, prep programs like Slone NCLEX, cram sheets, and practice tests, among other items.The more approaches you bring to your plan, the more equipped you’ll be on exam day. Beyond the tangible items, you should also consider implementing various theories or strategies into your NCLEX® test plan.A scoping review published in September 2023 in Nursing Open found that active learning was one of the most frequently used strategies, followed by:
Faculty coaching and supporting
NCLEX-RN®-style question exposure
NCLEX-RN® review course and products
Remediation or tutoring for at-risk students
Simulation
From a theory perspective, the study found Tanners clinical judgement model used more often than not. The authors noted a plethora of similarities between the Tanners model and the NCBSN Clinical Judgment Measurement Model, which is part of the NGN exam.But if this becomes too much, just keep it simple. Stick to 200 to 400 practice questions per day, focusing on areas you noted when reviewing NCLEX® test plan and incorporating prep programs like Slone NCLEX whenever possible.
The Bottom Line
The NCSBN NCLEX® test plan is an important document to kickstart your preparation for exam day. However, it’s best supplemented with materials like a prep program, study groups, and taking daily practice questions.
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You should practice NCLEX® questions and various item types regularly to be most prepared for exam day.
Daily practice will help you determine your pain points and create a study plan to increase your competency in those areas.
Practice NCLEX® questions featured in this blog will give you an idea of what to expect on exam day.
Do you find yourself finished with nursing school and question what to do now? How do I prep for the NCLEX®? Do I even need to prepare? The answer is simple, YES. Your new life motto until you take (and pass) the NCLEX-RN® exam is, “Practice NCLEX®, Practice NCLEX®, PRACTICE NCLEX®!”Practicing test-specific questions and taking readiness exams, or exams that mirror the NCLEX®, before exam day is vital to your success. It familiarizes you with the test format, question types, and style while empowering you to identify areas for further study. This practice sharpens your critical thinking skills as you apply essential nursing concepts, ultimately boosting your confidence and preparedness on test day and elevating your chances of passing the exam.
Using NCLEX® practice questions is vital because it:
Helps you understand the exam format: NCLEX® questions are structured differently than standard multiple-choice questions, so practicing helps you get accustomed to their wording and structure.
Identifies knowledge gaps: Taking practice tests allows you to pinpoint specific areas of nursing knowledge that require more review.
Develops critical thinking skills: NCLEX® questions often require you to analyze situations and apply your knowledge, which practice questions help you refine.
Manages test anxiety: Regular practice can make you feel more comfortable with the exam environment, reducing anxiety on test day.
Assesses your readiness: Taking practice tests provides a realistic assessment of how prepared you are for the actual exam.
Builds test-taking strategies: Regular practice with NCLEX® questions helps you develop effective approaches for tackling questions on the actual exam.
Boosts confidence: Tracking your progress through practice tests can enhance your confidence and decrease anxiety on test day.
Aim to tackle 200-400 practice NCLEX® questions each day, and make sure you use traditional and NGN NCLEX® item types. For more insight into the different item types read our blog, “Include These Item Types in Your NCLEX® Practice Questions.”Embrace the journey by taking at least two readiness exams: the first at the start of your NCLEX® preparation to establish a strong foundation for your study plan, and the second after completing around 1,500 practice questions. This approach will allow you to accurately assess your preparedness.When completing practice exams, make sure to answer questions and use readiness tests that cover all exam categories, both client need and clinical judgment.
There are eight client need categories:
Management of care
Safety and infection control
Health promotion and maintenance
Psychosocial integrity
Basic care and comfort
Pharmacological and parenteral therapies
Reduction of risk potential
Physiological adaptation
Additionally, you should incorporate the six clinical judgment categories:
Recognize cues
Analyze cues
Prioritize hypotheses
Generate solutions
Take actions
Evaluate outcomes
Practice Questions to Review
I have 14 practice questions (one for each category) to help you get started and to get an idea of what to look for!1. Management of Care: The nurse is reviewing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) with a group of student nurses. Which of the following statements by a student indicates a need for further teaching?
A. “A client’s phone number is an example of personal identifiable information that is protected by HIPAA.”
B. “HIPAA is not a state law; it is a federal law.”
C. “HIPAA states that personal healthcare information is protected in all forms including verbal, electronic, and written.”
D. “Health information about a client can be provided only to family members at any time.”
2. Safety and Infection Control: The nurse is admitting a client with tuberculosis. Which of the following transmission-based precautions does the nurse initiate?
A. Contact
B. Airborne
C. Droplet
D. Protective
3. Health Promotion and Maintenance: The nurse is providing education to a client who struggles with irregular bowel movements and constipation. Which of the of the following does the nurse include in their teaching?
A. “Take all of your dietary fiber in the morning to help stimulate your gastrointestinal tract.”
B. “You should drink two to four glasses (8 oz) of water each day.”
C. “Increase your water and fiber intake daily.”
D. “You should have at least one bowel movement daily.”
4. Psychosocial integrity: A nurse is caring for a client in preterm labor at 30 weeks gestation. The client asks the nurse, “Will my baby be okay?” Which statement by the nurse is the most appropriate?
A. “You must be feeling helpless and frightened.”
B. “Babies are born earlier than this all the time and are fine.”
C. “Every new mom feels worried about their baby when they are in labor.”
D. “We have the best OB doctors here they can handle it.”
5. Basic Care and Comfort: A nurse is preparing to walk an older adult who loses their balance when walking. Which of the following devices does the nurse use when assisting this client with ambulation?
A. Cane
B. Front-wheeled walker
C. Gait belt
D. Harness
6. Pharmacological and Parenteral Therapies: A nurse is preparing to administer metoprolol to a client with hypertension. Which of the following assessments alerts the nurse to hold the medication and call the physician?
A. Heart rate of 50
B. BP 104/68
C. Respiratory rate of 19
D. SpO2 of 93% on 2L NC
7. Reduction of Risk Potential: The nurse is preparing to insert an indwelling foley catheter. Which of the following instructions does the nurse give to the client as they are inserting the catheter?
A. Inhale quickly
B. Sip water and swallow as the catheter is being inserted
C. Bear down
D. Exhale slowly
8. Physiological Adaptation: The nurse is admitting a client at 34 weeks gestation that is experiencing painless, bright red vaginal bleeding. The nurse identifies that the client is likely experiencing which of the following conditions?
A. Preterm labor
B. Abruptio placentae
C. Spontaneous abortion
D. Placenta previa
The Correct Answers are:
D – Under HIPAA regulations, clients can choose to whom they provide their health information, and family members do not have access to the client’s health information without their permission.
B – Clients with tuberculosis should be placed on airborne precautions. These precautions include: a private negative-pressure airflow room, and healthcare workers should wear fitted N95 or PAPR masks when caring for this client.
C – Clients with chronic constipation should be educated to increase their daily water intake to 2-4 L daily and increase their intake throughout the day using high-fiber sources.
A- When responding to a client who is fearful, the nurse should respond in a therapeutic way that shows empathy and recognizes the client’s concerns. This statement is open-ended and encourages further communication from the client.
C- The nurse would use a gait belt to help support this client with ambulation. A gait belt is used to help clients maintain balance and in turn prevent falls.
A- The nurse would call the doctor and report a heart rate below 60 beats per minute before administering metoprolol, which is a beta blocker medication and can further lower heart rate and blood pressure.
C- The nurse should educate the client to bear down as they are inserting the catheter as this helps the external sphincter to relax and eases the insertion of the urinary catheter.
D- The client with placenta previa will have painless, bright red vaginal bleeding in the second or third trimester.
Clinical judgment category questions follow a scenario that unfolds and then you answer questions from the information provided. With each question you will receive more information about the client and/or scenario. Here is a scenario similar to something you may start with on an NCLEX® exam and questions that would go with it.
The client is brought to the emergency room via ambulance. They are alert and orientated x 4. The client complains of abdominal pain that worsens after eating. The client states “This has been going on for the last couple of months but has been way worse this past month. Sometimes this wakes me up at night and I eat a piece of toast with milk, which seems to help the pain. The client states that the pain is 6/10 and burns. The client’s abdomen appears distended, and bowel sounds are present in all four quadrants. Their abdomen is tender to touch. Lung sounds are clear throughout, and the client is voiding without difficulty. Peripheral pulses are +2 in all extremities. The client states “The past couple of days I have been really bloated, nauseous, and my poop has had blood in it the last three days.”
Recognize Cues: The nurse is assessing the following client. Click to highlight the assessment findings that require follow up.
Analyze Cues: For each assessment finding, select the finding that is consistent with a duodenal or gastric ulcer.
Prioritize Solutions: From the information provided, complete the following sentence from the list of options. The nurse should first address the client’s _________ followed by the client’s ___________.
Generate Solutions: When planning care for the client, which of the following does the nurse anticipate the provider prescribing?
Take Actions: After reviewing the client information, the nurse should complete the following actions.
Evaluate Outcomes: When evaluating the plan of care for this client, the nurse identifies that which of the following shows that the client’s condition has improved.
Correct answers may look something like:
Highlight: Abdominal pain that worsens with eating, going on for the past month and has gotten worse, but improves with eating toast and milk. Bloody stools, and an abdomen that is distended and tender to touch.
Duodenal ulcers present with abdominal pain that occurs 90 minutes to three hours after eating, but the pain is improved after eating for a brief period of time, bloody stools, tachycardia, low hemoglobin, and hypotension. Gastric ulcers present with bloody stools, tachycardia, low hemoglobin, and pain that increases after eating.
The nurse would first address the client’s bloody stools followed by their hemoglobin levels.
Administer pantoprazole IV push to client and prepare them for an esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD).
Place the client on a nothing by mouth diet and obtain a prescription to insert a nasogastric tube.
The client states their pain is improved and the client has not had any bloody stools in the past 24 hours.
NCLEX-RN® prep is a requirement to put yourself in the best position for a passing score on exam day.
However, we know that finding time in an already busy schedule is a challenge for nearly every new graduate.
Planning ahead and recording study sessions can help you stay on top of your studies when life gets in the way.
Everyone is busy, and it feels like there are never enough hours in the day. Between work, school, and personal obligations, squeezing in study sessions for the NCLEX-RN® can be a challenge.But when it comes to NCLEX-RN® prep, you have to make time.The stakes are high, and your career is dependent on a passing score. Consider these tips to maximize your study time.
1. Record your study groups
If you know your schedule is unpredictable and you’re not guaranteed to make every study group, consider recording them. That way you can listen to the discussions again at your own pace (maybe even while cooking dinner or getting in a quick workout). Just make sure that everyone in the group is aware and consents to being recorded. Not every state is a one-party consent state when it comes to recording laws, and you want to play it safe.
2. Plan Ahead for NCLEX-RN® Prep Time
If you’re someone who likes to schedule out your to-do list for the week ahead, add studying to that process. When you sit down on a Sunday afternoon or evening to map out your week, figure out where you can add in some prep time. Whether that’s 15-minute increments between tasks to review practice questions, deciding in advance that your lunch break will double as a solo study session, or setting aside a larger block of time for a study group, putting it down on paper (or on your phone) will make you more likely to stick to the plan.
3. Take Voice Notes During Solo NCLEX-RN® Prep
The simple act of recording yourself as you talk through a rationale or discover why your answer to a practice question was right (or wrong) can be beneficial in the long run. Similar to recording a study group, being able to listen back to your thought process will reinforce the information. That second (or third, or fourth) listen can happen when you’re driving, running errands, or even doing yardwork or cleaning the house.
4. Create a Cram Sheet for Your Most-Needed Focus Areas
There is a lot of information to absorb as you go through NCLEX-RN® prep, and some focus areas will need more attention than others. Once you’ve determined what those are (possibly through using a prep program like Slone NCLEX), you can create a cram sheet dedicated to those items. Say, for example, you’re struggling with questions about safety and infection control. The cram sheet can include key elements of that topic for you to reference as you make your way through those questions in practice tests and study sessions.
The Bottom Line
Finding time to for NCLEX-RN® prep is one of the biggest challenges leading up to exam day. You’re likely trying to balance work and studying with personal obligations. But taking simple steps like recording voice notes during solo study sessions and creating a cram sheet for your trouble spots can go a long way in helping you maximize the free time you do have to dedicate to studying.
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