Dom's Declassified Nursing School Survival Guide: NCLEX Test Taking Strategies For Beginners

Soulful Endeavor
Aug 5, 2018
5 min read

Updated: May 21, 2019

Hey you guys! I'm back again with yet another gem to drop on my fellow nursing student friends and all others interested!

I made sure to dedicate an entire post for this because it is so very important that you understand how intricate nursing school exams are. They are entirely different from normal exams. ENTIRELY. You literally have to retrain your mind to test differently than you have ever tested before, and I PRAY you take heed to the advice I have so that you can be successful when taking NCLEX style exams!

Before I begin my mini test taking strategy lesson, if you don't yet know what NCLEX is, it is the nationwide licensure exam that all aspiring nurses must take AND PASS to become licensed as an RN after graduating with your BSN. Most nursing programs across the country take the format of an NCLEX examination and implement it into regular nursing school exams to prepare you for what your boards test will be like! In summary, the better you can understand how to pick through and answer NCLEX style questions, the higher your grades will become in your nursing program. Purchasing a NCLEX practice book (I recommend Saunders) is highly suggested for any and every nursing student to better achieve superb test taking skills in the program of your choice. Now, let's begin :)

FIRST THINGS FIRST; you have to get into the habit of not pondering any test questions. Exams usually only give you 1-2 minutes to spend on each question, so if you don't know the answer right away...make an educated guess, CIRCLE THE QUESTION and come back to it if and when you have extra time. I know it's the most uncomfortable feeling ever to have 25/75 questions just circled, but at least you can know exactly what to double look at rather than sort through pages of an exam and waste 20 minutes you could've spent looking at questions!

**Sidenote: don't second guess yourself. When you go back to review your test, DO NOT change any answers unless you are 99% positive you know the correct option. I have missed over 20 questions combined of answers I changed from right to wrong, and it's the most stomach wrenching feeling in the world. Go with your gut unless you are super confident of doing otherwise.

Before actually beginning your example, a very important piece of advice that has gotten me an extra 5-6 questions on an exam that I would have otherwise missed had I not done this, would be to BRAIN DUMP onto the back of your test as soooooon as you get it!!!!!

What do I mean? I mean literally take your pencil to the back of your exam and write down every important lab value, every small fact you may lose thought of during the exam..even write down how to prioritize questions so that you don't completely lose your shit during a test. I HAVE BEEN THERE. Test anxiety will trigger, and you will start to overthink and forget things. Keep calm!!!! But definitely use the back of your exam for those last minute facts you want to keep thought of without overwhelming your brain mid way through a test. You will feel alot more comfortable having to retain less of the small details because they are already written for you. Thank me later :)

Now when it comes to test taking strategies, you must learn to answer questions in relation to their priority. You may have questions where all 4 answers are the right answer, but you have to pick the MOST correct (yeah I know, pretty sucky). The way you go about eliminating right answers is by prioritizing with your ABC's, Maslows, and of course, ADPIE. If you don't know what any of this is, you will know before you ever take any nursing exam (it's the first thing you learn in nursing school b/c it's the basis of passing nursing school exams...makes sense right?). I will attach some photos from my Pinterest account (@yvungdom) to help you better understand what I mean, which reminds me....I highly suggest everyone download Pinterest and search for mneumonics and life hacks for you to use in Nursing School! They have so many different cartoons and phrases to help you learn your information and you can make Pinterest board named after your classes... use it as a free resource! (Click HERE to access my Nursing School Pinterest Board).

One big problem I have with NCLEX style tests is that what's important to ME about what should be done first doesn't mean it's the right answer. For example, if a test question is telling you that a diabetic patient has passed out, what should you do FIRST? Many people would immediately assume to give that patient glucagon or some form of fast absorbing carbohydrate to get them out of going into hypoglycemic shock. The CORRECT answer, would actually be to ASSESS the patient's blood sugar level before implementing any treatment, which was prioritized using ADPIE. Always Always Always keep ADPIE, ABCs, and Maslows (safety is hugeeeeee for exams) in the forefront of your mind when test taking! *screams* ASSESS BEFORE YOU IMPLEMENT!!!!

Therapeutic communication is also vital to answering questions, because not all questions are priority style questions that ask which is MOST correct. Some instructors simply want to test you on how you would go about communicating with your patient, and those questions are usually a lot easier to pick out the correct answer.

Delegation is something you should also know. You can delegate specific tasks to LPNs, but be aware they will try to trick you by placing answers that nurses CANNOT delegate to LPNs into the answer bank. (RN's cannot delegate assessments, teachings, vital signs, etc). So if you are a first semester student, study what can be delegated so that you don't miss out on one of the EASIEST questions on the exam (as long as you know what can and can't be done by an LPN you will always get those questions correct!)

KNOW YOUR LAB VALUES!!!!!!!!! I can't tell you how angry I've been at myself for missing a question asking about a Hematocrit level, or calcium or even an ABG value that I would've easily gotten correctly had I known the normal ranges! These studies update every so often, but I will post an updated cheat sheet below. They do not cut any slack when it comes to knowing normal ranges for specific lab values....so study hard!

In conclusion, if you want to successfully obliterateeee your nursing school exams, you must KNOW YOUR MATERIAL and be able to apply it correctly. Don't overthink anything. Take the questions for what they say/ask and NOTHING MORE. Treat every single question like it is a real patient, and chose the very answer that would lead to your patient's death the fastest if not chosen. ABCS + Maslows + ADPIE + Therapeutic communication + Delegation are the 5 keys to success, so study hard and ACE THAT EXAM!

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XOXO