NCLEX Study Plan

Passing the NCLEX exam is the last crucial step that nursing graduates must take in order to become licensed to practice nursing in the United States. If you’re unsure of how to prepare for the NCLEX, the following NCLEX study plan is what I used to pass NCLEX on my first try.

Start Preparing for NCLEX in Advance

It’s best to start studying for NCLEX in advance. Try to avoid waiting a week or even a month before the exam to start studying.

The great thing about being in nursing school is that many of the lectures and proficiency exams you will take will also help you to prepare for NCLEX. After all, many nursing schools are rated based on their NCLEX pass rates, so they want you to pass NCLEX your first try, too.

However, in addition to your nursing school classes, you also want to take steps to ensure that you have a specific NCLEX study plan in place.

Focus on Your Weak Areas

I recommend creating an individualized plan that targets your weak areas. How do you find those weak areas? There are a few ways to know this:

  1. You can think back to the classes you found most difficult in nursing school.
  2. Most nursing schools require that you take proficiency exams (such as HESI or ATI), and these exams will often give you a score breakdown in each area. You can find your weak areas by assessing your scores.

If your nursing school didn’t administer proficiency exams, you could also use a software program with NCLEX-style questions to assess your weak areas. These programs are often included with review books such as the ones below.

When I was in nursing school, I used the following review books (I recommend buying the latest, updated versions):

(Disclaimer: The links above are Amazon affiliate links, but these are books I genuinely recommend. They not only have great reviews, but I also used them when I was a student).

These review books summarize many topics, and their NCLEX practice questions software can help you identify your weakest areas.

Prioritize Your Weak Areas

Once you’ve identified your weak areas, you’ll want to focus more energy on those areas. That doesn’t mean you should neglect your strong areas completely, because you may get fuzzy on them if you don’t refresh.

I’d recommend spending around 70% of your time on your weak areas, and 30% of your time refreshing your stronger areas.

Practice NCLEX Practice Questions Often

Once you know your weak areas, you can put together your individualized content study plan, giving more emphasis to those weak areas.

The best way to begin studying is to practice NCLEX-style questions. I cannot stress enough that practicing lots of NCLEX questions was fundamental in helping me pass NCLEX on my first try!

In fact, I created an NCLEX and HESI study log while I was in nursing school. I’ll post it at the end of this article so that you can see how many questions I practiced, and how I scheduled my NCLEX prep time.

However, when you practice questions, there are several things you want to do so that you can get the most out of your study time.

  1. Use different sources for your questions. Don’t just practice questions from one source (such as the Saunder’s Review Guide). Instead, practice questions from at least 1-2 other sources, such as our free NCLEX practice quizzes. This will help you learn content instead of just memorizing the answers.
  2. Practice different types of questions. Don’t just practice multiple choice, but instead, make sure you are practicing drag-and-drop, select-all-that-apply, and other types of questions, too.
  3. Go back and review the questions. Don’t look at your score after the test and move on. Instead, you need to dig deeper. Look at the rationales for the answers you missed or only guessed right. I even spent time looking over questions I got right, just to make sure I knew why I got them right.
  4. Don’t practice too many questions each day. It may feel good to say, “I practiced 2,000 NCLEX questions today!” but in reality, I only practiced around 50-150 each day. Why? Because I wanted to allow myself time to dig deep into my results and understand why I got a particular question wrong. I would even go back and read review guides on that topic to help me understand it better. You simply can’t do that if you are practicing 2,000 questions per day.

How to Review NCLEX Questions You Missed

Here’s an example of how I would review NCLEX questions that I missed. Let’s say there was an NCLEX-style question similar to the following:

The patient is receiving furosemide. The EKG shows an inverted T wave and a prominent U wave. Which lab result below would correlate with this finding?

The correct answer: A potassium level of 2.4 mEq/L

If I missed that question, I would first go back and review furosemide. What is furosemide (Lasix is the brand name)? It is a loop diuretic. Then I’d go and look at how loop diuretics work. When loop diuretics are working on the nephron to help remove fluid from the patient, they will drop the potassium level. So the patient will basically urinate the potassium out.

When a patient loses too much potassium, it can cause EKG changes. Hypokalemia can lead to rhythm changes in a patient.

In addition to reviewing the above, you’d also want to go back and review fluid and electrolytes, along with their normal ranges. The normal range for potassium is 3.5-5.1 mEq/L. That can help you understand why you missed the question, and what to look for next time you have a similar question.

Just keep in mind that when it comes to studying for NCLEX, you can’t merely memorize the information. You have to truly understand the material, and that means going back and reviewing the pathophysiology of disease processes, as well as the medications used to treat various conditions.

Use Other Study Methods When You Get Fatigued

While practicing NCLEX questions is a great way to study, it certainly isn’t the only way to study. When you find yourself getting fatigued or memorizing questions, it’s time to change things up.

I’d also recommend spending some time looking over other types of content, such as videos and your textbooks and notes.

Videos are great because you can sit back and really absorb the material. Hearing things repeated with visuals can really reinforce what you’ve been learning by practicing questions. We have many NCLEX review lectures on YouTube, and we try to cover the key concepts you’ll need to know.

Furthermore, re-reading book summaries or your notes on topics you find difficult can really help you connect the dots on difficult concepts.

Final NCLEX Test-Taking Tips

Finally, don’t stress about failing NCLEX. It’s very common for students to think things such as, “What if I’m the only one in my class who fails? What if I disappoint my friends and family? What if I never pass this test and wasted my money on this degree?”

However, you have to cast those thoughts out of your mind and just focus on studying the material. Even if you do fail, it isn’t a big deal. Just sign up for the next available test date. Some of the best nurses out there failed the NCLEX on the first try, so don’t stress about it.

I know it can be stressful taking the NCLEX, but you’re going to do great. Do your best to prepare, and then walk into the testing center confident that you’ve done all you can do.

Also, remember that you made it through nursing school, and they don’t just hand out degrees. You’ve demonstrated that you can do this, so do it!

My NCLEX and HESI Study Log

Here is the actual NCLEX study schedule of how I prepared for the NCLEX and HESI exam during my final semester of nursing school:

MARCH 27: I PASSED EXIT HESI TODAY HAD TO SCORE A 850 TO PASS…..RECEIVED 1002. ACCORDING TO THE SOFTWARE, I HAVE A 95% CHANCE OF PASSING NCLEX-RN.

June 11th, 2009…..I passed NCLEX-RN on first try with only 75 question (yay!).

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