NCLEX-RN Study Plan: Step #3 – Utilize Digital Flashcards With Spaced Repetition
If you have just 90 days before your NCLEX-RN exam, maximizing each practice session and studying efficiently is the name of the game.
As part of their NCLEX test prep, many nursing students flip through print or digital flashcards randomly. But working through flashcards at random will not prepare you to recall that information in a high-stress situation like the NCLEX. If you study this way, you are spending precious study time reviewing content you’ve already mastered – rather than focusing on the more challenging content that you have not yet learned.
Flashcards that utilize spaced repetition technology present difficult concepts more frequently until you master them, then less frequently so you will be forced to actively recall them later. This practice of active retrieval will help move concepts from your short-term memory to your long-term memory. This is why our flashcards are such an effective study tool.
Remember, it’s important to make every practice session in your NCLEX-RN study plan count with only 90 days until your exam. Creating custom study sessions with flashcards that use active retrieval strategies can help you do that.
NCLEX-RN Study Plan: Step #4 – Create a 90-Day Study Plan for the NCLEX-RN Exam
Okay, now that you have become familiar with the exam and chosen a premium test-prep resource that has innovative digital study tools to help you recall the information on exam day, it’s time to actually build out your three-month NCLEX-RN study plan.
When working through the UWorld NCLEX-RN QBank, it is more beneficial to spend time studying the vivid imagery and detailed rationales for the correct and incorrect answers for each question than it is to complete a set amount of questions each day. All of our questions are written at the application level or above, so you are only studying the types of challenging questions you will find on the NCLEX. However…
Nursing students who work through the entire QBank, are generally more confident and usually score higher on their NCLEX exams.
There are over 2,350 traditional and NGN® questions in the QBank, so building your NCLEX-RN study plan is simply doing the math. Let’s look at three different scenarios . . .
- If you are committed to studying every day of your 90-day study plan, you will need to work through at least 25 NCLEX-RN practice questions per day. Plan to spend at least 5-7 minutes per question as you familiarize yourself with the questions and detailed rationales.
Maybe, as you look ahead at the next three months, you realize you won’t be able to study every single day. Perhaps you have a weekend job or other obligations over the next 90 days, so you build a study plan with 60 days of solid NCLEX prep, not 90 days.
In this second scenario, you’ll need to work through at least 39 questions per day. It will be important to find time to study throughout the day, so be sure to download UWorld Nursing’s free app so you can practice on the go.
Perhaps you are going to practice in the morning and in the evening each weekday and take weekends off for the 90 days. That means you are studying for 60 days . . . but twice a day. Therefore, you have 120 study sessions planned.
In this last scenario, you would need to work through 20 questions per study session.
The important thing is to build a realistic plan that you know you will be able to follow. Once you’ve built your study plan for the NCLEX-RN exam, be sure to stick to it. With only three months until exam day, every practice session is important.
NCLEX-RN Study Plan: Step #5 – Integrate Self-Assessments Into Your NCLEX Test Prep
As you build out your 90-day NCLEX-RN study plan, make sure you plan to take two self-assessments.
The first self-assessment should be taken at the beginning of your study plan. This will give you a baseline of your knowledge and exam-readiness. You will see what your strengths are and, more importantly, your weaknesses.
Knowing the specific areas in which you need to improve allows for more targeted NCLEX preparation.
The second self-assessment should be taken as you move further into your 90-day study plan (around the 60-day mark is recommended). This second self-assessment will show the improvements you have made and the improvements you still need to make in order to ace your NCLEX-RN exam.
A second assessment during your 90 days of test prep gives you the information you need to make any necessary adjustments in your study sessions so you can focus in the final weeks leading up to your exam date.
NCLEX-RN Study Plan: Step #6 – Make Studying Your #1 Priority for All 90 Days
Throughout your time in nursing school, you have no doubt learned how to multitask. You’ve learned how to budget your time, giving all of your responsibilities equal priority. However, during these last 90 days of NCLEX test prep, your study sessions need to be your number one priority.
