Passing the NCLEX: 7 Expert Tips That Helped Me Succeed
When I was a nursing student years ago, I remember being stressed preparing for NCLEX. I didn’t know where to start and how to begin. I was overwhelmed with the amount of information I needed to study for. I was stuck deciding how much Anatomy and Pathophysiology I should memorize? Should I study Maternity and Mental Health? What medications I should be familiar with?
As a nursing student, you might find yourself worried about the upcoming NCLEX. Afterall, you’ve studied for years up to this point to be able to take this test. You might have heard how hard it is and how much time you need to spend to prepare for it.
You might have come across this website hoping to get some ideas on how to start preparing for your NCLEX. Well, I’m glad you are here!
As a Registered Nurse and former Nursing Instructor and mentor, I've developed effective preparation strategies for passing the NCLEX. These strategies have successfully guided my students and mentorship clients through their NCLEX and NCAS preparation. Now, I want to share these insights with you to help you achieve success.
Create a SMART Study Plan
Balancing your work, school, and social life while studying for NCLEX can be challenging and overwhelming. Using SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goals when creating your study plan can help ensure that your objectives are attainable within a certain time frame. It can help prevent you from feeling overwhelmed and frustrated.
I suggest that you visualize what you want to accomplish. Be as visual as you can. For example, “I will be a Registered Nurse working in pediatrics in XYZ hospital by January 2026” or “I will pass my NCLEX and have a registered nurse written next to my name in three months (Aug 2026)” Write that as a subheading of your study plan and that is your long term goal. Next, using SMART identify what are the small steps you can take to help achieve that goal. These will be your short term goals.
Creating a study plan can help you simplify small actions that you can do everyday and can help you achieve your long-term goal.
2. Choose how many practice questions you want to accomplish prior to your exam
Prior to your exam date, set a minimum number of practice questions you want to accomplish. I encourage a minimum of at least 2500-3000 practice questions.
This will vary according to how confident you feel with each topic. Once you have a clear goal of the number of questions you want to accomplish, divide it to how many weeks or months you want to complete it by. Doing this will help you feel organized and decrease feelings of being overwhelmed.
3. Figure out what type of learner are you and create your study plan accordingly
“You’re holding your patient’s medication and as you enter the room, you find your patient about to fall”.
By reading that statement did you visualize the scenario in your head? Or did you read the statement and words out loud?
If you created a mental image in your head then you’re a visual learner. If you heard yourself reading the statement, then you learn and think through words.
Knowing what type of learner you are, will help you create your study plan efficiently. If you’re a visual learner you learn ideas, theories and concepts through images. Watching a youtube video discussing the pathophysiology of a disease or a step by step procedure of a clinical skill, for example “how to insert an IV efficiently” can help you absorb information better. Visualizing test questions and answers can also increase your chances of choosing the best answer.
If you’re an auditory learner, study tips include studying where you are able to focus and read things out loud, writing disease pathophysiology, step by step procedures, pharmacology or medical terms you’re unfamiliar with and reading them out loud, and practice test questions out loud. As an auditory learner, you'll learn concepts and theories better by hearing it a couple of times and not just by visualizing it.
4. Focus on one set of study questions at a time
Focus on a set of practice questions from one resource, one at a time. Instead of just answering all the questions from the study resource you’ve chosen. I encourage you to look for patterns in all the questions provided.
Do you notice how each question is structured? Do you recognize the keywords that will help direct you to the right answer? Finish all the questions that were provided, redo the questions you got wrong and create notes from the rationales that were provided.
Focusing on one resource at a time can help you not get confused with too much information all at once from different resources. It’ll give you the feeling of accomplishment with every small goal you’ve accomplished. This will help you push forward to study more and do more practice questions.
5. Create mind maps to review each different system and clinical skills
NCLEX is a comprehensive exam to test knowledge and behaviors that are needed for an entry level nurse to practice safely and efficiently. It is impossible to memorize everything you’ve learned during nursing school. However, reviewing core concepts and nursing foundations by creating mind maps can help you remember key information. Mind mapping is a great tool to use for pathophysiology, pharmacology, amongst others.
See my mind mapping guide for a FREE download.
6. Be Consistent. Think and act like an effective test taker
Consistency is doing small habits every single day without fail.
Think to yourself, what would an effective test taker do? Do practice questions every day? Create a study plan? Buy and invest in study resources that can increase her/his chances of passing? Work on their time management skills? Practice habits that can decrease test anxiety? Sleep and eat better? Prioritize your study plan over socializing?
Doing daily steps towards your goal and showing up to what you said you’re going to accomplish for today is what’s going to help you grow and transform yourself to a confident test taker and eventually a successful Registered Nurse.
7. Talk to other nurses and experts you know and ask about their NCLEX experience
Do you have friends or family who are already nurses? Who just finished writing the NCLEX? Or are you currently doing your clinical rotation and you are surrounded by medical professionals? If you are, then you are sitting on a gold mine of resources. Take that opportunity to ask questions. By talking to other people who have gone through what you’re currently going through can give you a general idea of what the NCLEX is like. You can ask them what type of questions they got, how many questions they did, what study materials they used, what study strategies worked best for them.
You might even get lucky as they might end up as your study coach or mentor and they might also share their study materials to you.
Conclusion
As you embark on the journey to conquer the NCLEX, remember that this is not just a test, but a bridge to fulfilling your dreams. Your unique experiences and perspectives is what can help you standout. Embrace every challenge with determination and courage, for each step you take brings you closer to touching someone’s life and making a difference.
Believe in yourself, for you have the strength, knowledge, and heart to excel and shine brightly in your nursing career. I believe in you!
“Stay away from those people who try to disparage your ambitions. Small minds will always do that, but great minds will give you a feeling that you can become great too.”
— Mark Twain
