Here's you best options for an NCLEX quick results experience
These are good tips for any test taker, but great if you are a non-native English speaker. If you have taken the test twice and failed, it’s time for a new strategy. NCLEX differs from other tests, and failing multiple times demonstrates that you don’t understand how this works. Nursing knowledge is essential, but you must learn how to take the test. So keep reading…until you pass.
NCLEX questions are carefully edited to be misleading, confusing, and filled with double meaning. The test wants to know how well you perform when you have little information and limited time, a common condition in nursing.
Non-native speakers must go beyond the language barriers and understand the mechanics of the test. By learning what is asked of them, they are less likely to get caught in semantics and syntax traps.
1) TIMING
With the NCLEX, timing is everything. You should answer your questions within one minute (this is very important later). How fast you answer questions will affect how you’ll be graded. You don’t necessarily need to get them right every time, but you must answer them quickly.
The NCLEX gives you brownie points when you answer fast. Remember, you’ll not be penalized for answering them wrong, but you’ll be rewarded for answering them quickly. You’ll also be punished if you answer them right but take too much time. Answering questions fast, even if some are wrong, will ensure you stay in the game until the end. It gives you one more chance to pass.
The idea is to stay above the passing line correctly answering questions, and you will most likely get that by answering them quickly. This is what an NCLEX staff person told me over a long phone conversation.
This fact alone is fundamental but seldom discussed. Yet, knowing that alone might keep you in the game long enough to pass, even if you’re performing poorly in some questions. What you know is essential, but equally important is the rhythm of the test. It is like a video game; you have to know your game, but you also have to know how to play it in real time… is the game over?
It makes sense because, in nursing, you need to make fast decisions in situations you have limited time. So, when people say don’t overthink, you don’t have the time to do it. When you answer a question correctly but waste five minutes, The same question is repeated, just worded differently. They want to know how well you know about a subject; if you know well, you answer it quickly. The best method is to look at each question, read it carefully, decide, select the best answer, and move on. Another timing issue is how long it takes to retake the test. If you fail — don’t delay. You are never really ready for this test. If you failed, go back and do it again!
2) NURSING KNOWLEDGE
Of course, the more you know, the better, but not really. All you must have is “NCLEX-type knowledge.” I call these NCLEX building blocks. You can get it with books such as Kaplan and other similar courses. Here’s an example. Let’s look at a question about chest tubes. When asked about chest tubes, they will usually ask you about factors a, b, or c about chest tubes. Usually, it does not stray too far from 5–6 “things” about chest tubes. These a,b, and c options will be found throughout every nursing subject, and you must learn by heart what these options are.
The more questions you practice, the more you see the pattern repeat repeatedly, and you’ll learn what they are looking for. Those are the building blocks of the NCLEX, and without them, you can’t play the game. The collection of building blocks is enormous, and the more you are familiar with them, the better. The more of these you know, the closer you are. You must understand these blocks so well that when you read a question, you instantly know what they are looking for, and that’s how you can answer the question in less than a minute. So, looking at knowledge is not the traditional way of knowing it but using your NCLEX little blocks to play the NCLEX game. Think of it as a game.
3) HOW TO IDENTIFY THE BUILDING BLOCKS
When you look at an NCLEX question, your first impulse is to pick the correct answer, which could lead you into a trap. So, the first thing you need to do is identify what they are looking for. Let’s look at that in detail: they test your critical thinking. In nursing, critical thinking is one of the most vital assets. Your critical thinking comprises two elements — (1) your good judgment and (2) your experience. Your judgment comes with time and experience and is associated with many other things like your integrity, intelligence, and the ability to consider all factors in a given situation. But your judgment is also based on how often you’ve seen a particular problem occur.
Even though medicine presents infinite scenarios, each scenario tends to repeat itself. Remember, the human body is the same for everyone. Your ability to make a quick decision dramatically affects how quickly you retrieve events you’ve seen before and their outcomes.
Of course, the NCLEX writers don’t expect you (a student) to know too many things. But they want you to be at least familiarized with some of the most common scenarios in nursing — and that is what I call the NCLEX quick results building blocks.
The test might ask you what’s safe, what you consider a priority, how to maintain oxygenation, etc. The test might be asking you about your good judgment. After practicing NCLEX questions for a while, you repeatedly see the patterns. These repetitions will help you to identify the building blocks. The building blocks are the essence of quick nursing thinking.
safety
prioritization
patient safety
decision-making
the nursing process
There are hundreds of these “blocks,” and listing them here would not help you because you must be able to identify them quickly and intuitively if you want NCLEX quick results. The only way to identify them is to practice hundreds of questions and start noticing the repetitions because you’ll run into them repeatedly. So, next time you look at a question, you already know the answer because you know the exact building block that will fit. This is important because you’ll have no idea how to answer half the questions they will throw at you, no matter how hard you study. So, these building blocks offer you another way to visualize and make a quick decision.
4) STUDY TIME
Don’t drive yourself crazy. I would practice 60 questions a day in one hour. Buy a timer and keep the pace; never take more than one hour. You look good if you get above 65% in one hour, but try to get higher. One day a week, go to 265 (ouch!) because, most likely, this is what your test will be like! You are building endurance in test-taking rather than becoming a nurse genius. Have fun with it; it might be counterproductive if you drive yourself to pain. Just relax (but do what I say).
5) THE TEST
It is essential to know what is under the hood. One fact to note is that the NCLEX will test everyone differently. The NCLEX has two ways to decide for you:
Pass or fail with an “X” number of questions, so if you are perfect, you can pass with as little as 75–180 (average) questions
[and if you are doing poorly, you will fail with 75–180 questions]
The computer decides at a certain point at the beginning of the test. It can’t figure out what is going on. You missed many questions, but you also hit some important ones, determining that you must answer all questions. So you are going to 265, baby. (ouch again!).
If you are inconsistent and begin to do poorly because you are tired, you can fail with 265 questions. Answering all the questions is OK if you have the stamina. Don’t lose power. If you are struggling, forget about that magical “oh, a passed with 75 questions” mindset; be prepared to go and be consistent throughout the entire range. Training yourself to handle 265 questions in 6 hours once a week is essential. The NCLEX will be impressed with your consistency, and you will be credited for that. Remember, the NCLEX is not about getting questions right and building up points like in regular tests; the NCLEX tests how you perform under stressful situations and what kind of choices you make. The NCLEX computer program measures and grades you in everything you do.
CRITICAL THINKING
To think critically about the questions requires a different set of tools. First, you must go deep into the question and zero in on it alone and not stray one bit from it. Next, you must ask yourself, “What are they asking me to do?” I developed this thinking: imagine myself at the hospital in an actual situation and then think, “What would I do here…for real? What would I do to be the safest?” Then, after you decide what to do using your knowledge, compare it to choice 1,2,3,4 and pick the least wrong. Never choose the right answer. Remember, there is no correct answer in the NCLEX.
PLAY TETRIS
Tetris is one of the first mega-hit video games from the early 80s. It simulates several brain functions similar to the ones you need for the NCLEX. It will help you with the mental stamina required to endure all 265 questions without lowering your performance. When playing Tetris, you must make quick decisions in shorter and shorter amounts of time. It forces your brain to think faster and faster as the geometrical shapes fall critically, and you have to figure out where they fit. After playing Tetris daily and getting better at it, I was amazed at how much I had improved. If you don’t believe it, play for fun anyway. It will help you relax.
PRAY FOR ST. JUDE, THE PATRON OF THE IMPOSSIBLE CAUSES AND THE BEST LUCK.
THINGS TO REMEMBER:
No matter how hard you study, you’ll never be prepared to answer more than 50% of the questions correctly
It’s OK to get many questions wrong; in fact, you’ll get about 50% wrong.
Before answering your questions, decide what the question is asking you and apply the building blocks.
Persistence will see you through.
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