Chapter 4
NCLEX® Preparation
Where Does Preparation Begin?
NCLEX preparation began the moment you entered your nursing program. Your nursing courses, clinical experiences, reading and other assignments and activities, and any standardized examinations that may have been required to be taken prepared you for the NCLEX exam. In addition, all the practice questions that you reviewed from your course textbooks and NCLEX review book have reinforced content, refined your knowledge base and critical thinking skills, and provided practice with test-taking strategies and how to answer a test question correctly. Now you are an experienced student nurse and are most likely in your final year of nursing school; therefore, NCLEX preparation has become your priority focus. Now you need to fine-tune your nursing knowledge base, critical thinking skills, and test-taking skills. You may feel overwhelmed and just not sure where to begin preparing for the NCLEX exam. You may even become more overwhelmed when you look at all the boxes of class notes that you have accumulated and all the textbooks that you have read during nursing school. Now you are saying to yourself, “Where do I start?” Let us look at some points about the NCLEX exam and your plan for preparation!
The NCLEX Test Plan: Why Is It So Important?
An important strategy for success is to become as familiar as possible with the NCLEX test plan. You can experience a significant amount of anxiety as you face the challenge of this examination. Knowing what the examination is all about will assist in alleviating your fear and anxiety.
The test plan for the NCLEX exam is developed by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN). This test plan is developed based on state laws and regulations, including nursing practice acts, and research studies done with newly licensed nurses to determine the nursing activities that they perform as new nurses. Once this information is identified, the NCSBN formulates the test plan, and the test questions for the NCLEX exam are written. All the information that you will need about the test plan can be located at the NCSBN Web site at www.ncsbn.org. In fact, when you access this Web site you are able to download a copy of the current test plan for your use. The test plan identifies the framework of the NCLEX exam and lists content areas and nursing activities that you will be tested on. This is an extremely valuable resource and can be used as one of your study guides for preparing for the NCLEX exam. Pearson Vue is the agency that delivers the examination provided by the NCSBN. Through this agency, you will schedule your test date and testing center. An additional fee must be paid to Pearson Vue before testing can occur. See the boxes below for the NCSBN contact information and Pearson Vue contact information.
What Are the Steps for Preparing?
Step 1: Your Self-Assessment
The first step in preparing for the NCLEX exam is a self-assessment. Your self-assessment is important because it will guide your development of a structured and individualized preparation plan. Open your “My NCLEX Study Guide” binder, and review any notes that you have taken about your strengths or weaknesses. Also review any detailed reports from standardized tests that you have taken because these reports provide extremely valuable information about your areas of strength and the areas that you need to particularly focus on. If you have not yet set up your binder labeled “My NCLEX Study Guide,” you want to do so to begin your preparation for the NCLEX exam. If you do not have copies of standardized test results or did not take standardized tests in your nursing program, then use your NCLEX review book to perform a self-assessment. Access the accompanying Web site in your NCLEX review book to take a pretest assessment exam or a 100-question comprehensive exam. Print out the results, place the printout in your “My NCLEX Study Guide” notebook, and identify your areas of strength and weakness to assist you in determining your preparation plan and goals.
Step 2: Your Preparation Plan and Goals
Your self-assessment is an ongoing process. Your next step in your preparation plan and goals is to answer some specific self-assessment questions. The Top-10 Self-Assessment Questions are listed below with some pyramid points to consider as you develop a plan of preparation and goals.
The Top-10 Self-Assessment Questions and Pyramid Points
Question 1: What do I feel are my strong and weak areas in nursing content, and what strong and weak areas were identified in standardized testing or other assessment tests that I took?
Prioritize your plan of study, listing your weakest to your strongest area(s). You want to plan to begin your NCLEX preparation by reviewing your weakest content areas first; once you have demonstrated improvement in your weak area(s), proceed to review your stronger area(s).
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