After 4 semesters of nursing school, I can officially say I have perfected my methods to prepare for a test. A huge adjustment to becoming a nursing student is not learning all the material, but instead learning how you best learn this information. Maybe my strategies will work for you, or maybe they won’t, but it is crucial to try different things to decide for yourself!
The first thing I do when starting to study is use a learning objectives outline or any type of list that lines up the content of the test. Some professors may provide a list of key concepts or “study guide,” and some may not, but there is usually some type of objectives slide stating something like “Identify the 5 moments of hand hygiene” or “Discuss the importance of proper PPE”. Take these objectives and key concepts and type them into a new document or write them on a new page in your notebook.
Now that I know the objectives listed out by the professor, the second thing I do is go back through my notes taken in class and fill in information that correlates to the objectives. For example, for the objective “Identify the 5 moments of hand hygiene,” I would find those 5 things back in my notes, the slides, or my book. So my study guide would look a little like this:
Once you complete this for all of those objectives and have a complete study guide, the opportunities are endless. You can use your personalized study guide to make flashcards, a Quizlet, or for me, I like to use repetition. At this point, I like to use a big whiteboard and go topic by topic and write down everything I know. At the beginning of studying for an exam, I usually have to glance at my study guide quite a bit. After a couple days of studying and writing out all the information, I no longer have to use the study guide and can just use it to check if I missed anything. Here is a glimpse at one of my study sessions for Pathopharmacology:
After a couple of days of studying, if a topic is not making sense or just isn’t sticking in my brain, I try to use some other resources. I might look up a YouTube video or ask ChatGPT to break it down for me. Sometimes just listening to or reading another explanation might make more sense to you.
The newest step to my study routine and the last thing I do before a test is to make some practice questions. Another great reason to make a personalized study guide is that you can upload this study guide to ChatGPT and say, “Make me 50 NCLEX-style questions with an answer key at the end”. This is great to do once you have a good understanding of the material and want to start getting into the NCLEX question mindset.
Finding a good rhythm and motivation for studying can be hard- especially when you feel like you are studying 24/7. Study alone, study in groups, study in the morning, study at night, study however you want- this is your journey! Remember to give yourself breaks, snacks, and maybe some coffee. Try different methods of studying and evaluate whether it works for you or not- it may take time, but trust yourself and do your best!