3 Tips for Scoring Better on Nursing Exams
Picture this…. A student nurse enters my office and says “I have never failed an exam before yours”.
To be honest, I was also one of these students who went to my professor and said very similar words. I was not a student that could study 30 minutes and do great on an exam, but after putting in hours of study, I would do well.
Nursing students are usually one of these two types of students. They either have to study long hours to put content to memory, or they heard it in class and can “review notes” for an hour or two and then pull off a good grade.
Then, the student enters nursing school. And all of the sudden, their study world gets flipped upside down. Gone are the days when those previous tactics worked. Cramming all nighters is less and less successful. Students find themselves inundated with projects, lab hours, dress code rules, clinical hours, add in some personal work (ya know, to help keep the Ramen noodles on the table) and somewhere in there they need to study for the upcoming exam.
This is where I find the student (did I mention the tears in their eyes and the look of failure?) sitting across from my desk asking themselves why they failed the first exam of their life. So many times the student wants to review the previous exam, see what questions they answered incorrectly, and see where they went wrong. And yes there is something to be learned from looking at previous exams and seeing that there is a trend for a student who recognizes that they changed their answer and then got the question wrong, or that once they answered one question wrong they started second guessing everything and had 5 in a row answered incorrectly.
But let me say something profound here….this usually does not help the student on their next exam. Why? It is because this is not the main problem that is contributing to their failing grade.
I mentioned this before…gone are the days that the previous tactics worked. In the courses leading up to nursing school, students could memorize content and then spit it back out on an exam. But now we have those tricky little NCLEX style questions that give scenarios for every question, and there are definitely 2 correct answers listed in the 4 choices, but only one is MORE correct.
So what is a student to do? I have found that just three little changes to a student’s study habits can transform their ability to do well on exams. Here are my 3 most consistently proven tactics that have helped my students.
1-Create a schedule
I know this sounds soooo boring to some of you. A schedule? Really? But let me assure you that the number one thing I coach my students to do is to write out their life, day by day, hour by hour, at the start of each week (or two weeks at a time is better!) and then watch as their success in their course work unfolds.
It is so successful because it takes the guess work out of which subject to pick up when it is time to study. It takes the stress off of “when will I study OB material?? I have to get to it. But I really need to finish this assignment for mental health because it is due tonight”. It takes that stress out because it is written down right in front of you that OB will have 3 hours dedicated to that course in the next 48 hours and therefore this hour is dedicated to the mental health assignment.
It also-when done correctly-outlines EXACTLY what to study for that specific course. It should be specific. For example, it should read something like: “Monday 1400-1600 Med/Surg Ch 19 prep quiz”. This tells the student exactly what to go do, so that the time is used wisely and purposefully.
Be sure to include these specifics: 1-all school work/personal work/appointments/obligations of any kind, 2- times, AND 3-the content for each course you will study during that time. Don’t forget (and I am SERIOUS to add this in because it gives you PERMISSION to do it) personal time like “take the dog for a walk” or “go for 45 minute hike” or “go to mom’s house for dinner”. Take time to refill your cup, or as you probably have already found out, you end up taking a whole weekend off because “I deserve it” and then really get behind!
This schedule is the foundation to your success.
2-Talk to your professor
Okay, I know some of you are about to list the many reasons that you do NOT want to do this….something like “She is awful! She does not want students to pass her class! She enjoys watching us suffer! She will not care about my success! She will just say it is my fault!”. Now, I have met these people too, and so I am definitely not going to promise that the instructor does not say something similar to you. But hear me out.
Faculty do not want a student to repeat their course. Trust me. Faculty want students to get a good grade and move on to the next course. So, as I suggested above, go and talk to your professors about what key steps you will need to do to be successful in their course. Ask if you can meet with them or send them your study materials to ensure you are on the right track when studying for their class exams. I assure you this will be well worth your time because then you know what is important to that specific course!
3-Find a way to PRACTICE what you know
I cannot stress this one enough. I mentioned before that nursing students are smart. You could not get into nursing school if you were not smart. But, now the “memorize and dump” tactics of your past no longer work.
Now you need to find a way to practice (or in the world of education we say “Apply”) the knowledge you have put to memory. There are many different ways to do this. Study groups, using case studies (better yet developing case studies of your own), creating practice quizzes, concept maps…these are just a few ideas from the number of ways students can practice applying the information that they have put to memory in a really practical way.
When you practice applying this information, you are evaluating what you know and what you do not know. It is like a mini pre-exam. If you get all of the answers right about pneumonia, then you know you have a pretty good handle on pneumonia. But if you do not answer well on the pneumonia questions, then you have a clear answer that you need to go back and review that content in more detail.
Like I said, students who begin with these three steps are extremely successful in turning their grades around. I have seen it happen time and time again. The student is 100% capable of doing well, they just need to slightly tweak the process and cannot stop at just memorizing the material.
These are extremely simple and practical ways to boost your success and will help you develop strategies that can be implemented in any course!
Want more details and specifics of these steps? Sign up HERE for my Successful Study Strategies Mini Course to get you on track and help you succeed!
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