What is a Study Guide?
A study guide is defined as “an aid, usually in the form of printed notes, designed to assist students with their learning. It indicates what should be learned, how it can be learned, and how individuals can recognize if they have learned it”.
In taking NCLEX-RN it is a must to have a Study Guide or some people called it a Review Program. Understanding every lesson and comprehending the steps or processes in a clinical scenario is a big step in passing NCLEX-RN Exam. Knowing that there will be an upcoming change on NCLEX which is expected to be implemented by NCSBN on APRIL 2023, we call it NEXT GENERATION NCLEX (NGN). It will focus on the complexities of clients in a variety of healthcare settings. It’s all about protecting the public and achieving the best outcomes for clients, nurses, and institutions.
It is an exciting enhancement to an already rigorous exam, using the latest testing techniques to maintain the high level of reliability and accuracy of NCLEX while meeting the changing needs of nursing regulation, public safety, and health care. Having a study guide will be an edge for the upcoming changes.
NCSBN- NEXT GENERATION NCLEX will determine the clinical judgment of a nurse. It is a combination of critical thinking and decision-making. And the Right decisions came from the right questions.
There is no standard study guide because every individual has a different way of learning. Here at NASYA, we created a study guide strategy that could help with your review and preparation for the upcoming NEXT GENERATION NCLEX(NGN).
Comprehending Intimidation
The Test creators will generally some words or materials that will be new to most test takers. And please expect that not all of the medical topics you will encounter would have a fair amount of familiarity.
Every case or scenario will be quite different. You have to understand the exam type and materials while eliminating the distracter information. Encountering a strange-sounding medical topic that you don’t even recognize, to which you may only have a little exposure, is just normal on the NCLEX. Always remember that the questions themselves will contain all the information necessary to choose a correct answer and the cases will also frequently be drawn from real-world experiences or settings.
Discover your Optimal Pace
Everyone reads and tests at a different rate. It will take a lot of practice to identify what is your optimal rate at which you can read and comprehend and effectively absorb information. With practice, you will identify the optimal pace that you should maintain during the test or answering questions. This should be the most comfortable rate.
Finding a pace that is relaxed and focused will allow you to have enough time for every question given to your optimal comprehension. Always put in mind you are looking for optimal comprehension, not maximum comprehension.
Avoid Being a Perfectionist
Being a perfectionist may be one of the hardest strategies; however, it is one of the most important. The test you are taking is timed, and you can’t afford to spend too much time on any question.
If you are answering a question and you’ve got your answer split between two possible answer options, and you need to go back to reading the question over and over again so you can decide which will be your answer, it could be one of the most frustrating situations possible. You feel that if you just spent one more minute on the problem, you would be able to figure out the correct answer and decide between the two. Be careful! You can easily get so absorbed in that situation that you lose track of your time, get off track and end up spending the rest of the test playing catch up, because of all the wasted time, which may leave you rattled and cause you to miss even more questions that you would have otherwise.
Therefore, unless you will only be satisfied with a perfect score and your abilities are in the top .1% strata of test takers, you should not
go into the test with the mindset that you’ve got to get every question correctly. It is far better to accept that you will have to guess on some questions and possibly get them wrong and still have time for another question than to analyze every question until you’re absolutely confident in your answer and then run out of time on the test.
Fairly Correct, but Actually Wrong
A favorite ploy of question writers is to write answer choices that are factually correct on their own but fail to answer the right question, and so are actually wrong.
Whenever you are going through the answer choices and one jumps out for being factually correct, you have to be mindful. Before you select it as your answer choice, first make sure that you go back to the question and verify that the answer choice is the appropriate answer to the question being asked.
Extraneous Information
Some answer choices will seem to fit in and answer the questions being asked. They were maybe factually correct. Everything seems to check out, so what could possibly be wrong?
Does the answer choice actually match the question, or is it based on extraneous information contained in the question? Just because an answer choice seems right, don’t assume that you overlooked information while reading the question. Your mind can easily play tricks on you and make you think that you read something or that you overlooked a phrase.
Unless you are behind on time, always go back to the question and make sure that the answer choice “checks out.”
Definites Avoiding
Answer options that make definite statements with no “wiggle room” are most of the time incorrect. Try to select answer choices that make less definite and more general statements that would likely be accurate in a bigger range of situations and aren’t exclusive.
Common Sense
The questions on the test are not made to confuse the test takers. In conclusion, most of the answer options will have a sense of normalcy about them that may be fairly obvious and could be answered simply by using common sense. While many of the topics will be ones that you are somewhat not familiar with, there will likely be numerous topics that you have some prior indirect knowledge about that will help you answer the questions.
Instincts are Right
Whenever you’re not sure, always go with your first instinct. This is an old test-taking trick that still works today. Most of the time if something feels correct instinctively, it is right. Regrettably, over-analytical test takers will most of the time convince themselves. Do not fall for that trap and try not to get too choosy about an answer option. You should not have to adjust the facts and create a hypothetical event for your answer choice to be correct.
Fear Nothing
The depth and breadth of the NCLEX test can be a bit intimidating for most individuals as it can discuss topics that have never been encountered before and are highly technical. Don’t get affected by the new information presented. Try not to understand every facet of the nursing management process. You won’t have to write an essay about the topics afterward, so don’t memorize all of the minute details. Don’t get overwhelmed.
Reduce the Search
Whenever two answer choices are directly opposite, the correct answer choice is usually one of the two. It is hard for test writers to resist making one of the wrong answer choices with the same wordings, but changing one word to make it the direct opposite in meaning is common. This can usually cue a test taker in that one of the two choices is correct.
Passing NCLEX -RN is not that easy, be consistent, committed, and put in hard work, especially in the review and preparation. And always think positive and consider this as your last chance.
Nasya is here to help you process your NCLEX exam application you can accomplish your application in the comfort of your home while working and preparing for your exam.
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