Top 3 Common Mistakes When Taking the NCLEX

Taking the NCLEX is not much different from taking any other kind of qualification exam. It may be tougher than other types of tests, but the bottom line is that it is a test, and whether you like it or not, you are bound to make some mistakes.

Awareness of the incorrect practices that are commonly engaged in by test takers will help you increase your chances of passing the NCLEX, though. As with most anything, knowledge and awareness will give you the chance to change your strategy as needed. Here are the 3 most common mistakes that are committed when taking tests.

1. Not practicing enough. Some test takers fall into the trap of merely reading and reading and reading some more. One important thing about taking tests is that you should actually do practice runs as much as you can. Nothing beats actually taking the test, but since you cannot take the NCLEX everyday, the next best thing is to do dry runs.

2. Not following directions. This is a no brainer, really. Instructions/directions are there for a reason, and every teacher/reviewer will always emphasize the importance of following them. Sad to say, many test takers still fail to follow instructions. If you do one thing when taking the NCLEX, make sure you understand the directions and that you follow them to a T.

3. Second-guessing your hunches. There are people who tend to over think, and more often than not, this results in incorrect answers. You are not expected to be 100 per cent sure of your answers in the NCLEX, but if you find yourself over thinking an item, go with your hunch.

Do you tend to make these mistakes? Take a step back and assess yourself. Knowing your weak spots might just help you jump this hurdle called the NCLEX.

Did you know?

ALLGEN NCLEX Review offers unlimited access to online materials, which include practice tests. These tests will be very helpful in preparing you for the actual test!

Five Ways to Boost Your Memory When Reviewing for Nursing Exams

You were reviewing for your foreign nursing exams when you came across a question on the management of a patient manifesting the Homan's sign. Immediately, you stress out because you don't remember what the Homan's sign is and yet you are very sure you read on it just a couple of days ago. As a result, you lose focus and can't concentrate on your nursing review.

At work, you forget to do certain tasks or fail to remember things a staff nurse normally knows by heart like common medical abbreviations or normal laboratory values. You forgot what NIDDM stands for or what a blood potassium level of 5.0 means. You have these little meltdowns that you are convinced that you might have a serious memory decline.

Before you freak out, remember that forgetting things doesn't automatically mean you are suffering from memory loss. Keep in mind that the brain functions like a muscle and you need to take care of it for it to function properly and prevent memory decline. Here's how:

1. Learn new things. Your job as a staff nurse at the ward can be quite routinary. Go stimulate your brain by learning new things that are entirely different from what you do everyday. Being introduced to new and exciting things regularly like reading a book, pursuing a new hobby, or going on educational trips will improve brain activity and is vital to preventing memory loss.

2. Watch what you eat. You need to consume food that increases blood flow to the brain, stimulate brain activity, improve cognitive function, and enhance information processing. Food known to improve brain function include tuna, boiled peanuts, fruits, vegetables, and whole wheat crackers as these are packed in vitamins and antioxidants and will help maintain glucose levels without the risk of damaging your arteries.

3. Pay attention to details. Making the extra effort to pay attention to little details is one way of enhancing your memory and preventing memory loss. Remember, it takes practice to finally do something right. Simple memory exercises such as reciting a person's name minutes after he or she was introduced to you, observing your immediate environment, or even remembering what your friend wore when you saw her yesterday will help maintain cognitive function and prevent memory loss.

4. Manage your environment. When studying for your nursing exams, be it the NCLEX, the CGFNS, the NLE, or the CRNE, make sure that your study area is quiet and devoid of any distractions like facebook or a television set. This way, you will be able to focus on your study material and be able to review what you have covered with fewer interference.

5. Have plenty of rest and sleep. Sleep is the body's way to achieve relaxation. So when learning something new, make sure you get enough rest and sleep for optimum brain function. When reviewing for nursing board exams or when about to do tasks requiring concentration, a good night's sleep will help you remember the details you need to remember the next day.

Memory and other cognitive functions may be improved by simple lifestyle changes like the ones mentioned in this article. By watching what you eat, engaging in stimulating activities, and having enough rest and sleep in a relaxing environment, you will be able to maintain a sharp memory even as you age.

December 2007 Nurse Licensure Examination Relevant Links, Tips, and Articles

The December 2007 Nursing Board Exam is fast approaching. By this time, most review centers are reaching the homestretch of their review classes. Examinees are starting to feel both excitement and anxiety as days go by.

To help examinees better prepare for the exams, this blog will be relisting relevant links, tips, and articles that helped others in the past. This post is for anyone taking the nursing licensure exam come December 1 and 2.

Articles
Last Minute Reminders for Board Exam Takers
Tips in Preparing for the Nurse Licensure Examination

Animated Lectures
Virtual Human Atlas

Notes
Checklist of Nursing Procedures
Review Notes in Med-Surg: Arterial Blood Gases
Review Notes in Med-Surg: Aortic Aneurysms
Review Notes in Pediatric Nursing
Review Notes in Psychiatric Nursing
Review Notes in Pharmacology

Integrated Management of Adolescent and Adult Illness (IMAI) Modules

Acute Care

Chronic HIV care with antiretroviral therapy (courtesy of repapips)

General principles of good chronic care

Palliative Care

Goodluck and God bless future nurses!

NCLEX Techniques in 5 Easy Steps

By Prof. Rachell Allen, RN, MSN, NP

Because of the long emphasis on traditional NCLEX learning, the science of learning involving the brain has long been forgotten, bypassed or overlooked.

There are lots of books out there giving you all the inside scoop on how to succeed in nursing. They tell you exactly what your professors tell you. Keep up on your reading, don’t miss a class, review your notes, study, study and study.

The bad news is that NCLEX students often find that preparing for the test takes a lot more time and effort than just making a stack of index cards and staying up a couple of nights a week. A typical full-time review program is about 45 hours of work in and out of class. That’s why it’s called “full-time” – it’s the equivalent of a full-time job. Surveys have shown that students who claim to have studied intensively often report 11 hours studying for a course per semester. So you ask, “that’s how much time it takes to learn one chapter in a typical textbook?”

So Why Is Reviewing For NCLEX a Problem?

Mostly because a lot of these students feel they need to know everything all at once.

Suppose you have an exam on let’s say, Pharmacological Agents in the Care of Patients coming up next week. What do you do? Chances are, you make a list of drugs to memorize, put them in your index cards until you can rattle off each list flawlessly. Now this may help you in this particular exam, but a week later, when you need these same information to learn the next chapter, you can’t perfectly recall them. You may even find that you did not retain as much in your memory.

So why, you ask.

The Science of Learning

Because real learning is not just about index cards and memorizing. You may already know that your brain is divided into front and rear lobes. The rear deals with passive sensory stimuli and memory retrieval (looking back). The front explores, learns new things and makes hypotheses. The interesting thing is that when new information is learned, it travels back and forth in a loop. This simply means that if you can recall what Cushing’s Syndrome is, then learning has effectively taken place. If not, you will have to re-learn it again. This is exactly the part of the loop that most nursing students focus on. Trying to learn over and over again by shuffling index cards. A little knowledge sticks here and there, but it should be clear by now, why most does not. Learning never occurred in the first place.


Learning Techniques in 5 Easy Steps

So how does learning take effect? There are countless ways to learn information and for the purpose of this article, I will only outline five of these:

Make it interesting.
Our brain has limited capacity for processing loads of information when learning. Its attention span is extremely selective and the only information that does get retained are those it sees relevant and enticing enough.

Interesting helps. Can you recall the plot of the movie Titanic? If you’ve seen the film, you can, because it is interesting enough. I use “interesting” in my lectures all the time. The concepts become alive in the sense that they are fun to learn and therefore relevant and memorable.

Remember, not Memorize.
You may now have probably realized why a deck of cards didn’t work the last time you took a major exam. Because all you did was memorize so you can quickly store the list in your brain. The bad news is that when the finals came, you were back to zero. All that time and nothing showed.

Somehow, we still need to get that information from your short-term memory into long-term memory. This is what I call “remembering” not memorizing. And the good news is that you never lose anything from your long-term memory, just the ability to retrieve it. Remembering is connecting information with what you already have in your brain. Memorizing is learning information as is, like disconnected items. Do you see the difference?

Whenever you learn something new, you need to try to find a connection to whatever you already know. Because you won’t retain that information very long unless you see the relationships and the overall picture.

Use Memory Devices.
You might have recalled someone’s name by giving him a pet name like Jake Fake because his name is Jake and he wears mostly fake accessories. If it works for you, be my guest. You’re welcome.

The human brain’s attention span is extremely selective, therefore it must depend largely on memory aids and shortcuts if it is to learn the desired information effectively. That’s why in my lectures, I use elaborate memory clues, mnemonics and some other variants to make nursing terminologies easier to understand and remember. Their relevance hook is that they are attention-grabber, funny and memorable.

Reduce Information Overload.
I mentioned previously that our brain has limited capacity for processing data. When confronted with a truckload of information, it becomes extremely discriminating.

Good news? It is easier for a learner to focus their attention on a subject if there is minimal information. Reducing information is reducing noise for the brain and therefore reduce the risk of experiencing information overload.

So if you are studying the full chapter on let’s say, Blood Administration, you should highlight only the key areas that would most likely come out in the NCLEX test. For example, a 25-Day Integrated Review Program on NCLEX would do just that. Safely assuming that you’re planning on passing the NCLEX, I suggest you take those out that’s not necessary to your learning goals. Highlight what’s most important when you review for NCLEX.

Use Top-Down Learning.
I personally find this an interesting technique to a better, longer memory retention. I use this method by pulling out concepts from my student’s past experiences and existing knowledge first before learning new topics in nursing. It accomplishes two things: First, it reinforces the long-term memory. Second, it fosters the new learning process.

In my class, I usually make it a priority to discuss what my students already know about a certain subject before introducing the new ones. If you haven’t used top-down method in your review preparation for NCLEX, I suggest you make an effort to make this a habit.



NCLEX Techniques in 5 Easy Steps is based on BRAIN RN™, the copyrighted work of Rachell Allen, RN, MSN, NP. Brain RN™, also a trademark of Rachellallen.net is an extremely powerful study method that teaches memory tricks and devices for easy learning and better memory retention. It is offered as part of the author’s 25-Day Integrated Review Program for NCLEX. For more information, visit at www.rachellallen.net