3 Easy Ways to Drastically Improve Your Exam Scores

Hey, guys.

Let us a quick break from our usual discussions about nursing topics and deviate to three simple techniques that will immensely enhance your study habits, thereby boosting your exam scores big time. Once you get to know these methods, learning and remembering every subject will become far less complicated and more enjoyable.

Without further ado, here are Simple Nursing’s three ways to upgrade the way prepare, review, and retain all the vital nursing topics that are crucial in acing your major exams.

1. Collate and Highlight

This first technique is something that every student is familiar with – collating the notes and handouts and highlighting all major details that were repeatedly emphasized during class lectures or clinical exposures. Gather every single resource material that you have, pile them all up, and go through the necessary details, namely:

• Laboratory values
• Pathophysiology
• Nursing process
• Keywords
• Pharmacology
• Signs and symptoms

2. Pinpoint then Transfer

Here, notecards are of the essence. After highlighting every single word, line, or phrase, the next step is to go through all these highlighted portions, take them out, and write them on the note cards. These are not just ordinary notecards wherein you indicate summarized versions of the various topics. Here, you can do the following:

• Contrast and comparison between two diseases (e., acute renal failure versus chronic renal failure) – place only keywords that will help you remember every disease
• Phases and values using tables

By the end of this notecard series, you can expect to have quite a thick stack of notecards, around 50 pieces. Make sure that these notecards are ready at least three days before your major test because these are the only things that you will use to review and recall all the nursing subjects without having to go through all the overwhelming reference materials.

And the best thing about these notecards is that you can take them anywhere you go, whether it’s the beach or when you’re dining out. They are useful and convenient to use.

3. Answer 100 NCLEX^® questions

Purchase an NCLEX^® book of any kind, be it Saunders or Mosby, it doesn’t matter for as long as you have an NCLEX^® book that you can answer.  With your notecard, you will apply what you know by recalling all the keywords and applying what you know by answering all the items in the book that you decided to purchase.

So, the trick here is to answer at least 100 NCLEX^® questions in a day. This technique will significantly boost your test-taking strategy and give you a better idea as to how much you know regarding a specific subject or topic.

Parting Words

By following this three-step tip, you will become more prepared in consolidating your study time, hopefully, scoring higher on your next major exam without wracking your brain through exhausting hours of reading and finding yourself more confused than ever.

Finally, breathe. If you have the right tools to help you achieve your goals, you will surely pass with flying colors. In Simple Nursing, we’ve managed to do the other duties for you like picking out the essential keywords and creating a more efficient way to remember all difficult and confusing topics. Just go through our blogs in our Simple Nursing website and check out our videos on our YouTube channel as well.

Good luck with your exams!