Nursing Student Coach
Join Lauren Chapnick, RN, as she takes you through the journey of becoming a nurse! On Nursing Student Coach, Lauren, who is a new nursing professional, along with her knowledgeable guests will give you the tools to succeed in your nursing career. They will discuss ways to reduce anxiety and stress, share tips on studying and preparing for your NCLEX, and so much more - you won't be alone in this adventure! New episodes air every Thursday.
Nursing Student Coach
Conquering the NCLEX and Standing Out in the Nursing Job Market: Strategies and Insights from Lauren Chapnick
Get ready to conquer the NCLEX exam and land your dream nursing job as I, Lauren Chapnick, take you on a comprehensive journey of what it takes to smash through these milestones. Imagine the rewarding moment when you finally pass your NCLEX, the relief, the pride - this episode is all about getting you there. I'll be sharing my personal experiences and strategies, including my daily practice routine and intensive four-week study plan that led me to triumph on my exam day.
But the insights don't stop there! As your trusted Nursing Student Coach, I'll guide you on how to stand out in the nursing job market. Learn how to infuse your resume with unique elements that make you irresistible to potential employers and discover key strategies to connect on a personal level during interviews. Excitingly, we will be joined by Mary, a new grad nursing interview coach, in our upcoming episode to delve even deeper into the art of acing interviews. So buckle up, sharpen your pencils, and get ready to absorb nuggets of wisdom that will transform your nursing career journey.
Nursing school is a wild ride, but that doesn't mean you have to run and hide when the going gets tough. Don't leave your stress undiagnosed. You gotta call the nursing student coach. Real-life tips from a registered nurse, in school and out. She's seen the worst. Now, without further ado, yeah, here is your host. It's the nursing student coach.
Speaker 2:Hi everybody, welcome to Nursing Student Coach my name is Lauren Chapnick and I am your host and happy Thanksgiving to everybody. Whether or not you're listening to this episode on Thanksgiving, that is the day that it came out. So I hope that today you are taking some time Spending it with your loved ones, your friends and family, or your friends who are family. It is such a special holiday and I wish you all so much love. For today's episode. I am playing for you a talk that I did a couple months back, and it is to a group of nursing students who were in their final semester and they're actually About to graduate and take their NCLEX and go on their nursing interviews for their first job. So I just wanted to play it to get all of those People who are in the same boat, who are about to graduate, just in that headset of what should I be doing to prepare for my NCLEX, how should I prepare for my first job interview? And for those of you who aren't graduating quite yet you will be, so this is important for you too just to plant that seed and kind of think well, when that time comes, what should I be thinking? What things can I do to be best prepared, and just a little preview for next week's episode. We have a very special guest. Her name is Mary. She is a new grad nursing interview coach and we go into a great conversation in detail about what you should specifically be doing to get ready for those interviews. So be on the lookout for that and I hope you enjoy today's episode and I hope you all have a very happy Thanksgiving. Hi everybody, I'm here to hopefully help put your minds at ease, to answer anything and everything about my NCLEX experience how to prepare literally anything that you are thinking, and then I'll talk quickly about job interviews as well.
Speaker 2:I think nursing school is literally training for a marathon. The NCLEX is the big race. At the end it's the triathlon. It's the big one, and the only thing standing in your way between the day you start nursing school, day one, to the day you pass that NCLEX is a series of exams. It's really just a whole bunch of multiple choice questions. You may have a paper here and there, but what really counts are those multiple choice questions. That's the best way they've figured out how to do it, at least as of now. So we have to become seasoned athletes in taking exams. It's like learning a new language, nursing school, nursing exams, and so what do you do to get ready for a race? Because if the NCLEX is the marathon at the end, each exam leading up to it is its own race, it's its own mini race. So to train for it, we put on our sneakers every day, our proverbial sneakers, and we run, we train, and we do that by drilling practice questions every single day, no matter what. That is how you train your brain, your muscle memory, your body, so that when you get in there to the NCLEX, to any exam, it doesn't feel scary, it just feels like oh, this is what I do every single day.
Speaker 2:I call it your daily 10, because 10 is a very simple, attainable goal. You can do 10 like that. But what's going to happen? You know, on a day that you're taking a break, you're taking a day for yourself, and you just do 10, great, you've hit the goal. But what's typically going to happen once you get going? You're going to do more than 10, because you're going to get that dopamine rush when you start getting questions right and you're going to do more. You're going to do 20, 30, 40. And that's how you gain the momentum. That's the only thing you should be doing now is practice questions. Okay, getting it.
Speaker 2:This was my NCLEX study plan. Now here's the thing. There is a bunch of different ways to do this. What I used does not have to be what you used. I'm just going to tell you what I used. So I studied for four intense weeks. I did a Monday through Friday schedule, a minimum of four hours a day, because I did a full eight hour day where I just sat at my table and I just studied, with breaks. You have to go outside and take walks and eat and all those things. I did a Mark Clemick live review course, which I'll talk a little bit more about, and I actually have his course materials with me if anybody wanted to look through them after. And I did simple nursing question bank. He has simple nursing has its own NCLEX course, it doesn't matter. People did U-World, people did Archer. If you do Archer and I do simple nursing, who cares? Just pick one where there's a question bank and stick with it. Saunders, whatever it's going to be.
Speaker 2:I used level up RN flash cards. That may be a step too much, but I had them. So I used them to kind of supplement. They're really good, they're $400 or I think $350. If you want to split them with a friend or something like that I know some people did that it's a nice thing to have, but you don't have to have them. People still passed in 85 questions and never looked at them.
Speaker 2:I spent half of my time actually studying, looking at the Clemick lectures, looking at my own notes from nursing school, and then the other half drilling practice questions. I did a minimum of 100 a day when I was in my four week intensive. Some people did 50. Sometimes I did up to 200. You should do at least 50 to 100 a day when you're intensively studying.
Speaker 2:Those practice assessments the ones that mimic the actual NCLEX, are so flipping hard. They are really, really hard. They're harder than the actual NCLEX. Take them, but don't freak out if you get a 50, because they're really hard and they're meant to be harder than the actual NCLEX. So don't let that get into your brain at all. As long as you're actively doing it, you're fine, and I'll say this too.
Speaker 2:I think the majority of people are ready to take the NCLEX the day of pinning it really do. I think you have a base level of knowledge that you could easily pass. Of course you're not going to do that because it's a very big deal and you want to actually study. But you're going to be fine. It is as long as you're doing the work and consistently doing the practice questions, you're going to be absolutely fine. Okay, here's a warning, and I'm also here to tell you it's a little bit unnecessary. You're going to have your pinning. You're going to feel so amazing. You're going to feel so high on life, like I did. It. It's over and you should. You should celebrate, go away, go on vacation. At some point it's going to hit you after.
Speaker 2:I'm not done yet I'm not done and I have this big exam ahead of me and I'm all by myself now. I have nobody pushing me, it's all me. I have to decide how I'm going to study. I have to be completely self-disciplined and I have to decide when I'm taking this thing, like how soon is too soon? When am I waiting too long? And the anxiety just kind of takes over. And if you thought you were stressed out during nursing school, it's like next level. It's very anxiety inducing.
Speaker 2:Just thinking about the NCLEX, and maybe you won't feel this way, but I did and most of my friends did. And so two things. I'll say three things. First is step up your self-care routine. Whatever you do to unplug, step it up a notch, exercise whatever it is, know that you're not alone. There's a whole slew of people that are also feeling this all over the world. And it is over. It's like the NCLEX is a rite of passage. We all had to do it and you never have to do it again. When it's over, thank God it's done. It's one and done. So just know that you're not alone. Step up your self-care and know that you're going to look back and think that anxiety really was not necessary, because that test really wasn't that bad. I knew what I was doing, so it's going to be okay.
Speaker 2:Okay, when to take it You're going to do what you want. My advice is four to six weeks after you graduate. Take a week to yourself. Take a week, go away, do nothing, do whatever. Then take it four to six weeks after that, because it is fresh and statistically, you'll do better if you take it sooner than later. You know more than you think you do. It's in you. You've been preparing for the NCLEX from the day you started Fundamentals, day one farm, and you will remember and retain more than you know. You'll surprise yourself.
Speaker 2:What's it like? It's weird. It's like no exam you've ever taken because it's completely adaptive to you. It's going to start you off at a question that you have a 50-50 shot of getting right. If you get it right, it bumps you up and then it keeps trying to figure out what do you know, what don't you know. So that's one condition if you get a hard question correct, it bumps you way up. And so then after that you can miss a whole bunch of questions and still pass in 85 questions, which feels very weird, because in a regular nursing exam if you get five questions in a row wrong, you're panicking. You're like I failed, I don't know anything. But in the NCLEX number one they could just be figuring out what you don't know and they could throw five experimental questions at you in a row that don't count and you don't know which ones they are. So it's very easy to get into your head just do the best that you can and know that some of those questions don't even count.
Speaker 2:I had a ton on traction and cast care and things that I had never seen before and I studied all that stuff like inside and out and I still got things that I didn't know, because you're going to get questions you don't know. I also have these headphones because this is a random side note, but they give you these giant headphones and it feels very claustrophobic and terrible. If you don't do practice questions with headphones on, don't even bother, because it's not loud in there. The only thing you hear is maybe clicking of a mouse from your neighbor. But I would not suggest wearing those headphones unless you practice with headphones on, because it feels very foreign and you just want to feel like yourself and relaxed.
Speaker 2:Okay, on the exam day, get there really early. You can start early, at least at my site. I took it in White Plains. My test was at 11.30. I was there, I walked in at 11.10, and I was testing by 11.15. So it doesn't if your appointment is at 11.30 or whatever it is. You can get there early and you should get there early, just so you are there and you're not rushing Bring water and bring snacks.
Speaker 2:You can't bring it into the exam, but you get a locker and you can put it outside and you want to take breaks and go. Just eat something, eat a little something, like I would take a bite of a protein bar on a break, drink a little water and then go back, bring headache medicine, even if you're a person who doesn't get a headache. Adrenaline is high, cortisol levels are high you may get a headache. You do not want to be taking the NCLEX and be without headache medicine. Take a break at least once, ideally more. The time doesn't stop, but you should stop. At least stop every 10 questions and put your head down and mentally take a break and then go back into it.
Speaker 2:Take your time. Determine what the question is actually asking before you answer it. Now that seems obvious, but you're going to be nervous, so don't let everything you learn to nursing school fly out the window because you're nervous, especially those first five questions. Read it twice. Determine what it's asking, because one thing about the NCLEX is they are not going to ask you a question ever that you are unclear what they're asking. The questions are highly tested before they ever put them on the exam, so you're never going to say what are they even asking me? It's very clear. You just may not know it and that's fine, but you're never going to say what did that mean, like, what was that about? Because you have to trust that it's fair. They've tested those questions thoroughly before they even put them on there.
Speaker 2:Okay, you will eventually, after 10 to 15 questions, kind of get in a zone and get in the groove and almost forget you're taking it and kind of just it feels like you're taking any other exam. But that it's very surreal. When you walk in it's very much like, oh, this is it, I'm taking the NCLEX. But then you kind of get into it. You get into a zone. Next, jen I don't know if you've heard this from anybody else. I really think it's a good thing. I think it makes the test easier. It breaks up the test. Imagine having 75 multiple choice questions in a row. It's draining.
Speaker 2:The case studies are very, very straightforward. Even if you don't know everything about the disease process, you will remember some, and some you can easily rule out, and it's partial credit, which was never a thing before. So as long as you're getting about half of those correct, you are flying through. You're flying. So that's another reason why it's different than a regular nursing exam. You'll get three case studies that count. I had seven case studies and I still don't know which one's counted. So they were all very, not easy. I didn't know everything about all of them. But it's sort of like a choose your own adventure story. It's unfolding and then you realize when you get to the next question, oh yeah, I got it right, because it kind of gives you the answer on the next page. So it's a good thing.
Speaker 2:Okay, because the NCLEX is so weird. It's completely normal to walk out feeling like you failed, or walk out not feeling confident. A lot of people feel that way because it is so weird and you're going to think about all the questions that you didn't know versus all the ones that you did know. Just know that that's a normal feeling, because you've never taken an exam like this one. The waiting you have to wait 48 hours, plan something for yourself that next day, go on a hike, whatever, because it is the worst. It is the worst. There's no getting around it. You don't know if you passed or failed and you won't know for 48 hours. Even though the computer knows why. Can't it just pop up and be like boom, you're done, you passed. It's very frustrating, but have something to do. Don't hit refresh every 15 minutes, because it's not going to be there for 48 hours.
Speaker 2:It's not an easy exam. Some questions are super easy. You're going to know it. But it's fair. It's testing that you are safe enough to go out there into the world and treat patients. Are you a safe nurse? If you have done consistently well in all of your classes, you're going to be fine. It's not trying to weed out anybody who truly should be here and you all should be here. It's going to be fine.
Speaker 2:Job interviews I'll do this really quick. You can apply whenever you want to. Some people want to wait until they pass their NCLEX. They don't even want to think about it, and that's fine. Some people want to know they have a job before they take their NCLEX, and that's also fine. There's only a handful of places that will talk to you before you pass. A lot of them will talk to you and just say let us know when you pass. It's totally up to you.
Speaker 2:But I would say, go to any recruiting events that you can Start building relationships with you. Can You're a clinical instructor from leadership? If it's something that you're interested in. Have four relationships with them. Contact your old clinical instructors and just say hey, I'm about to graduate, just wanted to check in and say hi. Make connections and contacts with as many people as you can in the places that you're working and places that you've worked in the past, because you just never know. I met a nurse on a maternity floor when I did my clinical and we still text. So, like nurses on the floors that you're on, just try to make connections with them. It can only help you.
Speaker 2:I would set aside an entire day to prepare for your interview and be over prepared. So there's a ton of YouTube videos out there and I have one channel in particular. I'm going to share the page with you. They will have the common questions that they ask. Have your answers ready to go for the common questions? Have like 10 questions answered ready to go that you can pull out or that you could use one answer for multiple things?
Speaker 2:Think about interactions you've had with patients, good and bad things. You've seen on a floor that you didn't really think was appropriate. Very common questions. Tell me about a time you had a difficult patient. How did you handle that? How do you handle? Conflict is a big one.
Speaker 2:You're always going to start off by saying tell me about yourself. Have something a little bit unique. Don't just say I graduated from Manhattan, blah, blah, blah. Have something a little bit unique, like don't get up and do a dance, but like I started off by saying well, first of all, I just want to thank you so much for the opportunity to be here. I am so grateful to be interviewing for this emergency department. I saw that you won this award Show, that you did a little research, a little homework, that you want to work there. You want to show them. I want to work here and I know what this place is all about. And a lot of times they want to know why do you want to work here? Like what brought you into pediatrics? Like why do you want to work with kids? They want to know that you're going to stay. They want to know that you want to particularly work here, that you don't just want any job. This is a great site. It's a YouTube channel.
Speaker 2:Her name is Mary. She's the new grad nursing interview coach. She has a ton of videos, mock interviews with prospective nursing students. She's a nurse and she sits on an interview panel, so she talks about the good and the bad that she sees. She talks about the common questions. She really prepares you if they ask you about clinical scenarios Like what would you do if you walked in and your patient was on the floor. She tells you the steps to how to answer that.
Speaker 2:They want to know that they want to work with you and that you're open to learning. They know you don't know everything you just graduated. They know that you don't know everything. They want to know that you are there, you're committed to learn, you have an open mind and you're easy to work with. You're not going to be a complainer. You're very easy, agreeable to work with, send a follow-up and a thank you. An email is fine, but a handwritten note goes a long way.
Speaker 2:One of my good friends that I graduated with got her job. She thinks because of her handwritten note. She left the interview and she said I really, really want this. She went down the street to CVS. She got a card. She wrote it. She came back, she handed it to the security guard who she had made a little connection with. Within 10 minutes she had a call. She swears it's because of that note.
Speaker 2:A little personal touch. Maybe bring a card with you and write it and then go back and figure out who you can hand it to. Just a little something. Nobody else is doing that. If you do something to set yourself apart. That might be the difference between you getting it and somebody else getting it. Thank you, guys. Well, that's going to do it for today. I hope you found that helpful. Whether you are graduating in a week or a month, or a year or three years, I hope that you found that helpful. As you know, it is my personal mission to help put more great nurses into the world. That's why I started this show, and it is Thanksgiving Day. I am so thankful for all of you, for your support and all your positive comments and reviews. I hope you enjoy this holiday, take some time for yourselves and care for yourselves and, until next time, have an amazing day. Bye-bye.
Speaker 1:Thanks for tuning in to the Nursing Student Coach Podcast.
