Bedpan Banter

NCLEX 101: Test-Taking Strategies That Actually Work

• SimpleNursing • Season 1 • Episode 13

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Your NCLEX doesn’t demand perfect memory. It asks one core question: can you keep patients safe when the stakes are high and the clock is running? We break test stress into simple moves that lower anxiety, sharpen judgment, and turn tricky stems into clear decisions you can trust.

Professor Alison joins us to unpack the thinking behind safe answers: how to name what the question really wants (the right thing, the wrong thing, or the first thing), how to prioritize beyond ABCs by weighing acute vs chronic & expected vs unexpected, and how to catch instability keywords like new, sudden, rapid, and worsening. We walk through a live select‑all‑that‑apply example and show how to treat each line as true‑false, avoid over‑selecting under partial‑credit scoring, and spot language that signals unsafe care. You’ll learn that drugs often “overdo” their jobs, how to use body‑system logic to eliminate distractors, and when opposites in the options point to the correct answer choice.

Strategy meets routine with a practical two‑to‑three week plan: daily comprehensive sets of unused questions, test mode only, and periodic endurance blocks to build stamina. We share how to schedule breaks without losing momentum, why micro‑breaks after every rationale can sabotage focus on test day, and how to simulate the testing center to desensitize distractions. We also get real about readiness: what score ranges suggest you’re on track, when to push your date, and how to bounce back if you didn’t pass by using the performance report to target client‑needs gaps.

If you’re tired of guessing and ready to think like a safe nurse, this NCLEX crash course is for you! Share this with a classmate who needs a lift and leave a review with your NCLEX questions—we might break them down on a future show.

To submit your stories & comments, visit: https://simplenursing.com/podcast/

SPEAKER_00:

Woo!

SPEAKER_01:

We got a coat brown. Welcome to Bedpan Banter. With me, Nurse Mike. Can I get a Bedpan over here? Welcome to Bedpan Banter, the official podcast of Simple Nursing, where we talk all about the human side of healthcare. I'm your host, Nurse Mike, and with me today we have a very familiar face, Professor Allison. Welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01:

Now you've probably seen her in countless Simple Nursing videos, and literally every single week we do an NCLEX as well as Simple Nursing webinar where we help students demystify the NCLEX and simplify nursing school. Now, Professor Allison has been a nurse for over 10 years and a professor for the majority of that time. And now you travel all over the country helping students pass the NCLEX and even exit exams.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

So today we're going to be taking advantage of all your NCLEX knowledge and we're going to be doing something a little bit different. We're going to be doing a full NCLEX prep crash course. So as you know, the NCLEX can be downright overwhelming. So many things to know. So we're going to make it a lot simpler for you. Now we're also going to be breaking down how to eliminate wrong answers, which can be very tough.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. And trying to eliminate them faster so you stop second guessing yourself and especially key mindset shifts that can help you go into the NCLEX with more confidence and to ace it.

SPEAKER_01:

One thing that we always cover every single week is how to manage your NCLEX anxiety. And you have an amazing quote where it's like boats don't sink because they're in water. Boats sink because water gets inside the boat. And the same thing with anxiety. You're going to have anxiety with the NCLEX, but you only start sinking when you let that anxiety in.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. I hear so often from nursing students they say that they have test taking anxiety. And I think that there's almost, you kind of need that because if you didn't have any anxiety, if you weren't nervous at all, you wouldn't study, you wouldn't show up to class, you would just roll the dice and see what happens. So having a little bit of anxiety and nervousness actually has a protective mechanism because, well, one, it means you care about the outcome, which is okay, especially, you know, you've spent so much time, money going through school and everything and so much stress. So caring about the outcome is not a bad thing. But also having a little bit of that nervousness, it's gonna be there. Know that it's gonna be there, but just not letting it be overwhelming where it comes in and sinks your boat. Because oftentimes that's when we second guess ourselves over and over again. Oh, man. Change your answer going back and forth.

SPEAKER_01:

Changing the answer is like the number one reason why most students like fail. And I'm like, you would literally have you've been on the borderline of passing. I'm like, oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00:

And I hear so often from from students, they'll say, and I remember thinking this as well, that I think, why did I pick that answer? I had the right answer, or I thought the right answer, and then I changed my mind, second guessing myself. And that's letting that anxiety get to the unmanageable level, letting that water come in and sink your boat. So it's okay that it's there, it's okay to be nervous, but not letting it get overwhelming.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, managing that anxiety is the biggest thing. So let's focus on exactly how to think for the exam. Now, you often say your little pearls of wisdom here, another one, the ENCLEX isn't about what you know, but it's about how you think. Can you elaborate on exactly that?

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. It's so easy to feel like you have to know everything, which is impossible. You can't know everything, but you got to know something. And I remember in school when my teachers would always say that they're teaching me to think like a nurse. I need to think like a nurse. And I would get so frustrated thinking, well, I'm not a nurse. At the time, I had never worked in healthcare when I went to nursing school. So thinking like a nurse was such a stretch for me because I had never been a nurse. But especially trying to figure out what was it that the question was asking me, what it was telling me, and thinking with mainly safety in mind. And even now on the other end, I know that it's a safety exam. So even if you're not a nurse and you don't know how to think like a nurse, uh, trying to think safety, because the main thing you have to prove is that you can be a safe practicing nurse, even if it comes to a med you've never seen before, even if it's a condition you've never seen before, even if you think about like when COVID came around, that wasn't in our nursing school textbooks, that wasn't on any of our exams. And so nurses on the field had to figure out how to take care of patients and still be safe.

SPEAKER_01:

So it's all focusing around that one keyword, safety. So whether you're given a drug or a medication, right? Uh, it's all about side effects, uh, fall precautions, people getting infections. What I mean, it just encapsulates everything.

SPEAKER_00:

100%.

SPEAKER_01:

So thinking safety is top priority for the NCLEX if you ever want to pass, because we always tell students every single week in our NCLEX prep, it's like the NCLEX will pass you if you can prove that you're a safe nurse. But they're not gonna tell you, like, okay, are you safe or are you not safe? They're gonna give you key words and very small things that can try to trick you. So it all revolves around safety, basically thinking who dies first or who gets harmed first.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. And be able to spot who is trending down and who you need to go see first because who's the closest to death and dying?

SPEAKER_01:

So a question that we always get is how can students learn how to think like a safe nurse, especially when they're given those tricky questions where the NCLEX tries to trick us.

SPEAKER_00:

One is definitely breaking down what is it asking you? Is it asking you for something that's true, that's the right thing to do? Is it asking for something false, the wrong thing to do? Which oftentimes those are phrased like which needs intervention, which would require further education, require further instruction. And so that you're actually looking for the wrong thing, not the right thing, uh, or is it asking for the first thing?

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And what's so important about priority questions, the first thing, for example, like you said, who you're gonna see first, it's not that you're not gonna see those other patients. So thinking, okay, I still get to do those other things, but who is either the sickest or what needs to happen before some of the other things to be successful?

SPEAKER_01:

So speaking of safety or priority-based questions, we all know about the ABCs, right? Airway, breathing, circulation. But then after that, it's all about safety. So could you give us an example of a priority-based question or how to prioritize?

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. You hear so often ABCs. Unfortunately, you can't go straight ABCs every time. Yeah. Because if you do that, then sometimes it can lead you down the wrong path. Like, say you have a patient who has COPD, but if there's no exacerbation on that, that's actually a chronic condition. So you also have to look at acute versus chronic with the ABCs in mind and going from there. So especially those acute conditions are going to be your top priority.

SPEAKER_01:

You're right. I keep on forgetting that. That's a very small nuance of, you know, an acute patient and they use key words. So words that we and we always include this in our NCLEX prep every single week. It's words like new, sudden, rapid, worsening, that indicates a critical change. And the NCLEX, you know, they don't like changes in a sense.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. So, like, say if you have a patient with wheezing, uh, you know, having an asthma attack and they have sudden, silent chest.

SPEAKER_01:

My favorite quote was that, you know, the NCLEX is not gonna suddenly cure your patient, you know, and give you nothing to do. So if something looks like really, you know, rainbows and butterflies, that's a huge red flag that someone's dying or getting harmed.

SPEAKER_00:

They didn't suddenly stop having an asthma attack.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, exactly. They suddenly have no more wheezing in the chest. It means they're stopped breathing. That's the problem. There's so much to know, right? From precautions to all the diseases and diagnosis. But the NCLEX, I think that's the most interesting part about the NCLEX, is it's a it's not a knowledge-based test. They're not gonna be asking you about patho and all these things. They're gonna give you three patients or four patients, right? Um, and she, you know, Allison teaches about this all the time, but they're gonna give you, let's just say, hypertension, you know, diabetes, heart failure. And it's your goal as the nurse to see who's chronic and stable and who is unstable.

SPEAKER_00:

The other thing is they could have a patient who has a chronic condition, but then they have some acute um, you know, modifying phrase in there that's gonna actually be your key priority. So, again, how to think. Figure out what the question is asking you, also what it's telling you. So, think what does my client look like, but also what's the key issue? What are they really trying to hammer in there? Uh, for example, a question that pops to mind. There was a patient with type 1 diabetes and they had an infection. And so it said, which of the following findings was needed most immediate intervention? And so all none of these findings were good. None of these findings were ones that you would like.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, they're all right. What's the most right? I hate those questions.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. What's the most right? Oh, that's the worst. But some of it's like, well, if they have diabetes, so what would be expected because of their chronic condition? So there was high blood sugar, high blood glucose, but that's expected because we already know the patient has diabetes and they're already being treated for that diabetes. So then looking at there was also two signs of the infection. There was a white count that was high, and then also there was a positive blood culture. So it's like, well, there's two things that are both infections. So which one's the most important to follow up on? Well, the high white count just further confirms the signs of infection. However, that positive blood culture would need our immediate interaction and intervention because that's the one that we need to then start antibiotics, get specific antibiotics to try to kill whatever it is that's infecting the patient.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh man. Okay, so it's it's always reshuffling your priorities based on the most acute condition. It's what's gonna harm, what's gonna kill.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. And it doesn't mean we don't care about those other patients, or we're not gonna see those other patients, or we don't care about those other problems. It's just thinking, especially what's the key thing that it's really asking you and wanting you to get at.

SPEAKER_01:

And it's those key terms and key words that you know we we cover every single week in the NCLIX lives, but it's those specific words that can be very confusing, very tricky because a word like new or like sudden, worsening, rapid, those kind of things, and especially when you're given a huge question that can get you lost in the sauce, that's where the NCLIX becomes tricky.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. And it's those key things to figure out who's the most unstable. And so, especially not just thinking of like symptom severity necessarily, but symptom expectedness. So, what's unexpected based on, you know, a patient with diabetes, a high sugar might be expected, but not those signs of infection.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so speaking of um what's expected versus unexpected, how would we eliminate what are some strategies, your favorite strategies for eliminating wrong answers?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, I one of my favorites always, and I get so excited, uh, because especially I think one thing that would always give me a lot of anxiety before an exam was thinking, what if they ask me something I don't know? Or what if I don't know the answer right away? And I would take tests and I would speed read the question and jump to the options, hoping that that right answer would jump out in front of me. And then once it didn't, or if it wasn't there exactly what I wanted to say, I would immediately start to press the panic button. The water's coming in and sinking my boat.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh no.

SPEAKER_00:

And so what I've learned, especially now being on the other end, what I wish someone had told me in nursing school is one, make sure to read the entire question. If I find that I'm going back and forth between multiple options, or in my head, I'm thinking, are they trying to trick me here? Oftentimes instead of rereading the answers, what I really need to do is go back and reread the question.

SPEAKER_01:

With the NCLEX, it's like they give you a complex topic and you sometimes get lost in the sauce and you're like, okay, well, what's the question you've been asking me anymore?

SPEAKER_00:

Right. And you can miss that last sentence, might say needs further instruction. And it means it changes the whole intent. Where you're actually looking for the thing that's incorrect, not correct.

SPEAKER_01:

So with the limiting wrong answers, how would you recommend students to break down an NCLEX question? What's what's the process?

SPEAKER_00:

Especially you know, figuring out what's the issue, what's the client? Is it asking you for something true, false, or priority? So the right thing, the rotten thing, or the first thing.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh man, that's great.

SPEAKER_00:

Or also there's a nuance between a first question and a best question.

SPEAKER_01:

Ooh, okay, what's the nuance between that?

SPEAKER_00:

So if you think about it, first or a priority think as the nurse, you get to do those other things. You get to see those other patients. But sometimes if it says what's the best thing for the nurse to do, what you want to do is think impact method. So almost where priority think I get to do those other things, if it's asking what's the best thing or most important, try to think what has the most impact. If I only did one thing, what's either gonna keep my patient the safest or what's gonna have the best outcome?

SPEAKER_01:

Safest or best outcome. But it all it always goes back to safety, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00:

It does.

SPEAKER_01:

So just thinking that way. And so just to recap what you said, when you're given a huge question, you'll always look at really what the question's trying to ask you or tell you. Um, one of my nursing professors always put it in a different way where it's like, you know, the question is literally just it's like a treasure map, or it's a recipe, if you will, giving you all the right answers. So, like, if you're making chocolate chip cookies, you're gonna have chocolate chips, eggs, and batter and things like that, or versus oatmeal cookies. Um, and so it'll set the stage, but then it'll ask the specific question of, you know, what do you do next? What do you do first? What don't you do? And then you go through and eliminate wrong answers based upon what the question's asking you. So those steps. So what's the problem? What's the question asking you? And then just start eliminating.

SPEAKER_00:

And especially if you're someone that like reads through the too quickly, or that could be anxiety, it could be you're running out of time, uh, it could be a little bit of ADHD. You know, I find that things that have helped me is I would actually sometimes sit on my hands to keep from getting trigger happy and just clicking, picking an answer, clicking the next one, and then find that I'm, you know, kicking myself thinking, why did I pick that? I knew that wasn't the answer. Uh also, even taking either my hand or the scrap sheet of paper or whiteboard, whatever they give you, and putting it over the answer options to physically force you to read through the entire thing. All right.

SPEAKER_01:

So, what would you tell students if they don't know what to do?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, one, that's the biggest fear, is what if you don't know or you're unsure? My one of my favorite ones is if there's two things that are opposite, it's probably one of them. So, like if one option says hold the med, one says give the med, you're probably gonna do one of those things.

unknown:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Or if one says tachycardia versus bradycardia.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, absolutely. Or if there's an option it's you know, Addison's versus Cushing's, where those are two opposite conditions. It's probably one of those. And so that can also help you if you're unsure, or if you're second guessing yourself on how to eliminate some of the other distractors.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so what are other principles that you'd recommend?

SPEAKER_00:

Some other ones, especially if it's let's say it's a med that you're unsure of. So most meds that work in a body system tend to overdo their job. For example, our anticoagulants can cause risk for bleeding. Right. Our hypertensive drugs can cause hypotension. So especially if it works in a body system, think even most of our like our psych meds can cause, you know, dizziness or orthostatic hypotension. So think, you know, slow position change. So think what body system does it potentially line up with? And you can almost go body system with body system to help you eliminate. Another one, for example, is like, uh, I saw a question about osteoporosis meds. And it said, like, which of the following would the nurse report to the pro or had the patient report to the provider? And it was jaw pain or bone pain. So it helps with patients who have porous bones or you know, that risk for for bone breakage due to loss of bone density, but it can still cause bone pain.

SPEAKER_01:

Ah, interesting. Okay. And that's those small nuances that really trip up students all the time.

SPEAKER_00:

Another one are anti-diabetics, like insulin. Right. One of the biggest risks is that it can cause hypoglycemia.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. So when you're given a drug, it can, that's the biggest risk, right? It's like overdoing its job. And for hypogly, hypoglycemia, we say hypogly, the brain might die. So always think what kills your patient or what's gonna harm them first. That's the biggest thing. All right. So speaking of tricky questions that we always hate, what is the biggest tip you have for select all that apply, those SATA questions?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, I love our joke, is always, you know, it's one letter off of the word Satan.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, SADA.

SPEAKER_00:

And in nursing school, even as it would come up on the screen, I hadn't even read the question. But as soon as I saw that it was a select all that apply and saw all those answer options, because now it can be between five to 10 answer options. And back in our day, it was at least two, never all. And now it's the exact opposite. It could be one, it could be all. So, with up to 10 options, how do you figure out how many to select? So, one of the most important things is one, resist the urge to count how many you're picking. I used to love picking only three because I felt like that was like the safe spot. It looked good, especially if there were five options. Picking three just felt right, but then I'd play a game in my head, I'd think, well, they wouldn't make only three it all the time. And so sometimes I'd pick a random fourth. You want to resist the urge to do that because now they luckily give you partial credit scoring.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

So anytime that they don't tell you how many select, it's that plus-minus scoring. So what you want to do is when you see a select, I'll apply, treat it like individual true false, where you go through each option, no matter how many there are, and think true or false, true or false, true or false. When in doubt, go without. If you're unsure, don't pick it.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so let me get this straight. We're breaking out the question, like we always do, looking at the problem, but really focusing on what the question's asking. Then you go line by line with each option, and there's true-false. And is there anything else in between there?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, especially thinking, okay, whether or not I pick the second answer is not depend on the first. So their own individual true falses. And the reason why you want to, when in doubt, go without is because if you over-select, it'll subtract from the points that you earned.

SPEAKER_01:

That is huge. That I think people need to listen to that. So what happens if you don't select or if you go without?

SPEAKER_00:

If you go without, then it just nulls at zero. But if you for everyone that you're confident and you're sure in, it gives you plus one point, and that moves the needle in the right direction.

SPEAKER_01:

Got it. Okay. So if you're unsure, don't pick it. If you over-select, it's going to basically bring you under that passing score. That's very interesting. That's that's huge.

SPEAKER_00:

So for example, like let's say it was only supposed to be two answers, and because I like picking three, I picked the third, it would do plus two, minus one, and so I'd only get one point. It would take away from that one, that second one that I'd earned that I could have had.

SPEAKER_01:

I used to always do that where, like, okay, well, I've been choosing, you know, option B or you know, two for the longest time. I I think C would be right.

SPEAKER_00:

And so now you want to resist the urge to do that because with computerized testing, they randomize the answer options. And so the algorithm doesn't know that you've picked the second option all these times. So go with what you know and resist the urge to like play those games in your head.

SPEAKER_01:

All right. So do you want to go through a select all that apply for our listeners? An actual NCLEX question here?

SPEAKER_00:

I'd love to.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, here you go. Let's break it down.

SPEAKER_00:

All right. So the nurse preceptor supervises a novice nurse who is performing a routine post-mortem care with family present in the room. So that's a key thing. Families present in the room. It says which action by the novice nurse requires intervention by the nurse prof preceptor. So again, figuring out true, false, or priority.

SPEAKER_01:

True, false, priority. Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

So if it says requires intervention, what we're looking for is the wrong thing. So the incorrect thing to do. The first option is, and again, we're gonna go through and think true false. It says ask family members if they would like to assist. Now, typically, if this didn't say postmortem care, we don't like to necessarily delegate any safety things to family members. So, like we wouldn't ask a family member to help us boost a patient up in the bed in NCLEX World or help a patient to the bedside commode in NCLEX World. So again, we can't delegate any safety things. But especially here, since it's post-mortem care, then having them could help with part of the grieving process. Because now that that patient has passed away, their family is essentially our patient as well. So having the family member, if they would like to assist, since we're looking something incorrect, I would say false. I'm not gonna pick it because that seems like something that would help with them with the grieving process.

SPEAKER_01:

Got it. Okay, got it.

SPEAKER_00:

The next one, use medical tape to firmly close the patient's eyes. So thinking we're would require intervention and firmly close the patient's eyes.

SPEAKER_01:

That sounds very absolute almost 100%.

SPEAKER_00:

So keying in that word firmly. We like being gentle. And especially the families in the room, think you know, almost if you roll reverse, how would that appear to the family? Because they're gonna be watching everything and this is gonna have an impact on them. So especially the fact that it says firmly, I know that requires intervention. So that I would select even because it's the wrong thing to do. Then it says maintaining standard precautions. So standard precautions, that's also called universal precautions. That's everybody. I always say if it's wet and not yours, use gloves before you touch it. And so with our standard precautions, that just sounds safe. Anything that sounds safe does not require intervention.

SPEAKER_01:

Correct. Yes. And that would have honestly tripped me up probably in nursing school because like I overthink and I forget what the question's asking. So that's amazing.

SPEAKER_00:

And sometimes we get so committed to the words we've seen that we fail to see it another way. So even if you've only seen universal precautions, think standard sounds basic, sounds like general overall. So it still doesn't sound unsafe. The next one says placing a pillow under the client's head. So that sounds safe. That sounds okay, um, especially to make them appear peaceful during that postmortem time. So since it's not unsafe, I don't think it would require further intervention. So I'm not gonna select that. So the next one says removing of the patient's peripheral intravenous catheter.

SPEAKER_01:

Diabetes, yes.

SPEAKER_00:

So that we always remove, especially if they've passed away, we would remove any of the lines tubing. So if they had a foley, you would remove that. And so that would not require further intervention. So think it's not unsafe. So no intervention would be needed. So that one I would not select.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, we'd skip over that one.

SPEAKER_00:

Then finally it says maintain the client's body in a semi-phaler's position. Semi-foulers. And so there, they're very specific about that position. So trying to think, okay, what position would we want the patient to be in, especially if they've passed away, now we've put a pillow under their head. For this, we'd want to put them in supine flat position. And especially since they're so specific there, thinking they're specific for a reason. And so requiring further intervention means that there's something else we should do. And so for that, since we'd want to play some supine, then that would require further intervention. So you would want to put the patient in the correct position and lay them flat with that pillow under their head. Additionally, that's a little bit uh, it's almost not, it's not exact opposites as putting the pillow under the head, but especially if two things uh seem like they're heading in different directions. Again, if two things are going the opposite way, it's likely only one of them.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it it does seem like those two positions are totally different, right?

SPEAKER_00:

So semi-fowls be about 30 degrees. But again, if you think about like a resting position and we start to worry about contractures, so laying that patient flat with just the pillow under their head is going to be perfect for postmortem care.

SPEAKER_01:

Fair enough.

SPEAKER_00:

So to recap, again, we have to first figure out what's it asking us. The key thing is if we were to read this too quickly, we'd miss that it says requires intervention.

SPEAKER_01:

Requires intervention, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Which means we're looking for the wrong thing. And so the answers would be firmly closing the patient's eyes and putting them in semi-fallers because what we want them to be is supine.

SPEAKER_01:

All right. And then, you know, as we mentioned before, with select all the plies, when in doubt, go without.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. So let's say if I was unsure about, oh, is it semifallers, is it supine, or is it foulers, high foulers, uh, which high foulers we definitely wouldn't want for someone who was who has just passed away. That we're gonna reserve for our patients who are eating aspiration precautions, swallowing precautions, uh, anyone who has breathing issues. Uh, so definitely if I was unsure, go without and at least pick one. And so picking the firmly close the eyes would be a safe way to go. And you'd still get one out of two.

SPEAKER_01:

All right. So breaking down that question was super helpful, step by step. I feel like a lot of students, the reason why most students fail is either lopsided studying or, you know, just feeling like they have to take a bunch of questions. Like, how many times have you heard that, right? Like you're you have to take a thousand, two thousand, three thousand questions, but no one really shows you how to take the question and break it down just like you did.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. And especially sometimes if we're focusing on volume, it's hard to do a volume at a good quality.

SPEAKER_01:

That's what I mean.

SPEAKER_00:

And the whole goal of doing those practice questions is not just to get in the reps, it's to try to figure out where are the holes in your parachute.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Because you don't want to jump out of an airplane with a parachute that has holes in it, and you also don't want to go to the NCLEX with a target on your back.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, with holes in your knowledge base, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. So not only just going through and doing the questions, but figuring out what is it that we're truly missing when we get something incorrect. Where is that target? Where's that hole in the parachute?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Or another way to say is find your weakest areas and try to eliminate them. So that way NCLEX doesn't.

SPEAKER_01:

We always go over that, right? It's like anyone preparing for the NCLEX, like, where do we start? Do we start taking a hundred questions a day? Do you want to do I do content? Do I do this? And the best place to start, right? Like we always talk about, is your top three. What are your top three weakest areas in nursing school? Focus on there. But there's a lot to be said about, you know, when it comes time to take questions, let's just say you are taking 100 questions a day. Um, a lot of students, like, they never get shown how to, you know, break down a question. It's almost like playing basketball, right? And it's like, you know, shoot a thousand baskets a day, but no one really shows you the form. Like you can be doing them all wrong, like granny's throws, you know. Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, and or, you know, I'll hear all the time students will say, Well, I'm doing the sets that you told me to do. I'm doing, you know, most days of the week at least a set of 85. Some days of the week doing that endurance set, so two sets of 85. And they'll say, But my scores just aren't changing.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And so it's, you know, are we really figuring out what it is we're getting wrong? And sometimes it's so easy to like, you know, blame the question and say, oh, it was trying to trick me. Uh, oh, it was, or the wording was hard or threw me off. But really trying to get down is did I understand what was being asked? And really trying to think, where did I go wrong? Did I change my answer? Was I truly unsure? Was it, did I not know the words? Had I never heard the med? So is it a content thing, or is it actually figuring out, did I misread it?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. There's a few reasons why a lot of students get things wrong. And just like you said, it can be a content, you know, holes in your parachute, let's say, or it's just, you know, um, not really knowing test taking strategies and not knowing those key words.

SPEAKER_00:

And sometimes what we can do is almost edit the question to what we wish it said. So making sure we're like actually reading what it truly says and not changing it to our version of it. Cause when we're selecting an answer, we're selecting their rationale for it, not what we wish it said. And so not changing it or and trying to interpret it or adding to the question. I think so many students do that, especially if they have, you know, healthcare experience, then they'll think, oh, well, this patient I had that had this. And they'll add to it and think, but the NCLEX writers don't know your patient, or they don't know your friend, family member that had that condition. And so you have to go with what they're presenting it as.

SPEAKER_01:

So thank you so much for breaking down that question because so many students get that overwhelming anxiety and focus on everything and thinking that, you know, this test defines them, which it when it actually doesn't, it's just one test, you never have to take again. But you breaking down that question probably gave a lot of our viewers that aha moment and unlocked the mystery of, you know, the question itself, where it doesn't have to be this huge, daunting, complex topic. It's just a simple strategy of just walking you through every single time.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm such a huge proponent of when we can simplify it, simplify it. Uh, even when we break down questions, um, like especially let's say if you get a bowtie question, which at first those can look so overwhelming on the screen, I would say begin with the end in mind. Go and first look at what are the things that they're intending as far as like the potential conditions. So even just reading through those and thinking, okay, jog my memory on what are some of the things I know about that. So that way you already have the end in mind and what you're looking for when you go and break down that question. And it can make it feel so much less overwhelming. And so when you can simplify it, simplify it. Instead of playing defense, play offense. Think if this were the best answer, what would the question say? So if the exam writer intended for this to be correct, what would probably be in there? And that can also help to eliminate and help you to feel more confident in things. Another thing is as you're doing these questions, we talked earlier at the beginning about not letting that water come in and sink your boat. If at any point you're getting overwhelmed and you feel like you're either, you know, changing your answer a lot, that you're getting exam fatigue. One thing that a lot of people don't realize is during the NCLEX, you can take as many breaks as you'd like. They give you an optional break at the two-hour mark. And so, which I wish I knew that because almost the screen just goes blank. At first, I thought I accidentally unplugged the computer. I was panicking for a second. And then I started, honestly, like it gave me such a scare that my fingers went numb. And so that's the water coming in, sinking my boat. So if at any point you feel like it's that anxiety is getting to an unmanageable level, take a break. Even if you go to the bathroom, splash water in your face, uh, you know, think of your favorite hype song and anything to try to get back on course and to get that anxiety back down to a dull roar.

SPEAKER_01:

So, what would you recommend for in terms of breaks? How often is recommended?

SPEAKER_00:

What would you I would say that can depend person to person and how long your NCLEX goes. So I think, you know, always train at home like you're gonna have to perform. Got it. So that's why when you're doing practice sets, especially if you're within a few weeks of the NCLEX, you want to be doing at least the minimum amount most days of the week.

SPEAKER_01:

What would you say that is?

SPEAKER_00:

So 85 questions a day.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Or most days of the week. And then some days have that endurance challenge. So some days do two sets of 85 or longer sets. So that way, in case you get an 86th question, an 87th question, which everyone wants it to shut off in 85. Right. But that could go either way. You could pass or you could fail in 85. Really? And any question past 85, you are still in the game. So do not let the water come in and sink your boat. And if you need to, take a break. But especially as you're at home practicing, those days that you're doing those sets, notice where you need a break. So kind of have a plot in your head where you're going to take those breaks and what allows you to have that endurance in case you go the full amount. So you want to plan on having the full amount and go with that mindset. So that way you don't panic if you, you know, go to 100 questions, 101. No matter what, if they get, if they keep giving you questions, you're still in the game because they still mean you might not be at that passing point, but you're within striking zone.

SPEAKER_01:

Now, is it possible you get the full max set of questions, even if you are above uh, you know, that passing line, like way above?

SPEAKER_00:

So they do have a quality control mechanism where there are some people randomly selected to go the full 150.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, wow. Even if you're passing.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, absolutely. So especially not overthinking that and just take every question as it is in front of you and you know, try not to let that water sink your boat and take breaks when you need it.

SPEAKER_01:

Because I mean, it's so common to always think the worst and always think doomsday, right? If you're over 85 questions, you're gonna fail. And that's not the case.

SPEAKER_00:

And so you wanna have that endurance, you want to prepare for that. So when you're doing your practice sets at home, have some days where you challenge that endurance and know and have a plan in place to not get that exam fatigue or get overwhelmed. The other thing you wanna be doing, again, because you wanna be practicing like you're gonna have to perform, is when you're doing these sets, you wanna be doing comprehensive questions if you're within two to three weeks, of course.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, yeah. Give me the give me the game plan.

SPEAKER_00:

So, yeah, you want to be doing those comprehensive questions so that way in these sets, your brain doesn't know what questions coming at you.

SPEAKER_01:

And what do you mean by comprehensive questions?

SPEAKER_00:

So all subjects, all body systems, all mixed in. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

And you wanna be making sure that you're also doing questions you've never seen before. So, and so new new or unused questions, comprehensive, and if you're within two to three weeks before NCLEX, you wanna make sure that you have tutor mode or study mode off.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so what do you mean by that?

SPEAKER_00:

So, tutor mode or study mode, it kind of depends on what platform you're using, is where it tells you if you got the question right or wrong immediately after. Okay. And that kind of trains your brain to take a break. And so again, you want to prepare yourself how you're gonna have to be doing the actual exam and not knowing if you got it right or wrong. So that way that you can go in and be the most prepared that you can possibly be.

SPEAKER_01:

Now we talk a lot about this in our live sessions, but a huge common pattern that we always see with students that pass their first time is the same principles you're talking about. You know, taking questions in at least 60 to 85, we recommend every single day up until the NCLEX, recommending students to do their exams in test mode because you're gonna be performing the way you prepare. And something you taught me was amazing was that your brain naturally takes little breaks after every like I was I'm guilty of this, where you take a question, you look at the rationale. Take a question, look at the rationale. Now, the NCLEX is not like that. You don't get that little break. And if you train your brain to take those little one to two minute breaks looking at the rationale, you see yourself like 20, 30 questions deep, and now your brain's fatigued.

SPEAKER_00:

Especially since it's adaptive, right? Then that means that each question you have a, if you get it right or wrong, the next one that they're gonna give you, you have a 50-50 shot of getting right or wrong. And so a lot of times you can hear uh people will, you know, if you go on TikTok, Reddit, whatnot, uh they'll say like, oh, I got a ton of this subject, or I got none of this subject. And again, because it adapts to every single person. So if you actually, if they find a hole in your parachute, if they find one of your weak spots, they could hammer you on that topic because they found that weak area. But especially if you're within the first 85 questions. So a lot of people don't realize this. In the first 85 in the minimal amount, there are 15 unscored questions. Really? Yes, 15 unscored. We always get asked, you know, well, how will I know which one? You'll never know. You don't know it'll be scattered throughout. And so what you want to do is resist the urge to overthink things. Like, because your goal is to get to the hard questions, but you want to resist the urge to think, is this a hard question? Is this an easy question? Uh-oh, I've gotten multiple maternity questions, or and thinking that must mean I'm doing bad in maternity. So resisting the urge to overthink in that way, because it could be maybe, or it could be that some of those were unscored and you didn't know. And so you don't want to let that get your anxiety up and let the water come in and sink your boat. So just take each question as it is. Whatever question you once you move forward, move forward, be like, uh, what's it on frozen? Let it go.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, let it go. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Once you move forward, let it go and do each question as it appears in front of you.

SPEAKER_01:

I see. Okay, take each question at a time. Now, for students who end up passing their first time, what's the best practice two to three weeks out? How do students really know when they're ready to take the ENCLEX?

SPEAKER_00:

So especially doing practice sets, making sure doing comprehensive tutor mode off or study mode off.

SPEAKER_01:

Study mode off. Okay, just straight through like they're gonna, like it's an actual NCLEX every day. Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

And you can have where, um, especially if you feel like you get a lot of anxiety, you know, if you feel like you perform well in practice sets at home, but then you go into a testing environment and that adds that extra layer where you don't perform as well. I always recommend then try to mimic the testing environment as much as possible. Because, you know, at home you can be listening to music, you're comfy, relaxed, instead of distractions of people around. And it's a testing center. So there's people that could be taking, you know, law school exams, stuff for engineering, you know, they could be taking a variety of different things. They could come in and sit down next to you during, they may finish and leave during. Uh, but one thing to key in on is racehorses race with blinders on for a reason. Right. So you want to be in the zone and paying attention to your own thing and doing your own race. So especially if you get a lot of anxiety when you go to testing centers or when there's distractions around, make sure you're doing some practice sets like at a public library. So try to mimic that testing center and that testing environment as much as possible, because that will dull you to it a little bit. Right. And so it's not going to be as overwhelming.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and you're gonna be training your brain of like, now it's in high stakes. You're not in your couch or you're not in like, you know, your favorite cafe or Starbucks or whatever, and you know, taking your practice exams. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And so almost like desensitizing yourself to that.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so last question. We always get this one. How do you know when you should be pushing out your dates? Uh, what what what should your scores be? Or how you know, we already know taking 60 to 85 questions a day, you know, um, not on tutor mode, just straight through, like we're gonna take the end class, be in the library.

SPEAKER_00:

Comprehensive sets of unused questions that you've never seen before. So especially if you're scoring for like most testing platforms uh in the either upper 60s or even into the 70s, consistently. Every day, consistently on those exams, especially for most of them, if you're scoring below that in the mid-60s, low 60s, 50s, 40s, yeah. Then you'd want to push your date.

SPEAKER_01:

Now, yeah, okay. So students are preparing for the exile. I'm I'm just putting myself in their shoes. It's two to three weeks out. I'm studying what, five, six days a week, or I'd say you do need some days off.

SPEAKER_00:

You do need some breaks.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, and those break days, I think they should definitely be breaks from practice questions. Because doing, especially, you know, I had a student once who was trying to do 200 questions a day. Oh my gosh. Or, you know, two to three hundred. And you know, they weren't getting as much of their outcome because they were focusing on quantity, not quality. And so having some days where you do take breaks from practice questions, because it's hard to crush every performance, it's hard to kill every exam. And so some days just listening to you know, YouTube videos or listening to Recordings review.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Of reading your notes of things that you've missed previously. Because especially again the goal, find the holes in the parachute and try to get rid of them.

SPEAKER_01:

Now, if you keep on finding holes in your parachute, like Professor Allison said, and you're not getting what was the minimum score of 60s to 70s?

SPEAKER_00:

Upper 60s to 70s on most platforms. It can vary a little bit depending on what quiz bank you're using. But typically upper 60s to 70s, uh, and in this if you're in the 70s consistently.

SPEAKER_01:

And that's a great sign. Now, aside from all the strategies and, you know, from all that we just discussed, what about the student that failed their NCLEX or recently failed? What do they do now? What would you recommend?

SPEAKER_00:

That can be so hard because then especially you have some PTSD for going in the next time. And so one thing is first, you know, figure out what went wrong. Was it that you weren't doing the full practice sets? Uh, was it that you didn't find the holes in your parachute and you weren't hitting those scores? Because lots of times I'll hear students say, you know, like, oh, I think I'm just going to get it over with, you know, rip the band-aid off, see how it goes, roll the dice, even if they're not getting those scores, and it ends up not going well. Uh, lots of times people think, well, you know, well, in the practice ones, maybe I'm not so good, but I can perform better. Like I know once I have that pressure, I'll do better. Trust the scores. If you're not hitting it, then push off your date because it's much better to push off your date by a week, two weeks, than to be unsuccessful and have to wait 45 days. And plus, if you retake it, you also have to pay the Pearson View and Continental fees again.

SPEAKER_01:

All the fees.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. And so much better to push it off by just a little bit. So that way you're hitting those scores consistently. But so if you were unsuccessful, uh, know that one, this moment does not define you. It does not mean that you're not going to be a nurse, does not mean you weren't meant to be a great nurse that I would love to have my friends' family member be taken care of by you. Um, I think we all know people who are incredible nurses or even um charge nurses and whatnot, and very successful and who took it multiple times.

SPEAKER_01:

My first charge nurse that I looked up to immensely, um, who had like a decade more experience when I was a new grad nurse. I was like, wow, I'm not even gonna be like, how does she know so much? You know, like super inspiring. Turns out she failed her AnClix three times. And I'm like, wow, the test doesn't define who you are as a person, as a career. The test is simply like, you know, it's a numbers game. It's um, you know, it's it's just a strategy of knowing the keywords, knowing, you know, the strategies of how to answer questions, how the enclick is going to trip you up, and then just simply having your scoreboard of the numbers and making sure you hit those numbers.

SPEAKER_00:

And keeping those nerves to a dull roar. Yeah. Not letting the water come in and sink your boat. Simple formula, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Because, you know, so often I'll have students that are prepared, and then they go in and they completely, you know, have a spiral. And so, especially just trying to keep it to a dull roar and not letting that anxiety get overwhelming.

SPEAKER_01:

So, anyone with anxiety who's watching right now, especially if you've if you've been unsuccessful, I hate to use the word fail the N CLEX, but it's you know the truth. The big message here is just remember the NCLEX is one exam. And we always remind students that in our live sessions, it's it's one exam. You never have to take the onclix again after you pass it. It's a one and done. Then you're just doing your CEUs to keep up your licensure, you know?

SPEAKER_00:

And think like anytime you hit a roadblock in your life, that should not define you, does not define you. But so what you want to do is go and figure out, okay, where did it go wrong? Again, where was the target on my back? They actually send you a report in the mail. And so you'll want to fight, find out which of the client needs categories you were below passing or only near passing in. And use those, do some targeted studying as you start. Um, so that way, again, finding those holes, finding that target on your back and getting rid of it. So that way the NCLEX doesn't.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, Professor Allison, thank you so much for being on the show today and making us feel a little bit more ready for the NCLEX and a lot less terrified. And remember, boats don't sink because they're in water, boats sink because they let that water in. So try not to let that anxiety in and sink you for the enclux. You can catch Professor Allison in our simple nursing videos, specifically the health assessment, as well as every single week in our live sessions. All right, guys, that wraps it up. Remember, don't be scared, be prepared. If you are preparing for the NCLEX, or maybe your classmates or someone you know is preparing for the encLEX, please share this video with them. It can help them out a lot. And always remember, don't forget to like, share, and subscribe.

SPEAKER_00:

And don't let the bed pants bite.

SPEAKER_01:

Don't let the bedpans bite. See you guys in the next episode.

unknown:

Woo!