If you are preparing for your NCLEX exam, then searching the web for NCLEX study guides would have been one of the first things that you’ve done and probably how you ended up on this page. Preparing for the NCLEX is a challenging task that aspiring nurses must go through no matter where they are from the world if they want to become licensed nurses in the USA. Luckily for you, we’ve prepared our NCLEX study guide cheat sheet below to help you with your RN review or LPN review.

But First, Is It Possible to Study for the NCLEX In 1 Month?

This is one of the most common questions we get from aspiring nurses and the short answer is yes. However, the best study time varies depending on your level of knowledge as well as your psychological preparation. For this reason, we recommend giving yourself 1 to 3 months when preparing for your NCLEX-RN or NCLEX-PN exam. Having a realistic perception of how much time you need to prepare for your nurse licensure exam is the first step in creating an effective NCLEX study guide.

Create an Effective NCLEX Study Plan and Schedule

Once you have determined how much time you need to study, you are now ready to develop a plan that will help keep you on the right track. Simply looking at NCLEX review materials can overwhelm even the most dedicated reviewee and so, having a doable study schedule is a must.

To make things easier for you when creating an NCLEX Study Plan, set aside an entire day just to plan your study schedule. Be prepared to keep redoing things until you are comfortable with the study schedule that you’ve created.

You can go about planning an effective NCLEX study guide in several ways. If you are enrolled in an online NCLEX review program, then you can use their lecture schedule as a guide to planning your concept readings and practice exams. That way, you can make sure that you are prepared before class, can participate during classes, and have enough knowledge to answer practice questions after each review day is over.

The above is the ideal review pattern for better concepts retention and this is how we designed our online NCLEX review program at GSOH. The Global School of Health 35-Days NCLEX Bootcamp offers focused live online NCLEX review lectures together with pretests, posttests, as well as study materials that help you have an easy-to-follow streamlined review. Live online NCLEX review lectures meanthat you do not have to waste time on travel and that you can attend the live classes from anywhere as well as ask questions from the nurse experts in realtime. Scheduled topics with post-tests allow you to assess how you are doing with the review.

Another way is to self-study for the NCLEX. This may not be ideal if you are not very organized. Self-studying can work if you have about half a year or up to full a year to prepare and if you’re someone with a high degree of self-discipline and internal motivation. If you choose to go this way, you will have to buy several books and purchase NCLEX review subscription programs for your exam simulations. Just know that self-studying will generally not mean saving money.

Choose an Exam Date

Based on our observations, aspiring nurses who do not have an exam date yet are generally not as motivated as nurse candidates who are reviewing towards an exam date. We recommend setting an exam date that gives you enough time to prepare as well as far enough from other dates that may be important for you such as weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, or major holidays. That way, you can devote more time and have better focus during your exam.

Answer A Lot of Practice Questions

No amount of studying NCLEX concepts will be enough unless you know how to apply those nursing concepts effectively to NCLEX questions. We highly recommend answering a lot of practice questions because the NCLEX exam can range from 75 to 145 questions.

This is the reason why we have post tests for each nursing topic at the Global School of Health 35-Days NCLEX Bootcamp. Our exams are specially formulated to gauge students’ progress. Key concepts are also addressed during the live lectures. Our online NCLEX review program is designed for maximum retention as well as continual assessment. Aside from this, exposure to a lot of NCLEX questions helps our students develop the mental stamina that they need should they max out at 145 questions for their exam.

We recommend answering 75 up to 145 NCLEX practice questions when you are trying to simulate the NCLEX exam on your own. Be sure that you will also study the rationales for each question more so if you got the wrong response.

Schedule Time for Leisure

Studying for the NCLEX can be very stressful. Answering NCLEX practice questions daily can result in burnout if you are not careful. The last thing you want is for your mind to become so overwhelmed to the point that it will start rejecting learning new material. This is what happens when you’re cramming and you notice that the words in the books are no longer making sense no matter how many times you’ve read the same paragraph. To avoid this, be sure to have ample rest and leisure time. Study for only 5 to 6 days a week even when you feel that you do not need any break. Your mind and body will thank you after a few weeks of intensive studying.

Repetition Is the Key

Do you have nursing concepts that you absolutely detest? Concepts that just seem to elude you no matter how many times you’ve read them or studied them? Then you are completely normal! One way to learn these waterloos is to try to study them in a new light and repeat the concepts during your spare time. This is part of our approach for the Global School of Health 35-Days NCLEX Bootcamp. We make difficult and boring nursing concepts easier and make sure to use a lot of repetition to make them easier to retain. Try it and see if it works!

Develop an Effective NCLEX Study Guide

You might be wondering how come this NCLEX study guide wasn’t written like a bullet list of things to do. The fact is that no single approach works for everyone. We’ve purposely made this inclusive and flexible so that you can find a way to use the tips for your preparation no matter what your situation might be or how much time you have.

The above is also the reason why although the Global School of Health online NCLEX review program follows a formal review schedule for the live lectures, we made sure to include individualized focused assessments for each reviewee so that we can offer additional services according to each students’ needs.

If you want to develop an effective NCLEX study guide, you must listen to yourself and know your pitfalls so that you will know what to work on, right? Just like with the steps of the nursing process, a proper and thorough assessment is key to having an accurate diagnosis, developing a good study plan, implementing your plan, and evaluating how you’re doing! Contact us if you need help with your NCLEX preparation and we’ll be happy to have you at the Global School of Health!