How to Pass Nursing School Exams

In this video, we're going to talk about how to pass nursing school exams. I know they can be difficult. I know they can be stressful. I know they can be overwhelming. But, my friend, you are 100 capable of passing your nursing school exams and passing nursing school. And I'm going to show you how in this video. Let's do it. So the first thing, obviously, for passing your nursing school exams is understanding the content. Now, this is really where so many nursing students really get kind of derailed in nursing school, because there is so much to learn all the time. You've got multiple exams every week. You have clinical, you have skills lab, you've got all these care planes to write, all these papers to write, group projects. It's really never ending. There is so much that you have to know in such a short amount of time, and it can be very overwhelming. So there are some really important strategies that you need to follow, like must follow in order to really set yourself up for. For passing your exams. A lot of it sounds counterintuitive, but, my friend, I am telling you, if you are trying to know everything about everything about everything in nursing school, that is not a good game plan for you. Because what will happen is that when you get to your exam, they're going to test you on very specific things. They want to know that you can give nursing care safely and competently. All right? They cannot test you on everything. You. It's not possible. So they are going to test you on safe and competent care. So there's very specific, defined things that they are going to test you on. Like I said, they cannot test you on everything. Your tests are not going to be 1000 hours long. Obviously, they can only test you on so many things, and there are some really defined strategies that you can use in order to focus your study time. If you try to know everything about everything about everything, you will end up knowing a little bit about a whole lot of things, but you will not know enough of the things that they ask you about. That is the key. You have to focus your study time on the things that actually matter. So let's walk through a strategy that will help you figure out what that is. Okay, so the number one thing I always tell nursing students is that you have to focus on studying the things that your instructors talk about in class. Here's why. The things that your instructors talk about in class, that is what they deem as the most important things for you to know. So they either wrote your exam or they know what's on your exam. If you're in an ATI or a HESI program. They certainly know what ATI and what HESI are going to be testing you on. Your instructors, they know those things or they wrote your exam so they know what is on it. They know what you're going to be tested on. That's what they're most likely to teach in their class. Now, I know we get this question all the time, but Christina, why? What if my instructors don't actually teach in class? I know that's a super common frustration for nursing students. It happens all the time. Like literally, I get that question all of the time. So I want you to check out the nursing school study system Inside the nursing SOS membership community is brand new if you are a nursing SOS member. You got an email about it last week. So, so exciting. We're answering this question. Exactly what you need to focus your study time on if your instructor doesn't teach. There's only four main things that you have to know in nursing school. We solve that for you, my friend. It's too long to talk about in just one YouTube video. There's a very specific, defined process that you will need to follow in order to do that. So check it out. Inside the nursing SS membership community, you are going to absolutely love it. But for now, try to focus on studying the things that your instructors talk about in class. That is the key. Now, the second thing you absolutely have to do in order to pass your nursing school exams, obviously is critical thinking. It is a totally different ball game going to nursing school than it was in your prereqs like microbiology or anatomy and physiology or biology or chemistry or physical science. Whatever you took, the classes you took in order to get into nursing school, totally different way of studying for those classes than it is in nursing school. In nursing school now, you have to know the content like we just talked about. But you also have to go a step further. You have to actually be able to critically think about it. This is everything, my friend. Seriously, when was the last time your nursing school exam tested you on how well you memorize a list of signs and symptoms? Or how well you understand the pathophysiology of a disorder? They just don't do that. What will happen, what they will test you on is they will give you a case scenario question or they will give you a priority question or a case study question. And you actually have to read a patient's situation and apply what you know about the content to that patient situation. That's how it works. That is how Nursing exams work. That's what you're tested on. That's how the NCLEX tests as well. So you want to be prepared for this. Okay? You are not just going to go read a textbook, memorize a list of signs and symptoms, or a list of nursing assessments. That is not going to help you. What you do need to do is be able to critically think through all of those things. Why do the signs and symptoms happen, happen? Why do we do the nursing assessments in the way that we do them? Same thing with the nursing interventions. Why do we do those nursing interventions to help this particular patient, like with that patient situation. Right? This is critical thinking. Now, I have a free critical thinking GG that I want you to download right now after you watch this video. It's going to be so, so helpful for you. So check it out. The link is down below in the description for you to snag it. It's going to walk you through some really good critical thinking tips to get your mind kind of in that mindset as you are studying so that you are more prepared to pass your exams in nursing school. And one thing that I absolutely have to mention about passing your nursing school exams is something that no one ever talks about, which is the craziest thing to me. I just had a coaching call inside our nursing SOS membership community. We do coaching calls where you can get on video with me and we actually talk about real life things that are happening in nursing school, in your life, and I can help you overcome them and get past some of the blocks that you're having with studying or if you're procrastinating or feeling anxious or having a hard time taking tests. We can talk through all of that inside the nursing SS membership community on a coaching call. So we did some coaching about this a couple of weeks ago. It's so, so common. Here is the problem. When you are studying for an exam in nursing school, if you have a track record of not passing exams or barely passing exams, that can often put you in a tailspin where you kind of shut down and stop studying. This is a major problem, my friend. If you are in nursing school, the exams move too fast. This calendar moves too fast. There's too much being thrown at you all the time. You absolutely cannot pause your studying. You have to continue to keep going every single day. If you don't, if you don't continue to study, if you sabotage your own success in that way, then you will not pass your exam. So here's what we did coaching on and here's what I see happen all the time when you are continually thinking to yourself, it's not going to work. I'm not smart enough. There's no way I can pass this exam. I'm going to fail it like I failed everything else. When you continue to tell yourself that and spin in all that negative self talk or self doubt, you are less likely to see study. You are going to procrastinate. Or if even if you're not procrastinating, what will happen you'll find is that when you sit down to study, you're not actually focused on studying. You're going to be scrolling through Instagram, you're going to be going through TikTok, I don't know. You're going to get in your own head, right? You're not actually going to be focused on what's in front of you, the things that you have to study. You're just going to be distracted by your own thoughts of self doubt. Or you're going to be distracted by your phone or by Netflix or by eating ice cream in the kitchen and wandering around your house. That's what happens. That is how it goes. I know this because I have done it for sure and I've coached so many of our nursing ESSENCE members on this exact problem. It happens all the time. So make sure that you are aware of it for yourself and that you don't get caught up in it. Okay? So when you have an exam coming up, make sure that you are actually focused when you study. That is so, so key. You actually have to focus on studying. Sounds like such a crazy concept, right? Like duh Christina. But I'm telling you, it is so hard. Especially if you are doubting yourself. Now a super amazing strategy that you can use to help you study for your next exams is Concept maps. Now we have a fantastic video right here that you can click on that walks you through exactly how to make them so you can pass your exams and go become the nurse that God created only you to be. You're going to do great my friend. Take care. I'll see you in the next video. Bye.