MAY 3 LIVE SHOW | The Nursing School Show | ASK US ANYTHING!
In this live YouTube session, hosts Christina Rafano and a co‑host (Speaker B) field questions from nursing students about test‑taking anxiety, exam formats (Scantron vs. computer‑based testing), and effective study habits. They explore how anxiety differs from stress, describe physiological symptoms (racing heart, "butterflies"), and discuss mental framing techniques such as writing a Bible verse, prayer, positive self‑talk, and arriving on time (or a few seconds late) to avoid pre‑exam chatter. Practical test‑day tactics are shared: use a blank sheet to write a comforting verse, answer easy questions first (when the format allows), avoid cramming, and maintain steady, spaced study. The hosts also poll the audience about podcast usage and recommend uplifting audio (Daily Audio Bible, Dave Ramsey) as a pre‑exam mood booster. The conversation ends with a teaser for a future live episode on med‑surg exam preparation. The dialogue is informal, supportive, and aimed at equipping nursing students with both emotional‑regulation and logistical strategies to improve exam performance.
Chapters
Okay. Good morning.
Hello. Happy Wednesday, everyone.
Good morning.
Good morning.
We're here on a Wednesday.
We're here on a Wednesday. Are you guys here on a Wednesday? Welcome, welcome, welcome. Thank you for joining the nursing school show. We are here to answer your nursing school related questions.
I just made bread and I have flour all over my hand.
Oh, okay.
Oh, fun.
All right, excellent. Well, that.
Good morning. Good. So today we're talking about test anxiety because that was a big question that came up on Monday.
Test anxiety, how to overcome that.
And then we kind of talked about NCLEX a little bit on Monday. So. Yeah, because like test anxiety can either be like nursing school or the NCLEX to. So who is taking the NCLEX soon?
Oh, yes.
Who is, you know, what are you studying in nursing school right now? What term are you in? You in fundamentals or med surge or ob?
And also, where are you joining from?
We have all the questions.
We do have all the questions. Go ahead and write down in the comments all your answers and any other nursing school related questions you want us to answer.
Yes, it is morning here.
It is morning here.
Yes, I already had coffee, so. And it's slowly starting to kick in. Yes, it is morning here. Well, so where are you at in the world, friends?
Good morning everyone. Or afternoon or good night. Oh, also we had a discussion on Monday about time zones and I was wondering if anyone had an answer to that question because it is a top of the hour here where we are. But some people were joining in saying that it's like 7:30, 7:30 or 7:45.
I don't understand.
Or 12:30 or 12:45. And I thought that time zones only worked on the hour or like if it's on the hour here, that's on the hour everywhere. Is that true or is that false? Let us know.
It sounds false because everyone was telling us it was false on Monday.
Well, I just, I don't understand. Sounds not right.
It sounds not right, but I don't know.
Let us know.
We don't live everywhere, obviously. Hi, Florida. Hi, Marilyn.
Florida. I know how your time zones work.
Yes, we know what time it is in Florida and in Maryland.
Those ones are not confusing. But it does seem like the farther you get away from where we are, it might not be the case.
So that's funny.
We'll see. Let us know.
I don't understand how that works. Okay, test taking anxiety, friends, who struggles with test taking anxiety? Anybody?
And what is test taking anxiety like?
Oh, that's a really good question.
How would you Define test taking anxiety. Especially if you have it. How would you define, like, what you have?
Yeah, there's like.
Alexia. I do so, yes, I am. I am open for definitions. What does that mean to you?
No one ever really, like, there is a difference between anxiety and stress. But no one ever says I have test stress. Test stress. It sounds like Tetris. No, no one ever says that. Right. It's only test taking anxiety. And actually, now that I'm thinking about it, that's kind of weird. Sorry.
I. I always thought that, like, it's weird, right? It's like on a scale between, like, nothing to stress to anxiety.
Oh, that's a good one.
But I am not sure.
Oh, my heart starts beating so fast. It's like having a panic attack.
Panic attack.
And then you put a laughing face. Yeah, that doesn't sound happy to me. I blink on what I know. Sandra D. Hello.
And so you know that you know it, but you just blank on it.
Maybe I overthink too much when taking the test. 100%. Yeah. Okay, so that's.
So would you consider that test anxiety or test stress? Stress or some other name entirely.
Things should probably be differentiated. That's kind of interesting. I've never thought about that before. Have you guys ever thought about that before? Because anxiety is almost like this, like, uncontrollable thing, like panic. Right. Like you were saying, like, that's kind of what I think of anxiety to be, is like panic, you know, overthinking things.
Yeah, overthinking.
So that's like test worry.
Yeah. So Alexia overthink too much or. Oh, sorry, you just. All the way, Sandra. Overthinking things. So is. Is overthinking a part of anxiety?
I think that they would probably just all fall under the same category because we have no other term for it, to my knowledge. Like, there is no other term.
You guys want to make up a.
Term that could be fun? We can make up a term that could be fun, like test worry or test stress. That would be kind of funny, I think. Yeah. Test anxiety can manifest in different ways, obviously for different people, depending on, you know, what the severity is. Like, there's. There can be people who, like, can't even take an exam because it's too stressful for them. Right. So that is like, really, like, that's on one end of the spectrum where they don't even. Like, they can't even function with that. Having a deadline or having that, like just all that stress so that they don't even. I would imagine, though, if that's, you know, if that happens, then you probably aren't in nursing school. So most of us, I would say, you know, are kind of in the middle or on the other end where, like, if you have test anxiety, like you were saying, like, you overthink things, you get to your exam. Okay, here's the question. Are you calm before you take your exam, or is everyone just freaking out? Like, are. Are you all. Are. Are you freaking out before your exam, or do you actually find yourself to be calm and then you just forget things during the exam? I'm curious about that too.
Yeah. So someone was saying that their heart starts beating faster. Alexia says I'm calm, so. And that, that heart beating faster is that even before you get in the test or like, as soon as you get the, the paper and, like, are faced with your test, that's when it starts kicking in.
Your Scantron.
Yeah, your Scantron sheet.
When you sit in front of your computer or your Scantron. Well, all of our dose calc exams were on paper, so that was interesting. Our normal nursing exams were on the computer, but our dose calc exams were all on paper.
Oh, and any noise interferes with my thought process. So.
Yeah, and I think, like, testing centers typically, though they're pretty quiet depending on, I don't know, I. I suppose if anyone's like tapping something next to you, but I would say that they probably, by and large, like, the proctors would kind of squash that, you know, So I would say you can't be noisy during a test.
Right. My idea. Oh, no. Just as Cantron with multiple. When. Multiple choice. Oh, interesting. So you guys do have.
You have Scantrons.
Alexia, we just talked about Scantrons the other day and how I don't like them.
There is still a thing. I'm confused. That's so interesting.
After you take them, they, they fax them to where they need to go.
They fax them to where they. Okay. No.
No.
You said okay. You said no. So I'm assuming it's on the computer. I am. I. Okay. Okay, here's a question. Is anyone on a Scantron? I just really need to know.
You just really need to know. Okay. While people are answering that, just when I think about stress, when I think about anxiety, what I think of anyway is kind of this, this tendency. And this goes back to what you're saying. Are you calm or just kind of like this kind of antsy feeling maybe, or the, the feeling that I can't sit still and I don't know why.
Or I Think the butterflies.
It's the butterflies in your tummy.
The butterflies in your tummy about taking the test. Yeah, like nervous energy.
Kind of like you're just like nervous.
Nervous energy is what people call that. Right?
That's, that's a good one. And so that's, I think, how I think of it when, when there's stress and anxiety. So do you, do you feel that too, Alexa? You say that you kind of go the other way. Do you go calm? Do you kind of turn into yourself? Maybe? Interesting.
I, I, For a lot of my exams, I was calm. But then it's like when you get to a question you don't know, it's like, oh, no. And then you start to freak out. And then I think, like, the more questions that you don't know, then it can really kind of ramp up. You're like, oh, I'm really not doing well on this.
Yeah, yeah, I think that I gotta go that way. That is a big part of it is the. And we talk about this on our other lives. It's, it's really the mindset, obviously, and what the mindset is. And it's also the fear of the unknown. I mean, that's why we get a lot of questions about the unity nclex too. And then ungn and oh no, it's so different. Let us know if you're feeling that as well. But yeah, it's that unknown. So I'm curious too, if you know all the answers to a test and that you know that you will know all the answers to the test and that you know that you won't forget them.
Yep.
Will you still be stressed out?
I would be probably. I mean, I'd like to not be. That's certainly something to work on. But when I was in nurse school, I would say yeah, yeah.
Okay. So that, that is good to know.
Like, if I know that it's gonna be tough or things like, yeah, you wanna. But then there is like on the other side, like, that doesn't help you. Right. It doesn't help you to freak out before an exam. So that's kind of the interesting thing about test anxiety. Yeah, Alexi. Exactly. Forgetful. Right. Because when you're when you' stressed and when you're anxious and when you're worried, like you're not. Your brain is not clear to then process information, recall information. You need to know you're not in the best place to pass your exam when you're worried. Which is an interesting thing. Right. We hear this all the time from our Members, when they go in and take an exam, it's like, well, I know it. Like they know it. But then they get to the exam and just like you guys are saying, it's like you can't you forget everything that you know? Yep.
Yeah.
Yep.
I have those points too, Winnie. I at one time forgot my name on a test for 15 minutes. I couldn't move on. Yeah.
Sat there trying to figure out what my name was to write it on the Scantron. 100%, Winnie.
Yeah.
Yes. Hey, maybe Scantrons really are a thing. That kind of blows my mind. Yeah. And that's really. It is. Like when you are, when you do get stressed, when you do get anxious that you can't move on. I mean that's really exactly it. Like you just forget things. You're not totally there, you know, you have that experience. Yeah.
Okay, so how do we get over it? How do we get over this feeling of the flighty feeling or the antsy feel or the, or the for or forgetting I guess is the ultimate thing that you don't want to do. Right. So, so how do we get over this test anxiety or this test stress or what have you?
So actually this is fun. This is what I would do when I was taking my nursing school exams. So my nursing school exams were on the computer. But then you would get like a blank paper and a pencil when you arrived to the testing room. Like the testing center.
Right.
That's what the NCLEX does to you. So either it's going to be a whiteboard and a dry erase marker or a paper and a pen or pencil. I would always write a scripture verse at the top. And that helped me to calm down and just to like read and reread over like I would actually write Jeremiah 29:11 Friday. The plans I have for you declares the Lord, that one. I would write that at the top, like write the whole thing out. And that just helped me kind of.
Resets your mind, resets your thinking to a more positive attitude.
Helps you focus on something else.
Focus on something else. Someone just asked Trevor, how do you handle an exam pressure a few minutes before the exam? Like when you're waiting to be told to start writing. That's exactly this time that Christine is talking about. Okay, maybe you just need to reset. Maybe you just need to think about something else, anything else right now. And also think about really why you're there. Think about your why is a common one too. But yes, a Bible verse writing a Bible verse doing something else to get your mind off Things. Yeah, that, that would be helpful. So yeah, you wrote a Bible verse at the top and kind of thought about that.
And also just I, we talk about this a lot in our community, like the whole concept of how far you've come already. And it's just like what genuinely, what is the likelihood that you would fail out of nursing school? Because usually that's what we're all thinking when we go take an exam. Right. We're like, I'm going to fail this test, therefore I'm going to fail out of nursing school, therefore I'm going to be homeless. Like that's where our brains go. Right? Like our brains go to the worst doomsday, worst case scenario possible. Is that just me? They can't just be me. Right. Like I'm assuming that that's everyone because we hear about it all the time. That's really what our minds do. And then also I think it's an important thing to reset that. Like genuinely, what is the likelihood of that really? Like it's not, you know, what is the likelihood that you're gonna fail an exam, fail out of nursing school and become homeless for the rest of your life? That's just like, that's what our minds do. But it is so, so like out of left field and so unlikely that it is not even worth thinking about. Does that make sense? And it's just like constantly thinking about the negative stuff during your exams is going to like we just talked about a few minutes ago, that's going to cause you to forget things, that's going to cause you to be distracted. That's going to cause you to, you know, not focus and miss points simply because you can't recall the information that you know, you know the information.
It's a self fulfilling prophecy almost. Right. That like as soon as you start going down that negative pathway.
Yeah.
And bringing it to the worst conclusions possible, that's going to affect you negatively and you're going to start forgetting things. So it is really important to reframe and yeah, I like that idea. Writing a Bible verse, a positive Bible verse. Thinking about your why, why are you here? Why do you want to become a nurse? And yes. How far you've come. Another thing that you talk about also a tangent a little bit and then we'll come back. But something that you talk about a lot, especially right before the exam, is to get to your exam right on time.
Yes.
And not a little bit before or not really too early because you know that if you're thinking those thoughts, you're not the only one thinking those thoughts. And if you're waiting in line or waiting in this room with other people with the same thoughts and you don't have anything else to do, and you guys start talking, what are you going to start talking about? All this. All this worry and negative things, which will put you in a tailspin. So if you can't control and just kind of focus and block out everything else, then, yes, get there right on time. So you don't have time to go down that rabbit hole.
Yes. Or slightly late. Your school allows it, like, show up one minute after the exam starts. So, like, all your classmates are in there, they're sitting, they're taking their test, and you're like 20 seconds late, 10 seconds late. Like, just wait for everyone to be there already.
Yeah.
Does that make sense?
Just so that you're not involved in any of this extra discussion about how horrible it's going to be.
There's no talking.
There's no talking.
No talk to anybody before your test.
That's just going to put you in not a good. Not a good situation. Not a good state. So, yeah, just right on time, a little bit late. Just go in, sit down, get your stuff, write your memory verse, pray, talk about, think about things in your mind. Get everything straight, positive, and. And, yeah, and just sit down and do it.
I would totally. Are you guys podcast people? Who is a podcast person? Anybody? Podcast, Raise your hand. Oh, can we do a poll? We haven't done a poll on YouTube in a long time.
I can try.
Can we try to do it?
If I do a poll, will you guys answer it?
Who likes podcasts?
Engage with your audience.
Start a poll. Yeah, I. I'm just curious. Who likes podcasts? Because actually, it's funny. Yeah. When I was in nursing school, I would listen to the Daily Audio Bible. Now I listen to the Dwell app for Bible, you know, scripture. To actually read the Bible or listen, see if anyone answers. But then I really liked. I really liked listening to Dave Ramsey before nursing school because he's very motivating to me. It's funny. Like, I just really like listening to Dave Ramsey. Anybody else? So I would listen to the Ramsey podcast. What else? I mean, I just like podcasts. So just listening to things that are encouraging or uplifting or things before your exams, I think that can help. You know, I think that can. That can help. So Instagram, where are you at? Do you like podcasts on Instagram? YouTube is saying YouTube. No, I can't really see all the.
Mostly no.
Mostly no.
Some yes, some.
Yes, some no.
No, and no. Wait, hold on.
Oh, you can't see. There you go. Oh, perfect.
Yep, three votes.
Now we can see the actual things.
Oh, there we go.
Have fun. Trevor, thanks for being here.
Heading to your exam. All right.
I just think like doing something positive before the exam can be very helpful rather than it's just like what Matthew was just saying. It's like if you are around students, your classmates who are all freaking out, Negative Nancy's, that's not going to help you. Right. It's really not going to help you on your exam. So I think listening to a podcast or just being around encouraging people, hey, you're on this live before your exam. Hopefully this is encouraging to you so that you know that you can kind of get psyched up, like pumped up, like, you know, and, and you're not super like stressed or, or anxious about, about your test.
You know what, that just reminded me that that got me thinking about what I used to do too. And again, not a nurse, but I have taken exams before.
Yeah.
And I don't know about you guys, but do you guys study clear till your examination? Do you like study or like have your book open and just basically cramming all the way up to the time that you're going to take your exam?
I think so. No. I don't think I was that person. But I think the problem comes in when you are with your classmates before the exam and someone says something or asks a question, you're like, I don't know that answer. And then you go and have to like, look at all the things.
That's another reason why not to talk to, not to, not to talk to people.
Don't talk to people before the exam. Bad idea.
Kind of in line with thinking about something positive and praying and writing your Bible verse on the top. Is that for me? Anyway, before your exam, I feel, I feel like you need a break from information.
Yes.
100 and so yes. I'm not saying not study. Don't, don't be like me. Don't just not study at all.
Not study at all. Don't be like Matthew.
But study, study well, study hard.
Like you said, not a nerd, but.
Also take a break right before the test. So you're, you're not, you're not trying to fit everything in there and then that could throw off everything. So just whatever you're going to study within what, 30 minutes to an hour before, that's not really gonna, that, that's in your short term memory. That's not gonna do anything.
It's not gonna work. You don't have time to like critically think about it and actually learn.
It goes a lot further just to take that hour away from it. Just settle your nerves, Settle down.
Yep. Let your brain calm down.
Let your brain calm down. Yes, yes.
Kyla, you said I've been cramming lately. That doesn't help though, right? Kyla, like, have you noticed, I'm curious, like, how is your stress level been then? Like, how is your test anxiety been with cramming versus not? Do you guys like. Because I think we've all had the experience of both. You know, either you cram for an exam just because you don't have time, you have a thousand clinicals or whatever. Life happens. So I think we've all had that experience where we do cram and then also the experience where we study for a while. You don't want to keep doing the poll.
I, I stopped the poll, guy.
I stopped the poll. Okay.
So you can just comment below if you're a podcast person or not. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That is really true. The difference between those two things. And yeah, do you notice that too? If you're studying a little bit by little bit throughout your term and kind of slowly, the turtle approach, the tortoise approach of slowly, slowly working at it and to your long term memory, do you find yourself less stressed than if you were just going to cram everything in within two days of your test?
Kylo says my test anxiety is high when I cram. Yeah. And well, actually this is funny because on our community call inside the Nursing US membership community on Monday, Nicole, early nurse and I were talking about drama and how we just. So much of the drama in our lives is created by us. We created ourselves. And that is one of them. When we cram for an exam, we wait to study and then we cram. That creates so much drama. And it's like for some reason we get like this dopamine hit with drama in our lives. It's not helpful for you because you are more likely to, to fail your exam. Right. Like it's such a, it's a, it's an interesting thing, interesting phenomena that happens when we put things off because we like get that dopamine hit or whatever. I don't even know what happens with that drama. We're just assuming it just like is a preference or is it just like, I just don't want to do this or I'm putting it off.
Yeah, I think it's just putting it.
Off or, or I have better things to do.
Like anything else, it feels better not to do it. So I'll just, I'll just let future so and so I just let future Matthew deal with it.
Yeah. That is not a way to live your life.
Where is that? Okay, this is super tangent, but I think that's from the Simpsons or something where Homer says, I'll let future Homer deal with it.
Never watched it.
Yeah. So don't do that. Don't do that because future you is still you. Right. And you, you want to treat yourself nicely. So do that by studying well now.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yep. Not helpful to yourself now or who you're going to be three weeks from now. Right. Not helpful. Really the name of the game. Right?
It's, it's.
Yeah. That is interesting. I mean, Kyla, I've had that experience too where like you cram, but then you, you know, it depends on what's going on too. If you have like six clinicals in a week and you got a thousand life things to do.
Yeah.
You know, sometimes it just doesn't work out to study a little bit every day, which is the ideal situation. Right. Sometimes it just doesn't happen. So understandable. But overall we want to make sure that we are pacing or studying and this really helps with test anxiety. Kyla, exactly what you were saying. If you are cramming, then you are going to be more worried for your exam because you're less prepared. I think that's really what it comes down to. Like you're less prepared if you're cramming, right?
Yeah, I think that that's what it is. Like, it's that feeling of preparedness. That's what really will help, can help with your anxiety or stress if you feel prepared. If you feel, oh, I've got this, and you go into it.
Yes.
Then that is definitely going to help you there. And that throws your game off too. On another way that we haven't talked about, if you go in feeling, oh, I totally got this, I'm totally prepared.
And then the test are like the.
First question is something you've never heard of before. That can throw off your game too, Right?
Yes.
Is that true?
And that is why nursing school is such a mental game. It's like not even about, like the content. It's like, yes, you have to know the content, but also you really need to know how to manage your emotional life. Like, you really need to know how to manage your mind in order to continue to keep going. It's very interesting. Nursing school is very much A mental game. A bloom for Jesus. Sears 2025, I think Nicole and I were just talking about this a couple weeks ago, so I'm gonna have to look into that. We have a COPD care plan, actually, that. We just posted Adasha on YouTube, right. A couple weeks ago. We have a COPD care plan on YouTube. So there you go. Here we go. It's on YouTube. Check it out.
So another thing for the preparedness thing. And again, not a nurse. Haven't taken any nursing exams. So you all y' all let me know whether you can do this or not, But I know for my exams, this is something that I did, too. It's another little trick, is you answer the questions that you know first.
You can't do that on a nursing school exam.
Well, bummer, because it's one at a time and you can't go back.
You can't go back. Oh, oftentimes.
All right.
Especially if you're taking, like, an ATI or Husky exam, you can't go back. So that is tough on some nursing. Like, some. Let's say your instructor writes your test. Sometimes you can. Actually, this would be a really good question. Can you guys go back on your tests or.
Yeah. Can you go back on your test or. Like you said, for you, anyway. And I have a question for everyone on our lives. Like your dose calc exams, the ones that are on paper. Right. Since it's on paper and it's in front of you, can you answer them out of order?
You can, yeah, if it's on paper, of course.
Yeah. So for those kind of things, just to almost psych yourself up, you go through and you answer the easy ones.
Yes.
Because if you get stuck. Yeah. If you get stuck on. If the first one's a really tough one and you're spending all your time on that one, it really does affect you.
Yes.
Right. So especially with the ones on paper that you can kind of skip around, that's something, too. To kind of psych yourself up and make yourself feel more confident is you go through, you answer the ones that you definitely know, and then you go back and you tackle the harder ones when you're already in that zone of, okay, I got this.
Yes, 100%.
Yeah.
And then you. I don't know. This is probably something we should all stop doing in nursing school, but, like, kind of calculating where you're at, you know, like, oh, I've missed two questions so far, and the test is 50 questions. You know, it's never a good thing, but we all do it. Yeah, so. So yeah, Kyla, you said I can't go back on my test. Yeah. Can you guys go back on your test?
Yeah, let us know.
Christina is sitting on the right side and on left on Instagram. Yeah. Because my phone is facing toward us. And on YouTube we're on like a camera. So it's like it's actual real life.
You see, this is why I failed to pay attention to important stuff in class. Yeah, that's, that's really funny.
I love that you're watching in both places though. Instagram and YouTube. That's really funny.
Instagram, we're mirrored, right? Yeah, Instagram, we're mirrored YouTube. We're the right way around.
Yeah. So YouTube, it's like we're talking in real life, but yeah. So I'm on Matthew's, right?
This is my right hand.
Yep, I'm on Matthew.
Oh, not even on dose Calc. You can't go back.
Okay, it's on the computer then. Yeah. So without like computer adaptive testing, right, where it's like, like the nclex. The nclex is constantly scoring you. So it like what questions you get next depend on your previous ones. So you can't go back.
And that is why Scantrons are better.
We're so on a Scantron kick. That's so funny.
No. So okay, well again, that's just one of the many tips. If it doesn't work for you, don't try and skip it. If you can't, that probably is not a good idea.
No, don't skip the question. You can't go back. Not a good idea.
Not a good idea.
But that's so funny. Hey friends, on Monday we're going to talk about med surge. Okay, super exciting because this is a very common question that comes up. We're going to talk about how to pass your med surg exams, what to focus your study time on all of the stuff. Because who's taking med surg in the fall or the summer or a lot of you or now, I would say or now. But like finals is coming.
So.
But I guess like finals finals for if you're in a quarter school then it's like the middle of June.
So our finals coming for you guys.
We will be help. We will try to be as helpful as possible for your med surge exams. Because you guys, I really think that we make med surg way more complicated in nursing school than it needs to be. So I'm really excited to talk about it because it does not have to be as complicated as everyone's making it up to me. Hooray. Which is very good news. So I hope to see you guys on Monday.
Yes, we will see you on Monday. So hopefully this helps again, calm yourself down.
Yep.
Write a Bible verse on top of your paper and get to class right on time for your exams.
Or slightly late. Like 20 seconds.
As long as you're not, like, a half hour. Just wander in.
Yeah.
It's probably not a good idea 45.
Minutes after it started. No, that would not be good. But, like, the point is, don't talk to anybody before your exam.
Yeah.
Like, just do things that, like, make you feel better, you know?
Yeah.
Okay. Good times.
All right, thank you, guys. We'll talk to you on Monday.
Goodbye. Have a fabulous Wednesday. See ya.
