“Everyone will probably say this, but it is so true. Do not cram the night before the exam. The most important thing the night before the exam is to get a good night’s sleep. You might be so nervous. You’re like, ‘I can get any new information that matters right before the exam,’ but you can’t. Any information that you know you will have gotten in the time that you spent studying already. Really, you have to trust yourself,” Talia Lapidus, BSN, RN, professional staff nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at UPMC in Pittsburgh, PA, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about preparing for the NCLEX.

Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod

Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 

Episode Notes 

• This episode is not eligible for NCPD. 
• ONS Podcast™ episodes:
• Episode 85: Nursing Resilience and Self-Care Aren’t Optional
• Episode 27: How Self-Care Can Impact Your Nursing Practice
• ONS Voice articles:
• OCN® Certification Test-Taking Tips to Ease Your Anxiety
• Find Your Balance Between Work, Life, and School
• Practice These Five Self-Care Strategies in Less Than Five Minutes
• ONCC Certification Exam Resources:
• Benefits of certification 
• Prepare to test
• Review courses
• Practice tests
• ONS books:
• BMTCN® Certification Review Manual (second edition)
• Breast Care Certification Review (second edition)
• Core Curriculum for Oncology Nursing (seventh edition)
• Study Guide for the Core Curriculum for Oncology Nursing (seventh edition)
• ONS course: OCN® Certification Review Bundle
• ONS Wellness Breaks
• Joint Position Statement From ONS and ONCC: Oncology Certification for Nurses
• ONS Nurse Well-Being Learning Library
• Oncology Nursing Foundation Resiliency Resources
• NCLEX (National Council of State Boards of Nursing’s licensure exam)
• UWorld
• Quizlet
• Cleveland Clinic article: How Box Breathing Can Help You Destress

To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities.

To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library.

To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email [email protected].

Highlights From This Episode

“The biggest studying tip that I found when I was studying was just consistency. I was studying every day, and I was setting time aside every single day to study. It’s really just about making sure that it’s part of your daily routine. At first it feels weird, like going from school to just straight up studying. But that’s really what school was for—finding a study method that works for you, that you can then implement into studying for the biggest test that you have to take.” TS 1:52

“Practice questions are everything. You mentioned already that the NCLEX questions are formulated in a very specific way. And I know some schools do all their exams in NCLEX style, but some schools don’t, so some people might not know how the NCLEX formulates their questions. A lot of the time it’s like you have to pick the most correct out of a lot of correct answers. And if you don’t have practice critically thinking about how to answer these questions, you might get tripped up. So practicing these questions, knowing what the test will be like, is so important.” TS 6:46

“Time management is the best thing that you can do. When I was working, I still had goals for myself for studying, even if it was just study this topic today or do 10 practice questions today. Anything that you’re doing is better than nothing. So if you have to color-code your life and, in Google Calendar, have two hours to work, two hours to study, or eat lunch from 12 to 1, and then from 1 to 2, you study. Anything that you have to do to make sure that you get at least a little bit of studying in matters.” TS 9:05

“You don’t have to be studying 24/7. You have a life outside of the exam, and you should still live it. You should still see your friends, and you should still go out to eat. Do things that make you feel good because if you are not in your best headspace, you won’t be able to study appropriately.” TS 18:50