7 Tips in Preparing for the Philippine Nursing Licensure Exams

I have been there. The Philippine Nursing licensure exams jitters came on me. But after everything, I did make it. After long months of waiting for the results, on January 31, 2010, I found my name included in the list of passers.

For those who are taking the July or December Nursing board exams, fear not, for you have within you the success you deserve.

Think these tips through and God bless you as you prepare.

1. Master the basic concepts. May it be for Medical-Surgical, Community, Psych, Funda, you have the time to study these. Take the time to really understand them by heart. Know your learning style and go with it. If you enjoy mnemonics (like SeSeMoMoMiMoMiSeMiMiMoMo for the 12 Cranial Nerve uses), then go for it. It’s your game so you have the ball in your hands. On the other hand, if you prefer reading aloud, playing quiz bees with friends never hinder yourself from doing these techniques.
2. Make use of available resources. You’ll never know, some questions may come from previous Nursing board exams some years before. As for my experience, a lot of the questions came from a mixture of 2002 – 2008. Since I bought some reviewers from National Bookstore and answered the reviewers from Sia, Balita, and Gapuz, I got my hands on the possible questions.

They helped a lot as I tested myself as to how I fared so far with the exams. I used the time I have (which was from April to November) to read, answer, and check the answer keys). Though be careful, for some reviewers may have inappropriate answers in the keys. It is still suggested to rationalize using other textbooks at hand to double-check the answers.

3. Search the Net for freebies. You have a lot of choices when it comes to reviewers. Online hubs such as filipinonurse.blogspot.com, nursenotes.org, nursingcrib.com, nursesnotes.org, and many others can aid as you discover the journey towards a successful board exam.

4. Be as creative as you can be. Learning doesn’t have to be as boring as the monotonous lecture. Incorporate the lesson with your own experiences. If for example you know someone who has diabetes, try to research about it and share what you’ve learned to that person. In this way you will have a first-hand experience of the subject matter and readily remember that as you take the exam.

5. Share what you can to a buddy. Like it or not, you are not an island. Everything in this world, whether you still like it or not, will have to be let known to others. The same goes with learning. As you try to share what you know, the more others feel like they want to share what they know with you. Who knows, they may have discovered a better way to understand the differences between the different ECG traces and will be eager to tell them to you.

6. Know when to relax and when to study. Yes, even nursing graduates like you need to the time to watch a movie, play a sport, or go on a nature hike – and not just to read, read, and read.

As you may already know, the mind doesn’t have to be stressed for it to function optimally. All you have to do is to balance your time. Remember, management is key. Spend your time wisely.

7. Trust in yourself. Trust in God. Before taking the tests, take your time to thank God for giving you the chance to undertake such exam and do your very best. You’ll never know, you just might ace the test and make it to the top 10!

Godspeed…