You have finished or are about to finish your nursing school studies. In order to become a licensed registered nurse and legally practice in the United States, you now must pass the National Council Licensure Examination-Registered Nurse (NCLEX-RN). The NCLEX-RN has been the nationally accepted licensing standard for registered nurses in all U.S. states and territories since 1994. In addition, 10 provinces and territories in Canada adopted the exam standard in 2015. The computer-based exam uses the computerized adaptive testing format, meaning the difficulty of questions will automatically adjust based on your previous answers. There are four major exam question categories, with Physiological Integrity being the most frequent. Safe and Effective Care Environment, Psychosocial Integrity, and Health Promotion and Maintenance are the other categories in the exam.
As you’re getting ready for the NCLEX-RN, you can use Varsity Tutors’ free Learn by Concept Learning Tool as a study guide. The interactive syllabus guides you through the categories and topics and breaks down the key concepts that will be on the exam. Clicking on a topic brings up a set of example questions that you can use to test yourself on the topic. Each example question is presented in multiple-choice format. You go through the problem, review the possible answers, and then choose what you think is the best answer. You can then check your answer to see if you were correct.
Learn by Concept’s NCLEX-RN study help has more than just questions and answers. Whether your answer was right or wrong, you can read a detailed description of how to arrive at the correct answer. These descriptions go in depth about the concepts and conditions relevant to each question and scenario, helping you to see why an answer is correct while reviewing each step along the way. If you get the answer wrong, you can use these descriptions to point you in the right direction for both the specific problem and future study sessions. If you get the answer correct, you can review your logic and process to make sure you were correct for the right reasons.
The Learn by Concept learning tool provides comprehensive NCLEX-RN study help as you prepare for the exam. You can go through the broad categories of Conditions and Treatments, Ethics, Processing, and Care, General Biology, and Pharmacology. You can also get into a number of specific topics in each category. Individual topics have many example problems, and the tool covers every relevant subject you could eventually see on the exam.
Varsity Tutors has additional free Learning Tools that you can also use as part of your preparation. The free NCLEX-RN Practice Tests allow you to quiz yourself on specific topics, work on problem sets that cover multiple topics, or even create your own tests. This allows you to both figure out what areas you need help in and review what progress you’ve made from previous study sessions. The Learning Tools Flashcards cover the same categories as the Learn by Concept example questions, and can be used to further drill down the study material. The Flashcards can also be customized to fit your needs. At any point in your review, you can use the Question of the Day tool to get a random NLCEX-RN question and test your general knowledge. Varsity Tutors’ Learning Tools will help you find the organization you need as you prepare for the NCLEX-RN.