Review notes from class, lectures and books. If you are an avid note-taker and learn well by writing, take more notes from your textbook or notes off of your class notes to condense the material down to what is most important. Obtain a practice test from your instructor, or school resource office and use the test as a study guide when taking notes.
Create flash cards to quiz yourself and ask a fellow student study buddy to quiz you on your knowledge. Flash cards can contain material on disease and treatments, etiology, signs and symptoms, diagnostic tests and interventions. Put the questions you struggle with to the side and review these questions through extended research.
Take a practice exam online or through your school's resource center. Talk with your professor or guidance counselor to help locate practice questions for your nursing exam. The NCLEX-PN has 85 to 205 questions, and the NCLEX-RN has 75 to 265 questions. The questions will grow progressively harder as the test proceeds. Once the student reaches the minimum amount of questions and 95 percent of the answers are correct, the test will be over with a passing grade. If the student does not obtain a 95 percent correct rate and the maximum number of questions asked, the student will fail.
Form a study group with other students in the class. Study groups help each students prepare for a subject by quizzing each other, creating practice tests and explaining complex subjects to each other. Meet one or two times a week and plan to take the test around the same time. Focus each meeting on one area of the test to thoroughly understand the subject before taking the exam.