Taking the multiple ATI assessments and completing the remediations helped me to gain a better understanding of what the questions on the NCLEX are going to look like and how I should go about studying for the exam. It also taught me a lot about my test taking skills and the steps that I can take in order to improve them and get higher scores on my assessments. I found that I tend to not take enough time when completing these assessments. Whether it be that I read through the question too fast, or I get distracted towards the end of the exam and don’t put the same effort towards thinking through the problem as I did at the beginning of the assessment. With each ATI assessment, I tried my best to slow down, take my time, and think thoroughly through what the question was asking me and what the multiple choice options were. I also made sure to complete these assessments in a quiet environment because I can get distracted easily when there are noises or other people around me.
The many remediations that we had to do over this semester helped me to further understand and gain more knowledge on some of the content areas that I missed on the assessments. I think that the format of remediations that worked best for me was when I had to write out why my answer that I chose was incorrect, and the rationale behind the correct answer. For me, this format helped the information really stick in my brain and showed me how to change my way of thinking in order to get the right answer.
Some self care strategies that I had to adapt over this past semester and entire year was better time management skills. I have always been a procrastinator but I knew in order to be successful I needed to become more organized to prepare myself for licensure and practice. I began to schedule out my days and make myself to-do lists. I know that for me personally, my brain works better at night so this is usually when I would set aside time for myself to do school work or study. I would use the mornings as more of a “me time” because I feel as though a good balance between school and personal time is an important. Nursing school is tough and it can cause a lot of stress and anxiety, so I made sure to take some time out of my day to just relax and do something that I enjoyed.
I will continue to use these time management and test taking skills in the future to prepare me for my licensure and transition into practice. The ATI assessments have prepared me greatly for the NCLEX and nursing school has taught me knowledge and also just life lessons that I will take with me once I graduate. I learned in nursing school that my old high school study habits of waiting until the last very last minute were definitely not going to work. I changed my study habits, improved my time management skills, and learned a lot along the way.
