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- Nursing students face several major exams throughout their careers, including the HESI A2 (admissions), NCLEX-RN (licensure), and specialized exams like the FNP and PMHNP certification exams.
- Spaced retrieval (reviewing material at increasing intervals) and active recall (testing yourself instead of passively rereading notes) are two research-backed study techniques that build stronger memory retention than cramming or passive review.
- Completing practice questions and reading the rationales—even for correct answers—is an effective way to prepare for a nursing exam.
- Techniques like the Pomodoro Technique (25-minute focused study blocks) and the Feynman Technique (explaining concepts in plain language) help improve focus, retention, and conceptual understanding.
- Simulating real exam conditions—timing yourself, minimizing distractions, and practicing without notes—helps to build the stamina and pacing needed for exams like the NCLEX-RN, which can run up to five hours.
- Proper sleep, nutrition, and stress management aren’t optional. Sleep in particular plays a direct role in memory consolidation and exam-day performance.
- A realistic, structured study schedule that includes content goals is essential.
When you’re preparing to take a nursing exam, one thing is certain: The right study strategies can mean the difference between passing with confidence and retaking an exam. Learn about 10 proven nursing exam study strategies—grounded in research and real-world nursing school experience—to help you walk into exam day prepared and ready to pass the test.
A Quick Look at Common Nursing Exams
Before exploring study strategies, it helps to understand the nursing tests you may need to prepare for. Nursing students and nursing professionals encounter several important exams throughout their careers, and each exam has its own format, focus, and challenge.
The HESI Exam: The Nursing School Admissions Test
If you’re just beginning your journey to become a nurse, the HESI Admission Assessment (known as the HESI A2) will likely be the first test you take. Many Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree programs and accelerated nursing programs require applicants to pass the HESI A2 as part of the admissions process. It assesses foundational academic skills in areas like math, reading comprehension, vocabulary, anatomy, and basic science. Performing well on the HESI A2 signals that you’re ready for the rigors of nursing school.
The NCLEX-RN: The Gateway to Your Nursing License
The NCLEX-RN is the national licensure exam every registered nurse must pass. It’s a computerized adaptive test (CAT) that adjusts in difficulty based on your answers, ranging from 85 to 150 questions. The exam begins with moderate difficulty questions; answer correctly, and the questions get harder. Answer incorrectly, and they get easier, until the algorithm determines your competence level with statistical confidence.1
Nurse Practitioner Exams: FNP and PMHNP Licensure
For nurses pursuing graduate-level credentials through a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree program, licensure exams are specialized. For example, the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) certification exam tests advanced clinical knowledge across the lifespan. The Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) exam focuses on psychiatric assessment, diagnosis, and pharmacological and non-pharmacological management of mental health conditions.
Both exams, as well as other specialized nursing exams, are offered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (NPCP). And studying for each exam requires a strategic approach.
10 Proven Nursing Exam Study Strategies
Now that you know what tests you might take during your career, find out the best ways to study for nursing exams.
Strategy 1: Start With a Practice Exam
First, you need to know where you stand. Take a practice exam or sample test to help identify your strongest and weakest content areas.
The goal is to get information. Because once you know where the gaps are, you can allocate your study time where it matters most rather than spending a lot of time on content you already know well.
Strategy 2: Build a Realistic Study Schedule
Cramming doesn’t work for nursing exams. The volume and complexity of information covered in nursing tests require consistent, long-term preparation.
Plan to study for several weeks. Break your schedule into weekly content goals, such as tackling one or two NCLEX content categories per week, and map out daily study blocks in advance.
Here’s how to create your nursing exam study schedule:
- Identify your available study times. Block realistic study hours around classes and your other responsibilities. If you can, maintain specific times for studying in order to make it a habit.
- Assign specific tasks or topics to each session. Set goals like “complete 40 NCLEX practice questions on pharmacology” rather than “study nursing.”
- Build in breaks. Fatigue reduces retention; scheduled downtime should be part of the learning process.
- Honor your personal study rhythm. Schedule the most difficult content during your peak mental energy window, whether that’s in the morning, afternoon, or evening.
For working adults in hybrid or online nursing degree programs, a structured study schedule is especially critical because you’re managing coursework and exam preparation alongside work and family life.
Strategy 3: Use Spaced Retrieval
One of the most research-backed study techniques is spaced retrieval: reviewing material at increasing intervals over time rather than all at once. The science is compelling. In one research study, students who used spaced retrieval practice, recalling information at three different times during a study session, remembered 80% of the material after one week.2
Compare that to students who used massed retrieval, meaning they repeated the correct information three times in a row during one study session. They remembered only 30% of the material a week later. Those who didn’t practice recall at all remembered less than 1% of the material after one week.2
For nursing exams, this means returning to terms, concepts, and procedures multiple times over weeks, instead of just once. You can use tools like spaced repetition apps and flash card apps to help practice spaced retrieval.
Strategy 4: Practice Active Recall Instead of Passive Review
Rereading your textbook, highlighting notes, and rewatching lecture videos feel productive. But research consistently shows that active recall—forcing yourself to retrieve information from memory—builds far stronger retention than passive review.3
Active recall means:
Closing your notes and trying to recall a concept from memory before looking it up.
Using flash cards where you say or write the answer before flipping the card.
Taking frequent self-quizzes throughout your study sessions.
Answering practice questions without looking at the material first.
According to researcher John Dunlosky, PhD, when using flash cards for longer responses like definitions or processes, students should write, type, or say the answer aloud, not just think it. If the answer is wrong, study the correct answer and practice again later. The act of attempting active recall, even when incorrect, strengthens memory more than passive review will.2
Strategy 5: Answer Practice Questions and Read Rationales
If there is one strategy that nursing educators, nursing exam prep coaches, and nursing school faculty agree on, it’s this: Complete as many practice questions as possible, and always read the rationales (the explanation of the correct answer), even for questions you got right.
Practice tests serve multiple purposes:
They familiarize you with the question format and style of nursing exams.
They can expose you to clinical scenarios you may not have encountered yet.
They can reveal knowledge gaps you didn’t know you had.
They can help train you to think like a nurse, applying prioritization, clinical judgment, and the nursing process.
You can complete practice tests for the HESI A2, NCLEX, and FNP and PMHNP exams. Remember, studying rationales, not just correct answers, is what builds deep understanding.
Strategy 6: Apply the Pomodoro Technique for Focused Study Sessions
Long, unfocused study marathons are less effective than shorter, intentional sessions. The Pomodoro Technique—studying in 25-minute focused blocks followed by a five-minute break—helps maintain concentration, reduce mental fatigue, and improve retention over time.
If you’re studying for an hour, just repeat the 25-minute study block and five-minute break again. If you’re studying for two hours or more, take a longer 15- to 30-minute break after your fourth pomodoro.4
Strategy 7: Explain It Out Loud—Use the Feynman Technique
If you can explain a concept in plain language, you truly understand it. If you can’t, you’ve found your next study target.
The Feynman Technique works like this: After studying a topic, close your notes and explain it out loud as if you’re teaching it to someone with no medical background. No jargon, no shorthand. Just use clear, simple language. Where your explanation breaks down or goes vague is exactly where your understanding has a gap. Go back, review that specific information, and try again.
For nursing exams, this technique is especially powerful for complex topics like pathophysiology, pharmacology mechanisms, and mental health disorders because you need to apply knowledge, not just recall it. Try explaining why a patient with heart failure gains weight, or how a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor works, as if talking to a newly diagnosed patient. If you can do it clearly, you’re ready for the exam question.5
Strategy 8: Simulate Real Exam Conditions
Knowing the content is only part of passing a nursing exam. You also need to practice performing under the actual exam conditions to get used to what it will feel like on exam day. Nursing tests are usually timed and are completed on a computer, often at a test center. To simulate this, you could take a practice test on a laptop at a local library.
When you practice:
Set a timer to simulate real time pressure.
Practice in environments with mild background noise to build focus.
Do not use notes or look up answers mid-exam—you won’t be able to do that during the real exam.
This all will help you practice the stamina, pacing, and calm decision-making you’ll need when it counts. For example, the NCLEX can take up to five hours to complete, so building your physical and mental endurance matters.
Strategy 9: Join a Study Group
Studying alone has its advantages, but joining a study group can improve your preparation in ways solo study cannot. For instance, your peers may explain a concept in a way that finally makes it click. You can quiz each other, work through difficult practice questions together, and hold one another accountable to your study schedules.
Strategy 10: Prioritize Sleep, Nutrition, and Stress Management
While you’re studying, it’s important to take care of yourself. Sleep is often the first thing to be sacrificed by busy nursing students, and that’s a mistake. Sleep is not just rest; it is when your brain consolidates memories and transfers learning into long-term retention. Prioritizing sleep during your study period directly improves memory recall and reduces stress.6
In the days leading up to your exam:
Maintain a consistent sleep schedule. Don’t stay up late cramming the night before.
Eat balanced meals and stay hydrated.
Incorporate exercise and short relaxation breaks into your study routine.
On exam day, use controlled breathing techniques—slow, steady breaths before beginning—to calm your nervous system and improve focus.
Start Your Nursing Career at Chamberlain University
These 10 study strategies are powerful, but they work best when you have the right educational foundation behind you. At Chamberlain University, we’ve spent decades preparing nurses at every career stage, from those just beginning to pursue a nursing degree to experienced RNs ready to advance into leadership and practice.
BSN Program: Begin Your Nursing Career on Solid Ground
If you’re looking to become a nurse, Chamberlain’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program is designed to get you there efficiently and effectively. Our 3-year BSN program allows you to earn your degree faster—in as few as three years—giving you the clinical knowledge and critical thinking skills you’ll need for the NCLEX-RN.
Choose the format that fits your life:
Hybrid learning on one of 20+ campus locations, combining in-person clinical experiences with flexible coursework
BSN Online Option with 100% online coursework combined with clinical experiences at partner locations near you, available in dozens of states
Chamberlain’s BSN degree program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and the university holds institutional accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), giving you the quality assurance that matters to employers and licensing boards.
MSN Degree Program: Advanced Nursing Career Skills
Already an RN? Chamberlain is home to the second largest RN to MSN program in the United States, and it’s built for working nurses.
Our online MSN program leads to a Master of Science in Nursing, with clinical and non-clinical specializations, including:
Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)—preparing you for one of the most in-demand nurse practitioner roles in healthcare
- Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP)—addressing the growing national need for mental health advanced practice nurses
Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner —focused on care across the adult and aging population
- Nurse Educator—preparing nurse educators to shape the next generation of healthcare professionals
- Nurse Executive—developing the strategic and operational skills of nurse leaders
Through our traditional BSN to MSN online program or our RN to MSN online pathway, registered nurses can earn their MSN degree with 100% online coursework plus a practicum and no mandatory login times. Whether you’re pursuing your MSN nursing credential to become an FNP, PMHNP, or nurse leader, our master’s degree in nursing program is CCNE-accredited and designed for the realities of your busy life.
DNP Program: Lead at the Highest Level
For nurses ready to reach the pinnacle of clinical practice, the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) is the terminal practice degree in nursing. Chamberlain’s online DNP program can be completed in as few as two years, with 100% online coursework plus a practicum.
The DNP prepares you to lead healthcare systems, drive evidence-based practice improvements, and serve as a clinical expert at the highest level. Our DNP degree program offers three leadership focus areas and is accredited by both CCNE and the National League for Nursing Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation (NLN CNEA).
Why Chamberlain?
Chamberlain offers:
CCNE accreditation recognized nationally by employers, licensing boards, and advanced degree programs
Accelerated pathways to help you reach your goals sooner
A supportive academic community that understands the demands of nursing school alongside real-life responsibilities
Whether you’re ready to earn your bachelor’s degree in nursing, looking for accelerated online nursing programs to reach your goals faster, or exploring online MSN programs or a DNP degree to elevate your practice, Chamberlain has a pathway built for you.
Explore Chamberlain’s nursing degree programs and take the next step in your nursing career today.
Chamberlain University, an HLC-accredited institution, offers bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and certificate programs in nursing and healthcare professions. With a growing network of campuses and robust online programs, Chamberlain continues to build on more than 135 years of excellence in preparing extraordinary healthcare professionals.
1Source: www.nclex.com/files/2026_RN_Test%20Plan_English-F.pdf
2Source: www.apa.org/ed/precollege/psychology-teacher-network/introductory-psychology/study-better
4Source: www.todoist.com/productivity-methods/pomodoro-technique
5Source: https://fs.blog/feynman-technique
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