In the beginning of the semester, I thought of ATI as just another thing on my list of things to do. I would take the exams whenever and wherever I needed to just to get them done and out of the way. As it went further into the semester, I realized that these exams are what’s going to help me pass the NCLEX and I should take them more seriously. I began to take the exams in a quiet place, I would set aside time to take them so I would be able to read through each question and truly think through each answer I submitted. I began to see an increase in the scores that I received because I began to take the exams more serious. As I did this, I was able to notice more of where my true content and knowledge deficits were and what topics I really needed to review after getting certain questions wrong. For example, after taking the pediatric practice A, I received a 68.3%. Then I took the practice B assessment and received the exact same grade. However, after remediating both of those assessments and going back into the textbook to review some of the material that I knew I struggled with, I received an 80% on the proctored exam. This felt good because it felt as though my hard work of remediation and truly taking the time to focus on the questions during the exam was worth it in the long run.

In the beginning of the semester, I did not have good self-care practices. I was constantly behind, finishing assignments minutes before they were due and felt as though I couldn’t keep up with the workload. After spring break, I felt I really kicked it into gear because I noticed that the month of April had a lot of assignments due. I decided that any free minute I had I would use to “get ahead” in order to better make use of my time. I would finish things such as clinical paperwork, SIM and VR reflections right after the experience so that I didn’t have to think about them. Even if I was sitting watching TV, I would be doing something that didn’t need my full attention. I also noticed that at this time I went to the gym more and was able to balance my school and social life a lot better because I was able to use better time management skills. 

As I prepare to become a registered nurse and study for my NCLEX, I will take these skills and apply them to my study schedule when I go home. I will use my time management skills to balance my work, social and study life. This way I provide myself with better self-care and am more likely to succeed. I will also use my study tactics such as finding a quiet, non-distracting environment so I am able to fully focus on my studying and retain the information. This semester has been extremely helpful for me in figuring out what I truly need in order to retain information and I will continue these strategies as I begin to prepare for the NCLEX exam.