Throughout the semester, I will be completing multiple ATI adaptive exams as a way to practice my test taking skills and identify knowledge gaps that I need to refine before taking the NCLEX exam. The first adaptive exam I took focused on pharmacology questions. Pharmacology has always been an area I struggled in. There are so many medications with different aspects that it is so important to know in order to practice as an RN safely. While taking this exam I felt overwhelmed at how much I had forgotten since taking my original pharmacology course. I think that during the exam I got so overwhelmed that I didn’t focus as much as I could have. I found myself feeling anxious and picking an answer that I didn’t necessarily think through all the way more than I would have liked to. I think that if I had completed a focused thought process, I might have been able to reason through more questions than I did and gotten less incorrect.

While the anxiety and overwhelming feeling are definitely things I would like to find a way to control in the future, I do think that I took my time on each question. My problems didn’t stem from going too fast, but rather not going through the proper thought process to come to an answer. In future practice exams, I want to remind myself that I know more than I think I do and it is just a practice exam. If I am incorrect on a practice exam there are no repercussions, only opportunities to enhance my learning and learn from my mistakes. Next adaptive exam I want to focus on my breathing to calm my nerves and have a more organized thought process to help myself reason with certain concepts.