Are you like me who shudders at the thought of taking an examination?

I consider myself a decent test-taker. However, that does not change the fact that I find the prospect of taking a test intimidating. This anxiety increases tenfold if it has something to do with consequential exams such as those that are required by my job or those that may be professionally beneficial in the future.

So, what is a girl to do?

If you answered that good preparation is necessary, I completely agree with you. That said, how does one prepare for a hard examination?

By the way, here are the links to the podcast of this blog post: https://open.spotify.com/episode/35wWuvfK8dZiSgJ5C71yXi?si=309e4d51f9254486 and https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/ZIRjGf6TZvb

The Nursing Informatics Certification Examination

As I stated in my previous blog post, this examination is a different kind of beast. For me, anyway!

Being new to the field, I was at a loss as to how to study and organize my study materials. I had online textbooks from graduate school, a review book, some previously used PowerPoint presentation slides by colleagues who took the same exam in the past, and my own notes of course.

It would have been easier if it were purely nursing. I could organize my study plan based on specialties (e.g., Med-Surg, Maternal and Child, etc.). However, nursing informatics is an amalgam of disciplines. I had to learn theories from nursing, social sciences, information management, and others. I need to know regulations, laws, and healthcare policies. Keeping abreast with the latest government programs like the former Meaningful Use initiative was also necessary. I also had to remember facts about databases, the system design life cycle, and the inner and outer workings of the computer and other tech tools we use in practice. And I am still conceding the fact that I am the least techie person I have ever known who works in the field.

If all else failed, I rationalized that there was always that option to take the boot camp.

I do not know if it was stubbornness to prove that I can do this on my own or the prohibitive cost of at least $500 for a two-day course that kept me from choosing that option. Nevertheless, that was the last desperate step I should take if I really needed a formal review.

The Preparation Timeline

Even before I applied to take the test, I already started studying. I was fortunate that there was a small group of us, colleagues, who were planning to take the exam. We started assigning topics amongst ourselves and took turns sharing our topics with the groups during the non-busy hours of work.

Yes, I can see that one eyebrow-raising!

And you are right! Non-busy and work do not occur in the same sentence. Nevertheless, it was good while it lasted.

Personally, I determined that I needed at least 12 weeks to review. More time is even better.

I also made a resolution that I must dedicate at least an hour a day to studying. Even if it was just watching YouTube on this topic, I called it to study time.

As much as I wanted it to be as rigid and as structured as when I did my Philippine boards or the NCLEX, I had to make consideration that adult learning is different. Yes, I learned that in one of the theories I reviewed. My study habits were different as well. I had to make allowances for that, too.

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The Gameplan

Taking all these into consideration, I had to get that one hour in every day regardless of the means: reading, watching videos or presentations, listening to podcasts, etc. Then a bright idea came to me:

What if I make my own podcast materials?

That would have been ideal, right? But of course, the perfectionist that I am, I cannot just publish public podcasts that were not ready for primetime. So, I had to settle for the next best thing: a narrated PowerPoint presentation.

I thought to myself that I did that in graduate school, I can do that again!

So, I organized my study material per topic (e.g., history of nursing informatics, databases, project management, and odds and ends). One at a time, I recorded my narration on each slide.

That way, even if I was doing chores or walking my dog, Mico, I was still listening to my review materials via my headphones. I was even doing that during work breaks. I figured if I do not have time to dedicate to reading, I must still learn and review.

That was a highly effective strategy for me. I read if I felt like it. Then, I listened to my narrated slides if I did not. Win-win, right?

Looking back, I smile reminiscing each time my husband informed me that

You fell asleep listening to yourself again!

Examination Week

Usually, I slow down considerably the week prior to the exam. My original plan was just to do practice tests. However, I still felt deficient in almost all aspects of my topics. So that plan quickly went to the garbage.

Regardless, I had a good downtime which was spent enjoying a massage the weekend before the test. I also stayed in a nearby hotel to eliminate potential stressors about navigating traffic in the city and the risk of running late. Part of that hotel stay was to have a different setting where I could escape from the anxieties of daily life.

The Big Day

That plan worked well for me because I was able to budget my time effectively. I started my day by attending mass at a nearby church. In fact, the church was a minute’s walk from the testing center. Both of which were five minutes away from the hotel.

After a hearty breakfast, I went to the testing center about 20 minutes before my scheduled time. Check-in was a breeze. I was given a locker to keep my belongings in. The staff manually checked my pockets, my glasses, and even my headband to ensure that I did not have any materials to cheat from. The proctor also gave me a couple of dry-erase boards which I could use as my scratch paper.

Upon sitting at my designated computer, I watched a quick tutorial on how to answer the test items. There were also instructions on how to flag items if needed.

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My Test-Taking Strategies

I intended to answer each of the 175 questions within the allotted 3.5 hours. I already did the Math in my head. If I wanted to review my flagged items, I needed to allot a maximum of one minute per item.

To implement my plan, I cannot linger on the test items I find to be difficult. I needed to choose the best option according to my best-educated guess if I am unsure of the answer. A 25% chance of getting the answer right is better than running out of time and being unable to answer the test item at all.

There were reminders for the last 30, 15, and 5 minutes of the test. I resolved that I would submit my test at the last 5-minute mark regardless of the circumstance. At that time mark, I stopped, said a prayer, and hit submit. I was psyching myself up that I will be okay regardless of the result.

Getting the Result

When I submitted my examination, I got a popup screen that stated that I would receive a notification within an hour. Truth be told, not even 10 minutes passed when I got the congratulatory email. That was when I was able to truly breathe a sigh of relief.

That moment signified the justification of the last four months of intense studying and anxiety. I literally felt as if a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders.

Fresh from gaining new perspectives from both preparing and taking the examination, here I am, ready to conquer the informatics world further!