Throughout my semester of taking multiple ATI Practice and Adaptive Assessments and reviewing their Individual Performance Profiles, I was better able to adapt my test taking skills. I was able to recognize that I needed to really slow down when I was taking test questions in order to ensure that I read and understood questions fully. The IPP reports also helped me to identify trends in missed concepts, so I knew to remediate those topics well and really do in deep to gain a better level of understanding. What I noticed was that I started taking more breaks during the exams, which helped my focus a lot. I was no longer getting tired or antsy half-way through exams. I also was able to slow myself down some and began to understand that there is no need to rush through the exam!

The way I filled content gaps through review of my IPP reports was that of the Three Critical Point Remediation worksheet. In my opinion, this was the best option for me. I say this because it forced me to review the concept in its entirety, and then stop and think about what the three most important takeaways were. I reviewed missed concepts using the ATI books that I received last year, and boy do they have a lot of great information. They also have a lot of information that has been condensed down, giving you only the highlights. This helped me because I did not waste a lot of time reading about the little nitty-gritty items, and focused only on the big-picture topics.

There weren’t any self-care strategies that I adapted or adopted during this semester. I like to think I’ve always been a person that has had good time management skills and knows what a good work-life balance looks like. I always had my days planned out so that I could visualize what I wanted to get down. Throughout this semester, I was never in a crunch for time to finish an assignment. I had them completed well in advance, or had enough time to finish them before their due date. Lastly, I always made sure to make time for myself or for friends. It helped to keep me sane and remind me that I’m not alone through this journey, or whatever my next journey will look like.

The skills I have learned and gained this semester through the use of ATI will help me immensely as I prepare for NCLEX, especially after my two-day live board review. I now have the tips, tricks, and tools I need in order to create a personalized NCLEX study plan and how I can best prepare myself for NCLEX-styled-questions. As for when I begin my professional practice, the multiple guest speakers we’ve had this semester have really given me a lot to consider and remember as I begin practicing. They were in regard to what my license entails as well as the need to have knowledge regarding the legislature surrounding nurses and just how important it is. There were so many great speaks, and I had a lot of take aways from them, and I am grateful for it. It opened my eyes to a lot of different topics that I was not knowledgeable on prior.