At least two tests per week...

I both love and hate that there are tests every week in nursing school. I love it, because it means that you can't ever get too, too terribly behind. I hate it because it's exhausting, the hours of preparation.

For one thing, now that I'm in second year, we have clinicals on Monday and Tuesday, and classroom work on Wednesday and Thursday (labs on Friday). So after 2 days of clinical, which can be sort of high-stress, what with being watched and judged and trying to find what you need and keep everything running smoothly, when it would be nice to go home and take a nice nap, instead you have to prep for a test.

It's all got to be about staying ahead of things, I suppose. I can't plan on using Tuesday nights to study, because I know at this point that I will be pretty darn exhausted. So I've got to get that test prep done by Sunday at the latest for  a Wednesday test.

The upside is that my instructors this year all write a decent test, and are reasonable and logical, and willing to discuss questions about the exam in a non-threatened way :)

One thing that's happening this year that didn't happen much last year, is frequent verbal references to the upcoming NCLEX. Like, "You don't have to know the types of traction in detail for my exam, but you may need to know them for the NCLEX, especially these 3." Or, "A good test-taking hint is that if it doesn't sound familiar from something we've just recently talked about in class, it's probably not the right answer, although that approach won't get you anywhere on the NCLEX."

Should I be scared of the NCLEX? I know it's very comprehensive, which is intimidating, but I think I'll be okay.