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Study Plan

Name

Institution affiliation

Date
 2

Study Plan

Introduction

I understand that before I am allowed to practice as a psychiatric and mental health nurse

practitioner(PMHN), I am to pass the licensing board exam. In this case, I have to prepare for the

examination by horning test-taking skills adequately and thoroughly revising. I understand that

despite gaining significant skills and expertise through the learned content, I would have to

demonstrate it by passing the examinations. Throughout this paper, I will outline my study plan

reflected on the practice test I did last week. This will be largely informed by the comfort I found

from the questions and the time allocated for the questions on the test. On top of this, I am going

to develop smart goals that will help me build my identified strengths and opportunities

determined from the test.

Strengths and Opportunities

The practice test was a critical aspect since it revealed some of the strengths that I have as

well as development opportunities. One of the strengths identified during the test is that I am

able to budget my time for each question. I felt that I had enough time to handle the questions.

Despite some of the challenging questions, I had enough time to answer them. I have always

been crucial in time management for every aspect I do. I realize that adequately managing and

budgeting my time will offer me an opportunity to answer the questions and get time to go

through the revising and editing. On top of this, the test showed that I am comfortable in areas

that require theoretical analysis and psychotherapy. I felt comfortable answering these questions

as I found it easy to apply the knowledge I had gained in class. However, the test also revealed

some weaknesses that I should improve before the national certification exam. I found I should

work on studying more on areas related to psychopharmacology. I am aware that

psychopharmacology is one of the vital areas as a nurse since it contributes to patient education

by understanding their medications. During the test, I realized that this area was challenging;

thus, I should work more in developing the related knowledge.

Smart Goals

1. By the time I am doing my national certification exam, I will have improved my

psychopharmacology knowledge to answer related questions comfortably. To

achieve this goal, I plan to engage in the following activities;

 I will become a member of one reputable website related to

psychopharmacology.

 I will be answering at least 15 questions daily with the aim of answering at

least 90% of the questions correctly.

2. By the time I take the certification exam, I would have understood the standard

medications for various mental health conditions. I will achieve this goal by

taking part in the following activities;

 Get a reputable psychopharmacology book where I would study different

mental health conditions with related medications.

 I will ensure that every week I read about at least two mental health

conditions with the key medications used to treat them.

3. By the time I take the certification examination, I will have improved my

psychopharmacology and psychotherapy analysis knowledge. I intend to achieve

this through the following steps;

 I will create a schedule where I dedicate eight hours per week, allocating

five hours to the psychopharmacology sections.

Resources and Study Plan

To achieve my goals and pass the certification examination, I would need a range of

resources. One of the resources available is the reading materials provided in class. I will be

going through these materials to improve my understanding of the topics. Another resource

would be to subscribe to an online website that provides questions related to

psychopharmacology. I understand that regular practice will improve my confidence and dispel

anxiety which could hinder the test-taking (Zahruni et al., 2020). I also plan to find two or three

friends with who we can discuss the different content and ways to improve our test-taking

abilities. Group discussions is considered as one of the methods of improving knowledge

retention and building confidence, as noted by Anderson & Arora (2020). This is because we

will be improving our understanding of different aspects while also sharing different

opportunities to improve our confidence and test-taking skills. In this case, engaging in the

discussion would be one way of improving my test-taking skills. It would also be a way of

further understanding my strengths and weaknesses.

Conclusion

The practice test was an essential way of understanding my strengths and skills. The test

allowed me to comprehend the areas I need to prepare to complete my national certification

exam comfortably. I realized that I have to develop a study plan that primarily focuses on

improving my psychopharmacology knowledge. This is because I found a challenge in these

areas during the practice exam. I have also identified my classmates and websites that will aid

me in revision to improve my knowledge and confidence in test-taking.

References

Anderson, I., & Arora, V. M. (2020). Direct-acting oral anticoagulants: A resident-based

workshop to improve knowledge and confidence. MedEdPORTAL, 16, 10981.

Zahruni, N. A., Fahmi, F., & Pratolo, B. W. (2020). The Challenges of Taking TOEIC Test and

How to Overcome: Perception of Indonesian Vocational Students. Ethical Lingua:

Journal of Language Teaching and Literature, 7(1), 82-91.