NCLEX-RN study guide: what to study

Running safe care for a group of clients: priorities, delegation, consent, client rights, ethics, legal duties and handoffs.

15–21% of the exam. Each exam lands somewhere in this range. Source: NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan (PDF)

• Advance directives
• Advocacy
• Assignment, delegation, supervision Lesson: Delegation and assignment: what the RN can hand off, and to whom· 5 min
• Case management
• Client rights
• Interprofessional collaboration
• Concepts of management
• Confidentiality / information security
• Continuity of care / handoff Lesson: How do nurses hand off care safely between shifts, units and home?· 5 min
• Establishing priorities Lesson: Which client should the nurse see first?· 5 min
• Ethical practice
• Informed consent Lesson: Informed consent and advance directives: the nurse's role· 5 min
• Information technology / orders
• Legal rights and responsibilities Lesson: What are a nurse's legal duties, and how does charting protect clients?· 5 min
• Performance / quality improvement
• Referrals

Keeping clients and staff safe: preventing injuries and errors, isolation precautions, restraints, hazardous materials and disaster plans.

10–16% of the exam. Each exam lands somewhere in this range. Source: NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan (PDF)

• Accident, error and injury prevention Lesson: How do nurses prevent medication errors?· 5 min
• Emergency response / disaster Lesson: How do nurses triage victims in a disaster?· 5 min
• Ergonomic principles
• Hazardous and infectious materials Lesson: How do nurses handle sharps, hazardous drugs, radiation and chemicals safely?· 5 min
• Home safety
• Incident / error reporting
• Safe use of equipment
• Security plan / triage
• Standard/transmission-based precautions, asepsis Lesson: Which isolation precautions does each infection need?· 5 min
• Restraints and safety devices Lesson: How do nurses prevent falls and use restraints safely?· 5 min

Prevention and growth across the lifespan: screening, development, pregnancy and newborn care, and healthy choices.

6–12% of the exam. Each exam lands somewhere in this range. Source: NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan (PDF)

• Aging process / lifespan care
• Ante-, intra-, postpartum and newborn care Lesson 1: Labor and postpartum care: the stages, the fetal heart rate and the checks after birth· 6 minLesson 2: Assessing the newborn right after birth: Apgar, vital signs and warmth· 5 minLesson 3: Prenatal care: what each visit checks and which signs can't wait· 5 min
• Developmental stages and transitions Lesson: Growth and development milestones from birth to adolescence· 6 min
• Health promotion / disease prevention Lesson: Immunizations and adult screening: what to give, when to hold it and who to screen· 6 min
• Health screening
• High-risk behaviors
• Lifestyle choices, sexuality, contraception
• Self-care
• Physical assessment techniques

Mental and emotional health: therapeutic communication, crisis, abuse, substance use, grief and mental illness.

6–12% of the exam. Each exam lands somewhere in this range. Source: NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan (PDF)

• Abuse or neglect Lesson: How nurses recognize abuse and neglect and what they must do next· 5 min
• Behavioral interventions
• Substance use and other dependencies Lesson: Alcohol withdrawal: what happens when, and how the nurse keeps the client safe· 5 min
• Coping mechanisms
• Crisis intervention / violence risk Lesson: How nurses assess suicide risk and respond to a client in crisis· 5 min
• Cultural awareness
• End-of-life care (psychosocial)
• Family dynamics
• Grief and loss Lesson: How nurses tell normal grief from complicated grief and support the family· 5 min
• Mental health concepts / disorders
• Religious and spiritual influences
• Sensory/perceptual alterations
• Stress management
• Support systems
• Therapeutic communication Lesson: How to pick the therapeutic response every time· 5 min
• Therapeutic environment / milieu

Everyday physical care: mobility, nutrition, elimination, hygiene, sleep and comfort without drugs.

6–12% of the exam. Each exam lands somewhere in this range. Source: NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan (PDF)

• Assistive devices
• Elimination Lesson: How to care for an indwelling urinary catheter and prevent CAUTI· 5 min
• Mobility / immobility Lesson: How bed rest harms the body, and how turning and positioning prevent it· 5 min
• Nonpharmacological comfort / palliative Lesson: How nurses assess pain and relieve it with comfort measures beyond medication· 5 min
• Nutrition and oral hydration Lesson 1: How nurses keep clients with swallowing problems safe, and which diet fits which client· 5 minLesson 2: How to give tube feedings safely: placement checks and aspiration prevention· 5 min
• Personal hygiene / ADLs
• Rest and sleep

Medications and IV therapy: safe administration, side effects, dosage calculations, blood products and central lines.

13–19% of the exam. Each exam lands somewhere in this range. Source: NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan (PDF)

• Adverse effects, contraindications, interactions Lesson: How nurses keep clients on anticoagulants from bleeding· 5 min
• Blood and blood products Lesson: How nurses give blood safely and spot transfusion reactions· 5 min
• Central venous access devices Lesson: How nurses care for central lines and keep TPN safe· 5 min
• Dosage calculations Lesson: How to calculate oral, liquid, weight-based and IV doses· 5 min
• Expected actions / outcomes
• Medication administration Lesson: How to give insulin, heparin and warfarin safely· 5 min
• Parenteral / IV therapies
• Pharmacological pain management
• Total parenteral nutrition

Catching problems early: vital signs, lab values, diagnostic tests and care around procedures and surgery.

9–15% of the exam. Each exam lands somewhere in this range. Source: NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan (PDF)

• Changes in vital signs Lesson: How do vital-sign trends warn you that a client is getting worse?· 5 min
• Diagnostic tests Lesson: How do you keep a client safe before and after a diagnostic procedure?· 5 min
• Laboratory values Lesson: Which lab values should make a nurse act right away?· 5 min
• Potential alterations in body systems
• Complications of tests, treatments, procedures Lesson: How do you manage a chest tube and know when something is wrong?· 5 min
• Complications of surgery and health alterations Lesson: Which postoperative complications should a nurse watch for?· 5 min
• System-specific / focused assessments
• Therapeutic procedures / perioperative

Acute and chronic illness: fluids and electrolytes, cardiac monitoring, emergencies and pathophysiology.

11–17% of the exam. Each exam lands somewhere in this range. Source: NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan (PDF)

• Alterations in body systems
• Fluid and electrolyte imbalances Lesson 1: How do you read an arterial blood gas step by step?· 5 minLesson 2: How sodium and potassium imbalances show up and what the nurse does· 5 min
• Hemodynamics and cardiac monitoring
• Illness management Lesson: Diabetic ketoacidosis vs hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state· 5 min
• Medical emergencies Lesson 1: How to recognize sepsis early and what the nurse does first· 5 minLesson 2: How do you recognize an acute stroke and what does the nurse do first?· 5 min
• Pathophysiology
• Unexpected response to therapies