How to Ace the Fundamentals Proctored Exam with Ease

Picture this: you’ve scheduled your students for the ATI fundamentals proctored exam, a high stakes assessment that covers patient health assessment, medication administration, and more.

This exam counts for 7 percent of their final grade and leaves no room for retakes if they score below level 2. Let’s walk through how you can set your cohort up to ace this test with ease. Sound good?

Understand Exam Format

This assessment spans several core nursing topics. Make sure you and your team know exactly what’s on the roster:

  • Patient health assessment
  • Infection control
  • Medication and drug administration
  • Patient safety
  • Ethical and legal considerations
  • Communication and documentation
  • Basic nursing care and comfort
  • Patient hygiene and mobility
  • Oxygenation and nutrition

You’ll usually see two versions, Form A and Form B, to minimize sharing of questions. To maintain integrity, set clear policies on conduct and monitor for any attempts to cheat on a proctored exam. If you need a quick refresher on the basics, check out proctored exam meaning.

Define Passing Criteria

Your students must hit level 2 or higher to earn credit. Below that, they receive a zero with no retake. Since this counts toward their final grade, outline these thresholds in your syllabus and discuss them first day. When everyone knows the stakes, motivation follows.

Use Practice Assessments

Offering a baseline practice test lets you spot weak areas early. Most programs find the “Tutorials” tab on the ATI portal under the “Test” section. Provide students with any required codes or passwords, then ask them to:

  • Complete a practice exam before formal study
  • Retake until they score at least 85 percent
  • Share their initial scores so you can plan targeted support

This process not only builds familiarity with question style but also highlights topics that need extra attention.

Schedule Focused Reviews

Once practice scores are in, assign focused reviews based on achievement levels:

LevelReview Hours Needed
04 hours per topic missed
13 hours per topic missed
22 hours per topic missed
31 hour per topic missed

Have students handwrite three key points for each missed topic. This active recall step reinforces critical thinking and shows you where to step in with mini-lectures or Q&A sessions.

Assign Nightly Practice Questions

Practice problems are your best friend here. Encourage each student to tackle 50–100 questions per night in a quiet space. Ask them to:

  • Use a timer to mimic exam conditions
  • Read every rationale, correct or not
  • Note recurring mistakes and ask for group debriefs

Here’s a quick reference table:

TipDetail
Quiet workspaceSimulate exam silence
Strict time limitSet a timer for 1.5 hours
Rationale reviewDiscuss answers in study groups
Consistent schedulePick the same evening slot each night

Provide Supplemental Resources

The ATI textbooks shine on tough areas like obstetrics, nutrition, leadership, and community health. You don’t need cover-to-cover reading. Instead, assign chapters based on common weak spots from practice tests. Peer teaching works too—let students swap summaries or host mini-workshops for tricky topics.

Track Student Progress

Create a shared spreadsheet or dashboard to log practice exam scores, focused review hours, and quiz results. Highlight trends and celebrate milestones—seeing a rising line on the graph can be a real confidence boost. Offer one-on-one check-ins for those lagging behind, and adjust your review sessions based on real data.

Wrap up and Next Steps

  • Understand exam content and formats
  • Set clear pass thresholds from day one
  • Launch baseline practice tests early
  • Schedule targeted focused reviews
  • Assign consistent nightly practice questions
  • Supply just-in-time supplemental readings
  • Monitor progress and pivot where needed

Try implementing one tip this week and notice the difference in your students’ confidence.

Peter
By Peter
Published: 2024-11-15
fundamentals proctored exam