Short answer: On shift days, plan 20 to 30 minutes of cards and a short question set. On days off, plan one block of 90 minutes to two hours for a topic and a longer question set. Add a monthly timed mock in the final two months. About six to ten hours a week is workable for many nurses.
Start with the real week
A plan that assumes two free hours every evening will fail for a nurse working three or four 12-hour shifts. Start by writing your next four weeks of rota on one page, then mark the hours that are truly yours: the commute, the first hour after waking, a long day off, the break you can protect. Study goes into those hours, not into time you hope will appear.
The target for this plan is six to ten hours a week. If you can do more on some weeks, good. If you can only do four on a heavy week, keep the habit going and carry on.
Two kinds of days
Treat shift days and days off differently.
- Shift days: 20 to 30 minutes. Review your due flashcards on the commute or on a break, and do 10 to 15 questions if you have the energy. Do not try to learn a hard topic after a 12-hour shift.
- Days off: one block of 90 minutes to two hours for a new topic, with explanation review and a set of 30 questions. Then 15 minutes of cards. A second shorter block later in the day is optional.
A sample week for a three-shift pattern
Here is a template that you can adapt.
- Day off 1: topic block, 90 minutes, then 30 questions.
- Shift: cards on the commute.
- Shift: cards, then 10 questions on yesterday’s topic if energy allows.
- Shift: cards only.
- Day off 2: mixed set of 40 questions, review the error log, one more topic block.
- Day off 3: lighter. Cards and a short set, or rest.
- Day off 4: planning for the next week, 20 minutes.
What to study and in what order
Take the free assessment or a mixed set of 40 questions in the first week to find your weak domains. Then work through the domains in order of weakness. The DHA exam for nurses page and the six-week plan for nurses list the typical content. Topics that come up repeatedly in nursing exams include patient safety, medication administration and calculations, infection control, prioritisation and delegation, and care of acutely unwell patients.
Make the most of micro-sessions
Short sessions suit spaced flashcards better than anything else. Ten to twenty new cards a day is plenty, as described in how many flashcards per day, and the reviews fit in a queue. Keep your phone for cards and questions rather than for long reading. Save topic reading for days off, when you have an hour of clear attention.
If you work nights
The night shift study guide goes deeper. In short: study after you wake and eat, not at the end of a night shift; protect your main sleep; and keep the same pattern on nights off so that your body is not constantly changing. See also sleep and memory.
Mocks and check-ins
In the last two months, add a full timed mock once a month and a shorter timed set every week. Use the mock exam analysis method after each one. A mock needs three uninterrupted hours, so book it on a day off, and review it the next day. Every two weeks, compare your domain scores and move time to the lowest.
A worked eight-week outline
An outline for a nurse with the three-shift pattern above. Week one: baseline set, tracker, cards and error log. Weeks two and three: fundamentals and patient safety, infection control and medication safety, with calculations practice twice a week. Weeks four and five: medical-surgical, cardiorespiratory and emergency care. Week six: maternal and child health, mental health and ethics. Week seven: mixed sets, the first mock and its analysis. Week eight: repair, the second mock and a light last few days. The six-week plan for nurses is a shorter version.
Eight weeks assumes about eight hours a week. If you have fewer hours, stretch the plan to ten or twelve weeks, and keep the order.
Do not neglect calculations
Calculations are an area where steady practice pays off quickly. Ten minutes twice a week on dose, infusion rate and unit conversion problems is enough to build speed. Write each answer with units. Check the answer for sense: if a calculation gives a dose ten times the usual, you have probably moved a decimal point. The dosage calculation guide gives the methods.
Tracking progress without spending an hour on it
Keep a one-page tracker: the date, the minutes studied, the questions done, your score and one line on how you felt. Review it every Sunday for five minutes. Look at three things: did you study on at least four days, did your scores on mixed sets rise or hold, and which domain is lowest? Change next week’s plan according to the answers. If your minutes drop for two weeks in a row, ask why: rota, tiredness, motivation or an overly ambitious plan. Each has a different fix, and the tracker tells you which to try.
Do not chase a perfect streak. A missed day is data, not failure, and the aim is a good average across the weeks.
Using colleagues and your unit
If other nurses on your unit are preparing, form a small study group on a messaging app and share questions you found hard, not exam content you think you remember. A weekly 20 minute catch-up over a coffee works well. Ask a senior colleague to talk you through a topic you find difficult, such as insulin sliding scales or central line care, and take brief notes. Real practice and exam practice reinforce each other, so link what you read to patients you have looked after, without using any identifying details.
Study safely around your work
Never study at work in a way that distracts from patient care. Use only official breaks. Do not bring patient information into your study notes, and avoid describing real cases with identifying details in study groups. Use invented or anonymised examples instead. If you are fatigued after a shift, do not drive or work late into the night on study. Your professional duty is to your patients and to yourself first.
Using days off well
A day off is for rest as well as study. Place your study block early, when you are fresh, then do something else. A two-hour block in the morning followed by a walk, a meal and a break is better than five hours in a row. Keep one full day a week without study. If you have a long weekend, resist the temptation to cram; use the extra time for a mock or a longer topic block, and still rest.
When the plan slips
It will. A cancelled day off, a sick colleague, a hard week. Do not try to catch up by doubling the next week. Drop the lowest-value items first: new cards, then extra question sets. Keep the due cards going and protect the weekly longer block. The aim is steady weeks, not perfect ones.
Frequently asked questions
This article is general educational guidance, not official advice. Exam rules, fees and timelines are set by the Dubai Health Authority and the test provider and can change, so always confirm the latest details on their official channels.
Last updated .