Abstract
Fifty to 100 % of nursing students have experienced test anxiety and experience both forms of test anxiety, cognitive and physiological. Cognitive test anxiety (CTA) leads to significant academic implications for nursing students, resulting in attrition or failure of the NCLEX-RN. The ongoing nursing shortage requires nurse educators to implement evidence-based strategies, such as mindfulness meditation training, to help prelicensure nursing students manage their CTA levels and enhance academic performance. The study was guided by the Cognitive Theory of Stress and Coping (CTSC), which postulates that problem-focused coping, such as mindfulness meditation, lessens stress.