How Long Did You Review For Nclex?

palesarah · Aug 6, 2003

I graduated May 23, took the boards June 11- the first date that was available for me. I did a quick review the day before and that was it- no review course or days of studying for me. I had confidence coming out of school that I had the knowledge base I needed for the NCLEX.

(however, coming out of the NCLEX, I had complete confidence that I had failed- luckily I was only wrong that time! :lol2: )

orca1 · Aug 7, 2003

Hi,

I graduated on May 24. I took a 4 day review the first week of June and began reviewing for the NCLEX June 22. I did not study everyday but maybe 2-3 hours every other day. I took the boards on July 15 and passed :)

Lisa

USA987, MSN, RN, NP · Aug 8, 2003

I graduated June 4 then moved across country 2 weeks later....so it took some time to get all my paperwork straighted out. I'm taking the NCLEX this MORNING:eek: :eek: !!!

I really reviewed in a few days for about an hr. each time. I sat down yesterday morning and did Mosby's disc of 265 questions just to get the "feel" of going the distance...

orca1 · Aug 8, 2003

Good Luck USA987!!

Lisa

jessjoy · Aug 9, 2003

I am a royal procrastinator. I graduated may 15th and decided i needed to take some time off from studying to enjoy life.....well that time off turned into almost two months and I waited until about 10 days before the test before I started to study. I studied my butt off for those 10 days though and I passed with 75 questions. Good luck to you!!!!:roll

NICU_Nurse, BSN, RN · Aug 9, 2003

I really felt that if I hadn't learned it already, there was no way I was going to pick it up in two months. I graduated in Dec. '01 and took the NCLEX in early Feb. '02. I chose one very big, comprehensive study book (I think it was Saunders?) and looked at notes a friend of mine had from an NCLEX prep course (not like Kaplan, but one that actually reviewed nursing stuff, lab values, etc.). I studied every day for one hour, sometimes more on the weekends. I passed with a 75.

It will mean absolutely nothing to you BEFORE you take the test, but you really can't study for it. The best you can do is stay calm and review, but not pressure yourself about it because the simple fact is that you *can't* really cram in 2-4+ years of nursing school into two months of studying. It's not only impossible, but the types of questions they ask on the NCLEX are usually sort of comprehensive, multi-area questions that require critical thinking and prioritizing (ie, a mini-van crashes against a wall- who do you treat first out of these six pediatric victims with varying symptoms/trauma?). That type of question is not really about pediatrics, although it's about pediatric patients- it combines Med/Surg and the ABC's and ER theories along with prioritizing. See what I mean?

Good luck! The only person I knew who failed the test completely psyched herself out beforehand. She was a working LPN with 6 years of experience and there was no reason she shouldn't have passed, but her attitude was horrible. She KNEW she was going to panic and fail and guess what? She did.

Keep a positive attitude! Deep breathing to all of you! We've been there.