75 Questions on NCLEX, pass or fail?

how did you prepare for nclex?

I used Saunders 4th ed and the prioritization book and the NCSBN 3 week course. I gave myself 3 mo. to study. I felt that it was a little to long to study. I think I would of been OK with 2 mo. of study. Just depends on your comfort level. I did at least 100q's a day except on Sunday. I gave myself a break on that day. I ended up doing at least 2000+ questions. I would review the rationals for each question, even the ones I got right. I think that is what helped me the most. If I would do it all over again I would of just worked with the Saunders book and the prioritization book. Know your basic labs, infection control, prioritization and delegation. I also noticed a lot of people getting questions about endocrine, ie addisons and cushings. Kind of funny since I had both of those on my exam. Also know the main catagories of meds and side effects. I finished my exam in 1hr 20 min with 75q's- no math, tons of SATAS, prioritization, delegation, infection control and meds I had no idea what they were. I would also recommend spending some time in the NCLEX student forum. Lots of good advice. Sorry so long. Wish all of the future NCLEX takers good luck.

thanks for replying to my post, very helpful info,ttyl

Good luck with your studying and exam. Keep us posted.

Hey Passion,

I primarily used my Mosby's cards which are only $24 at the bookstores..and the Hurst course was of great help...
The cards did alot of focusing in on priority which is what my exam was full of...."Who do you see FIRST"....that seemed to be alot of what the test was about ...priority but focus on your content...Hurst cover alot of content and if you have your content in your brain ...then the priority will get your critical thinking skills going...
God Bless..to all that is preparing for the board..it is hard but we all know its worth it

I'm hoping there is someone out there that will read this today and give me some encouragement. I was probably 4/5th in my class, I studied HARD, took every moment of nursing school seriously...
I just took the NCLEX yesterday and I thought it was HARD. I spoke with a friend this morning (she thinks I take the test on Wed) and she was telling me about some of her questions (I know where not supposed to do this please don't tell anyone:-). She had some of the same questions I did!! Except she was able to answer them correctly:-(
I am SO worried. I just can't seem to calm myself down. I hardly slept last night. I don't want to discuss this with anyone from school because I don't want them to know I took the test (and probably failed). I feel so dumb, humiliated.
How can I get around not letting anyone know. Does this sound crazy?
If I have to retake it again -what more should I do? I did the Kaplan book from cover to cover, the Saunders from cover to cover, extra questions from CD's, reviewed ATI's (anyone familiar with that?).
The job I have lined up told me a couple of weeks ago that if I didn't pass on the first go that they would resend their offer -NO PRESSURE THERE!
Does anyone have anything you could say to help me!!

I am so sorry that you are experiencing so much anxiety. Last week I felt the same way as you did. I took the NCLEX had only 75 questions and then walked out of there convinced I failed. I could not sleep or barely eat for two days until I found out about my results. I ended up passing....with the grace of God may I add.However, those two days of waiting were awful. My advice to you is to try to not think about the questions or even look them up. This will only increase your anxiety. Also just because your friend picked different answers does not necessarily tell you that you got them wrong. You may have gotten them correct and may just not be giving yourself credit. Also you may have not gotten the exact same questions with the same options. I kept myself busy every minute of the day for two days. I highly recommend you do that. I don't have kids so I ended up doing some major spring cleaning. I noticed that if I did not have anything to do I would start thinking about it and then get really anxious. We are all our worst critic so you may just be thinking the worst. Hang in there. I know these few days are difficult but I really hope you passed. Please let me know how you did. Look forward to hearing back. Good luck. You can do it

Oh wow I just read the rest of your post about how much you studied for it. You sound exactly like me. I did all the Kaplan and more and felt hopeless after the NCLEX. I studied my heart out and had no idea what I was going to do if I failed because lets be honest I studied as much as I could. I guarantee you know more than you think. You studied so much and I bet you passed. You go girl

Thanks nurse901! I needed to hear something from anyone.

Unfortunately, I already came home yesterday and looked up a few of the questions and I was right on some and wrong on others. Someone told me today that if I have the same questions as another person then those questions are probably the questions that don't count. Know anything about that?

Your right, it is SO hard not to worry. Maybe if wouldn't be so bad for me if this job wasn't on the line! Oh, and did I mention that I'm pregnant?? Stress is one thing I don't need right now. Honestly, I am trying to prepare myself if I don't pass... thinking things like -oh well, all I can do is just take it again & maybe it was meant to be because now I can stay home with the baby. This kind of thinking only works short-term:-(
I'm eventually back to stressing out.

I'll check my results in the morning and know either way.

it sounds like you did enough studying wise both in nursing school and for the nclex exam itself .you mentioned that you read kaplan front to back and saunders as well, thats good enough prep.kaplan's qs are really challenging and saunders does give you some good knowledge base to supplement what you already learned in nursing school so try not to worry too much, you sound like you passed.i took the exam last month but now i know i was not prepared at all and thought i would still pass it since i was a top A student in college, and i failed at 75 qs but i didnt prepare like you did and also i went to college in England .
so try not to stress yourself out, you probably passed.
good luck