Nclex Pn 2nd attempt..Is it the same content the 2nd time?

Nurses LPN/LVN

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I took my Nclex Pn on August 2007 and failed with 110 q's. My performance report showed 6 near passing and 2 below passing. I used Saunders 3rd edition, but did not help me as I read the whole book and practiced the q's. I intend to use Kaplan q bank this time and study my med surg book and take lots of notes. Does anyone know if the 2 nd time is the same content or totally different? I just want to know what areas to concentrate in. Can anyone help me? Pleaseeee

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Due to CAT (computer-adaptive testing), you'll take a different test each time. No 2 tests are alike because the computer is adapting to your perceived abilities at that point in time and, therefore, produces questions that are 'harder' or 'easier' based on how you answer each previous question.

Good luck to you!

Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

Also, there is a reason why they make you wait at least 45 days before taking the exam a second time; the questions come from a pool that rotates every so often, so, a person may recognize a question or two (I assume that there can be a chance this could happen).

Good luck on your next attempt!

The process I used seemed to work since I just passed on my first try.

Here's what you need to do first

Buy these books:

1. NCLEX-PN Questions & Answers Made Incredibly Easy

2. Lippincott's Review for NCLEX-PN

3. Saunders Comprehensive Review for NCLEX-PN

4. Straight A's in Nursing Pharmacology

Getting the latest edition of these is probably best

Our process that worked with about 97% of our school was to basically do 200 questions a day. You start with your best subjects in Incredibly Easy since it's the easiest. Then move onto the next easiest book which would be Lippincotts on the same subject and lastly, do the questions in Saunders, also on the same subject. After all that, you should be an expert on that subject! Grade yourself on every test you take...read all your rationales...just to warn you, when you start out, you will be getting around the 50 or 60 percents. Don't give up...the more you do it, the better your scores will get. After you finish all the subject specific tests, move on to the comprehensive tests. And once you are scoring in the 80's...you should be ready! I followed this process exactly and I passed at 85 on the NCLEX-PN, which is really good. Do this for about 6 weeks or until youve done about 6000 questions. So, say you do 200 a day for 5 days a week....give yourself two days for rest...then you have done 1000 questions a week.

When you finish one subject, start on the next one and do the same thing.

With each subject you do, try studying the pharma on that subject also. It helps to incorporate it in. Read the pink part of the Straight A's in Pharma, and take the test at the end. If you get below a 70%, then read the whole white part.

DO NOT skip pharma. That's probably THE most important thing on the test. I got over a dozen med questions on it. Thank god I studied it.

One more good book for pharma if you have time is Pharmacology Made Easy for NCLEX-PN. It's self explanatory. Read it and do the questions pretty much.

That's really all you need, is just to do question after question and know the rationales for them. It's going to be a lot of work, nursing is not easy...but I wish you luck and I hope my advice comes in handy!

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