How I passed N-CLEX with 75 questions!

Hello to all future nurses!

On Saturday, February 15^th, I passed the NCLEX with 75 questions.

I wanted to write something in AllNurses because I would read all the forums on how people passed their exam and they outlined what they did and I feel so grateful for the time they took to do that. I now feel indebted to share my story and maybe it will help some of you!

I will preface this by saying that during my time in nursing school, I never was an "A" student. Tests were not my forte. I'd be fortunate to receive a B and I would never feel compelled to question why I failed an exam because I never truly felt confident in my knowledge base. Granted, I consider myself a smart person ... I guess. But, it was just so hard for me to think like a nurse. It just didn't come as natural as Bobby or Suzie (not real people) who'd intuitively know what to do on a question after we both read the same content and ... whoa, I'm rambling. Okay, back to the topic at hand. The N-CLEX.

Let me just put it out there for you: I used Kaplan. I was fortunate enough that my school offered us Kaplan, albeit at the last minute. If you do not have Kaplan at your school, I highly recommend it. Clearly, it worked. But, along with Kaplan I had other strategies and tools that helped me out. So, stick with me?

You're still here? Great. Let's go!

So, my entire NCLEX journey took about 6 weeks. I started on January 1^st and my test was on February 15^th. The first thing I did was buy a notebook which I dubbed "My N-CLEX Bible". My friend also lent me her Saunders book. What else did I have? Oh, yes. I had bought the Kaplan N-CLEX study guide, meh.

Okay, so you know how they tell you "DO 150 QUESTIONS EVERY DAY!!!". Guys, I'd be lucky if I reached 95 on a certain day. My average number of questions studied was about 80-90. And boy was I exhausted. I'd study 5-7 hours every day! So, why so little questions? Well, what I would do was take two 50 question Qbank tests on Kaplan (and I guess this could work on any another rationale-based exam) and then I'd go over to my handy N-CLEX bible and write down the date of the exam. Then, I'd write down EVERY topic I encountered with its rationale (why I got it right and why I got it wrong). ANY LITTLE thing I didn't understand, that's where Saunders would come in handy (that book is truly amazing). I needed to know the pathophysiology of the disease in order to understand the rationales. Random disease in Africa I've never heard of not available in Saunders? YouTube! I don't know if you've heard of it, but YouTube is amazing. When you get a chance, look into that. I also love, LOVE, Michael Linares's channel on YouTube. He really breaks down so many concepts and since I am a visual learner he draws silly pictures, it's just so adorable. He's like the cutest ... ehrmm, moving on.

Okay, so that was my deal EVERY DAY. I'd take the QBank tests and write down all my rationales in my NCLEX Bible. But here's the cool part. I'd start noticing patterns. Let's say I'm on QBank day 5 and I encountered a topic I found on a test I took day 2, I'd just add a little annotation to my notes from day 2. So, imagine that as the days go on (since I had been writing down all the topics) I keep going back and updating notes from 2 weeks ago and I'd highlight topics that I encountered once, twice, even three to four times. I'd highlight in a different color concepts I would keep encountering over and over again. And since I'd keep referring back to my notebook, in time, I had basically memorized it. But, having it all written down, allowed me to visualize trends I may not have noticed had I not written them down. For example, I may have received 15 questions on CHF. But I noticed, after I would come back to day 4's notes on CHF to update, they would all revolve around the importance of s/sx of left-hearted vs. right-hearted HF and how left-handed takes precedence. Or, maybe when I'd look over my notes I'd notice how safety really IS a big deal because I'd write down "#1 Safety!" on so many topics. Or, "#1 - Least invasive ..."

On top of writing notes on top of notes, every morning, before I would start my tests, I would read ALL my notes. It would get harder as the days would go on because my notebook would get bigger and bigger. But by the 1^st week, I had basically memorized the first couple of pages because I had re-read them and gone back and annotated them so many times during the day. But I'd go ahead and reread them every other day because I would keep updating stuff even from day 1.

In between QBanks, sprinkle in a couple of Question Trainers here and there (7 to be exact) and of course, I'd look up the rationales for those too.

This went on for about 5 weeks. On the fifth week (a week before my exam), I had completed my Qbanks and Question Trainers (more on that later). I attended a 4-day live ATI review which my school also sponsored (ATI and Kaplan?!, yeah I know) and after that I was given a neat little book about 250 pages which I read over the next two days after my live review. After that I had two days left (not counting my mandatory "pre-test no study day") and with those two days I just went over notes. But by that time my brain was DONE. I was officially exhausted. I definitely needed the rest day on Friday.

By Thursday, 6pm, I was officially DONE studying. I never saw any of my notes again. Not even before the test. You guys, I meant it when I said my brain was shot. I wasn't as much ready as I was just OVER IT. I was so sick of studying. I'm pretty sure I would have thrown up if I had to look at another lab value before the test.

A little about the actual N-CLEX day. I will say I didn't feel nervous. I honestly felt like someone who has come to terms with their death or something; that's the only way I feel like I can phrase it. It was very unusual. Again, my brain was brimming with information so all I could really eat, smell, and taste was N-CLEX.

My test was at 8 in the morning. The earlier the better for me. I couldn't deal with the anticipation throughout the day. I woke up that morning at 5:30, made myself a couple of eggs and oatmeal and took the 45 minute drive (yep, I went alone).

The sign-in process was as smooth as can be and before I knew it I was sitting down and on question 1. 60 questions into the exam, I took a break because the computer suggested it. I thought, eh, what the heck. I got to the bathroom and prayed and got a little emotional. Oh, did I mention I ended up with 23 SELECT ALL THAT APPLY QUESTIONS?! YEAH. By the time I took a break I was on my 18^th. I was thinking "You've GOT to be kidding me?!".

I had 23 SATA, 1 graphic, and 2 ordered response. I took my stinkin' time. 2 hours later .. at 75 ,the screen went blank and I thought "Another break?" but, no, I was asked to complete a survey. I was in complete shock.

I think only two times was I really sure of an answer and they were recall answers so I wasn't THAT confident.

After that, I picked up my things and I just left. Just as uneasy, if not more so than before. I ended up doing the Pearson Vue trick after some coercion and got the good pop up. I was pretty sure I was going to get it only because man, 75 questions would have been such a brutal way to fail.

OH, my Question Trainer scores were as follows:

Q1 58.7

Q2 61.3

Q3 58.0

Q4 60.7

Q5 66.7

Q6 67.0

Q7 61.1

So, as you can see, my NCLEX journey was fairly simple but nonetheless, very tiring and monotonous at times. But, I would like to share with you some tips/wisdom that I learned:

- Don't cram.

- Go at your own pace. Never once did I continue studying when I got tired or exhausted. I think there were a couple of Sundays where you couldn't pay me to study.

- This is an extension of the previous tip but, do as many question as YOU can. Don't compare your study style with another person. We're all different learners. My friend read the Saunders book front to back. I could never do that. I'd start wandering off after the 2^nd paragraph.

- UNDERSTAND PATHOPHYSIOLOGY. I cannot underscore that point further.

- Remember test-taking strategies. Expected vs. unexpected, acute vs. chronic, etc. Many times, you don't know a disease but sometimes the question just wants to know your nursing judgment regardless of what the topic is.

Maybe you already know all these things. That's awesome. But, I wrote this because I wanted to let you nursing students know that you can do it too!

One last thing, for any spiritual persons out there. I prayed quite a bit during this whole ordeal. Specifically, I prayed to not be anxious. Too much anxiety is a killer. It doesn't let you focus and blocks your perspective. As a habitual Bible reader, I'd like to share one scripture with you because if you got this far reading this, you might as well keep going till the end.

Philippians 4:6 - Do not be anxious over anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving let YOUR petitions be made known to God; and the peace of God that excels all thought will guard YOUR hearts and YOUR mental powers by means of Christ Jesus.

Happy studying.