I devoted a whole month of my waking hours preparing for the exam. And this is my story.
I graduated 10 years ago. As the time was passing, I grew into kind of doubt myself in facing NCLEX. Lately, I decided to assess my weaknesses and face my demon. I fulfilled all requirements of BON and waited patiently for my ATT. Waiting was hard and long enough risking to knock me backward into my past comfort point. I quickly learned that BON has different requirements for foreign-trained nurses. For long, I tried my best to wrap my head around the fact that I could use my time reviewing but it did not work. My dormant brain resisted to return to live. I filed the application on mid-December 2010. I finally received my ATT the last week of August 2011, after 8 months. That somehow ignited my rather "obtunded" state. I then scheduled my exam and the countdown began so as the final leg of my journey to becoming an RN in the US.
In spite of the review books that I could read, I considered myself truly fortunate to have found and had access to allnurses.com. This site suddenly became an oasis in the middle of a dessert. Allnurses.com, with all the wonderful people whose faces I might not be able to see, walked me through in the biggest challenge in my career. To the founder of the site, I could only say: "Just brilliant. Just genius." This site became a part of my everyday existence. I was extremely surprised by the amount of information I could find here and could only imagine the time spent by kind nurses who responded to posted questions. I thought to myself that"Nurses are busy. Yes, but they have time to help. And maybe that is why they are nurses." I would not fail to mention the comfort I felt by reading the posts by others who were on the same boat. I suddenly felt that I was not alone. And soon, I was hopeful.
At the beginning, I was using Lippincott CD with 3,500 questions. I was doing fine until I read testimonies and advices from NCLEX passers who shared their experiences. I carefully read all of them, heeded and purchased the review materials that were on top of the list so to speak. I concentrated my review on the following materials and achieved the following scores from the corresponding sections or chapters:
1.Priority, Delegation and Assignment by Linda A. Charity
My take on this book: I absolutely concur with everybody who is saying that this is a book that you MUST study before taking the test. This is indeed a life saver. This book has a total of 498 questions. You will not regret spending your $24 for this one. I answered the questions twice and did the Case Study once. Here are my grades for my first attempt:
Chapter 1. Pain - (29 questions) 62%
Chapter 2. Cancer - (27) 63%
Chapter 3. Fluid and Electrolytes/ Arterial Blood Gases - (22)73%
Chapter 4. Immunity - (24) 75%
Chapter 5. Infection Control - (23) 61%
Chapter 6. Respiratory - (35) 72%
Chapter 7. Cardio -(34) 74%
Chapter 8. Hematology- (28) 57%
Chapter 9. Neurology - (38) 78%
Chapter 10. Visual/Auditory - (21) 57%
Chapter 11. Musculoskeletal -(22) 82%
Chapter 12. Gastro - (30) 47%
Chapter 13. DM/ Endocrine - (30) 67%
Chapter 14. Integumentary - (21) 80%
Chapter 15. Renal - (26) 65%
Chapter 16. Reproductive - 29) 55%
Chapter 17. OB - (25) 72%
Chapter 18. ER/ Disaster Nursing- (34) 56%
Total Questions: 498 Average: 66%
If I may add, this does not come with CD-ROM so you need to read and answer from the book. Kind of hard flipping the pages to look for the rationale so I ripped the rationales to my convenience.
2.NCSBN Learning Extension - $50 for 3 weeks
My take on this one: I was blown away by its comprehensive content. If you have enough time and you seriously need to brush up on content and you have discipline to sit and read from the PC screen for long period of time, this is truly the one. At times, I was tempted to skip but I fought back. I diligently read each page even how tedious until my back ached (in spite of the application of ergonomic principles). Honestly, to my opinion, this is worth than 50 bucks. It comes with some illustrations and video and audio clips that will aid your understanding. The practice questions honed my critical thinking skills. Yes, this is really tough to finish but you can if you are determined to do so. Remember, I did.
Here are my grades:
Intro/Diagnostic Test - (150 questions) 64%
Lesson 1 (20 questions) 80%
Lesson 2 (20 questions) 50%
Lesson 3 (20 questions) 45%
Lesson 4 (20 questions) 65%
Lesson 5 (20 questions) 60%
Lesson 6A-6C (20 questions) 60%
Lesson 7 (20 questions) 75%
Lesson 8A - 8K (40 questions) 57%
Self-Check 1 (180 questions) 61%
Self-Check 2 (80 questions) 64%
Self-Check 3 (180 questions) 59%
Self-Check 4 (180 questions) 63%
Self-Check 5 (180 questions) 64%
Self-Check 6 (200 questions) 62%
Total Questions: 1,330 Average: 62%
3.NCLEX-CRAM by Wilda Rinehart, Diann Sloan and Clara Hurd - $24
My take on this book: This comes with CD-ROM. You will find 5 sets of practice questions (250 questions each set), quick check answers and answers and rationales. I enjoyed this book since it was like a breath of fresh air. The questions were not as difficult as the questions from NCSBN learning ext and PDA. This helped me develop my stamina in answering 250 questions. The only thing I noticed, this book has plenty of typological errors. So I ended up looking up for some misspelled words, etc on the internet. And by the way, I answered all the questions twice. Here are my grades for the first try:
Practice Test I - 250 questions 88%
Practice Test II - 250 questions 67%
Practice Test III - 250 questions 76%
Practice Test IV - 250 questions 90%
Practice Test V - 250 questions 76%
Total Questions: 1,250 Average: 79%
4.2007-2008 Edition - NCLEX-RN (Kaplan)
My take: I was a little bit hesitant in using this book because it is old but I read a lot of good remarks from others so I gave it a try. I was glad I did read this cover to cover. It took me two whole days to finish this book. This gave me some tips on how to approach questions and it helped me during my exam when I was confronted with a question I did not have any idea about. I specifically focused on Chapter 3 of Part One which was about "Ways to Skin the CAT" and Chapter 4 "Maslow is a Verb"- really very informative. This came with CD which I answered first then the paper and pencil test at the end. My grades:
Kaplan CD (180 questions) 61%
Kaplan Pencil and Paper Test (180 questions) 63%
5.Saunders Comprehensive Review for the NCLEX-RN Examination (3rd Ed)
My take: I used the CD with about 3,500+ questions. I used this on study mode when I was low in energy. I answered about 907. I was sad that I did not have enough time to finish the CD. I was consoled by the fact that "more does not mean better."
6.The last but not the least,notes I got from kind people here in the forum. I am so sorry that I was not able to note her/his name. I actually created my own notes but I wrote them everywhere. I used papers and index card. Whoever is the author of those helpful notes, thank you so, so very much. God will reward you a hundred fold. And so I worked on those notes two days before my exam date. I made sure I memorize lab values, GCS, ABG etc. Note: I don't know how to paste them here. If you want a copy, PM me.
Final Thoughts:
Whoo! It was not easy. I shut myself for one month. I only went out of the house to walk to the church while I said my daily prayers. At the end of it all, even after I finished all the materials which I thought would make me confident to tackle the test, I still felt insecure. I thought it was pretty normal. That was why I needed to pray, let go of my fears and allow God to take care of the rest. I truly believed in the power of prayers. Every night for 30 days, before I sleep, I whispered "I will pass NCLEX. I will pass NCLEX. I will pass NCLEX." And I did. TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
Francis Kong beautifully sums up the correlation of hard work and success. He quoted:
"Success is never a one-shot deal. There are those who believe that if you 'believe enough, visualize enough, dream enough and discover the ancient secrets, you will be successful.' Those who dream great dreams need to wake up and do some work. "Because at the end of the day, it is still the one who wakes up a little earlier, works a little late, studies and learns new things every day, is dedicated to his work, connects with God in an intimate way and tenaciously deal with all the downturns in life, who will emerge successful."
I wish you all well.
MyNeologisms:redbeathe
