I took my exam today at 1:45pm and walked out after 75 questions. Did the PVT trick and it would not let me register :) I told God that if I had pass then I would write to those who are unsure or feeling hopeless because I was there too. I graduated in December and got hired as a new grad at a hospital. I went to work right away because I was so excited to get a nursing job. I tried to study in between but it was so hard because working four 12hrs shifts was killer and having to study on your days off did not help. I signed up for Kaplan and have to say that it worked for me, I kept doing questions and questions and read the rationals. Everyone in my class was passing and I felt like I would be the only one to fail. I asked work to get 3 weeks off so I can study, I was lucky they said yes.
During those 3 weeks, I began reading Saunders on topics I was weak in like OB and Peds. Took me 6 freakin days to get through that and I realized I had only 2 weeks left! I was freaking out because I did not get to do any questions nor did I get to cover my other weak spot:Pharm! So I watched Kaplan's videos and that tooooook tooooooo long and I stopped watching it. Instead, I just started doing questions. The question trainers are so helpful and please do not worry about your score, as long as you UNDERSTAND why you got it wrong then it helps. I found knowing your labs and diagnostic tests help alot. Oh yes, know your Infection control and practice SATA! I gave up Saunders and only used it if I needed to read up on a topic but for the most part, I used Kaplan. I was never a great test taker and that added to my stress level for the NCLEX.
Most of all, what I did was pray to God, he has never let me down. I took the test knowing I was not ready but went in there and did it. I got 80% of SATA, OB, Drag and Drop, 4 Meds, lots of teaching, who would I see first and most of all Legal Issues in nursing! If I can do it, so can you! Never give up! My scores in Kaplan was not that great either! Just want to tell you guys that you can do it, keep faith and most of all control your stress level during the testing. Special thanks for all of you who have helped me in this process and special thankyou to St.Claire, you are really really amazing and have given me so much hope. Thankyou again
