My nclex experience, and my advice

Hello! I passed my NCLEX-RN in Missouri back on April 24th. It was my second attempt and I passed in 75 questions. I failed my first attempt in the maximum amount of questions. Here is my advice for you!

The first time I took the test, I did not take it seriously at all. I graduated with my BSN, and I thought that my coursework was sufficient and I didn't prepare as much as I should have. What I did every day for about a month, leading up to my first test, was use something called prepu. Prepu was used by our school, and it was pretty much just a big test bank. This helped out a lot, but by no means was it enough. I would do about 100 questions a day leading up to that first time.

On my second time around, i radically changed my study technique. I used this website, and there is some great study guides out there. This is what I did.

1. I didn't rush out and take the exam on the 45th day. I gave myself adequate time to feel prepared.

2. I bought something called the NCLEX-RN Exam Prep (3rd Edition). There is a lot of material in this book. Every chapter was quite bulky. So what I did was I tackled 1 chapter each day [hematological, cardiac, oncology] and only focused on that one chapter. I would write down things that I totally forgot on a separate piece of paper. Don't get excessive on writing things down!! Sometimes I found that I was writing too much down. Just quick little facts

3) Once I had gone through the chapters. (which will take quite a bit of time. don't rush, just allow yourself to digest the information), I switched my study habits. I didn't rush to the back of the test and take the practice tests yet.

4)Next I downloaded the study guide that is on this NCLEX Forum section. I can't find a link to it, but if you privately message and I'll see you a copy. It's titled "NCLEX-RN THREAD" It's about 35 pages of review. This is amazing! I really took quite a bit of time to REALLY memorize this information. The first time I took the NCLEX, I had NO IDEA how big they were on infection control. It had been such a long time before I memorized all of the contact, droplet, airborne precautions. Really memorize this! After I took about 4-5 days really digesting this information I got another book.

5) It's called Prioritization, Delegation, and Assignment: Practice Exercises for the NCLEX Examination. This book is amazing! Super hard questions, but it really helps with those tricky prioritization questions. There are so many questions on the NCLEX pertaining to this topic, and this book helped out a lot. Don't be frustrated if you miss a lot of these questions because they are tough! It really helps you prepare for the test.

6) After I was done with that book (it's not a huge book. You can buy it on kindle for pretty cheap), I went back and took those practice tests. I really sat down, without music, and acted like I was sitting down for the NCLEX.

7) I had a few more days before the test so I would continue to look at the study guide, and finding clever ways to memorize all the material. I found myself exhausting all my resources that I even turned to quizlet. Quizlet is actually a great source of information. Type in NCLEX, and all kinds of information will spawn for you. Use it as you feel fit.

I didn't do Kaplan. I didn't do Hurst. I couldn't afford it. Those 2 books, the free study guide, a little prepu, and quizlet was all it took for me to pass. If you have the money for those, then more power to you!

I was a nervous wreck before going in to take the NCLEX. I did my breathing techniques, sat down and relaxed. When you're taking the test don't rush. If you're looking at a question, and it's all blurring together and you're just like "what the hell is this, i've studied for weeks and what are they talking about!" - Put your head down and close your eyes for a couple minutes.

After a few minutes, take a look at the computer and just look for those keywords. Then take your best - educated guess. Don't over think this! And don't let others get you down. Sometimes it was hard for me to be on this website, and see all the topics of "I just passed on my first try!" or "I just failed for the 5th time!" Don't let these topics get you down. Stay away from reading too much on the internet (except my post ) You know this stuff! It's just a test.

Oh and yes, the pearson vue trick does work. It gave me the credit card page when I failed...and it wouldn't let me when I passed. I hate that this trick works...but it did for me. Sorry if this post was too long. I know not everyone will agree with it, and some will say my post is excessive. I just hope that this helps one person out there, because some people on this forum really helped me.

Good luck, and let it fly!