My Personal Experience With The NCLEX-RN

I'll divulge that the NCLEX-RN was not a completely new experience for me because I had taken and passed the NCLEX-PN back in December 2005 and worked as an LPN for several years. Yes, the NCLEX-PN and the NCLEX-RN basically have the same format.

I graduated from an LPN-to-RN bridge program in March 2010 and took the NCLEX-RN on May 11, 2010 after approximately eight weeks of preparation. I was fully expecting to sit in the Pearson Vue testing center to answer 265 test questions since all of my former classmates had been receiving lengthy exams (anywhere from 180 to 265 questions). I was pleasantly surprised when my test ended in one hour after having answered the minimum of 75 questions. I have the tendency to daydream and my attention span drifts when I am taking a long test with lots of questions. Therefore, I felt so very relieved that my exam was relatively short.

Since I am not permitted to post specific questions as a result of Pearson Vue's rules, I will only say that I received test questions from every topic imaginable with the sole exception of maternity nursing. I recall answering about ten of those pesky select-all-that-apply questions, one detailed case study question, multiple questions on medications and pharmacology, numerous delegation questions, and too many priority questions to count. In fact, I would estimate that nearly half of my test consisted of priority questions asking about which patient the hospital nurse should see first or which client the home health nurse should call back first. Questions that dealt with all of the body systems were on my exam.

My NCLEX-RN preparation consisted of a live Kaplan review which was paid for by the school that I had attended, a live four-day Hurst review which I had personally purchased, self-study of selected topics from the Saunders Comprehensive NCLEX review book, study of the online Kaplan question trainers and focused review tests, and review of questions from the NCLEX 3500 software. I also admit to using Wikipedia on occasion. Yes, I probably did use too many sources to prepare for this exam. I studied intensely and strategically because I graduated from an RN program with a historically low NCLEX first time pass percentage rate combined with a regional reputation for failing to prepare its students.

On May 13 I looked on the state board of nursing's website and was elated to see an RN license number next to my name. I had passed the NCLEX-RN! Years of hard work finally paid off.


Be sure to read my other informative articles on how the NCLEX works:
How The NCLEX Works (Part I): Computerized Adaptive Testing

How The NCLEX Works (Part II): What To Expect At The Testing Center