I have been meaning to post this for awhile.
It's no secret, and I don't think that I am violating anything, that Suzanne4 used Saunders's editions in her plan.
I never got to use Suzanne's plan....she discontinued it right before I graduated and I was pretty devasted because I was really, really counting on it.
I took the NCLEX several weeks ago and got 75 questions and passed, first try.
I used Saunder's along with Exam Cram. I only used Exam Cram to help me prioritize the "need to knows".
My take on it? I don't think it really matters which guide you use...all of us have finished nursing school, all of us hold that degree, we were tested to death while we were in school.
The "key" to passing the NCLEX, I believe, is to practice taking as many questions as you can and not only checking the rationales if you got the question wrong but the rationales when you got the question right.
Many people post that when you take the NCLEX....that the questions are much harder, much more difficult, much more challenging than the ones you did in practice.
That is true.
But the NCLEX is not really testing your knowledge, per se...it is and it isn't...it wants to know if you can make good decisions...that is why the questions, I believe, are so off the wall.
I encountered TONS of questions that I had no clue or one thing would be missing or included that would throw my rationale out the window.
I focused: Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Safety
I had a drug that I had never heard of...the side effects were all unrelated...my strategy: I picked the one that was the most life threatening.
I got more priority questions than anything else.
But when I sat down to the exam....I was not expecting to pass. I sat down and said, "Screw it....I haven't looked at my materials in days, I need to at least get an attempt over with...I'm going to just use what I know...and hope that it's enough." I was at the point that I just didn't care if I passed it or not.
What I think happened: I wasn't nervous when I took it and just didn't have the patience to over-analyze any of the questions.
If I didn't have any clue as to what the disease/disorder was...I looked at the answers...and choose based on which affected ABC or S the most.
That's all i did.
Test shut off at 75. It was over...at least I didn't have to sit there for 265 questions.
I came home, waited a few hours and tried the Pearson Vue Trick and got the "passed" message...I thought, "No way..."
Two days later, quick results confirmed: I did pass.
To me, I think it's a matter of PRACTICING QUESTIONS OVER AND OVER AGAIN to where it's no big deal. You sit down to take your exam...it becomes JUST ANOTHER TEST.
If you go into it with that kind of attitude, I think that will take the pressure off.
You know what the worst thing that is going to happen if you fail it?
You take it again.
Nobody dies, the earth still turns.
You simply, take it again.
My take on the NCLEX
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