NCLEX-RN

Hello!

My name is Amanda and I have recently PASSED my NCLEX-RN on the first try. I told myself and God that if I passed, I would write to everyone who has yet to pass theirs! I, like many others, had many concerns before my exam! I was worried about passing it, of course, and if I were ready. Also, I didn't know if I should extend my exam date. So glad I didn't though!

I just want to share with everyone how I passed in hopes to help those of you prepare and ease your anxiety (if possible). I took a Kaplan course. I did every single Q-bank question available. I did most of the Question Trainers, with the exception of 6 and 7. Now, I wouldn't exactly recommend neglecting to do the question trainers... I, personally, just had an issue with sitting for long periods of time doing so many questions without immediate feedback. It gave me anxiety and made my performance decrease, in my opinion. I enjoyed choosing around 25-50 Q-bank questions at a time and reading the rationales, then doing 25-50 more, ect. In a day, I would do 100 questions at the most and I did not do questions every single day. I think it is important to do things that you enjoy in the process of studying for the NCLEX in order to maintain sanity. Kaplan recommends studying 6 days out of the week, but I can say that I did not do that and I'm happy with it. I graduated in May and took my test the beginning of August, so I had more of a stretch in time... Meaning, I didn't have to do so many questions so many days out of the week. I never read the book, either. Basically, my study habits were doing the Q-bank questions and reading the rationales!!! You will learn so much if you do this, even if you do not feel like you are. You may not improve as far as scores go, but trust me when I say you'll learn from every questions... Whether you get it right or wrong.

My scores ranged in the 50-60% range. Do not freak out if you're not getting 60% or above as Kaplan recommends. You can do it!!! Many people have. That was my main concern and I passed on my first attempt.

The BEST advice I can give you is to pray to God that you have enough knowledge to pass this test and move forward with your life and career. Pray while studying, pray before the test, pray during the test, pray after the test! And have faith that He will guide your every thought during each and every question. If you get all 265 questions, as I did, stay calm and pray and be thankful that you're still in the game. Stay positive and have faith in yourself!

Best of luck and may God bless you and your future careers as nurses!:)

My friend also had given me a Saunder's book for graduation and, sometimes, when I didn't have a computer to access my Kaplan stuff (at work), I would do practice questions out of that book. I did the same as far as percentages (50-60%). I also read a little on OB and a few other topics when I was bored (at work, lol) to freshen up, but for the most part, I never read anything out of a book because it overwhelmed me as to what to read/study and where to start. Doing questions is key! And understand how they want you to approach them. You can do it!!!