So I promised myself that I would write my success story after passing the NCLEX because this forum truly helped me when preparing for the NCLEX. I want to give back to the allnurses community.
List of main resources I used:
Kaplan qtrainers (I didn't finish all of them!)
Saunders Comprehensive Review for the NCLEX-RN Examination 5th Edition (No, I did not read the entire book, and no, I did not do all the ?'s)
The RN Course Book
That awesome PDF with NCLEX tidbits that has been circulating around the site (I read this several times!)
... and tons of other resources (I think this confused me way more!)
My advice for NCLEX takers:
Set time for yourself to study with no interruptions, even if is an hour, a few hours, etc.
Don't overwhelm yourself with lots of resources, you will start getting confused with the inconsistencies
Don't pressure yourself with trying to finish everything, read everything, learn everything... I say this because I was honestly stressing myself out by doing this (on top of taking a class and working part-time at a restaurant) --- I was somewhat against just doing tons of questions because I truly felt like I was lacking on content but doing a bunch of questions really does help, and you start to realize how you should answer certain types of questions
Study how you learn best, don't feel pressured to follow others' learning techniques (for ex. I had a friend who would study by doing tons of questions, no note taking. Heck, I had to write everything down!)
I sucked at pharm and I even avoided studying for it, until the night before. I had so much anxiety when I realized I did not know any meds but I listened to the audio of the Saunders CD and that surprisingly helped
Focus on what you feel you are weak in, even if you don't want to
I read forums of others' success and advice/tips from here
Day of the test:
Don't let anyone drive you to the test center (lol), I did and ended up fighting with the boyfriend
Take a deep breath before the test and remind yourself that you've learned multitudes in nursing school and you've most likely done everything you could to prepare yourself at this point
I listened to my favorite song right before the test for some good vibes and energy
If you start losing confidence or start getting tired, take a break! I ended up having to take a break because I started getting angry and upset over the fight I had earlier
Feel free to ask any questions, add comments, etc.
)