Hi everyone! I've been on this site plenty of times prior to taking my NCLEX-RN exam. I liked reading what you all had to say about the exam and the study tools that you used. So now I am here to share my story.
After high school, I went to school for Fashion Marketing & Management. I received my Bachelor's in Science in that, but I never felt like that was what I truly wanted to do. I decided that I was going to pursue nursing shortly after. I did a part-time program for 30 months, which gave me my BSN. I graduated January 20, 2014. Once I received my ATT on February 6, I decided I wanted to give myself time to study and I scheduled my exam for April 3, 2014.
I studied for about a month, starting in March. I purchased the online Hurst Review. I honestly feel that I learned way more with Hurst than I did in all of nursing school. They made the concepts so much easier to understand. I took all 6 of their tests, with my scores ranging from 79-97 out of 125.
In addition to Hurst, I bought the LaCharity book on Prioritization, Delegation, and Assignment. I did the majority of the questions in this book and found it to be very helpful.
On the day of my test, I was TERRIFIED. I was not confident at all. When I sat down in the testing center, I was shaking and my heart felt like it was going to come right out of my chest. I finished the test around number 150 something. I couldn't believe it turned off. Once I passed question 75, I thought I was going to have to sit there all the way to number 265.
I don't want to freak anyone out, but the test was honestly the weirdest and most difficult exam of my life. I don't know how to even explain it. The entire thing is like a blur to me, and the entire time I was taking it, I kept thinking "OMG, I am bombing this. I am gonna have to go home and study and go through this process all over again."
To tell you the truth, a lot of my questions were on topics that I hadn't even really studied. I had so many questions on things that weren't covered in Hurst. However, I do feel that the Hurst Review helped me in some way, because I DID pass. I think that it changed the way I think and made it possible for me to think "NCLEX-y." So if you want to know if I recommend Hurst, the answer is yes. I do not think I would have passed if I just answered a bunch of practice questions. I really needed a content review.
Thanks for reading :) I hope this helps someone in some way!
