Passed NCLEX (in Canada) with 75 questions! And how I did it.

This site helped me a lot once I finished my BscN and started preparing for the NCLEX. I promised that once I passed, I would contribute in order to help others.

To start, I am an RPN (outside of Ontario know it as LPN) with 5 years experience. When I prepared for the RPN exam I read Saunders NCLEX-PN book, did not even finish the book half way and did not do any practice tests, I still managed to pass first attempt. I thought that I would be able to do the same until I came across this site, I realized that I really needed to study! In Canada we are only allowed 3 attempts so I made sure to study like it was my last chance! Most of the people I know passed with 75 questions and used 2-3 resources but I was scared it was not enough.

I graduated in April and because of the nice weather I was VERY slack with studying. I started by downloading apps, these apps included: NCLEX, NCSBN NCLEX review flashcards and NCLEX-RN. Depending on the day I would do about 5-20 questions a day and read 1-3 drug classifications (I did not complete all the questions or read all the drugs). I also made a pinterest account and started to pin NCLEX mnemonics, medications, interventions and charts.

I was able to find a site that someone posted Saunders 6th edition comprehensive NCLEX-RN review for free online!!! unfortunately when I told my classmate, the online book was pulled from the site. I was also able to download the Hurst audio review for free, which I would listen to on my way to and from work.

I read half of Saunders and did half of the questions. I read some of the comments on all nurses that Saunders questions were easier then the NCLEX (which is true!!), I decided that I would stop doing the questions and continue reading content. I found that it became a chore to read the book, it literally took me hours to read ONE page. August came and I decided I would focus on doing questions from other sources as my exam was booked for Sept 24th.

I purchased Kaplans NCLEX-RN premier and did all of the questions, my score for the test was 65%. I went on to purchasing the Q bank questions and completed them all in about 2 weeks with a 58%. The last 2 weeks I purchased uworld, I completed about 800 questions with a score of 55%.

For all the questions I did, I read the rationales and would look up what I did not know. I did not use Kaplans decision tree, I did not even read on how to apply it!

On the day of my exam, I read the 35 page study guide that someone posted on allnurses, I read it right up to the point where I was asked to show my I.D! I was really anxious when I sat down to take the test, all I could hear was my heart beat!!! I tried to take deep breaths but then I started to worry I was distracting others and stopped lol.

I had A LOT of select all, a few meds and 1 calculation. I honestly felt the exam was too easy! maybe because uworld and kaplan were more difficult!? I had a feeling it would stop at 75 and it did! I was confident I passed, until I researched the 2 medications I never heard of lol and I got an INSTANT headache! I was no longer confident and I was VERY worried.

I went home and got a prepaid credit card, changed the expiry date and code and tried the pearson vue trick. I got the "good pop up" (yes, I understand this trick is just a trick but it calmed my nerves lol), 24 hours later I tried it again. I tried it all weekend lol. Today I got my official results that I PASSED!

I OVER studied but I don't think that is so much of a bad thing, I would rather over study then fail. Best of luck to everyone!!!!!