Which study resource resembles the NCLEX type and difficulty of questions the most?

Nursing Students NCLEX

Published

Specializes in Medicine.

I have been using the Saunders 4th edition, NCLEX4000 from lipponcott and recently purchased "Prioritization, delegation and assignment" which I believe is a very valuable resource.

Saunders questions seem to mostly test on straight up content and less on application. So the questions I feel are a little easier.

NCLEX4000 has more application but I have still seen more difficult questions other places.

The Prioritization book has more difficult questions all dealing with priority, delegation or assignment. I am only doing decent with these questions because I am unable to pull knowledge from a bigger picture to help me answer the questions. Which is why I believe there is no amount of studying to help me improve.. If my mental capacity just doesn't allow me to think at a level to answer, it just won't help.

Would anyone be able to tell me which resource they believe to resemble the types and difficulty of the NCLEX questions? I have also looked into Exam Cram, which have difficult questions as well. Thank you in advance.

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Specializes in L & D, Med-Surge, Dialysis.

Try exam cram and lippincot!!

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Specializes in ED.

I thought Kaplan was worth every penny. The questions are harder (making the NCLEX easier) and even the layout of the screen is the same. Good luck!

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I too thought the Kaplan questions were way harder and the layout being the same helped me feel more comfortable at the testing site .. I didn't buy the Kaplan course and juts bought the Qbank which has about 1,125 questions and 3 mini sample NCLEX tests.. I also used a different review for content thinking that the Qbank wouldn't give me any but reading the rationales actually made me learn alot of content as well

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Kaplan hands down! I used Kaplan to prepare and Saunders to focus on content and Kaplan by far was harder than NCLEX in my opinion. The layout was exactly like NCLEX, including right down to the additional information tabs.

Kaplan is worth every penny in my opinion and I highly recommend it!

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Kaplan hands down! I used Kaplan to prepare and Saunders to focus on content and Kaplan by far was harder than NCLEX in my opinion. The layout was exactly like NCLEX, including right down to the additional information tabs.

Kaplan is worth every penny in my opinion and I highly recommend it!

really?? i hope i'll find nclex easier than kaplan too. But others say nclex is way harder than kaplan..:zzzzz

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Specializes in Ortho/Neuro/MedSurg.

Exam Cram and Kaplan hands down!!!!

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i think everyone would agree that it is kaplan

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what Kaplan are you guys recommending the online course, Question banks or the strategy book , please let me know asap. thanks.

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Specializes in "Wound care - geriatric care.

I think that there is Kaplan and there is all the other books out there. Be aware of the following:

Kaplan is great and it will teach you very important strategies, but I don't think Kaplan will solve all your problems. I took Kaplan twice, and failed twice and I did every single thing they asked me to. For example their reediness test was way, way easier than the real thing. I think that the problem with Kaplan is not the method but that after a while you have the felling that this is it and you are prepared, and that the strategies will save you no matter what, that the questions will have in their Q bank are it so you go with that and that only......brrrrrhhhhhhhhhh. I think they work very well for people with a very good knowledge base to begin with.

For the rest of us there are all the other books...content...content...content. I am beginning to think that there is not cure for knowing everything.

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Specializes in ED.
what Kaplan are you guys recommending the online course, Question banks or the strategy book , please let me know asap. thanks.

I took the in-class Kaplan course where I received access to the strategy book and question banks. I recommend the whole package, as it worked for me.. but if I had to pick JUST one, I'd say go with the online access. I skimmed through the book, and the instructor I had for the live course was really terrible, but I definitely got the most out of the Q-bank and Question Trainers.

And the 'decision tree' does not work for low-level questions nor every question. There are only several types of questions where the tree will work, and although I didn't consciously apply the tree, I found myself eliminating answers based on the same concepts in the decision tree. It started to come naturally.

Good luck!

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Specializes in Cardiac Care.

I, too, bought several books to study from, such as Saunders, Lippincott, and Prentice (my favorite for content). For me, the best was the Kaplan. The book taught me how to analyze the questions to answer what was being asked. My NCLEX had very little nursing content about illness; maybe a couple of questions on diabetes, one that I can remember about Cushing's, several SATA, etc. No math, no OB... The vast majority of my exam was along the lines of "Which client would you see or call first"? Kaplan really prepared me to answer those. I'm not minimizing the NCLEX; it was difficult. But it was doable, and I know that the Kaplan book really helped me.

Wishing you all the best of luck!

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