Yes! I Passed the NCLEX!

After looking at countless posts in this section before the exam, I made a promise that if I passed I would also contribute my experience. First off I wrote this exam in Canada, so I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not experiencewise.

I finished my BScN program on June 11 (but finished my preceptorship beginning of April) this year and I was more concerned looking for a job (money was tight) than writing the NCLEX. Once I got a job offer around mid-May, I gave myself seven weeks to write the exam. I made this comprehensive study guide and I was going to read Saunders front to back. I got feedback from two other people who passed the exam that reading through Saunders was all that they needed.

I studied hard for a week straight (even got to go through maternity!), before life got busy. A relative from another province came to visit and to be honest I didn't study that week. Then the following week, I worked at my old summer job (I needed money badly) and tried to study, but didn't really study. Okay, I didn't study at all. Then I had my first week of orientation at work (a nursing job) and was too exhausted to study. But I did book four days off before my exam from my new job.

When I reached the four days off, I was torn. I had barely studied and knew I wasn't ready. I had heard from my classmates that they took courses, did a million different things, and they did pass. So what chance did I? I wasn't signed up for any courses, didn't do a million different things. And to put it in perspective, I was average on exams at school, but not great. So I asked myself if I should rebook my exam for a later time.

I decided that I would leave that decision for the third day and I would try my best to study hard and effectively. But where to start? I scoured this blog for some indication and I decided to buy the NCLEX RN Mastery app. I didn't get the Canadian one as I wasn't sure how different they would be. I spent the four days only on that app.

I'll explain the app a little bit. It has a categories on questions, mnemonics, terminology, you progress (on the app), resources, study plan, and quizzes. The only categories I used were questions, my progress, and resources. The subcategories for the questions are med/surg, labs, nursing fundamentals, mental health, maternity, peds, and pharm. There's further subcategories. So you read and answer the question, then it will give you the rationale whether you got it right or wrong, then it will ask you to tag it with either you know it, kind of know it, or don't know it at all. Once you complete the categories it will tell you where you're the strongest and the weakest. Then later on, you can choose to do the questions you tagged as didn't know. It also has one answer questions or the select all that apply questions.

So the third day came around and I felt a little bit more ready, but not enough. I decided to write the NCLEX regardless. My reason was this: you'll never know if you're ready for the exam unless you write it. And I talked to other people, no one felt ready going in or leaving the exam. I wrote it in 186 questions and had no idea where I stood. I knew a lot of people who finished it in 75 and a girl who got to the very end and they all passed. I felt the same way I felt after writing a final right after clinical. Sometimes you know the answer, sometimes you have no idea and you just have to try to make an educated guess.

My advice for the NCLEX?

Go through as many NCLEX questions as you can, because it will force you to apply what you know. The trick is knowing what the question is asking. Read through the rationale even if you got the question right, because by doing that, you are reviewing the information. Also, you're never going to know everything the exam tests and there are some questions that I would never have been able to study for. And take everything everyone says with a grain of salt. I was terrified that I was going to have an exam full of medication questions (a lot of my classmates did), but I had a variety. Know your lab values, know your medication endings (-lol, -pril, etc.).

Also, I would recommend studying more than I did. I definitely do not want to endorse not studying for it or that it was easy. I literally didn't shower or leave my couch (I had to force myself to eat) and studied extremely hard for those four days before my exam.

I wish all of you good luck on your upcoming NCLEX! You can do it, you've made it this far :).