A year out of school and still no Nclex. advice please?

[nylpn2b]

Hello everyone. I'm hoping I can find some advice. I've finally completed my lpn program march 2010, but as I sit writing this post Feb. 2011I still haven't taken my NCLEX. Let me express why I am scared to take test. First of all my school required us to pass hesi with an 850 in order to graduate. I first took the hesi April 2010 and failed with 803.I honestly felt at the time I could've passed but got all 3 of my dosage problems wrong( was always my weakness) I do not want taking the NCLEX to be a repeat of the hesi experience. When I finally passed with a 950 may 2010 I found out a week later I was pregnant. Morning sickness was kicking my butt and I wanted a mental break from the studying at least for a month. 3 months later I was in an accident , miscarried and was devastated. Studying was the last thing on my mind. 8 weeks after that I needed surgery and was in excruciating pain. I figured I would start fresh right after the holidays when I found out that my dad was diagnosed with cancer. All I can say is when it rains, it pours. I haven't really studied until a few days ago when my dad called and wanted to know what were my plans and if I set a date for the test. Even with him being sick he's been pushing me to take it just in case anything happens he'll be here to see me become a nurse.

So now just awaiting my ATT, and I am very frustrated that i never even tried,nervous and want to figure out what I can do to just jump start myself on the right path. My boyfriend went nuts Christmas in B&N and bought:

Exam cram PN

Prioritization by lacharity

Saunders comp review 4th ed.

Nclex pn incredibly easy

Kaplan pn

So far I've started exam cram which I like and lacharity. I'm hoping someone here can give me some advice on a review or a sample schedule just to get me started. I hear on this sight Hurst I pretty good anyone taken the class recently?

[caliotter3]

A few days of studying is not going to do it. You need to realistically set a date and use a calendar to plan a reasonable study schedule, then go for it. Good luck.

[chulada77, ADN, BSN, MSN, APRN]

What worked for me:

1-Go through your notes from school and jog your memory. If there are topics that you REALLY stink at then put those papers/chapters to the side and study them religiously.

2-Study a few hours per day but don't overdo it.

3-Learn how to weed out the wrong answers (ie. if "always, never, etc" are in the question then it is probably wrong)

4-When I say "study" I really mean do practice questions (a few thousand of em) over and over and over and over again. Use different books to sstudy or you'll get used to a certain books question format.

By doing this you'll be able to pinpoint where your weak spots are. Don't cram because you will lose info in your brain as quick as you are stuffing more in. Give yourself time, if you need to reschedule your test date then do it!!! BUT, you will never be 100% ready for the test(nobody ever is) so don't wait for that either.

Think positive!! I have never failed a nursing test and I always followed this regiment. I also am a firm believer in have a "happy hour" time the night before a test including my nclex because it relaxed me and made me feel confident.