advice from NCLEX test takers

[001BondRN]

This is a pdf file that I found while cleaning out my bookmarks.

There are some pretty good tidbits of wisdom; to give a succinct summary, the University of Washington states:

"Over the years, we have polled graduating students for their NCLEX study strategies. Below are some test preparation suggestions from students who succeeded on their first try at the exam."

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http://www.son.washington.edu/students/bsn/docs/NCLEX-Info.pdf

The most common response that I found, and I can say this from personal experience, is that the test is not so much about the actual knowledge of pathophysiology itself (though this is a necessity obviously) as it is knowledge of how to actually answer an NCLEX style question. As such, when you sit down for your test, you may very well be faced with a large amount of information you've never encountered in your reviews.

Furthermore, the questions (to me) seem to be designed to break down ultimately into 2 possible answers, one based on actual nursing knowledge and one that may touch on nursing knowledge but is not as encompassing as its counterpart. In realizing this, you may find it more helpful to focus on obtaining a general knowledge of pathophysiology, a strong foundation in the nursing process, maslow, prioritization and delegation, and a strong foundation in critical skills (to tackle NCLEX style questions which if you have a fundamentals nursing book should be a chapter)

You will see many individuals here that did not use a review course (such as Kaplan). My humble opinion is that there is nothing in Kaplan that is not contained in your regular (and much cheaper) review books. I did not use a review course as I did not have the money but still passed with 75 questions in a little over an hour. I can't stress practicing NCLEX style questions enough, it truly is a process in and of itself!

[born_this_way]

Bump****