Another NCLEX-RN Success Story!

Published Oct 14, 2015

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Hello All,

Like many of you, I have read through (what feels like) hundreds of threads on allnurses about the NCLEX. So I figured I would add my own, now that the dreadful experience is over!

Background: I graduated in August 2015 from an Accelerated BSN program. I was an "A" student, but had to study VERY HARD to earn my grades. Right after graduation I moved from IN to OH. It took longer than others that I knew to process my application due to out-of-state issues. I was finally able to schedule my exam for September 30th.

Prep:

Initially: Saunders (6e), LaCharity (3e) and ATI (our school used this throughout the program). I would read through a Saunders chapter, take the quiz, then do the corresponding topic in LaCharity and ATI.

Saunders: Was great for about a week, until I realized all I was doing was trying to write everything down and felt that I was getting nowhere. It is very content-based, and the questions are not very NCLEX-style. It was good for review, but I felt at this point it was pointless to try to re-learn it all.

LaCharity: AWESOME. Though I didn't make through the entire book, it was the perfect review for priority/delegation questions. The rationales were pretty good, and I felt that this is the book that helped me the most with knowing what to delegate and whatnot--something I was NOT confident in to begin with. Get this book.

ATI: I always did well with ATI in school, and thought it was good for review of the systems. I just re-took many of the practice tests that were still available to me.

Once I finally got my ATT, I had 3 weeks left to prepare. I was feeling unmotivated and didn't know how to focus. I ended up buying Kaplan--$50 for 1 month of Qbank questions. My friend also gave me her info for the Qtrainers.

Kaplan: Set up is VERY similar to the actual NCLEX. I think the thing I liked best was that I could compare my results with others on here. I didn't get to take the 7th Qtrainer or readiness test, but my other results were:

Diagnostic: 64%

1: 71%

2: 63%

3: 56%

4: 59%

5: 61%

6: 61%

I did not feel very confident in my scores, but I remediated the questions and just kept taking more Qbank quizzes. The questions were very much NCLEX-style. I would recommend buying the 1 month Qbank if you are not wanting to spend a lot of money.

Day of Exam:

My exam was scheduled for 2pm. I had to drive an hour to take the Exam, so naturally I got to the testing center 2 hours early. I tried to eat something, but that wasn't really possible due to my nerves. I bought a bunch of snacks, water, and gatorade to prepare for a 6 hour/265 question test. I sat in my car for a bit, but finally decided I would go check in. So at 1:30, I started the exam. I turned off the questions so that I wouldn't fixate on the number I was on. I didn't count the number of SATA I was getting, but I would say I ended up getting maybe 15-20. I couldn't handle it anymore and turned the questions back on, around 65. After 75 questions, the computer screen went blue. I was done, and I felt numb. I did NOT feel confident in my answers, but I was so relieved to be done with that test.

After the Exam:

I didn't do the PVT. I knew it wouldn't lessen my anxiety, and I didn't want to take the chance. My test was on a Wednesday. So on Friday around 1pm I searched my name on the BON website and found out that I was officially an RN!!!

I really can't believe that the NCLEX Exam determines that you are competent enough to be an RN. It felt like another Kaplan quiz, so the questions just felt random. I got 1 med-calc question, 15-20 SATA, no exhibit or ordered responses, probably around 5 medication questions--meds that I didn't know.

My advice:

Be confident. Take as many practice questions that you can--and understand why the correct answer is correct. Get LaCharity for priority/delegation questions. Know that you can't relearn nursing school--review your weak areas and move on. I honestly did not really review meds during prep. I was confident in cardiac/resp meds, and only glanced at OB and psych. I just figured that I would be able to make an educated guess when they were thrown my way on the Exam and didn't want to take up time trying to memorize that stuff. Know yourself and your study habits. Don't try to study 8+ hours a day, but take the time to remediate and learn the stuff you are getting wrong. Know that you are probably going to get asked questions that you have NO CLUE how to answer. Make your best guess and move on. Nursing school prepares you as much as it can.

Happy Studying!!