Aussie Nurse seeking NCLEX study material

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Hey all,

I am writing on behalf of my wife... so excuse me if I don't quite know how to phrase the questions - anyways, here goes.

She completed her Bachelor of Nursing in 1996 together with a certificate in Midwifery at a University here in Sydney, Australia.

So now we're investigating what we need to do for her to find work in the U.S. Our priority is of course taking and passing the NCLEX exam. We're hoping to do this in 2005.

She already has access to practice exams (Mosby's and Kaplan) but feels that she really needs reference/study materials to flesh out what she is learning through the practice exam. She's more after textbooks, etc. that can help her learn how nursing is taught in the U.S. I take it that there isn't much of a difference, except for the use of the imperial (rather than metric system) and slight differences in drug names?

Ok, so here are my itemised questions on her behalf:

1. What textbooks/reference materials should we buy/beg/borrow? Remember we've already got access to the review questions...

2. what other study aids do people suggest and are available? Are there audio tapes of lectures, blah... that we can purchase?

3. What about study groups... do people know if there are groups in sydney, australia?

4. Are there aussies here that are going through the same process?

Thanks in advance and we appreciate everyone's input in other threads to date: we're learning a lot already. It ain't easy, but certainly do-able....

(M for R)

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I can probably send you some info .... just PM your e-mail address to me.Thanks David.

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Hi,

I just passed the NCLEX on the first try June 2004. It sounds like your wife already has a body of nursing knowledge. The NCLEX tests your ability to think critically and solve problems safely and competently. (As I am sure you know already.)

65% of my class passed on the first try. The majority of the passing students had taken the Kaplan Course Review. The course is NOT like the book they sell to the public in my opinion.

During the course, they give you "hints" that you can use and advice as to what the NCLEX questions camp on. This is usually for 8 hours/day for 4 days of intense questions. They also give you a review book (knowledge base) of the material you need to know and then practice questions that simulate the NCLEX questions.

I had used 8 different NCLEX review books during nursing school to help me study for tests. NONE of the review books formulated critical thinking questions like Kaplan's course did. Kaplan's course questions (you get the review book, the question CD that includes 7 or 8 tests that allow to gauge your ability to pass ...you want at least a pass rate of 61% on these) are the closest questions to NCLEX I have seen.

If you can get your hands on the Kaplan Course Review book and the CD question trainer, then I believe you would have THE resources to sail through this test.

When polling my classmates, NCLEX had picked out their nursing "weak-spot" close to immediately. I knew going into the test that my weak spot was pharmacology/drugs. NCLEX picked up on this quickly.

Most everyone has 1/2 of their questions on prioritization and the other half on your "weak spots". No one I talked to came out of the test sites ever feeling like they passed.

Some of the hints were:

1. Identify the stem (topic of the question).

2. Look at the answers and decide if they are assessments or implementations.

3. If they are implementations, then apply Maslows/ABC's.

a. Breathing answer is the first choice

b. Circulatory is the second choice

c. Airway is the third choice

4. Do you need more information or validation?

Do you need further assessments? Then choose between assessment answers.

5. Pain is considered a pyscho social answer/question.

6. Ask yourself, "If there is ONE thing I can do before I go home, what would I do"? Choose that answer.

7. If you have no nursing assessment in the stem of the question, then you need an assessment answer.

8. Break down the answers into assessments or implementations.

I have probably given you way too much information. I am all about that Kaplan review (the real one with the instructor) as I gained more info from them than any other source. The combo meal of review book and question trainer are excellent ...one for the knowledge (review book) and one for the application of the knowledge.

I would not bother with the text books. I think it would be a waste of time. (Here are ones that are popular tho...Medical-Surgical Nursing: Assessment & Management of Clinical Problems by Lewis, Heitkemper, Dirksen, Fundamentals of Nursing by Potter & Perry, Maternal Child Nursing Care by Wong, Perry & Hockenberry...all are published by Mosby).

Get the Kaplan COURSE review book. It is different from the Kaplan RN-NCLEX preparation book completely in my opinion...which is why they charge $40.00 for the RN-NCLEX prep book and then $400.00 for the course reveiw.

Good luck,

Valerie

ps. No, I don't sell Kaplan crap or get a commission. It is just that they really are the best in my opinion. I am glad I am finished with them actually. :)

Hey all,

I am writing on behalf of my wife... so excuse me if I don't quite know how to phrase the questions - anyways, here goes.

She completed her Bachelor of Nursing in 1996 together with a certificate in Midwifery at a University here in Sydney, Australia.

So now we're investigating what we need to do for her to find work in the U.S. Our priority is of course taking and passing the NCLEX exam. We're hoping to do this in 2005.

She already has access to practice exams (Mosby's and Kaplan) but feels that she really needs reference/study materials to flesh out what she is learning through the practice exam. She's more after textbooks, etc. that can help her learn how nursing is taught in the U.S. I take it that there isn't much of a difference, except for the use of the imperial (rather than metric system) and slight differences in drug names?

Ok, so here are my itemised questions on her behalf:

1. What textbooks/reference materials should we buy/beg/borrow? Remember we've already got access to the review questions...

2. what other study aids do people suggest and are available? Are there audio tapes of lectures, blah... that we can purchase?

3. What about study groups... do people know if there are groups in sydney, australia?

4. Are there aussies here that are going through the same process?

Thanks in advance and we appreciate everyone's input in other threads to date: we're learning a lot already. It ain't easy, but certainly do-able....

(M for R)

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Dear drmrnfla vbmenu_register("postmenu_853775", true); and 1701valerie... Just wanted to say thanks for responding to this thread... my wife feels that she's got a better grasp of what's required, etc. for the NCLEX. We're still reading many of the posts here just to see if we can learn a little more. To say we're appreciative of these forums and of your generous time is an understatement...

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Hi,

you can get hundreds of nursing books (U.S) FROM THE NURSES BOOK SOCIETY at wwwNursesBookSociety.com e-mail [email protected]

Hey all,

I am writing on behalf of my wife... so excuse me if I don't quite know how to phrase the questions - anyways, here goes.

She completed her Bachelor of Nursing in 1996 together with a certificate in Midwifery at a University here in Sydney, Australia.

So now we're investigating what we need to do for her to find work in the U.S. Our priority is of course taking and passing the NCLEX exam. We're hoping to do this in 2005.

She already has access to practice exams (Mosby's and Kaplan) but feels that she really needs reference/study materials to flesh out what she is learning through the practice exam. She's more after textbooks, etc. that can help her learn how nursing is taught in the U.S. I take it that there isn't much of a difference, except for the use of the imperial (rather than metric system) and slight differences in drug names?

Ok, so here are my itemised questions on her behalf:

1. What textbooks/reference materials should we buy/beg/borrow? Remember we've already got access to the review questions...

2. what other study aids do people suggest and are available? Are there audio tapes of lectures, blah... that we can purchase?

3. What about study groups... do people know if there are groups in sydney, australia?

4. Are there aussies here that are going through the same process?

Thanks in advance and we appreciate everyone's input in other threads to date: we're learning a lot already. It ain't easy, but certainly do-able....

(M for R)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Another Kaplan vote! There is a section for NCLEX for international students. www.kaptest.com There are several people in my class from other countries that are in my classroom course. There is also a free prep test online I think for her to try. There is also some different books from their website that cannot be bought in the bookstores, such as NCLEX 101: How to pass. I have heard so many good things about it that I have bought this one too.

Good Luck!

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One more thing about Kaplan--

I just took the NCLEX and passed. I paid to take the in-person Kaplan course, as a part of that they give you a course book (which is really an outline of the content you need to review) and they talk about ways to approach the questions. AND they give you ONLINE access to content review lectures (streaming video) and lead you through sample questions and talk about how to think about the questions in general and for each content area.

As it turned out, I went to few of the in-person classes and did almost all of the online content review and question review. I found this to be EXTREMELY helpful in narrowing down what content I needed to review and ... I passed!

You might want to look into whether Kaplan offers access to the online course w/out having to pay for the in person classes-- but even if the only way you can get access to the online course is to pay for the in-person classes it may still be worth it. (I hope that made sense!)

Also, the online course is nice because you can do it whenever (I think you get access to the online content for 3 months).

-m.

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