Confused and Overwhelmed!! Please Help.. NCLEX-RN

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Hi everyone,

so right now I am studying for my boards and am so overwhelmed .. Some people take Kaplan and say it's the only way they passé bc they teach you had to do questions and while taking the boards they had no idea about any of the content but as long as the did the Kaplan tree they were all set.. Others just did te Hurst Review and just reviewed content and still passed.. I don't understand how a person can pass and just know content or just know how to go about answering a question... I am determined to pass te first time and have even studying hard for this but at this point so many people go about it diff ways I don't know what I should do or where I should focus.. Any input would be great !! Thanksks

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Hi! First, take some deep breaths and try to not over do it with anxiety. Believe me, I know, haha. I took Kaplan, myself, because I have never been that great of a test taker. Kaplan does come with online lecture content videos if you purchase the live or online review I believe. I watched all of the videos, took notes on everything and anything important, did 70% of the Q-bank, and Q-trainers 1-4 and just passed my NCLEX 1/21/2014. I think Kaplan did help, because the questions are a majority of higher level questions and really sparked my critical thinking more than I had previously noticed. My opinion about all of this is yes, you can know the content out and out, but if you do not know how to take a test, what good will it do you? I recommend either or, as anyone I have talked to who has taken Hurst has passed. Good luck!

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I took Hurst in December. While it is a content review.. they also teach how to answer questions using critical thinking skills. I took Kaplan in nursing school and for me personally I didnt like the format. I test tomorrow, so I will let you know if Hurst helped me! Like you, I am freaking out right now..

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Hi! First, take some deep breaths and try to not over do it with anxiety. Believe me, I know, haha. I took Kaplan, myself, because I have never been that great of a test taker. Kaplan does come with online lecture content videos if you purchase the live or online review I believe. I watched all of the videos, took notes on everything and anything important, did 70% of the Q-bank, and Q-trainers 1-4 and just passed my NCLEX 1/21/2014. I think Kaplan did help, because the questions are a majority of higher level questions and really sparked my critical thinking more than I had previously noticed. My opinion about all of this is yes, you can know the content out and out, but if you do not know how to take a test, what good will it do you? I recommend either or, as anyone I have talked to who has taken Hurst has passed. Good luck!

How similar are the Kaplan questions to the actual NCLEX? I have the on demand Kaplan and it is really helping me but I wonder how close it really is to the actual test. Thanks!

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Good luck tomorrow nurselori77 ! Please let me know how it goes! You will do great!!

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Hi there. I am also studying for the big test. I test on the 5th and I am also feeling so overwhelmed! This is what I have been doing: someone burned the Hurst online videos for me so first I watched them for a content refresher. Anything that I felt I was week in I referred to the Saunders review book and skimmed over that (this book is easy to read and the chapters are short - great for brushing up on the basics). I also have the Kaplan review book. It was about $35. It is an easy read and this is what teaches you how to take the test. You can read that part of the book in only a couple of hours. So from here until I take the test I am gonna focus on my pharm and simpling answering as many practice questions as possible using the Kaplan tree. Hopefully it will work because I have a job depending on that I pass! Good luck to you!

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Cappie000 like you I also have the Kaplan book that breaks down the questions and teaches you how to answer questions .. But the little Kaplan book only has so many questions in it ... Do you think that will e bough questions to review with ?

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I didn't take Kaplan. Just used Saunder's and Lippincott Q&A book for a week before my test. Passed in 45 minutes with 75 questions. I felt the study questions were much harder than what was on NCLEX.

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Specializes in Public Health.

Kaplan looks exactly like NCLEX. Only it was much harder than the NCLEX.

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical, Education, Community Health.

I took NCLEX on January 22nd using the ATI NCLEX book. It is relatively short and gives VERY concise information. A friend of mine let us use her KAPLAN to do study questions. They're VERY NCLEX-like. Their questions are all typically the upper-level NCLEX style questions. The questions were good though I can't say how their program is otherwise.

Good luck! I wasn't sure I was ready but when I took it, I knew. It stopped at 75 questions. I did the "Pearson trick" and then my RN license posted the day after I took my boards :-)

Don't overstudy. If you're starting to confuse information-- you're doing too much. The day before the test I did ABSOLUTELY no studying whatsoever to give my mind a break.

Good luck! You'll do great! Keep us posted!

David

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Amanda I do not know. I have been using questions from Saunders and ATI as well. Trying to do as many as possible.

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Just use one review... Don't get confused and overwhelmed ... I used hurst !! The best!! Specially the CDs !!

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