Developing a Plan for taking the NCLEX-RN

Nursing Students NCLEX

Published

I graduated from a BSN program 10 years ago and have never taken the NCLEX (long story, life happened). I'd like to take it now (well, in a few months) but unprepared barely scratches the surface of how I feel! Last year I did plan to take it and began studying a number of books and computer programs in an effort to prepare but I ended up moving and putting it off yet again.

To be honest, I feel very overwhelmed and I'm finding it difficult to get started because I'm really not sure where to start. I'm wondering about using a review program to help provide structure and have found the following online:

Kaplan ($499) http://www.kaplannursing.com/Nursing_Domestic/NCLEX-RN/View-Kaplan-Programs/Comprehensive-Courses/NS_nclex_qbclass.html

NCSBN (most likely $159) http://learningext.com/products/rnreview/review.asp

Saunders ($130) https://evolve.elsevier.com/productPages/s_389.html

Starting Point ($150) http://www.startingpointrn.com/index.html

Virtual ATI RN Standard ($429) http://www.virtualati.com/

I realize I'm unlikely to find anyone else who has been in my situation but I'm hoping there is someone who perhaps failed when taking the test right out of school and then passed after waiting to retake it for a couple of years. I'd really appreciate advice on what helped with brushing up on all the stuff you forgot without having to go back to school. And if anyone has ideas about the above programs and how well they think they might help someone in my situation I'd be happy to hear about it!

If it helps at all, I am a slightly better than average test taker and was a B student in nursing school without having to work too hard. I'm at the point where I need to do this and become an RN or go back to school for something else.

I've read that the average nursing student puts in 80-100 hours preparing for the NCLEX. I figure if that's true I'll need at least 100-150 hours to stand a chance! I'm scared to try but I think if I could develop a plan and stick to it then I could do this. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

@nhklyn when do you plan to take your NCLEX?

Hi !

I am an international educated nurse. I have been out school since 2002 and moved to USA in 2004. I will be sitting for NCLEX- RN in Jun. I am doing Sounders online review and using lippiconts just for content. I want to spend one or two months doing xamcram, kaplan, davis, sounders and lacharity questionaries. Do you guys think that it is a good plan??? Any sugestion will appreciate. Good luck to all test taker.:)

i am planning to take end of the july. and when are you taking?

i was thinking to use multiple books. but then i realized that we don't get enough time to look in each book and end up with stydying too much but not effeciently.so i decided to just stick with sunders for contents and sometime when i feel like i need to know more in detail i look up in brunner . i will do Q&A from all other books once i finished with contents.

:) I'm planning to take mine by May. I've read in another thread that we should not cram nor review longer than 3 months.. nor strain ourselves in reviewing all day... Suzette said that (as far as I can remember).. Doing that will lessen retention of those we've studied (she said in another thread - abt Filipinos talking about how they review for their NCLEX).. Actually, I am soooOoOoo tempted to cram and take the exam before April!!!! sOo sOo afraid because of the drastic change in NCLEX accdg to NCSBN... Ooh well, I hope we pass....:lol2:

i was thinking to use multiple books. but then i realized that we don't get enough time to look in each book and end up with stydying too much but not effeciently.so i decided to just stick with sunders for contents and sometime when i feel like i need to know more in detail i look up in brunner . i will do Q&A from all other books once i finished with contents.

oh hi!!! Inasmuch as I wanted to advise, I think I am not in the best position because we are still in the same shoes... But according to most nclex test takers who passed (that I've read in other threads) they have a plan (time frame), used Prioritization, delegation and assign by linda la charity, saunders Compre, and Kaplan Trainer... Many says they answer at least 50 questions a day and study the rationale.... Others do 150-200 questions per day.... But the common denominator is they all studied the rationale after taking the practice questions each day... And they don't over do it!!! They give themselves a time to relax...

Well, people are different but I think it is wiser to emulate proven techniques.... Thank you to all of you who shared h0w they succeeded!!!

So I thought I should make my way back to this thread with an update!

Unfortunately, I did not stick with my original plan and test August or Sept of 2009. I tried to stick to my study plan but my motivation ran out. I really really hated Saunders! I know many folks love it, but it just didn't work for me. I intended to get back on track when I posted in July but it never happened and I put things off again.

With the new year, I decided to register for the NCLEX since I could then only put it off a year before I had to take it or lose my money, this was such a good move! I know some of those responding to this thread have been procrastinating just like I did but I really encourage you to at least register so that you can't continue putting it off for years.

In February, I also signed up for the online Kaplan complete course. Again, I'm terrible with studying but I figured if I spent that much money I'd feel compelled to get my money's worth by using it! Sadly, that didn't work out so well but I did find the parts I used to be very helpful! There are videos (and a book) that highlight the content. I only did two chapters but I found it much more tolerable than Saunders and feel like I retained more. I think the question trainers were the absolute most help to me. I also liked the guided review of questions as it helped to have someone explain the answering process each step of the way. I didn't use the qbank at all but if I had been more dedicated I'm sure it would have been great.

I had also purchased the LaCharity book and since it was rather small, decided to try and get through it as well. I managed to finish almost all of it! My scores were all over the place but at least I was working through the book! It's basically short quizzes that focus on priority and delegation so I kept a sheet of paper in the book and when I had fifteen minutes I'd do one. Like others before me, highly recommend this book. I don't think school (and certainly not the real world!) prepare you for these types of questions and they do show up on the exam!

Even though I hadn't been studying like I had planned I decided to just take the NCLEX and be done with it. I had finally hit the point where I was sick of putting it off and worrying about it and had accepted that I was never going to really study the way I planned. I was tired of waiting and the NCLEX was changing April 1 so I scheduled to test March 30th.

I didn't tell anyone except my S.O. and if I could have gotten around telling him I would have! I was prepared to tell people after that I had failed but I didn't want to add any pressure to myself by allowing others to set expectations. Some people may find it inspiring or calming for people to tell you that you'll do great and not to worry because you are smart but I feel like I'd be letting them down if I don't live up to it and eleven years worth of fear and expectation on my part was plenty for me!

Because I live a couple of hours from the test site, we decided to go down the afternoon before so we could relax and I'd have plenty of time to sleep before testing at 730 am. Things being what they are, we ended up leaving much later than we'd planned but were still on track to get there by 8 pm or so. Of course, life never goes according to plan and our car decided that this would be the perfect time to start doing funny things. By the time it died and we had creeped our way to a middle-of-nowhere gas station (that was closed I must add!) it was late. I knew my slim chances of passing were getting slimmer by the minute but it was too late to reschedule the exam and we'd already paid for the hotel. I figured we were out the money whether I went or not and at least I'd have the experience to show for it. I called my sister and she agreed to come get us and drive us the rest of the way. We get to the hotel just after 2 am and make arrangements for a cab to pick me up in the morning and take me to the testing center. I settle in and try to get a few hours sleep.

As if things weren't going bad enough, the cab is late to pick me up! Thankfully I planned to arrive at 730 per the instructions so I manage to arrive just in time for my 8 am appointment. The check in process is a lot longer than I had imagined which gave me plenty of time for nerves to kick in and for me to forget all the stuff I'd attempted to cram into my head that morning as I got ready.

I request earplugs (another good call!) and start the exam. I had not one but two audio questions! One asked me to identify lung sounds and the other gave me a disease and asked me to select the appropriate lung sounds associated with it. The only other alternative format questions I had were SATA and I got 8 of those. There were several questions (4 or 5) on isolation precautions and a significant number (10-15) of priority and delegation questions like what I'd covered in the LaCharity book. By far, the majority of my exam was pharm. This is the area I'd completely avoided in what studying I had done because I knew there was no way I could learn everything so my plan was to focus on other areas and cross my fingers! I had 20 pharm questions (that's right, I counted!), 13 of them related to a specific medication while the others required knowledge of the medication(s) but weren't directly about a single med. The rest of the exam was a mash of "stuff." Some of the diseases were things I'd never even heard of! That morning I had tried to memorize lab values (I know, something simple I should have focused on long before) but I didn't have a single question that required me to recognize an abnormal lab value.

Most people I've known hope for 75 questions, I was hoping to get them all! Just before clicking "next" on the 75th question, I took a breath and crossed my fingers for just one more! When the screen went blue, I was crushed. I knew there was no way I'd passed with that much pharm and only 75 questions. When my S.O. and his parents arrived to pick me up I let them know I hadn't done well. Oddly enough, I didn't feel bad about failing but was a little disappointed that I'd failed in only 75 questions. I knew pharm was going to have to be a priority when I retested but I was still at a loss on how I'd study for it. In a way, I was glad I knew I hadn't passed because I didn't stress out at all about how I'd done. Considering how long I'd been out of school and everything else I had going on I really didn't even feel bad about it. I'm not used to failing so I was a little surprised at how easy I took it.

We dealt with the car situation and got home later that evening. I still had time left on my Kaplan review and decided to reregister to keep what momentum I could muster going for as long as possible with regards to studying. I went to Pearson Vue and was confused when I got the pop-up saying I needed to contact a member of the BON. I thought perhaps I had my pop-ups mixed up and checked the PVT thread, sure enough I had gotten the good pop-up! I couldn't believe it and my S.O. and his parents (the only ones who knew how I'd done) were cautioning me not to get my hopes up but I was as convinced I'd passed when I saw that pop-up as I had been earlier that I'd failed. The next day, my name was on the BON website. A part of me will always kick myself for not testing sooner but I am so happy to be done with it!

My story may not be as inspirational as those who have tested multipe times and kept trying till they finally passed but I wanted to tell it anyway in case there is someone else like me out there. I waited so long, at first because of life circumstances but eventually because of fear and wanting to be "ready." Life is going to keep going by and it is never going to be easier so just do it. For years, friends and family kept telling me to just take the test and not worry about it but I wouldn't, maybe if I'd known someone else had done it I would have made that leap sooner.

Good luck to those of you who have posted, I hope if you haven't tested yet that you will soon!

For those who like scores, thought I'd post mine in the event it helps someone. On the Kaplan question trainers I got (in order) 63, 63, 58, 53, 61, 70 and 62. My scores for the diagnostic and readiness test were identical, 67%. No qbank score because I didn't utilize it. I did all of the chapters in LaCharity and got (in order) 64, 71, 65, 50, 80, 63, 68, 65, 55, 76, 65, 77, 75, 83, 74, 52. I did the first twelve case studies and got (in order) 90, 88, 80, 75, 40, 69, 70, 47, 43, 47, 50, 45.

We are in the same boat, except for me it's 12 years ago. Graduated BSN, never took the NCLEX (long story - different career path), but have decided that I need to finish this part of my education.

Currently feel Completely Overwhelmed. I have a review book, just ordered Saunders, and may sign up for Kaplan Live review. My concern is that I may have lost too much of the content or the content changed and I am up a creek.

I'll check in on this thread from time to time....

Hi grinder r u from India. message me if you wanna study and share experience.

So I thought I should make my way back to this thread with an update!

Unfortunately, I did not stick with my original plan and test August or Sept of 2009. I tried to stick to my study plan but my motivation ran out. I really really hated Saunders! I know many folks love it, but it just didn't work for me. I intended to get back on track when I posted in July but it never happened and I put things off again.

With the new year, I decided to register for the NCLEX since I could then only put it off a year before I had to take it or lose my money, this was such a good move! I know some of those responding to this thread have been procrastinating just like I did but I really encourage you to at least register so that you can't continue putting it off for years.

In February, I also signed up for the online Kaplan complete course. Again, I'm terrible with studying but I figured if I spent that much money I'd feel compelled to get my money's worth by using it! Sadly, that didn't work out so well but I did find the parts I used to be very helpful! There are videos (and a book) that highlight the content. I only did two chapters but I found it much more tolerable than Saunders and feel like I retained more. I think the question trainers were the absolute most help to me. I also liked the guided review of questions as it helped to have someone explain the answering process each step of the way. I didn't use the qbank at all but if I had been more dedicated I'm sure it would have been great.

I had also purchased the LaCharity book and since it was rather small, decided to try and get through it as well. I managed to finish almost all of it! My scores were all over the place but at least I was working through the book! It's basically short quizzes that focus on priority and delegation so I kept a sheet of paper in the book and when I had fifteen minutes I'd do one. Like others before me, highly recommend this book. I don't think school (and certainly not the real world!) prepare you for these types of questions and they do show up on the exam!

Even though I hadn't been studying like I had planned I decided to just take the NCLEX and be done with it. I had finally hit the point where I was sick of putting it off and worrying about it and had accepted that I was never going to really study the way I planned. I was tired of waiting and the NCLEX was changing April 1 so I scheduled to test March 30th.

I didn't tell anyone except my S.O. and if I could have gotten around telling him I would have! I was prepared to tell people after that I had failed but I didn't want to add any pressure to myself by allowing others to set expectations. Some people may find it inspiring or calming for people to tell you that you'll do great and not to worry because you are smart but I feel like I'd be letting them down if I don't live up to it and eleven years worth of fear and expectation on my part was plenty for me!

Because I live a couple of hours from the test site, we decided to go down the afternoon before so we could relax and I'd have plenty of time to sleep before testing at 730 am. Things being what they are, we ended up leaving much later than we'd planned but were still on track to get there by 8 pm or so. Of course, life never goes according to plan and our car decided that this would be the perfect time to start doing funny things. By the time it died and we had creeped our way to a middle-of-nowhere gas station (that was closed I must add!) it was late. I knew my slim chances of passing were getting slimmer by the minute but it was too late to reschedule the exam and we'd already paid for the hotel. I figured we were out the money whether I went or not and at least I'd have the experience to show for it. I called my sister and she agreed to come get us and drive us the rest of the way. We get to the hotel just after 2 am and make arrangements for a cab to pick me up in the morning and take me to the testing center. I settle in and try to get a few hours sleep.

As if things weren't going bad enough, the cab is late to pick me up! Thankfully I planned to arrive at 730 per the instructions so I manage to arrive just in time for my 8 am appointment. The check in process is a lot longer than I had imagined which gave me plenty of time for nerves to kick in and for me to forget all the stuff I'd attempted to cram into my head that morning as I got ready.

I request earplugs (another good call!) and start the exam. I had not one but two audio questions! One asked me to identify lung sounds and the other gave me a disease and asked me to select the appropriate lung sounds associated with it. The only other alternative format questions I had were SATA and I got 8 of those. There were several questions (4 or 5) on isolation precautions and a significant number (10-15) of priority and delegation questions like what I'd covered in the LaCharity book. By far, the majority of my exam was pharm. This is the area I'd completely avoided in what studying I had done because I knew there was no way I could learn everything so my plan was to focus on other areas and cross my fingers! I had 20 pharm questions (that's right, I counted!), 13 of them related to a specific medication while the others required knowledge of the medication(s) but weren't directly about a single med. The rest of the exam was a mash of "stuff." Some of the diseases were things I'd never even heard of! That morning I had tried to memorize lab values (I know, something simple I should have focused on long before) but I didn't have a single question that required me to recognize an abnormal lab value.

Most people I've known hope for 75 questions, I was hoping to get them all! Just before clicking "next" on the 75th question, I took a breath and crossed my fingers for just one more! When the screen went blue, I was crushed. I knew there was no way I'd passed with that much pharm and only 75 questions. When my S.O. and his parents arrived to pick me up I let them know I hadn't done well. Oddly enough, I didn't feel bad about failing but was a little disappointed that I'd failed in only 75 questions. I knew pharm was going to have to be a priority when I retested but I was still at a loss on how I'd study for it. In a way, I was glad I knew I hadn't passed because I didn't stress out at all about how I'd done. Considering how long I'd been out of school and everything else I had going on I really didn't even feel bad about it. I'm not used to failing so I was a little surprised at how easy I took it.

We dealt with the car situation and got home later that evening. I still had time left on my Kaplan review and decided to reregister to keep what momentum I could muster going for as long as possible with regards to studying. I went to Pearson Vue and was confused when I got the pop-up saying I needed to contact a member of the BON. I thought perhaps I had my pop-ups mixed up and checked the PVT thread, sure enough I had gotten the good pop-up! I couldn't believe it and my S.O. and his parents (the only ones who knew how I'd done) were cautioning me not to get my hopes up but I was as convinced I'd passed when I saw that pop-up as I had been earlier that I'd failed. The next day, my name was on the BON website. A part of me will always kick myself for not testing sooner but I am so happy to be done with it!

My story may not be as inspirational as those who have tested multipe times and kept trying till they finally passed but I wanted to tell it anyway in case there is someone else like me out there. I waited so long, at first because of life circumstances but eventually because of fear and wanting to be "ready." Life is going to keep going by and it is never going to be easier so just do it. For years, friends and family kept telling me to just take the test and not worry about it but I wouldn't, maybe if I'd known someone else had done it I would have made that leap sooner.

Good luck to those of you who have posted, I hope if you haven't tested yet that you will soon!

For those who like scores, thought I'd post mine in the event it helps someone. On the Kaplan question trainers I got (in order) 63, 63, 58, 53, 61, 70 and 62. My scores for the diagnostic and readiness test were identical, 67%. No qbank score because I didn't utilize it. I did all of the chapters in LaCharity and got (in order) 64, 71, 65, 50, 80, 63, 68, 65, 55, 76, 65, 77, 75, 83, 74, 52. I did the first twelve case studies and got (in order) 90, 88, 80, 75, 40, 69, 70, 47, 43, 47, 50, 45.

:yeah::yeah::yeah:

Congratulations! And thanks for sharing your story!!!! I will be taking my test soon.. and I am really nervous.... I know I need to study harder....

On the Kaplan question trainers I got (in order) 63, 63, 58, 53, 61, 70 and 62. My scores for the diagnostic and readiness test were identical, 67%.

Scores were same with me but my readiness is only 59%, but the good thing is i still passed...thanks everyone

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