Did you pass the NCLEX RN?

schnookimz · Feb 26, 2014

Your poll doesn't have many options. It doesn't fit me at all.

I did not do tons of questions while in school. I also did not do tons of questions to study for nclex. I passed in 75 questions.

PayitForwardHolistic · Feb 26, 2014

Thank you for your reply @schnookimz...

May I ask, Did you prepare for the NCLEX RN using the same methods you used to prepare for Nursing school exams?

Any insight and/or advise for new grads?

As I mentioned in my original post, I studied using detailed notes (compiled from lectures and textbooks). I hardly did practice NCLEX questions to prepare for exams. However, unlike school exams where info is limited to specific topics...everywhere I read suggests there no possible way to know "everything" for the actual NCLEX. To my understanding,this is one possible reason many practice a ton of questions.

I am currently completing ALL of Kaplan (qbanks and Qtrainers) and taking notes on ALL rationales (correct and incorrect).... I guess, you could say, I am trying to incorporate my method of note taking with the suggestive methods of practicing questions....

I feel torn and am anxious about where to focus the majority of my time. I look forward to your response and CONGRATZ on your success!!

ProudMom511 · Feb 27, 2014

"I am currently completing ALL of Kaplan (qbanks and Qtrainers) and taking notes on ALL rationales (correct and incorrect).... I guess, you could say, I am trying to incorporate my method of note taking with the suggestive methods of practicing questions...."

Personally, that's what worked for me..Got the good popup with 75Q

LVHI_RN · Feb 27, 2014

The way I studied for the NCLEX was a lot different than my method for nursing school exams. There really is no right/wrong way to study for the NCLEX because it's completely unpredictable. It's a good idea to tailor your study habits to you as an individual.

BUT I strongly believe that just doing as many questions as possible will help you to be successful. Understand the rationale, not memorize. If there was something you didn't understand, look it up. Along with this, I would strongly advise going over test-taking strategies (like Kaplan & Saunders).

StarBrownRN · Feb 27, 2014

I was able to do Kaplan and ATI, due to the generosity of others. And that was the only reason I accessed them; however, after doing Kaplan I realized something. I didn't know what I didn't know. Kaplan opened me up to content that I'd never heard (or didn't remember hearing). The Question Trainers and QBank were also good because it challenged what I knew, and the rationales came from different perspectives. I tried to do about a 150 questions a day, but it didn't work out like that. In school, a lot of the rationales we were given for things were sort of "filtered" through the instructors previous experiences. And I'd used Saunders in school, so using it for NCLEX was not going to prepare me enough--it was good for reinforcement, but not as a sole source. So, when I took NCLEX last week I was shocked (and relieved) by how it looked just like Kaplan. I thought the questions I was getting were the easier questions and I was sure I had fallen below the passing standard and when the test ended at 75 questions, I thought I'd failed. I actually passed.