I finished nursing school in December 2015. I was a A-B+ ,through nursing school. I scheduled my test day for 2-12. I have to be honest,I didn't dedicated as much time as I should to my studies.
I studied Saunders, Kaplan, UWorld and Nclex Mastery app. I think I did around 700 questions maybe before my test. I know not a lot. I also read like 125 pages from Hurst review.
I do work full time and long hours, sometimes 10-12 hr a day. I knew when my test shut off at 75 questions , that I failed. I was devastated the whole weekend. Checking the Pearson quick results and seeing the word FAIL was horrible.
I already submitted my re application again (I mean I mailed Fed Ex) and I also paid Pearson again.
This time I have a study plan of 45 days, with one day off from studying. Basically studying Monday/Thursday, Friday night off. Study,Saturday with Sunday off.
I am trying to do 100-150 questions a day, plus a refresher on some content. I am planning on using, Uworld, Exam Cram, La Charity and Kaplan.
Please let me know what do you think.. Any advice?
I agree with the other posters about treating NCLEX studying like your job. Even on of my co-workers, a nurse, was surprised that I was working long hours as a CNA (got to pay the rent). She said not only did I have to be mentally prepared but physically prepared, as well. Not just on the day of the test, but for the days you studied for it.
I would wait until you get your report to see which areas that you need to put more emphasis on. Your plan looks pretty sound. Good luck!
Remember that the NCLEX isn't a test of how many details you know about every health condition. The NCLEX is a test of how SAFE you are as a nurse. That explains why a person can get all A's in class and perform poorly on the NCLEX. The point is to see if you are safe to be out in the world practicing nursing. The test purpose is to protect the public. Therefore, the resources you use to practice are of little import without understanding patient safety concepts.
When you are trying to pick the most right out of 4 right answers, you have to gauge your options by A-B-C-Maslow. So, if the options you have are 2 physical options, 1 emotional option, and one social option, you are going to try to identify which of the 2 physical options is the most right, and judge that by ABC.
When you're studying with whatever resource you choose, and you're reading the rationales, use the A-B-C-Maslow framework and see if you can identify the patterns in the questions, and the patterns of how you go about making your choices.
Suppose you are a homecare nurse and you are equal distances from 4 patients you need to visit. One patient reports they wish they were dead, they just can't cope with the loss of their significant other. Patient 2's oxygen has fallen onto the floor. Patient 3 has reported a stool with a moderate amount of bright red blood. Patient 4 has a wound that has saturated the dressing with sanguinous drainage. You need to start driving now. In what order are you going to make your visits?
hmm thats such a difficult scenario to prioritize.. if i were to guess
Pt1 first due to suicidal ideation, Pt3 next because possible for hemorrhaging , then pt2 , and last pt4 cus sanguinous drainage is common with wounds.
Based on ABCs i would asses the pt with low O2, and further assess for SOB, skin temp/color, etc... Next i would asses pt with sanguinous drainage which indicates active bleeding and dressing is saturated so may not be a normal finding...next i would check i would follow up on a suicidal pt (didn't state pt actually had access to weapon... But pt is still in POTENTIAL danger) then lastly pt with 3 reported bright red stool, bright red stool indicates rectal bleeding in MODERATE amounts... So not life threatening?... Would like to know the answer to this. My test is tomorrow and I'm going crazy lol
I also worked 4 sometimes 5 days a week and mostly used Uworld... I really think that Uworld is the best NCLEX resource out there, I've used Kaplan Qbank and did all the questions and didn't think that it helped much, their rationals were not good also and questions were tricky.... Uworlds question really hard and from what I've heard they're the closest to NCLEX. The rationals are also great and lots of SATA. After i finished all the Uworld questions i decided to try Kaplan again to see where I stand and my oh my Kaplan questions seemed much easier, i was averaging 60-70%
If you have time, i think you should try both, maybe do Uworld first then Kaplan. I test tomorrow so we'll see how it goes..
I've used Kaplan Qbank and did all the questions and didn't think that it helped much, their rationals were not good also and questions were tricky.... Uworlds question really hard and from what I've heard they're the closest to NCLEX. The rationals are also great and lots of SATA. After i finished all the Uworld questions i decided to try Kaplan again to see where I stand and my oh my Kaplan questions seemed much easier, i was averaging 60-70%....
I agree, I used Saunders/Kaplan on my first attempt and failed. My scores for the Kaplan Qbank: average 65% and Q-trainers 61%. My exam went on to 265 questions with CPR results - 1 above passing, 1 below passing, the rest near passing.....I felt Kaplan just isn't enough in my personal experience. The Saunders questions were comically easy.
I will be taking my 2nd NCLEX attempt in a few weeks. I've been doing a couple of intensive months grinding away at UWorld Qbank and PDA. After being immured in my bedroom for a long time and staring endless hours at my laptop, I decide to a break and went out to have brunch with my sister. We went to Starbucks/Barnes & Nobles after brunch. While there, my mind still in NCLEX mode, I did some practice questions on the Kaplan 2016 premier book.....Oh my goodness! The Kaplan questions (after doing UWorld/PDA) were now incredibly easy.....I was scoring 90% on the exams at the back of the book effortlessly. I've already memorized their entire Kaplan Qbank. What was once challenging had now also turned comically easy as well.
So please, don't make the mistake of doing Kaplan. I know many swear by it. In my personal and humble opinion, Kaplan is too easy and go the harder route with UWorld. The questions and rationales deliver content and helps you think critically.
I first started off with 3 other study materials then the last 3 weeks I focused solely on uworld. The rationales are excellent. Go over every question take time to read why the questions were correct or incorrect. Sometimes I just did 5 - 20 questions a day but I read them over and over again. Then I retested with questions I got wrong a couple of days later.
I passed my Nclex RN exam after multiple attempts. I would highly recommened saunders, prentice hall and Nclex mastry. I have some notes that had been sent to me, if you would like to study. Send me your e-mail address.
arianiy12
13 Posts
I_Am_Blessed
Thanks so much for your advice
I'll see what I can do about more time to study