Finally an RN!!! 2 and 1/2 years out of school and 3 trys at NCLEX

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Hi all,

Sorry it took me so long to come back on here and write about my testing experience. I took my test last week Thursday Aug 16th. I came home and did the PVT to find that my results were on hold. The hold lifted and I finally got my results, via quick results, on Sunday evening stating I passed! I have had family here from out of state so it has been hard to find a moment to get away to write this for you all.

I just want to say a quick thank you to all of you who prayed for me and wrote encouraging words. It really means a lot. I also want to thank everyone who shared their experience with all of us here. I always enjoyed reading how people passed. I probably would not have found all the recourses that helped me pass if I had not found allnurses. Thank you all so very much!

Alright! Lets get down to the nitty gritty of why you are really reading this. How did I study to pass?

I have to start out by saying that praying was the number one reason I passed. Yes, I put in a lot of time and hard work that I absolutely could not have passed without. However, I know I would have been lacking the strength to study as much as I did with out my prayers being answered. I prayed every single day to God, Jesus, St. Jude, and St Joseph. The biggest things that I prayed for was to have the strength to keep on studying, to learn (not just memorize) the things that I need to know in order to be a good nurse and to pass this test, and to understand how to properly answer questions the way NCLEX wants me to answer them. I truly believe that I was guided while studying and taking this test.

Here are the resources I found helpful:

Hurst online review: I loved this! I owe much of my success to Hurst. I would recommend this to anyone who needs a brush up on content. You really do need to understand all of this information inside and out. I feel it is important to understand the "whys" of the way things work. Understanding the patho of things is the foundation to your critical thinking.

Is everything that you see on your NCLEX going to be discussed in Hurst? Nope. I was able to answer many of my questions based on my knowledge from Hurst though. Lets be honest, you are not going to know everything that they test you on. There is bound to be a couple questions where you say "oh man I wish I looked that up" or "I have never even heard of that!"

If you have been out of school for sometime or just need to reorganize content in your head I highly recommend this.

Exam Cram- I used this along with Hurst for content. It did go over a few topics in content that Hurst did not touch. It was a nice informative brief review. Im glad I had this book.

LaCharity-very important book to have. This will teach you how to answer those PDA questions. Trust me....you WILL have those kinds of questions, and you want those kinds of questions because they are in the passing range.

Lippincott's NCLEX-RN alternate-Format questions 4th ed (I think there is a newer version of this)- I really liked this book because it helped me become more comfortable with those dreaded SATA questions.

NCSBN-RN learning extension- I ordered the 3 week course just for the questions. I did not do any of the review. I did find this helpful as the questions were similar to the actual NCLEX. I wish the rationales would have been a little more in-depth than what they were though.

Kaplan test taking strategies 2012-2013 book. It is a good book to help one understand how they want you to answer questions on NCLEX. It really breaks down the way you should think through the question and its answers. I know it got me to stop at least one or two bad habits that I had while answering questions. I did not bother with the review portion of this book as it really seemed like it was not all that informative in that area. I just did the questions. The rationales to their questions are great!

I put some post-it notes up in certain areas of the house. I put lab values on them that I could not remember, labs that needed to be drawn for certain drugs (i.e. for coumadin you need PT, INR; Fibrinolytics you need aPTT, PT, HCT, and fibrinogen level), or such things as the antidotes for certain drugs. Basically just some small things that need to be memorized but I was having trouble with sticking in my brain. This really helped because I had no choice but to see them a couple times a day and these things eventually became ingrained in my head.

For infection control, I made my own little table that included the pneumonics, and how to take care of pts on each specific precaution. Some times I just need to see things in a neat and organized manner in order for me to remember it. It really helped me remember everything that you need to know to remember infection control. I have it attached at the bottom and hope everyone else finds it helpful.

As far as my study schedule went, I studied for 12 weeks 5-6 days a week for 4-12 hours a day. I made sure to exercise at least 5 days a week. This really helped with the stress and allowed me to focus more.

If my brain started to feel fried I put down the books and made plans to do something. There was no point in studying if I was just "going through the motions" and not retaining anything. Trust me, you can try and force your self to sit there and study, but when your brain says "no I cant learn anything more right now", it means no lol It is just not worth the wasted time and stress. Im not saying take a week off of studying-but if you need a couple hours to a day or two take it! It will be worth it in the end. When I came back to the books I felt rejuvenated and ready to go at it again.

As you see I used multiple study resources. Some people say this is not good to do. It worked for me though. However, I did not press my self to finish all of it. The only thing I made sure that I finished in its entirety was Husrt. Everything else was just to complement it. I started out by listening to all of the Hurst videos and filling in all of the papers that came with it. I then went back and studied each section individually. After felling comfortable with a section I would do questions from LaCharity and Lippincot that pertained to that particular content area. I also went over that same content area in exam cram. If I was having a moment where I felt like I was not learning anything, I switched my study method before I decided to take a break and go do something. For instance; if I was having problems focusing on reading I would try answering questions or listening to a lecture. If I still was having problems focusing I would then walk away from the studies. I wanted to exhaust all options before I threw in the towel.

In the end, what I think really matters when studying for this test is knowing your content first, and then once you have that down move on to answering questions. Make sure you understand how NCLEX wants you to answer their questions. You are going to see many questions where multiple answers are correct. Because of this you need to understand why one answer is better than the others.

Sorry for such a long post. I hope this helps some people out. Best wishes to all of you taking your test. My thoughts and prayers are with you. You can do this!!! It took me 3 tries but I finally made it. If I can do it so can all of you!!! If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask. I would love to help you all out in passing this test in any way that I can.

Infection control my take.docx

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hi first of all congrats :yelclap::yelclap::yelclap:,u did great job and than thanks for ur table thats reallt helpfull.... thanks for your post ....... thats what exactly in my mind that we need to know the content before questionss...

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Congratulations!!!

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Thank you for the tips and words of encouragement. Congratulations and may GODbless you!

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Specializes in Neuro ICU/Trauma/Emergency.

Congratulations!

tries not trys!

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congrats! just took the exam tday for the first time and im pretty sure i passed. i was out of school for 1 year now, coz i had a baby. took my first try last April and my experience was a disaster! took it again today and im pretty sure i passed (had 75 questions and PVT gave me a good pop up, and i just felt good about the exam overall) anyway hardwork do pay off!

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oh and did u ever find out why ur results were "on hold"?

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Specializes in Trauma, ER, ICU, CCU, PACU, GI, Cardiology, OR.

Congratulations on your latest accomplishment, as i wish you the best in all of your future endeavors... Aloha~

dancing_heroes.gif

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CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

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Congratulations! YOU did it!!!

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oh and did u ever find out why ur results were "on hold"?

Im not too sure why they were on hold. It could be because my palm did not scan correctly when i came back in from a break. They may of just did a random audit though. Not too sure.....

Congrats to you too!!!! If you got the good pop up that means you passed!!:w00t:

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Thank you all so much!! :nurse:

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