First post, but...

[Heather, R.N.]

I just wanted to come on here and say "hi" and tell everyone I found out yesterday that I passed the NCLEX! I have a 5-year-old and an 8-month-old, took it 9 months after graduating, and was sick with a fever, SO... If anyone needs any advice or help, I have plenty to offer! I have a few good study tricks that really paid off! Good luck and lots of prayers to everyone getting ready to take it!!

[heatherp75]

from one heather rn to another, :welcome: and congratulations!! :balloons: :balloons: what a fantastic feeling, huh!? i just found out this morning that i also passed, and when i saw your post i had to stop and think "wow, did i change my username already?" :chuckle i really admire you for studying and taking the nclex so long after graduating and having little ones at home! that is really a testiment as to the kind of nurse that you are!! i hope you continue to celebrate!! and again, welcome to this fantastic board!!!

~heatherp75, rn!!

[Heather, R.N.]

Aw! Thank you so much and congratulations to you as well!!! How cute- twinkies!! :)

[loubio]

hi heatherrn,

i was already getting confused of the 2 heathers here...hehehe i thought indeed heather75 had changed her nick to heatherrn..lol anyways, any advice you can give to someone who will take the boards 10 days from now..i know i can still do so much with that amount of time. but i have to use that remaining time smartly..so any suggestions? any last minute tips on what to study???i have done kaplan trainer and have been scoring on the low 60's, also studied saunders for content.

[Heather, R.N.]

Sure! I didn't use a Kaplan program, but I didn't alternate between 2 books: Saunders and Kaplan's course book (borrowed). I really had to budget my time the few weeks before the test because my entire family was sick and our house was for sale and had around 7,000 showings (lol). So, every day I sat down and read or did questions from a chapter in Saunders. I focused on material I didn't feel confident in and for that material, I took notes. I also reread the same material in the Kaplan book. If I felt confident, I skimmed the chapter beforehand or just did the questions. I also read the rationales for every answer. This seriously, literally helped me out on the test. I would only study for 30-45 minutes at a time and then take an hour or two break. Another thing that helped me was to have a Mosby's dictionary with me and any diagram- GI, CV, etc. (Even if I had to draw it myself.) I have a little spiral called "RNotes" that I carried around and skimmed all day (while cooking, riding in the car, cleaning, in the bathroom- and I mean in the bathroom, lol). Little chunks is more important than trying to do it all in one sitting. With ten days left, I would say you should probably just try to focus most on what you aren't confident in. If I can do it, you'll do JUST FINE!

[Heather, R.N.]

Oops! I *did* alternate...

[DolphinRN84, MSN, RN, APRN, NP]

Congratulations Heather!!! Wow...2 Heathers who passed the NCLEX in one day!!! Hehehe :)