I'm Freaking OUT

Nurses New Nurse

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Hey guys I'm new to the forum and a new grad. I had one a month and a half to study for boards and I'm taking Kaplan. I have 9 days til my NCLEX and I've been getting like 53-59% on my tests in the QBank and Question Trainers.

I'm freaking out because Kaplan says 65% is passing and as you might be able to tell I'm doing pretty bad. I'm worried because everyone else is getting mid 60's and I'm not. I'm so worried. I just want to know how any of you guys did on Kaplan, and maybe if you can give me some words of encouragement, because even if I do have hope of passing my stress level due to worrying might ruin my chance by making my brain malfunction because I am freaking out. I am so scared, you guys, I don't know what to do.

Please help and advise.

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Specializes in PEDS ~ PP ~ NNB & LII Nursery.

Get your hands on this book: NCLEX-RN Exam Cram. It is an easy book to read and comes in both a review format and a Q&A only book. I just had the review book and it costs somewhere around $30-$35. I bought mine at Hastings but am sure you can find it at B&N or Amazon. Possibly even Ebay or Half.com.

I didn't do well on the Kaplan (only had the book) questions until AFTER I used this book. I ended up improving my overall scores from the mid to low 60's to the high 70's or 80's. I bought the Exam Cram book after I failed the NCLEX the 2nd time. I used it with Kaplan and the Saunders review books. You don't have time for the Saunders book to be of much use to you but trust me the Exam Cram will help! Don't panic!!! My husband always scored higher on the practice questions we would do together so I made him quit answering them with me! The turd... it made me realize though that I was way over thinking the questions. Exam Cram is wonderful for giving a little bit of pertinant information about everything as well as giving you an easy to remember layout of that information. It has a wonderful pull out study sheet/card and I also loved the CD. I think I read the chapt. on pharmacology something like 3 times because it was my difficult topic.

I ended up passing the NCLEX on attemp #3 with 75 questions.

Good luck and if you find yourself losing focus during the test take a break to regroup. I found that was very important. I also took a laptop with me the night before (stayed in a hotel) and did nothing but search ebay and play FreeCell. It was a wonderful diversion because other wise I know I would have studied and at that point, you have already prepaired for that test date as much as you are going to so do something to relax your mind and keep it fresh for the day before!

Also, eat fish the night before and take chocolate to eat during your breaks. ;)

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I took Kaplan when I studied for the boards and the highest I ever got on the question trainers was a 63. I passed NCLEX the first time with 75 questions. The questions are really hard, but they are pretty good in practicing critical thinking type questions.

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Thanks guys, I'm going to get that book, rags, and thanks Lena, I appreciate it :)

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I posted these awesome NCLEX tips. You can check em out.

That's if I copied this right...

Studying for NCLEX? Very helpful tips

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