Foreign Grad NCLEX Story :D

Miss_corum · Feb 12, 2016

I just found out I passed the NCLEX yesterday! I stopped at 75. I still can't believe it to be honest!! I've had many friends ask me what I did to prepare myself for this test, so I decided that I wanted to give back and share my story :)

Some background information: I was a foreign student. Born and raised in the US and went to nursing school in the Philippines. Why did I do it? Well, the opportunity presented itself and plus, I didn't have to worry about student loans. Anyway, as my sister spcorum1030 said, that's another story!

Here's a link to her NCLEX story BTW.

https://allnurses.com/nclex-discussion-forum/my-nclex-story-908286.html

Anyway, I finally graduated May 2015 and went home to Cali in September of 2015. Some of you may know the story of Cali BON and foreign grads but I don't want to get into that. Just know that I made the decision to move to another state before I even went back. I lived in a foreign country for 4 years, a new state just felt super exciting! Plus I have a ton of friends in Texas. :)

I was VERY intimidated to take the NCLEX. Everyone is. I don't know if I'm the only foreign grad that feels this way, but although the concepts of nursing are the same everywhere, in reality, there are some differences when it came down to school. Even down to the style of studying, exams given, and rationales. I was afraid that me being educated somewhere else would affect my readiness/prep for this test (do I need to study more than a student who graduated here? what do i need to "scrap" out from my long term memory? etc etc). I just felt like I needed to work harder to prove myself. :-/

Now let's get down to the fun part:

Materials used:

Saunders (for like a week)

NCSBN

**Hurst with live review

**UWorld QBank

NCLEX Mastery (on the go, before I went to bed)

Book I will recommend that I never got to use but I wish I did:

Prioritization, Delegation & Assignment- LaCharity

I will only discuss the two sources I used heavily, which is Hurst and UWorld.

From June to December, I decided to have a lighter schedule because of all the waiting I had to do with processing documents. If you're a foreign grad, you feel my pain. Waiting was stressful especially when you want to get your sh*t together as fast as possible. So during this time, I studied with a friend who was prepping for the nclex soon (June-July) with NCSBN and Hurst. NCSBN was great in terms of completeness, everything you need to know is available, just kind of.. boring. But the resources are there, thats the important part! They have plenty of questions but the qbanks aren't customizable. As I got closer to my date, I decided to not go with NCSBN anymore since my friend and I went through all their questions.

I tried to read through Saunders but that was a complete fail. I know its just me because Saunders is a great source, but I can't sit through a book like that.

HURST

When I started reviewing on my own, I ordered Hurst online and live review. HURST is amazing. What I love about Hurst so much is that it makes a perfect bridge from school to review. It fills the gap that we have, and it helps reinforce everything!! Very easy to understand. Hurst also comes with 6 quizzes, 125 questions each. They have many pointers and strategies that will stick to you! Take note I said "reinforce". I've heard some foreign grads say "Hurst is incomplete" or "Hurst doesn't cover this or that"... Its not supposed to cover everything and Aunt Marlene will explain that to you!! What Hurst does cover is everything a "brand new nurse needs to know".. And it will help you answer questions that will make your head tilt. I listened to the audio over and over again for 3 months and attended the live review.

UWORLD

This qbank was reccomended to me by a Clinical instructor. I was very skeptical at first because UWorld didn't sound familiar so I decided to do my research. I did a 1 week trial, loved it so much that I signed up for a month. My review of UWorld will probably sound like everyone else who reviewed it: this was probably the most difficult Qbank I came across. They give plenty of higher level questions: 33% SATA plus tons of drag n drops, hot spots, computations, you name it. The rationales are detailed but very easy to understand. Aside from Hurst, I can honestly say that the rationales from Uworld saved me. Take note: do not freak out if you feel like your scores are low. You aren't the only one from what I've read. I started very low (48%-55%) and it wasn't till the week before my test that I started to score higher (55%-70%). This Qbank looks almost exactly like the NCLEX. I even did a small chuckle when I did my test because it felt like I was on a Uworld qbank.

Schedule:

As soon as I got my ATT I studied Every. Single. Day. I was fortunate enough to be able to not work during this time. I know myself very well: If I had a job, I'd lose focus.

I scheduled my date 1 month and 2 weeks after I got my ATT. I would wake up, eat, go to the gym, eat, study, eat, sleep. Repeat. I took breaks when needed. If I was doing a qbank and I was getting many questions wrong, I knew it was time for a break. I went over my Hurst book 2-3 times in that last month (one topic every few days or so) and started off with 50-75 questions a day. Two weeks before my exam, I increased it to 75-150 questions per day. I also finished my last Hurst quiz. 3 days before I stopped studying, I had a friend hold my Hurst book and quizzed me on it/I explained the topic(s) (which is what Aunt Marlene said you should be able to do! You teach what you know, right?)

What I can give back:

- Coming from a foreign country, YOU have to think NCLEXY!!! Congratulations you passed your Boards in your respective country.. now it is time to scrap that out and enter the wonderful world of the NCLEX. This is major key. This is the NCLEX world. Pay attention to what's on the screen. Don't add to the scenario. Don't over think it. You're a brand new nurse with two weeks of nursing experience according to the computer.

- Processing paperwork takes forever, especially if you're in a state requiring a CES report. Process everything simultaneously. Time your studying. If you know your papers won't be done for another potential 4-6 months, don't burn yourself out by hardcore studying. Start off light..fix your schedule according to where you are in processing. Remember anything can happen too. Paperwork issues etc. Intensify your review as soon as you get your ATT.

- Do not hoard information. Especially meds. Its impossible to know everything and you have no idea what the test will give you. Familiarize yourself with all the basics which will help you answer questions you don't know the answer to. Plus, strategy and critical thinking will kick in.

- Don't study the day before. Do something fun. You deserve it. I found myself slowing down 3 days prior to my date. Like an automatic response. I guess subconciously I was "ready" though I didn't feel like it.

- You will never feel ready.

- Sleep early. Be healthy.

- Last but not least, don't forget to pray :)

I hope this post helps other new grads who were in a similar situation as me. We've all been through it. Trust yourself. Keep grinding. This is only the beginning. Study well. Breathe. Pray.