Just got my RN license today, took NCLEX yesterday...so happy to be done. Since I lurked in here for months, I figured I would pay it forward with my 2 cents of advice. Your mileage may vary of course.
- The main point I want to get across is that you can't really "study" for the NCLEX, there is simply too much to remember. Please don't make the mistake of studying for weeks and months on end, you are not going to remember it all, and you are just making it harder on yourself. Definitely review for the exam, but don't make this about trying to learn EVERYTHING, it's not going to happen.
- Whatever review you choose, stick with THAT review. I started studying for the NCLEX back in February (while I was still in school), and in hindsight, there wasn't really any point to it. In all, I did 4 separate reviews, including ATI, Kaplan, NCSBN, and Saunder's. It doesn't really matter which one you pick, just pick the one that works for you. In my case, I found Kaplan and NCSBN to be too "outliney". ATI and Saunder's both had a lot of meat in the review, but they also took longer. Again, what works for me may not work for you. In other words, find one that works, and stick with it.
- FOCUS. Whatever study routine you used while in school, USE THAT HERE. Don't make the mistake I saw many of my classmates make where they would go back to "real life" and then complain about how they never had time. You paid a LOT in money, time, and resources to get this far, don't squander it now.
- BREATHE. The NCLEX isn't nearly as hard as you think it is. If you have done practice questions in ATI, Kaplan, Hurst, Saunder's, etc, you have done NCLEX questions. Don't psych yourself out, it's just another test after all. You've done hundreds of them. Yes, the test will stretch your brain, but only because it's dipping into the entire pool of nursing knowledge, not because it's going to ask you about nuclear physics or something.
- BREATHE AGAIN. I say this again because I know most of you ignored everything I said after it the last time. So I will say it again: It's not as bad as you think it is.
- SMILE. You're almost there...I've had perma-grin since I left the testing center yesterday, and you will too!
I finished with 75 questions in 45 minutes. Questions in myasthenia gravis, OB, cardiac, prioritization and delegation, and infection control mainly. About half were select all that apply. The Saunder's review was in my opinion the best at making me feel prepared for content. The LaCharity book on prioritization and delegation is a MUST HAVE for everyone. The reviews floating around allnurses were nice to have, but in the end useless to me since I never read them.
Hope that helps somebody. Good luck, you nursey type person you! :-)
First of all Congrats on passing. I'm a bit confused because some of the advice seems a bit contradictory...Why say you can't study for the nclex then later identified the completion of 4 reviews and starting studies earlier, like way during in nursing school. Passing on 75 questions in just 45 mins, its obvious you were well prepared based on all the preparations you did.
The main point should be start prep early. I just think it's misleading to tell people its not a big deal when you yourself invented so much into it.
Maybe if you clarify your study habits or give us a bit more input. Thanks.
For nclex we don't have to know everything and never will. The test is designed that way. However, it pays to be well prepared. I just don't want people to think its a breeze because for some it's not.
First of all Congrats on passing. I'm a bit confused because some of the advice seems a bit contradictory...Why say you can't study for the nclex then later identified the completion of 4 reviews and starting studies earlier, like way during in nursing school. Passing on 75 questions in just 45 mins, its obvious you were well prepared based on all the preparations you did.
The main point should be start prep early. I just think it's misleading to tell people its not a big deal when you yourself invented so much into it.
Maybe if you clarify your study habits or give us a bit more input. Thanks.
For nclex we don't have to know everything and never will. The test is designed that way. However, it pays to be well prepared. I just don't want people to think its a breeze because for some it's not.
I can understand why it might sound contradictory, but as I said me doing 4 reviews was pointless in hindsight.
There is a difference between "studying" and "reviewing". The main point I was driving at was that some people seem to make the mistake that they need to "study" for the NCLEX, as in the same kind of studying and cramming like you would do for an exam in school. The NCLEX is testing your ability to think like a nurse, which after years of nursing school I think it's safe to say most of us have developed. I do think it's important to "review" for the exam, and my point was to pick a single source to review from, and to use the same study habits that you used in school while you are doing so. You may be getting hung up on semantics, I am using review and study interchangeably here lol.
And yes, it is possible that the NCLEX was not hard for me BECAUSE I did so much reviewing, but what I was trying to say was I don't think that is the case. I felt pretty comfortable with the content, and I can see where multiple reviews could confuse people. It's basically like buying 4 different GPS apps in order to find directions to the same place. You are going to end up getting to your destination, but you might get 4 different ways to get there, and it's overkill and a waste of time and money. Best analogy I can give there.
And if I gave the impression that I felt the NCLEX is a "breeze" I certainly did not intend to do so. However it's definitely not excruciatingly difficult though (and that's assuming you went through nursing school and had a reasonably complete program to learn from). I clearly remember the Cardiac exam in Concepts II being MUCH harder than the NCLEX heh.
tejuna, thanks for clarifying. I'm rather frank with communication and it may come of as harsh so no offence intended. I myself was stressing out on what review course to use. 95% of my class is doing kaplan and instructors were pressuring me to do it but its simply unaffordable, so I settled on something I could afford. I hope to have a good report once I take the test. My method so far is doing questions and reviewing content but like most it feels like i need to do more. Very good point on sticking with 1 source it is difficult knowing which is right for each person. I like Delmar review content but ncsbn has harder questions so I am using both.
Thank you so much! Just received my ATT this morning and now,i feel like Im cramming..breath breath breath..
anyway,how many hours per day did you study? And is it more on practice questions? Thanks!
A little late answering this, but just noticed it so here it is...I decided in February (while I was still in school) to utilize NCLEX review tactics as a study method for exams in class. For whatever reason this worked very well for me, as my grades went up 10% easily after doing so. I was a bit unique in my class in that I quit my full time job in order to focus on school, so I studied practically every day for 6-12 hours. I carried this over to my NCLEX review over the summer, but I DO NOT recommend you do this. Looking back it was really way too much studying for the exam, almost to the point of being overprepared and burning out.
I think 4-6 hours a day for 4-6 weeks is a realistic amount of time to spend studying for the NCLEX. In fact, if you go to the NCSBN review program, they have example timelines for studying you could follow and I believe they say about the same thing. Obviously for some people even this would be too much, and for others not enough.
The main point is know yourself and how you do things, and make a plan accordingly. There is no "right" or "wrong" way to this, but hopefully some of this information will be of help.
ArrowRN, BSN, RN
4 Articles; 1,153 Posts
First of all Congrats on passing. I'm a bit confused because some of the advice seems a bit contradictory...Why say you can't study for the nclex then later identified the completion of 4 reviews and starting studies earlier, like way during in nursing school. Passing on 75 questions in just 45 mins, its obvious you were well prepared based on all the preparations you did.
The main point should be start prep early. I just think it's misleading to tell people its not a big deal when you yourself invented so much into it.
Maybe if you clarify your study habits or give us a bit more input. Thanks.
For nclex we don't have to know everything and never will. The test is designed that way. However, it pays to be well prepared. I just don't want people to think its a breeze because for some it's not.