graduated almost a yr ago & havent taken it!!

seneyka · Mar 25, 2008

Study the areas you're weak at first!

I used Saunder for knowledge questions (side effects of medications, post-op and pre-op...) and Kaplan for strategies (priority, delegation, therapeutic communication, how to eliminate...).

I also studied medication side effects and nx implications from Davis Drug's Guide for Nurses. I started studying 2-3 meds each day.

Tips on studying medication:

1. Learning medication classification and each classification's side effects help faciliate the studying process.

For example, anticholinergic effects on anticholinergic meds also are seen in antidepression meds;

2.How to recognize which med in which classification: -parin (anticoagulants), -ol (beta blockers), -il (ACE inhibitors), -tidine (Ranitidine, Cimetidine- Cimetidine is taken at bedtime once a day, but now is not used often due to its effects on CNS)

Nutrition for pt with certain diseases: Maternal (folic acid, potassium, how many calories to gain during pregnancy/ breastfeeding or those who are under wt/ over wt/ normal wt) , breastfeeding women, infant and children nutrition, Pancreatitis, Crohn's...

Most people I know who used Kaplan passed. One person I know failed who did not use Kaplan and now starts to use Kaplan. Kaplan can be a bit harder then the real NCLEX but that way it makes a bit easier and less tough when really doing it!

The Kaplan NCLEX-PN costed $115 or more when I purchased it Dec 2007. It maybe pricy but is worth it!

Good luck,

onfire4gzuz · Mar 26, 2008

Thank you so much for this info, I will defintely try your strategy, and I wanted to know whats the exact name of the kaplan book you used, I looked up the nclex pn kaplan books and alot of different ones showed up.

seneyka · Mar 26, 2008

One of the books I used is:

Kaplan NCLEX-PN Exam, 2008 Edition

ISBN: 9781419552731

Most Kaplan NCLEX-PN are the same, despite the fact of their covers.

Most of them I know are "Passing Score Guarantee", meaning that if you do not pass, you'll get a full refund! (Buying from a reliable source may be important for this, such as Barnes & Noble). And Remember to register online after purchasing the book so that it's officially recorded for future refund! Besides, you'll get about 20 online questions for free if you purchase the book!

Usually Barnes & Noble has a 30-day refund if you did not enjoy the product! So you can use the online question bank! I think both books and online question banks are good!

Kaplan NCLEX_PN or NCLEX-RN are pretty much the same! I borrowed several of those from a public library (student's budget) and all of them were NCLEX-RN with different covers (the library did not have Kaplan NCLEX-PN)!

NO problem at all! The difference could possibly is the "Delegation" part because of what RN can delegate to LPN (while NCLEX_PN does not have delegation of LPN to RN)!

But the point is that LPN is supposed to only take pt with no critical condition, but only care for the most stable one of all of the answer choices.

And some of the practice questions on the last section of the book are different because of the scope of practice, for example, questions only for RN with IV skill training! But I'd say 75% of them are the same for Kaplan NCLEX-RN or NCLEX-PN!

_______________________

Suzan's plan or so is also a good resource! I've read several posts when I was in the process of waiting for the exam that Suzan's plan includes strategies for people studying for the NCLEX! You'll PM (private messaging) her through this website and ask her how to participate in that process! Her strategies for studying will go together with Saunder NCLEX book!

And I think it's at NO cost! Give it a try!