My NCLEX journey (or nightmare) started around the beginning of July 2014. I had graduated in may and pushed off my test after various vacations etc. My exam was scheduled for July 11th 2014 and i ended up failing miserably and my test shut off at 190 questions, my friend whom i studied with also had failed at 265 questions. Now i must say we were not informed properly at all on how to study for this test and i had to learn from my own mistakes on what to do in the future to help me pass the second time around. The second time around my exam was scheduled for 9/29/14 and i passed the test EASILY in 75 questions as well as my friend. This forum is to tell you the various information i gained from long nights of research as well as my own personal tools i used to help pass the test. I can honestly say i WISH somebody would have given me this advice the first time i took this torturous test. This also may be the most updated forum, I've only seen forums from beginning of september or late august. BTW. I took the test in BROOKLYN, NY.
I will start off by telling you what i did the first time that i failed and why it DID NOT WORK.
**I USED KAPLAN. i paid $400 DOLLARS for a WASTE OF TIME class and spent hours and hours of time doing USELESS QUESTION TRAINERS--> Kaplan did not prepare me at all, they went over questions the entire class and basically just taught you random facts about diseases etc and showed you how to use a question tree (which does not apply to every question) and also made me get a great deal of questions wrong
**I listened to everybody who said "JUST STUDY BY ANSWERING THOUSANDS OF QUESTIONS, ITS TOO MUCH TO STUDY CONTENT" well. WRONGGG. you NEED to have a background knowledge of content in order to accurately answer questions. Point blank.
**I let my doubt take over me during the test. IF you go in their insecure and doubting yourself, than understand that this will be reflective in your result.
The second time around i was determined to pass and hey, whatever i did worked. The NCLEX the second time was a COMPLETELY difference experience, and WAY easier. I made a 3 week study schedule and it was the perfect amount of time. Now i will share with you what i did, and what you should do too!
**I USED SAUNDERS COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW, 5TH EDITION. i did this book COVER to COVER. Excluding the medication parts at the end of each chapter. I started off by breaking the book into their divided chapters (which i think was a total of 24 chapters) i scheduled 4 chapters a day and completed all 24 sections in 6 days. I would briefly read each assigned section and at the end of each section answer the questions.
**LACHARITYS PRIORITY, DELEGATION AND ASSESSMENT BOOK. These really helped me MASTER those annoying delegation and priority questions the nclex loves. I would do the matching chapters in this book to the chapters i had previously done in saunders. (I.E--> if i studied cardiac, respiratory and GI in saunders, i would then go in and do Cardiac, Resp and GI in lacharity PDA) THIS BOOK IS A NECESSITY.
**LIPPINCOTTS
RN
ALTERNATIVE FORMAT BOOK 5TH EDITION. This helps you get really familiar with the SATA questions that the NCLEX loves. Once again, i would do the same chapters in here that i had previously done in saunders and Lacharitys PDA that same day.
**NCSBN-- THIS WEBSITE WAS EVERYTHING. i don't care what anyone says, this website was most similar to the way the nclex was. I did NOT do the content lectures but instead ONLY used their question banks (1-50). Each question bank has 20 questions and theirs a total of 50 question banks. I believe i did about 40 of these question banks. i did not pass each question bank. some i failed, and some i passed. the point is that The way these questions are worded help your brain to critically think and will BEST help you and familiarize you with how to answer the questions on the NCLEX. **ATI, KAPLAN AND SAUNDERS CD'S questions were all very EASY and not have a similar style to that of the NCLEX.
**YOU NEED TO STUDY THE MAJOR MEDICATIONS. NOT JUST THE ENDINGS. You need to know who not to give meds to, what not to take with certain meds and major side effects of medications. Now I'm not saying to study every med but study the MAJOR meds (i.e BETAS, ACES, ANTIPSYCHOTICS, ANTI DEPRESSIVES, TB MEDS, ANTIBIOTICS, ETC)
**FUNDAMENTALS, FUNDAMENTALS, FUNDAMENTALS. If you know your fundamentals you will pass in 75 questions. I realized the second time around that i didnt even get asked any questions about diseases and rare disorders. If you answer the first 75 questions correctly your test will be all fundamentals, if your getting a lot of questions wrong the test will eventually start going into more complex and in-depth questions (which happened the first time i took the test and failed). Make sure you know infection control, IV therapy, CVC's etc and basic care by the back of your hand before you take the test.
**REMAIN POSITIVE, GO IN THINKING YOU ARE GOING TO PASS. EVEN IF YOU GET OVERWHELMED BY CERTAIN QUESTIONS DONT LET IT BRING YOU DOWN. I wouldn't even let myself think about "what if i fail again" the second time i took the test. Stay positive and believe in yourself no matter how hard your questions are and you will PASS.
So thats it, sorry this was long but i knew after i passed that i had to post on here on what i did because i wished i had read something like this the first time i took the exam. Just trying to help some of you out on what to do if your looking for some advice, tips or guidance:-)
already took the hurst review. everyone is telling me to do kaplan review. i just can't seem to pay that money for only how to answer questions. I failed my NCLEX on the first time. Now, studying to take it a second time. Great thing is i have most of the books u stated!
reeco1
23 Posts
Congrats on passing! What did you use to review fundamentals?