How I passed the Nclex the first time with 75 questions

Published

I was a nervous wreck. I completely get it. You and I have a lot in common. I studied hard all the way through nursing school, and when the time came around to take the NCLEX, I felt like a deer in headlights. If I can do it, so can you.

The only materials I personally used for the nclex and my opinion on them:

1) Saunders comprehensive review 5th edition. I read everything and paced myself within 6 weeks. This book gave me a very good refresher on the topics I learned in nursing school. As I read and highlighted important information, it slowly came back to me. Overall, I wouldn't read the whole book like I did because I feel that practicing questions and taking notes on rationale helped me the most since you learn along the way. This was a great resource to have especially if you feel like you need a refresher.

2) nclex mastery app - I didn't use this as much as I should have. It was something to use here and there. Not religiously. It isn't a necessary must have. But it was a good app to practice questions and learn rationale.

3) Kaplan q bank - personally, I think the q bank, question trainers 1-7, the RN diagnostic and readiness test helped me the most. I did all of the questions and took notes on the rationale. Anything pharmacology related and lab value related, I put a star next to so that I can quickly review it the night before. My grades varied but I still have access to my grades if they are curious but I was hitting above 60s

4) u world - I really loved u world. I personally think this resource as well helped me pass. The rationale are better than Kaplan but I think the nclex resembled Kaplan questions more than uworld. I can't explain it further but uworld is very specific. If I can rank my nclex test from easy to hardest compared to Kaplan and uworld, it would be (nclex, Kaplan, u world!). I also took notes on my rationale by was unfortunate to not be able to finish all of the questions. I did about 900 or so. The select all that apply are somewhat similar to The nclex select all that apply. They were not as bad as I thought! I was scoring mid 50s-early 60s on uworld

overall, I finished with 75 questions and literally walked out smiling because I knew I passed. I had two or maybe three glasses of white wine the night before to help with the anxiety and slept like a baby. The next morning I felt ready and confident in myself. Overall, I personally thought my nclex exam was easy because I gave myself 6 weeks to prepare. The sooner you take it after graduating, the better you feel and the more that you remember.

i hope this helps anyone who is stressing out.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in BSN, RN-BC, NREMT, EMT-P, TCRN.
I was a nervous wreck. I completely get it. You and I have a lot in common. I studied hard all the way through nursing school, and when the time came around to take the NCLEX, I felt like a deer in headlights. If I can do it, so can you.

The only materials I personally used for the nclex and my opinion on them:

1) Saunders comprehensive review 5th edition. I read everything and paced myself within 6 weeks. This book gave me a very good refresher on the topics I learned in nursing school. As I read and highlighted important information, it slowly came back to me. Overall, I wouldn't read the whole book like I did because I feel that practicing questions and taking notes on rationale helped me the most since you learn along the way. This was a great resource to have especially if you feel like you need a refresher.

2) nclex mastery app - I didn't use this as much as I should have. It was something to use here and there. Not religiously. It isn't a necessary must have. But it was a good app to practice questions and learn rationale.

3) Kaplan q bank - personally, I think the q bank, question trainers 1-7, the RN diagnostic and readiness test helped me the most. I did all of the questions and took notes on the rationale. Anything pharmacology related and lab value related, I put a star next to so that I can quickly review it the night before. My grades varied but I still have access to my grades if they are curious but I was hitting above 60s

4) u world - I really loved u world. I personally think this resource as well helped me pass. The rationale are better than Kaplan but I think the nclex resembled Kaplan questions more than uworld. I can't explain it further but uworld is very specific. If I can rank my nclex test from easy to hardest compared to Kaplan and uworld, it would be (nclex, Kaplan, u world!). I also took notes on my rationale by was unfortunate to not be able to finish all of the questions. I did about 900 or so. The select all that apply are somewhat similar to The nclex select all that apply. They were not as bad as I thought! I was scoring mid 50s-early 60s on uworld

overall, I finished with 75 questions and literally walked out smiling because I knew I passed. I had two or maybe three glasses of white wine the night before to help with the anxiety and slept like a baby. The next morning I felt ready and confident in myself. Overall, I personally thought my nclex exam was easy because I gave myself 6 weeks to prepare. The sooner you take it after graduating, the better you feel and the more that you remember.

i hope this helps anyone who is stressing out.

I'd have to say with doing four programs you might have been a bit stressed out![emoji13] [emoji12] [emoji1]

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I was very stressed! Lol, but if I can't do it all over. I would do sainders with Kaplan or Saunders with uworld!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Moved to the NCLEX forum

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Congrats!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion