How to pass NCLEX-RN!

[aipingnurse]

Hi everyone! I just passed my NCLEX-RN a few days ago and thought I'd give you some suggestions and share how I studied and passed with 75 questions! Hope what I say here would put some of you at ease. :)

A little background of myself:

I wasn't the brightest or an A student in nursing school, I am just an average student with some A's and B's as I studied very very hard. I also didn't have much confidence on passing the NCLEX on the first try. I graduated in December and took Kaplan review course in February. Took the NCLEX in April, the computer stopped at 75Q (when it stopped I thought I failed because it was that hard for me).

My Kaplan scores:

With Kaplan, I did as many Q bank questions as I could but didn't manage to finish all (probably did about 80%). My Question Trainer scores:

QT1- 65.3%

QT2- 48%

QT3- 54%

QT4- 52.7%

QT5- 59.3%

QT6- 57%

QT7- 61.1%

Qbank average= 55.29%

(Besides Q bank and Question Trainers, I also did the Qbank sample tests and reviewed them).

What I used to study:

-Kaplan Review book (comes with the course if you sign up with Kaplan)

-Kaplan online resources (Qbank, Question Trainers, Qbank sample test)

-Saunder's review book 5th edition (THIS BOOK IS A NURSING BIBLE!!! If you feel like you need to review content more, this is the review book you need to get! It gives you more depth than Kaplan review book and really aim to master the questions you will see on NCLEX). I didn't read all of it, but just read my weak areas (OB and Peds).

-Davis's Q&A book & CD (the book is thick and only has practice questions in it, pretty great because it has some of the most difficult questions)

-NCLEX 4000 questions (this is also a CD I bought while in nursing school, great practice).

-Mosby's Pharmacology Memory NoteCards (this tiny little booklet is cheap, and has most useful medications you need to know. If you are a visual learner then you'd like this one. It doesn't have all the meds but it provides the most important ones).

How I studied:

I did a concentrated studying for 8 weeks (sun up and sun down). In the morning I would read Kaplan review book in a cafe, review medications, do questions (50-75q each day) in the afternoon, and read Saunder's review book in the evening if I have time. I also wrote down important stuff on Index cards (meds, lab values, any calculation formulas, etc). I studied about 12-14 hrs per day. I know, it's crazy, but now I passed it was all worthy!

My suggestions:

-Sign up with Kaplan review class. It really does help. They have really hard questions just like those on the NCLEX. So I would say sign up with Kaplan review class if you can. I attended classes in person and used the online resources as well. When I took NCLEX I saw some of the most difficult questions...ever! Kaplan and NCLEX questions are very much alike in terms of difficulty level, format, and style. Plus Kaplan teach you some valuable strategies that you could really use on the exam.

-Study your weak areas first. For example, if you are weak at OB, PEDS, PSYCH, MEDS or whatever, study and review those first so later you won't run out of time. I actually started reading my stronger areas and later had to rush to review my weaker areas as time was running out.

-Use as many resources as you can. Don't just use one or two. If you need more content review, read Saunder's and Kaplan review book. They do help!

-Make sure to REVIEW ALL QUESTIONS (even if you got it right). I did and reviewed about 2500 questions prior to taking my NCLEX. I reality I did about 3000-3500 questions (but didn't finish review them all). Try to review the questions you did right away, or on the same day at least.

During my test:

Since I am a super anxious student, the day before the test I was still studying and reviewing questions. I got a bunch of SATA questions (about 22 out of 75!), and as I felt like I was failing, the computer shuts off at 75question! I felt like crying because I didn't know if I passed or not.

Now that I passed with 75Q on my first try, I can say it's the best feeling in the world! So if I could do it so can you! I just studied very very hard, did LOTS OF content review, did about 2500 questions, lost some sleep, and sacrificed my social life. So if you study really hard then you can do it too. Hope this helps! :)

[marinesgirl]

pmed u

[SeattleJess]

Congratulations on a job well done! Thank you for taking time to share your insights and to advise those of us following behind you. I've heard many times that you just don't know how you've done and that's not surprising. After all, the test is designed to keep increasing the difficulty of the questions until they're beyond your ability. You must have zipped over the competency line first thing and bopped around above it through all 75 questions. Nice!

[Mariajasmin]

Congratulations!