Hurst Review Opinion?

k&m_chitown · May 8, 2015

I attended Hurst live review and loved it! But mind you, I did not use Hurst alone. I also did Kaplan, PDA by LaCharity, Saunders, Lippincott alternate format questions and NCLEX 3500. I read Saunders, Kaplan book, Lippincott and LaCharity from cover to cover. Did 6,633 practice questions in the span of 2 months. I liked Hurst, but they only tackle the usual disorders (DM, Glumerulonephritis, CVA, etc.) You will have to do your own share of readings for in-depth discussion of other unusual diseases.

Some people pass using Hurst and some don't. It all boils down to the person who will be taking the exam and how much knowledge that person has retained. I passed NCLEX-RN on the first try. Did Hurst help me pass nclex? Yes. But a lot of review materials helped me too.

jarielle22 · May 10, 2015

Would using hurst and my NCLEX book together help without those other resources you spoke about?

Everline · May 11, 2015

I watched the Hurst videos and did the worksheets but did not do the practice tests. I passed NCLEX in 75 questions. But I also used Kaplan (did live review and all the test banks and trainers, but not much of the content videos). AND I used NCSBN (went through all the content outlines and did most of the question banks). I did not use any NCLEX study books at all.

I suspect I over studied and, like some of my classmates, could have passed the NCLEX straight out of school without prep, as I did very well on the HESI and had done thousands of practice questions throughout nursing school. But I was very anxious and wanted to reduce any chance that I might have to take the test a second time.

My opinion is that Hurst is great for content. I did not do everything they suggested, though. I mainly reviewed all of the videos.

Kaplan gave me practice in understanding what NCLEX is "looking for" and breaking down questions. It helped me make good decisions once I was down to 2 answers. It also made me comfortable with the look/format of the NCLEX because it basically looks like the real thing. But I did not find Kaplan helpful for content.

NCSBN was tedious on the content but I liked the test banks and felt it was worth the price.

Speaking of cost, I was fortunate to have great discounts and people generously helping me. If I had to choose between the programs and was focusing on content mostly, I would choose Hurst.

Best wishes!

rb18 · May 11, 2015

You need to know content in order to pass NCLEX. I used Hurst for content and it helped me pass. I used NCSBN, Kaplan, Saunders for questions and references that Hurst did not provide. Best of luck!

melorn · May 11, 2015

Suggestions needed: I am thinking to purchase Virtual ATI.

Plz suggest me..

jarielle22 · May 13, 2015

Awesome thank you so much!!!!

letmebeanurseee · May 13, 2015

I LOVED the Kaplan Qbank/Trainers for critical thinking questions and test-taking strategies to help pick the BEST answer.

imaltes1983 · Aug 1, 2015

I took NCLEX in July 2015 and passed with 75 questions on the first attempt. I took the Hurst review and I must say it was extremely informative. I definitely learned a lot from just the review. I wish my nursing school taught the same way Hurst does. I would absolutely recommend them to everyone.

UKtoTX · Aug 13, 2015

FOR ALL THOSE TRYING TO STUDY FOR THE NCLEX AND ESPECIALLY FOREIGN-EDUCATED NURSES TRYING TO GET A HANDLE ON THE NCLEX, HERE IS HOW STUDIED AND PASSED FIRST TIME WITH 78 QUESTIONS.

I am a UK-educated RN who took an online HURST Review this past July 2015 and passed my NCLEX with 78 questions on first attempt this August 2015. I am so proud =) HURST was undoubtedly an indispensable part of my achieving this goal. I would like to encourage NCLEX takers who use HURST to fully commit to the HURST review philosophy of learning the HURST content thoroughly "without doubt and without hesitation" and honing critical thinking skills. You cannot possibly memorize everything, so I agree with HURST that is better to have a solid core of knowledge than to try to know everything, and to use carefully practiced judgement to decide questions where you do not know the content. Questions came up in this exam that concerned diseases/situations I had barely knew about and I had to have strategies to help me work out those questions; strategies like "acute vs chronic" and "pick the killer" answer. HURST content and strategy will help you in this regard.

The only slight variant on that advice I would like to leave here is for nurses like myself who did not train in the USA.

For all y'all FENs out there ;0) please remember that reviews like HURST are as the word makes clear - REVIEWS. They assume that a reviewer will be a US nursing school graduate who has covered the US nursing curriculum in-depth at some time in the past. Therefore if there are areas, say for example OB, that you maybe covered only minimally in your foreign nursing education, you may need to allot some study time and a denser textbook to give yourself a more thorough grounding. Some questions - especially SATAs - can be very hard to get right if you don't have this grounding. That is just my opinion for FEN NCLEX takers. Core content teaching is great to help you focus when you have studied nursing at a US nursing school, but it may leave you without "the bigger picture" in a subject, if you have barely covered that subject before at all. Just bare that in mind when planning your study time.

I work full-time in ICU so committing time was hard. I would say I needed about 3 months, with at least two full weeks of that period devoted to NCLEX. I studied the HURST review and did 3 out of 6 of the Q-tests, which I found of equivalent difficulty to the NCLEX. I bought the HURST book and studied and wrote in it until it was practically falling apart. I supplemented this with the Prentice Hall series, LaCharity's Prioritization, Delegation and Assignment (if you're acing this I think you're well on your way) and the Lippincott's Alternative Format Q's book. Also liked Davis (it had very challenging questions that I found far harder than NCLEX). I did not, however, take to Kaplan - each to their own, eh.

beautiiRN2b · Sep 22, 2015

anyone have the link for the old hurst videos?

amandavlr · Nov 6, 2015

I passed NCLEX first time - 75 questions - I recommend HURST - just really KNOW the material.

I also used Saunders and NCLEX Mastery - Good luck!

Natasha A., CNA, LVN · Nov 6, 2015

Hey if anyone with hurst review want to study together, please let me know. I will be getting it next week and seeking a study partner with hurst review videos already. Thanks