I hate the NCLEX-RN Exam

HM2VikingRN, RN · May 18, 2008

Suzanne4 has a great study plan using Saunders.

I followed her plan and it worked.

I passed with 75 questions. I also walked out scratching my head after the test.

Tait nailed it with her answer.

The other key is to put your patient care hat on.

Be prepared to answer alternate format questions.

Jules A, MSN · May 18, 2008

I did not take the course, but the main things I went into the test with were:
1) ABC's first ALWAYS
2) Peds are basically the same in the questions as adults (ABC's first/Mazlowe etc)
3) Pain is psychological
4) Take the scenario, stand at the bedside in your mind and pretend you have to explain to the patient why you made the decision.
Tait

Yes and if cigarette smoking is one of the answers pick it because it seems that all health problems are a direct result of smoking. :clown:

Edited to add: I'm being tongue in cheek, kind of. :)

BookwormRN · May 19, 2008

I feel for you! I find it very frustrating that your nursing school test questions did not prepare you for the NCLEX exam.

At our school, all of the exam questions-from day one!-were formatted like an NCLEX test. We discovered that the instructors even took some of the questions directly from Kaplan, Saunders, etc...

(I guess that explains why our school has the highest pass rate in the state?)

Good luck-do your questions every day. It really does help, even if it does feel like over kill.

KarynicaRN · May 19, 2008

i took the nclex-rn exam 12 years ago and it was a nightmare. i had to go through all 265 questions and i was literally wishing i could just turn off the computer and walk out!. when i had taken my lpn exam the computer stopped at 85 questions and i passed, but when this computer kept going and going, i was tired! i did pass, but not until 2 weeks of waiting for the letter to come in the mail.

it seemed all my questions were on juvenile diabetes. i was not prepared for that. also many questions on ob.

i wish i could help you in some way. maybe the kaplan program will help. maybe preparing with some of the online test questions too? maybe testing in areas of a little bit of each subject?

i wish you luck on your next test.

anonymurse · May 19, 2008

I just found out today that I failed the NCLEX-RN exam for the second time now. The first time I took the test I answered 126 questions before the computer shut off. When I got the news that I failed I was devastated. I told myself that I would study harder, which I did. Unfortunately, that did not work either. I just took the exam for the second time on Wed. and answered 265, thats right 265 questions! The maximum amount possible. I found out today that I did not pass. I am totally frustrated and I don't know what I have to do to pass this nightmare we call the NCLEX-RN. I don't get it, I was a great student in nursing school, received good grades on all exams. I just needed to vent. If someone could give me any advice I would appreciate it. I just enrolled in the Kaplan Program because a bunch of my classmates were able to pass the test after taking the Kaplan class. Hopefully that works.

Congratulations, you did better the second time! Loved the Kaplan. Did everything they said, including sticking to my suggested timeframe and NOT looking at any test prep materials EXCEPT Kaplan (imagine being a football player and having more than one coach to listen to during a big game). Get back on that horse and ride it!

ann945n, RN · May 19, 2008

Reach out to your nursing program. Talk to your instructors and get some support and advice there. Im sure they will be willing to work with you (granted if your school wasnt hell on earth). Our instructors really stressed that if we didnt pass come and talk to them to develop a study plan to pass. Your school has something in it as well as they are tracked by how many of their grads pass the test. So they should be willing to help. Also if you have failed twice it might be time to try something completely different. I felt the NCLEX wasnt so much a test of knowledge but a test of test taking skills.

Keep your chin up. You can pass it. I cant imagine how upsetting this must be but dont give up. You earned this and can do this.

MedSurgeNewbie · May 19, 2008

Didnt do a review class, I made my own questions some off a book, the incred easy books are good I did look at those - try making your own nclex style questions sounds crazy but forces you to think it through - answering 300 questions daily is great exersice but if you dont get the thinking, it might not be very helpful

BookwormRN · May 19, 2008

Just remembered a GREAT book that was very helpful for me when studying for and taking the NCLEX:

Saunders Strategies for Success for the NCLEX-RN Examination by Linda Anne Silvestri

ISBN #1-4160-0095-X

This book will take you step by step through different types of questions/answers and what to look for. Like everyone else has said-it really is more critical thinking than knowledge based.

SilverMist · May 21, 2008

:nurse:

Definitely Kaplan. You're making the right decision by enrolling in the course. I was fortunate enough to be hired on as a Graduate Nurse at a hospital which encouraged me to take the course and not only reimbursed me for it, but payed me the hourly wage for the time spent in class! I grumbled about it at first and thought it was bogus, and I admit that I hated the classes........but, the Kaplan website was extremely helpful and they offer something like 1500 practice questions. I agree with Barbfrank about taking practicing questions everday. I was on the computer answering at least 25-50 everyday for weeks and ultimately ended up answering something like 1200 questions, and I think that's what helped me pass the NCLEX on the first attempt (computer shut off at 75 questions!).
Anyway, don't give up! Get through Kaplan, use their website, and practice. You'll be fine!

SilverMist · May 21, 2008

I understand your pain--I too, took the exam and failed it twice. I don't recommend anyone to take the Kaplan review however. I took their review right after graduating (May 2007) and I failed. I could never find anyone in their center to help me with any questions, and even in their classrooms, when you ask the instructor a question, she kind of brushed us off, as if to say that we should know the info. already. Several of the students (myself included) were really ****** at this and could not wait to get out of this review. Needless to say, I did not have a great experience with them, so when I failed the first time, I requested my money back--of course, I got short-changed by $50 (my original payment was $350), but I did not care. I just wanted to get rid of them and get another chance at this passing this thing. And for a while, I tried studying on my own, but once again, I failed the exam. I was really desperate and started asking about what I should do. One of my best friends found some information about a woman who had a really high passing rate for her students taking either the NCLEX-RN and PN. She gave me the woman's number and I contacted her. She had me send her the results from my previous exams and called me with her recommendations about how I should study. I followed her requests and after 5 weeks of studying, I was able to go to her review(which was in the next state from where I lived). It was amazing the kind of tricks she showed the class about how to answer the NCLEX questions. So basically, we all found out in the class that it was not the content we had issues with, we had issues with the way we were answering the questions. And her tricks worked, because 5 days after I took her review, I went to take the NCLEX-RN and I PASSED!

So don't be discouraged--it is not that you don't know your stuff, it is most likely you don't know how to answer the questions properly.

If I can do it, believe me, you can too.

Silvermist

class 5 · May 23, 2008

sorry to hear about your test hope this helps..remember you must choose the best answer..two of the answers may be what you are going to do.. but you must think as the nurse what will you do first..ex..if a patient falls on the floor yes you as the nurse are going to call the Dr. but first you are going to get the patient off of the floor and take at least a bp before you run to call the Dr.... NCLEX tests that you as a nurse can use critical thinking..and also that you have knowledge to provide safe competent care at a basic nursing level.. also i think if you don't pass they send you a breakdown of the areas you need to work on..review those areas and practice questions in those areas.. don't worry if the test goes over 75.. I passed the first time with more than 75 ques.. I know someone who passed at 75 ..don't get too caught up in the num. of ques. Good Luck

labrador4122, RN · May 25, 2008

i agree....this exam is ridiculous! i can't believe it, alone, determines whether or not someone is a safe practitioner. it has nothing to do with what you've learned, but rather, how to take a test. i had to take the kaplan course (mandatory for our program) and found it helpful. the kaplan questions were like nothing i've seen before during nursing school....but they're so much like what's on the nclex. i took the advice of others who passed....don't study, just do questions everyday. so, i did about 100 each day prior to taking the exam. i pass that along to you and hope that you won't stress over studying, but just continue to do practice questions....over and over and over again.

i would definitely suggest doing kaplan complete course. and do everything that comes with the program.

read the book that comes with the course, and study it. please do not take the suggestions such as "don't study just do questions" becase that doesn't help- you study the book- because unless you are a computer- you won't remember stuff that you learned in school 2 years ago- and infact there are some topics in the nclex-rn that you need to know that was not covered in school- so read that book and study it!!

then also do all the questions that kaplan comes with; what i did, was to do all the questions and kept doing them untill i got every one of them right. yes, i was doing every single question over and over untill i had my "incorrect: 0".

and once i finished all the questions i went over my books that i had collected during nursing school such as mosby's, lippincotts, hesi, nsna nclex-rn review------- plus i borrowed one of my friend's helen feuer cd's.

i did all that, with discipline- at least 6 hours per day for 3 months except on the days that i worked- i would come home too tired-

it's possible to pass. and anyone with the desire to pass can pass.

i have to admit that i started kaplan with average score of 56%, at the end of 3 months i was at 81% then after that i took my test.