I passed! Study tips here

[browneyes3000]

I am officially an RN now. The trick still works!

I typed a long post the other day, but I lost it ((

I graduated December 2013.

Here is my journey to pass the NCLEX (first attempt)

I was stressed and scared of not passing! My university has a high passing rate, but it is not 100% so I kept thinking of negative thoughts. I did not feel prepared at all so I rescheduled my test date. I had to fight my own negative thoughts:

"What if I failed? ==> Take it again, the world is not end. You have not even tried yet, there are MORE people pass than fail, stop being so negative!!!"

" There are too much information to know, it is impossible to know it all for the NCLEX ==> The NCLEX people know that, they are not going to ask you EVERYTHING, just RELAX!"

I used Kaplan to study.

Here are my scores:

QT 1: 52%

QT 2: 59%

QT 3: 44% - 78% (retake)

QT 4: 53%

QT 5: 53 %

QT 6: 58%

QT 7: 63%

Readiness: 63 % (I took it this test right from the beginning before I started to study)

Qbank: 100% complete with 56% (I only read 70% of the rationales)

I did not have enough time to read all the rationales for QT 5, 6, and 7 (I read about 50-60 questions)

Sample test 4: Questions are all SATA, drag and drop, maths (I scored poorly, but this test helps me with the real NCLEX)

The content review book from Kaplan: I cannot read it from cover to cover!!!! I read the rationale for the question and went to the book to read about that topic. I read about 55%-60% of this book. I paid close attention to the pharmacology section in this book.

I watched ALL of the videos one time. It was boring, but it was better for me to watch videos than reading book. They basically just read and point out main points from the book. The pharmacology section is great to watch.

Other sources that I used:

1. Pharmacology made insanely easy! (3rd edition)

-I love this little book. It has been with me since the second semester of nursing school.

2. Youtube

Please utilize youtube, it has GREAT videos and lectures.

3. Introduction to Basic Cardiac Dysrhythmias (4th edition)

-I used this book to practice reading strips.

-I reviewed my notes from nursing school for treatment of some important dysrhythmias.

4. Saunders yellow book (5th edition)

- I only used it to read some content that I forgot or not sure. I did about 30 practice questions from this book.

5. NCLEX things to know:

http://nclexhelp.weebly.com/nclex-things-to-know.html

-I did the 3 quizzes on this website.

6. Lab values and transmission based precautions:

- I wrote down important lab values and type of diseases for each transmission based precaution in a small note book. I reviewed it as much as possible.

I tried to write down the rationales from the Qbank, but I gave up after I wrote about 100 questions.

I also read the Qbank questions to my mother in law, who has no nursing background, but she has great common sense and great elimination skills for multiple choice questions (The last time she took a multiple choice test was 40+ years ago). She gave me great hope to pass the NCLEX even if I did not know the topic well, I could still think it through and eliminated the wrong choices.

I asked her how she knew the answers, she said "oh just visualize the grandchildren; from my own experience of being pregnant; my friends have cancer, surgeries, all kind of things, I was in the hospital and saw this, saw that; oh I saw that on the TV shows, and some of the answers sounds silly! how would you feel if a nurse told you that? or Where is the stomach? why would you have pain on that side if the stomach is on this side==>eliminate that answer!

-I did about 500 questions with her and I felt so much better with the exam. She proved to me that the questions can be answered if I do not have too much stress to block my mind, slow down and think it through, visualize the scenarios, and I also pick the answer choice that address the question directly even if I don't like it as much.

I personally think practicing Kaplan questions is good enough to pass the exam (reading the rationales for all right and wrong answers is a must!). I did not use other sources of questions to practice.

I tried to read the 34 pages study guide that pass around here, but I gave up after reading 4 pages. It is great, but I do not have enough time to read it.

Exam day: I did not feel well. I came to the test center with my cold hands and weak body. I picked a key for my locker (There were lockers # 5 and # 6, so I told myself to avoid locker #6 because it sounded like "sick"-bad number, but the guy took me to a computer station # 6, so I said "I guess #6 is lucky lol)

I was tachycardic during the exam so I tried to bear down, massage my vagus nerve, and deep breathing multiple times, and laughed at myself for being silly lol. I felt happy every time I got a SATA because I knew I was answering high level questions.

A pop up message came up when I was at question # 72 asking if I wanted to take a break, but I decided to continue because I had a feeling my computer will shut down soon because I knew I answered a lot of the questions correctly.

At question #75, I still got another question (felt disappointed), but I told myself to relax because I was still in the game. I stopped counting questions and the computer shut down about # 77-78. I could finally take a REAL deep breath!

Good luck everyone! I came here a lot for support. I hope my post will help someone.

[kkaa]

congrats new RN....................great job........

Can you advise me please I just started last week NCLEX study from Saunders 5th edition.....I want test date within next 2 months ....

I know I don't have enough time for study all NCLEX books .

Can I start with the question answer .......then I can read the rational .......is it good??? Or first I have to read all books then question etc...........I don't understand what to do first????? because no too much time for study because I am mother of 1 year old baby.........please suggest me...........thank you

[browneyes3000]

@kkaa: You can do it. Two months are enough to study. Have you tried Kaplan review on demand? They have great questions for you to practice.

Saunders 5th Ed. is a great book to read, but I only used it as a reference to review content that I forgot.

You can start answering questions and reading the rationales after each practice test. I read the rationales for both right and wrong answers because I could answer something right just based on luck. If I did not remember the topic, I went back to Saunders to read about it.

Good luck to you.