I PASSED THE NCLEX! How I did it - a different perspective

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HOLY COW! I did it. I passed the NCLEX in 80 question.

What I did to prepare: My school provided the Kaplan, I purchased the Hurst. I did all the Trainers in Kaplan and REVIEWED my Hurst content. I MADE SURE I KNEW BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS MY FOUNDATIONS - FLUIDS, ELECTROLYTES, LABS AND ACID BASE.

After I finished the test and had a mini mental breakdown I came to the realization that the test not so much about the content but a test seeing if you can work under pressure. I sat down at my computer, put in my provided earplugs and all I could hear was my own breathing and heartbeat and I knew I had to slow them both down. Deep breaths, keep nerves under control, one question at a time. The questions were easier than I thought and many answers were obvious once you stopped and thought each one through. I had some questions where I had no idea any of the drugs but if I thought about it, one answer somehow made sense. I kept my heart rate down and breathed a lot, and I will say it again - the NCLEX is checking to see if you work well under pressure. I took two hours to answer those 80 questions and the time flew by!

Some of my classmates have failed, and every single one of them had chips stacked up against them and they were not in the right mindset to take the test. One was worried because his girlfriend was waiting in the car for him, another girl worked 12 hours the day before, drove 2 hour to the testing site, and had the 8am test (I NEVER would recommend the 8am test not enough time to calm down 10, 12, or 2). Without exception the ones who have failed have had psychological concern or deficits.

I am 40 years old and hand down the NCLEX is the most stressful thing I have done in my life, but I feel if you can get the stress and anxiety under control your chances of success skyrocket. GOOD LUCK!

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First of all, congratulations!! You did it!! Secondly, I think your advice about the mindset is sound. I haven't taken the NCLEX yet (I'll graduate in May). But I recently came to a similar conclusion that I can pass the NCLEX if I keep calm. I know that I know the information and if I'm calm it will be easier to recall.

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Congrats !!!!! RetRospectively speaking. Would you say the test was More application? I've done so many questions but have heard from others that no questions you take are like nclex and its situational not really factual. If you don't mind me asking what were your scores like from hurts question? again congrats. Hope to be in the same place very soon.

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Congrats !!!!! RetRospectively speaking. Would you say the test was More application? I've done so many questions but have heard from others that no questions you take are like nclex and its situational not really factual. If you don't mind me asking what were your scores like from hurts question? again congrats. Hope to be in the same place very soon.

I had a TON of priority questions and I just had to think about each situation presented. I fell back on the Kaplan teaching and asked myself "is this reaction expected or unexpected" if expected I eliminated it. Of the unexpected I asked "stable or unstable" and one ALWAYS rose to the top.

I did not do the Hurst questions trainers only because I did all the Kaplans, and my school had another service called Prep U. Kaplans we were told to shoot for 65 on test #4 & 5 and for a 60 on #6 & 7 and I was above those scores (barely) each time.

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ebailey, u are 100% correct, the NCLEX wants to see how you critically think under pressure & handle situations in a safe manner. and u were right about the mindset (u have to go into exam calm & not worrying about doing it for a child/a mate/a parent/a job/etc.).

Congrats Ebailey, my fellow RN Feb. 2014 newbie

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Congrats ebailey!!!!

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Congratulations!!!!!! ????

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