I just found the news I passed last night- which was really exciting =) But I just wanted to give some tips on the all nurses community that really helped me to prepare for the test!
Here's a quick overview of my story
*Failed out of Medsurge Nursing- had to repeat, repeated and passed nursing school.
*registered for NCLEX a month ahead of time ( I took it Jan 27th) I gave myself a "break" from christmas eve until Jan 2nd.
Starting on Jan 2nd I had a few panic/anxiety attacks...but then I chilled out, got resources together and found all nurses!
I used the Kaplan review- it was provided to us by our school and had a phenomenal qbank. I did all of the questions, and then I redid them in the catergories I was weakest in. I was averaging anywhere from a 32% up to a 89%. My overall Kaplan score was only a 51%.
I also used a website called nursereview.org
I used my old textbooks ( they had practice NCLEX questions on the website), Saunders success i n nursing school ( the cd mainly) and I used on other test resource, all nurses study guide/memory notebooks of nursing ( and the memory pharmacology cards)
There is a phenomenal website called www.studystack.com- they have excellante resources and I used this site to give myself quizzes on lab values and abbreviations =)
If I can pass I know you can too! I also utilized a book called LPN Pearls of wisdom- it was fast facts and I used it with my friends to do a game while we studied for the NCLEX =)
I also studied up until 10 pm the night before. I tried to not study- but I found that for me personally it freaked me out to not study. I went to bed that night around 11pm- watched Scrubs before going to sleep.
I woke up around 6:30 am- took a shower, ate something for breakfast and left my house around 9:30 ( my test was at 12 pm) I made sure I had 2 copies of my ATT- one in my wallet and one in my car on the visor. I also made sure to google directions ( I still don't have a gps or a smartphone- so I'm kickin it oldschool with printouts.) I got a full tank of gas( in case I got lost) Got some coffee from Dunkin Donuts and went on my way to richmond. I got there almost an hour and half before it was time for the test and I am *so* glad I did. Get there at least 30 mins before time- it takes a while for registration. Also make sure tht when they tell you to empty out your pockets that you dont keep your car keys in them. And keep your id on yo uat all times ( I made the mistake of first leaving my id in the little locker they gave me ( test proctor was not happy) and then I had my car keys in my pocket and had to go to my locker and then I forget but there was soething else I messed up on. Oh I tried to go back into the waiting room instead of the little room on the side. That was *BEFORE* the test. *I found that just chilling in my care before the test, reading the bible and listening to my jams and praying were what gave me a sense of calmness. Also use the restroom before the test that way you aren't distracted during the test.
Hope this helps!
Also the study guide that is on this site is amazing, just google all nurses study guide and you should be able to find it. If anyone has any questions do not hesitate to contact me ! =)
also I was VERY skeptical about the PVT trick- I tried it almost nonstop every hour since Friday- and even though I got the Good popup- I was still certain I failed. My test shut off at 85 questions, and it took me a little over 2 hours to do. I left the test center 100% sure that I had failed the test. I felt like I knew nothing about what was on the test, and now its kind of a blur. I know I had alot of meds and ALOT of SATA's. =) And the PVT trick worked for me, so I'm putting a little poll in the doodly-do below =)
K.Winn, LPN