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So I am retaking my NCLEX-RN sometime in January or Febraury....I took Kaplan before I graduated and it was a waste of time, the teacher was terrible, and it didnt help me at all! I am looking into the Hurst Review BUT there are no live sessions available for me within like 1000 miles of where I live so my only option is the online review and I was wondering if anyone has done it and thinks it is worth it????
the hurst review is all about reviewing core content. marlene reviews things you've hopefully already learned in nursing school....but she does it in a fun way that cuts to the most common and important points, and she slyly gives you mnemonics or tricks to help you remember it. along the way, she throws in a minimal amount of test taking strategy that can help you see the 'tricks' the nclex throws in the answer choices.
you must spend time after the review really learning all that she taught. esp with fluids & electrolytes...its easy to confuse the s&s of hyper and hypo.
when you are actually taking the test, no matter the review class, will think that you were ripped off. those questions are soooo hard, and with so many, all the answers seem right, or they all seem wrong. at first glance, each question is so overwhelming.
there were several questions where i just knew right away that the right answer was b....only to spend some time thinking about what marlene would think about b and realize b was a trick and d was really a better answer. i had to analyze each question this way....and really think about what each choice meant for the patient. this meant i answered questions during the test much much much more slowly than i ever did in school or in practicing.
dollar for dollar, the hurst review was the best money i have *ever* spent. the online-only version helped me get ready for the nclex in 4 months and i passed with 75 questions. (let me just share that its been 15 years since i finished nursing school!)
I am tutoring three students who paid all that money for the Hurst review and failed. I know more students who didn't take it and passed then the opposite. Do yourself a favor, get Lecharity, Saunders nclex comprehensive book/CD, and study. Make sure you know the core content but you also have to be able to recognize it when it's placed in an unfamiliar situation. (NCLEX style question)
My school is offering the Hurst Review this January, just before I start my final semester. Is the Hurst review something that will benefit me during my last semester and last into taking the NCLEX-RN or should I wait until May and do the review just a few weeks before the NCLEX?
That's if I even decide to do the review at all...I may just study on my own.
Thanks!
:)
I just took the NCLEX RN and unfortunately failed. I took the live Kaplan review last month and it was horrible. Class is from 9am-12pm and they teach you test taking strategies and answer questions during the class. For a class that is 3 hours long with 3-15 minute breaks every hour comes down to 2 hours and 15 minutes of doing question and answer which is about roughly 40-45 questions only. We were suppose to meet 8 times but only met 6 times (one was a holiday and the last meeting was suppose to be a final review for yourself to be done at home...and...1 class was 45 minutes late!. I answered all the Q trainer and Q bank with scores ranging from 58% - 68%. Bottom line Kaplan is good for those individuals with excellent core content knowledge. As for me, doing 4000-6000 practice questions armed with educated guess's, little content knowledge, and hoping for the best didn't do me any good. Im back to drawing board, reading up on Hurst Review Patho and Linda Lacharity, Doing 100 questions/day (300-600/day/5 weeks prior to my first try using Saunders, ATI, Kaplan Qbank, ExamCram), and have enrolled at a Hurst Live Review for next month.
Good luck and God bless!
While I enjoyed the Online Hurst Review, it was NOT enough for me to pass my first attempt!!!!!:down:
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I studied like they said to, but it was Not enough!!!!!!!!!!!So, that being said, I would say NO, it's NOT worth it!!!!!! Since you have tried Kaplan, perhaps, you can try Sylvia Rayfield.. I am trying Kaplan at present, and may do the Sylvia Rayfield's also.. Best wishes!
I agree, Hurst Online was not enough for me to pass either. I have heard great things about people passing with Hurst, I just don't think my mind-set was grasping what I needed to master the boards.
I am using Saunders Q&A review Edition 4, I used this with my tutor... it really helped me to break down what, how and who the question was directed to and how to eliminate answers.
I am also using a lot of links that are posted on this site, and "random fact throwing" that is on this forum.:idea:
I wish you the best of luck, we will ALL be ok... keep your head up, God brought you to it, he shall bring you through it!!
Scheduled for my test 12/23, keep me in your prayers!! :yeah:
Jo Anne
PA :redpinkhe:nurse:
I used Hurts When I took Nclex my whole study group did and we all passed but one girl out of ten and she didn't pass because she didn't study and did try She even said she didn't try that hard. I studied as if my life depended on it and prepared for it for two months then hard core the last two weeks. The test is what you put into it don't over think the goal of Nclex is to save more people than you kill its that easy. Stress is what gets alot of people they are told its the hardest exam so every question they over think. The test is based on if you were a nurse for two weeks not a MD. Nclex was alot easier than any Nursing exam I ever took! Hope this helped best wishes to all!
USRN2Be
248 Posts
I also took online reviews: NCSBN, Kaplan and Hurst and bought a lot of boooks but here's what I can say. Kaplan is only good using their Qbank, NCSBN is the closest to the actual NCLEX, and Hurst is very good when you needed to study Nursing content. I took NCLEX three times. I enrolled NCSBN and Kaplan when I took my first and second exams and my grades were low. Hurst really helped me because all of my scores were nearly passing. All reviews are good, its how u manage your time with your studies. Just focus and keep yourself out of distractions and anxiety.