Kaplan? Hurst? Or NCSBN nclex rn review?? (Can't decide!)

strawberryluv, BSN, RN · Jun 12, 2015

I'm using Hurst review because I heard they were really good with content. Though I am sort of strong in content, the way the people

at Hurst present the material solidifies my knowledge further. I like Hurst.

Edz86 · Jun 12, 2015

I'm using Hurst review because I heard they were really good with content. Though I am sort of strong in content, the way the people
at Hurst present the material solidifies my knowledge further. I like Hurst.

thanks strawberryluv! All of you says Hurst is good. I think I will try this review.. :yes:

elizabethhRN · Jun 12, 2015

I took hurst live review after graduation and gave myself about a month to study their material. I felt as prepared as one can feel going into NCLEX and passed on the first try. I would definitely recommend taking hurst!

Edz86 · Jun 12, 2015

Thanks elizabethhRN! I'm gonna try Hurst then as I'm not sure on my core content. :cat: I finished the Saunders 5th ed. but i feel like I needed some more..

NBNRN2015 · Jun 12, 2015

I done all 3! I take NCLEX next week, but I will give you my opinion on all of them. Hurst is really good if you need a content review. Do I feel like it helped me when it came to studying content? Yes. I also think it helped me come up with ways to remember topics better. For example, thinking of calcium and magnesium as having a sedative effect on the body. Too much ca and mg= sedative not enough= hyperactivity. I wouldn't recommend Hurst if you feel good about content and just need strategies to answer NCLEX style questions. You get 6 125 question test that you can only take 1 time with Hurst. The rationales aren't very good on some of the questions. Kaplan was great for me. You get a ton of practice questions and some great strategies for answering questions. I really like Kaplan. The fact that all their questions are supposed to be equivalent to higher level NCLEX questions gave me some confidence. The rationales are nice, too. The NCSBN review is a review by the people that write the actual NCLEX. It is one of the most affordable reviews out there. The questions are not that hard (no where near as difficult as the Kaplan and Hurst questions) but you really can't go wrong when it comes to buying a review from the people who actually write the test. I also have been using Lacharity, Saunders 6th edition, and PassPoint by PrepU. I personally feel it is important to know the content, but there is no possible way to know every topic that is going to be on NCLEX. It's just impossible. When you have a short time to review you really aren't going to learn much about things you didn't already know, either. I have always heard to review you weak topics and take practice questions like crazy!

DowntheRiver · Jun 12, 2015

Hands down NCSBN. In my opinion, it is most like the NCLEX and the style of question that you will see on the NCLEX. I did the 8 week review and found it very helpful. To supplement the review I hand Saunders and Mosby. Basically, 6 days a week I did between 2-4 hours of content review and then did an hour of questions. I would always check the rationales on my questions and if something didn't make sense to me or I needed further explanation I would refer to Saunders or Mosby.

conn22 · Jun 12, 2015

Hey everyone! I wanted to share my experience. I did well in my program only getting 3 B's the entire time in nursing school. I was just as nervous to take my boards as anyone else. I graduated May of this year. I chose to take Hurst right before my last semester. This was such a great review and it really helped me brush up on core content. I had planned to re-take the in seat right before boards. However, I hurt my back at work and found sitting in the in-seat very difficult. So, I utilized the videos from Hurst and did all the q reviews. For 2.5 weeks I did 150 NCLEX questions a day. I used the Hurst Q-Reviews (which were VERY similar to the NCLEX) as well as NCSBN (I did the questions only). Doing these two things helped me prepare and I am happy to say I passed with 78 questions.

If this older student, who is mom of teenagers can do it, so can you! Best wishes!

Edz86 · Jun 12, 2015

I done all 3! I take NCLEX next week, but I will give you my opinion on all of them. Hurst is really good if you need a content review. Do I feel like it helped me when it came to studying content? Yes. I also think it helped me come up with ways to remember topics better. For example, thinking of calcium and magnesium as having a sedative effect on the body. Too much ca and mg= sedative not enough= hyperactivity. I wouldn't recommend Hurst if you feel good about content and just need strategies to answer NCLEX style questions. You get 6 125 question test that you can only take 1 time with Hurst. The rationales aren't very good on some of the questions. Kaplan was great for me. You get a ton of practice questions and some great strategies for answering questions. I really like Kaplan. The fact that all their questions are supposed to be equivalent to higher level NCLEX questions gave me some confidence. The rationales are nice, too. The NCSBN review is a review by the people that write the actual NCLEX. It is one of the most affordable reviews out there. The questions are not that hard (no where near as difficult as the Kaplan and Hurst questions) but you really can't go wrong when it comes to buying a review from the people who actually write the test. I also have been using Lacharity, Saunders 6th edition, and PassPoint by PrepU. I personally feel it is important to know the content, but there is no possible way to know every topic that is going to be on NCLEX. It's just impossible. When you have a short time to review you really aren't going to learn much about things you didn't already know, either. I have always heard to review you weak topics and take practice questions like crazy!

Whoaa! You're right NBNRN2015! Practice questions like crazy... :x3: :laugh: Thank you. That was informative.. I also consider NCSBN because as you said, it's very affordable compared to Hurst and Kaplan. Plus they write the exam themselves.. :up:

Edz86 · Jun 12, 2015

Hey everyone! I wanted to share my experience. I did well in my program only getting 3 B's the entire time in nursing school. I was just as nervous to take my boards as anyone else. I graduated May of this year. I chose to take Hurst right before my last semester. This was such a great review and it really helped me brush up on core content. I had planned to re-take the in seat right before boards. However, I hurt my back at work and found sitting in the in-seat very difficult. So, I utilized the videos from Hurst and did all the q reviews. For 2.5 weeks I did 150 NCLEX questions a day. I used the Hurst Q-Reviews (which were VERY similar to the NCLEX) as well as NCSBN (I did the questions only). Doing these two things helped me prepare and I am happy to say I passed with 78 questions.
If this older student, who is mom of teenagers can do it, so can you! Best wishes!

Wow! Congratulations conn22!! Thank you for sharing.. It's much appreciated. I registered for Hurst trial review. Let me see how it works. I hope I can pass the exam too on my first attempt. I'm a mom of a boy who's turning 2 in a few months! And it's really a struggle to study with my little one. I wait til he gets to sleep at night and take his nap in the afternoons, then I can read and do my review.. :)

Edz86 · Jun 12, 2015

Hands down NCSBN. In my opinion, it is most like the NCLEX and the style of question that you will see on the NCLEX. I did the 8 week review and found it very helpful. To supplement the review I hand Saunders and Mosby. Basically, 6 days a week I did between 2-4 hours of content review and then did an hour of questions. I would always check the rationales on my questions and if something didn't make sense to me or I needed further explanation I would refer to Saunders or Mosby.

Thank you TheOMPRN! I heard good things about NCSBN too. MAybe i'll give it a try too with their 3 weeks subscription plan. If it helped you to pass the nclex, I hope it'll help me too.

moogleson · Jun 12, 2015

I haven't really heard good things about the NCSBN so far, so I'm curious as to why you liked it TheOMPRN, ASN, RN. Can you elaborate on the reasons why you recommend it so heartily?

Bob Loblaw · Jun 12, 2015

Two books you need:

1. Lacharity Prioritization-

2. Pearson Reviews and Rationales for NCLEX-RN by Maryann Hogan latest edition and do all the internet work involved. If you go through this book (and it will take you a long, long time plus all the questions in book and online) you don't need a review class. You do the first knowledge assessment and you'll be like "what?....." I don't remember that from school but you'll see it on the NCLEX and the questions are just like the toughies on the NCLEX, some all sound right and other questions they all sound wrong. But this book gets you used to that so you don't panic on the test, it gets you used to answering questions that you might not even know what they are talking about, especially since meds went straight to generic without brand name.

Pearson Reviews & Rationales: Comprehensive Review for NCLEX-RN, 2/E - See more at: Pearson - Pearson Reviews & Rationales: Comprehensive Review for NCLEX-RN, 2/E - MaryAnn Hogan