My NCLEX Experience: Preparations, Study Tips, and Acing the Exam

[lilmonsterkray]

I am a registered nurse from the Philippines and I started working on my application for New York State last year. It took me 6 months to process everything, from CGFNS to NYSEd. Received my ATT last July and took the exam last October 27. It was very challenging for me to study in less than 3 months since I am working in a hospital. Time management, hard work, and determination will push you to achieve your goals in earning a US-RN license.

STEP 1: TOOLS AND RESOURCES

Best books/materials/online resources to study:

1. La Charity & et al. Prioritization, Delegation, and Assignment
2. Saunders' NCLEX RN Book (Esp. the Safety chapter)
3. Kaplan Online (very difficult questions but a good endurance test)
4. Hogan's NCLEX exam (software, this is my main Q&A practice tool)
5. Audio Tutorials
6. NursesLab.com (NCLEX q&a)

I answered 100-300 questions per day and after each test I would always review which areas I need to focus on based on the summary of the exam. Answering this much will help you in sharpening your knowledge, endurance and test-taking skills.

Studying with a buddy will also help, especially those who friends who have experienced taking the NCLEX. These people are the most reliable sources of information regarding the exam.

STEP 2: DAY BEFORE THE EXAM

✔️ DO NOT cram! Keep focused and relax. If you think you have prepared well, then you should not be very anxious with the exam.

✔️ Give yourself a treat. Learn to unwind, watch movies and listen to music. This is the best therapy you can give to your self to lessen anxiety while counting the remaining hours before the exam.

✔️ Visit your testing site if it's near you. Getting familiar with the place will also help.

STEP 3: ON THE DAY OF THE EXAM

I took the NCLEX last October 27, 2016 9:00 AM. Answered a number of SATAs, hotspots (drag and drop, etc), prioritization, delegations, ECG tracings, and the typical multiple choice questions. SATA questions were hard, you really have to choose the best answers. Never get tempted to check all the boxes. Take time to contemplate which items you will check.

You will know that you're doing well if your questions are getting along the way. For example when you correctly answered a simple multiple choice item the succeeding questions will be SATAs and hotspots like drag and drop.

Take note: the last item before your computer will shut down is not a determinant if you will pass or not. Others said that if the last question you answered is difficult, you will surely pass the exam. I beg to disagree. My last question was very easy (multiple choice).

Take your time in reading each question carefully and make sure to use theories when you are not sure. Other questions will really challenge your critical-thinking skills.

My computer shut off after answering 75 items. This is really my goal.

I finished the exam in just 1 hour and 30 minutes.

STEP 4: AFTER THE EXAM

Tried the PVT trick after 12 and 24 hours and the "GOOD POP-UP" displayed. I think the trick is still reliable as a screening tool if you pass, but still the Quick Results is still the confirmatory test (sounds like lab exam LOL). Paid for the Quick Results after 2 days and received the good news.

I passed! Officially an RN of New York State.

STEP 5: FINAL THOUGHTS

Pray hard. Study harder. Manage your time well in preparing for the exam. Never cram and always be confident.

Good luck to all aspiring nurses who will take the NCLEX!

[hukneeb]

I didn't read all of the comments, so I apologize if I'm just being repetitive... I just took the NCLEX exam on Thursday, for the First and only time, and PASSED! After graduating over three years ago, this is statistically unlikely! After spending the weekend before my exam too ill to study, followed by a sick kid in the hospital... and literally waking up from a chair in the hospital where I slept next to my son the previous few nights... NOTHING was how I planned, I felt so completely defeated before even going to the testing center... I know this sounds crazy, and I'm going to make a long post about it as soon as my mind clears from the crazy idea that I just finally DID IT!!!... but honestly... I am not a holy roller by any means, but I talked to God, and accepted that I was NOT in control... I put all of my best efforts into preparation, and if I don't pass... I WILL BE OKAY, and only better prepared for the next time! Honestly the 48 hours after the test, waiting on the results was far worse than the actual test itself! You already have all of the tools you need I promise! I've read so many posts where people list an abundance of study materials and they are taking the test multiple times, and can't figure out what the problem is. The problem is we all are our own worst enemies! Have faith in yourself! If you made it through nursing school... you are more than capable! That doesn't mean to slack off, just means to not stress yourself out so much! I did over 2000 questions online from Saunders comprehensive review, reading every single rationale... mostly 10 at a time in test mode. If I had time for more, I'd do another 10, and so on... there are some awesome videos on YouTube which I watched religiously.. and took notes as if I was in lecture... I'll make another post in more detail later... but just wanted to chime in and give you some inspiration hopefully! Good luck!

[Extra Pickles]

sianee said:

You may try NRSNG.COM, it cost only $9.99 monthly. I took my RN exam 9 times already and I don't know what to do anymore.

if anything this sounds like a very good reason to not use that website. If it was free, it cost too much if it didn't help you to pass the test.

[ireyes98]

An advice for you and everyone else reading. As an RN, I'm aware of the struggles students face preparing for school and the NCLEX with a budget especially with all of those preps going for 50 dollars a month, or up to 400 dollars. I was on a budget myself, so what I did to help myself and my class save time and money, I made an excel document and started clumping everything together as far as classes, drugs associated with the classes (generic and brand name because NCLEX only uses generic names), and all of the information school, clinicals, and practice NCLEX questions, require me to know, such as vitals to watch for, labs, common/severe side effects and nursing considerations. I updated all of my information into an app format, check it out on facebook, IG, play stores, and my website (nclexessentials.barcalabs.com), its called: NCLEX Drug Study Guide. It's going for free right now.

[mlss94, BSN]

Hey guys! just an update for anyone that cares still! i started using Uworld and it is great! i'm doing 75 questions a day and making notes on rationales. i'm reviewing content from the 2015 Kaplan content review book that a friend gave to me. i would use the saunders book but i graced through it a couple times and i just liked how the kaplan book had more tables. for me it feels easier to absorb information from tables than paragraphs. i'm also still doing a chapter/questions every other day or so out of the PDA Lacharity book. i get my ATT soon! thanks everyone again for the advice and experiences :)

[lilmonsterkray, BSN, MSN, RN]

sianee said:

I took my RN NCLEX EXAM 12 times already. A lot people say that I should give up. I don't know what to do. Should I continue to take it or not. I was going to leave it alone, but I may forget everything that I learned. Please tell me what I need to do. I need ideas badly.

Hi there. Wow taking it the 12th time is already exhausting. I suggest you take a refresher course. If you still fail the next time maybe it's time to change career you think that you will excel. All the best!

[justdesserts]

This morning I found out that I passed my board exam!!!!!! I am so happy and relieved, but before I start celebrating I want to reach out to those of you who are still studying. The NCLEX is depicted to be one of the biggest hurdles in your nursing career. I'm going to lay out everything I did in order to prepare and help instil some confidence on those who gave yet to write it.

My background: My previous degree is a BSc in Biological Sciences and Physical Sciences. I graduated from a nursing after degree program in August 2016. I took the rest of August and all of September off to give myself a break to recover from going through nursing school 2 years straight year round.

On October 1st, I decided to use the Saunder's NCLEX-RN Comprehensive Review book. I got through all of fundamentals. However, I realized that it was taking WAY TOO LONG to even get through a chapter. I was getting bored, easily distracted, and the information just wasn't sticking. It was SO DRY, and quite frankly, there was way too much excessive information. As a result, I decided that using a comprehensive review book was just not an adequate resource for me. I needed something that gave the CORE information in a condensed style.

On November 1st, I purchased the HURST Review. I printed out the fill-in-the-blank notes that were associated with each video. Every day I would watch 2 videos and thoroughly fill in the notes for those. This took roughly 2 weeks. Once I was done the videos, I studied my notes for 1 week making sure that I had memorized and learned from the notes. I had to make sure I knew the information like the back of my hand. THAT WAS THE CORE CONTENT. I really liked this review. They presented information in a style that helped it stick in my brain. It was entertaining, and each video was on average 50 minutes long.

After learning the information on the HURST review, I decided to do the HURST Q Review. Each Q Review was 125 questions, and I did 1/day. Let me tell you: I was not scoring the mean average they tell you to get (85/125). My scores were as follows: 63/125, 73/125, 81/125, 69/125, 79/125, 78/125. This CRUSHED my confidence. I read through the rationales. However, I felt like I needed more practice.

PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE = THE KEY TO PASSING THE NCLEX

The last resource that I used was the UWORLD question bank. This is an AMAZING question bank. UWORLD has the BEST rationales - they're so detailed and go through the whys and hows of each question. I finished the ENTIRE Q bank doing a minimum of 150 Qs each day. I would do 2 sets of 75 question tests in tutor mode and read the rationale for each of the questions I got wrong as I went through the exam. Sometimes I would write down the rationale summary in a scribbler that I would review the next day. My score at the end of the Q-Bank was around 67% average and 86th percentile rank. This gave me a confidence boost because you can tell where you stand in comparison to others. It also tells you what percent of people answers the question correctly for EACH question. The statistics they give you, really put your mind at ease. For example, if only 17% of users got a question right, I would feel that this is one of the harder questions and it's okay if I didn't get it right. If 78% of users got a question right, this would be a key fundamental question that I should be getting right. All in all, I highly recommend UWORLD to everyone!

The NCLEX: I wrote on Dec 16, 2016. The night before the NCLEX, I was a complete mess. My stomach was in knots. I could barely eat. I scarfed down a DQ cheeseburger meal to get a dense calorie rich food in my body. I was so NERVOUS. I briefly reread the HURST review notes and the UWORLD rationale notes I wrote in my scribbler. Decided to go to bed at 2am. My test was at 8am and I had to be up by 6:30am. However, every time I would put my head down on the pillow, I could hear my heart beating so fast and it taunted me all night. I tossed and turned - tried relocating to the couch, the spare bedroom, back to my bed.... let's just say I max slept an hour. In the morning, I showered to wake myself up, made a cup of coffee, ate an omelette, and went to the writing centre in downtown. The other TA was late so my exam didn't start till around 8:45 AM. During that time, I chatted with some former classmates that were also writing. It helped calm my anxiety. After being palm veined scanned, I went into the writing room and was placed in front of the computer. I was done the exam in about 2 hours. It shut off at 75 questions. My first thought: "NOOOOO I can do better!!! Please don't shut off." I WALKED OUT THINKING I FAILED. TEARS WERE RUNNING DOWN MY FACE. About 40% of the exam was SATA questions. I felt like the questions I was getting throughout the exam were TOO EASY and not enough critical thinking. I was preparing myself using UWORLD and those questions were WAY HARDER than any question I got on the NCLEX. Distraught, thinking I failed, I went to my cousins house and cried for about 4 hours straight while sipping on a rye and coke. For about the next 3 days I moped around feeling ultra depressed. My results didn't come till about 2.5 weeks due to the holidays. I did not do the PVT - didn't want to give myself false impressions in case it was wrong. I decided to not dwell on it and chilled with my family and friends, making the most of the holidays.

Jan 3, 2017: I opened up that email to find that I passed!!!!! WOW I'm an RN. Thank you God.

So for anyone reading this, don't feel discouraged. There's always hope! And I realized that basically EVERYONE walks out of that exam feeling like they failed. So have faith. There's always light at the end of the tunnel!! BELIEVE IN YOURSELVES AND GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL

[Miniangel2]

hi! Congrats and Thanks for Sharing! Just drop by here,I am ready tomm to sit for my Exams! Goin to Bed to have some Peaceful quiet time..By God's Grace hoping for the Best results! Goodluck to you and me:yes:

[Brenda101]

I'm using Uworld now for test bank questions, I have to work so do around 50 a night.Did you do it that way or take more at one time. I was going to finish all questions then take the ones at the end i had gotten wrong. Is this good or bad way to study?

[justdesserts]

Good luck! Believe in yourself and you will pass!

[justdesserts]

I did 150 questions per day. A set of 75 in the afternoon and then a set of 75 at night. I was crunched for time to finish all the question on UWORLD, so that's why I did that many in a day. I would say do at least 75 questions per day to train your brain to get the minimum amount of questions. The most important thing with UWORLD is reading the rationales and learning from them. You must be able to understand why you got the question wrong and the background logic behind it.

Try writing down the summary rationales of the questions you get wrong in a scribbler and studying them instead of retaking the ones you get wrong at the end to cut time and be more concise (that's just my personal opinion)

[lilmonsterkray, BSN, MSN, RN]

It's $200 plus $150 scheduling fee.

[lilmonsterkray, BSN, MSN, RN]

gizahon said:

Congratulations!!! Your hard work and determination paid off and now you deserve it all!!!!

THANKS!