Published
______________________________________________yeahright and i know it was posted last 2009... i just want to congratulate and say thank you to her for sharing her nclex journey! and i think its just appropriate and there's nothing wrong eventhough the thread is posted couple of years ago.
and again, congrats and thank you kathyz for sharing this.
godbless!
Kathyz
352 Posts
Hi, all! I just graduated from an ADN program in December. I work part-time (3 days a week) as a CNA at a hospital. I love this floor (Med-surg and Hospice) and last fall my boss offered me a position as an RN. So needless to say, there were many, many people who knew I was taking the exam. I felt the pressure was on. During school I received mainly A's. However, my long-term memory isn't that great anymore!!
I decided to take the Kaplan on-line review. It's really good and comprehensive. However, I decided to pay the additional $81 to take the in-class review. I did their Q-bank twice as well as all their question trainers. I watched every single video (over 30 hours).
I woke up at 3am on days I had to be at work at 7am in order to study (I'm a morning person). My mother was worried I was going to have a nervous break down I was studying so much. I did questions and studied every single day. The day before the exam (last Monday) I woke up at 4am and studied. I took a break and went to lunch with a friend and came home and studied. The day of the exam I woke up at 3:30am and studied a little, mainly meds. This was how I prepared for tests during school so I kept with what worked.
I was really surprised by the "tight security" at the testing center. No watches, checking your pockets, pictures, tons of fingerprints. I put my earplugs in, said a short prayer, and got to work! The questions weren't as bad as I expected. Some I knew immediately. I had about 5 SATA, 5 meds, 1 peds, no math, infection control, delegration and prioritization. After question 75 I closed by eyes and hoped the screen would go blue. It did! (I took that as a good sign.) I finished the test in an hour. I had a pretty good feeling I passed. I actually went out shopping! The next day I started to second guess some of my answers, but because I was away in Florida with no computer access, I couldn't look up any of my answers. I was calling my husband every couple of hours to see if my results were up. In Illinois it's a 48 hour wait plus a $7.95 fee!! Yes, I passed!!!
We all know more than we give ourselves credit. Don't delay in taking the exam. Study, do questions and be confident. I usually go by my gut feeling. One "easy" question I was so sure I got wrong that made me begin to panic, in fact, I just found out I got it right!! Once I saw the question I immediately went with my "gut answer" which turned out to be correct.
Good luck to everyone waiting to take the NCLEX. This message board has been a source of inspiration. Although I don't post very often, I read all the stories. I wish you all the best of luck.
Kathy, RN