I've spent a long time browsing this forum and reading NCLEX experiences. I promised myself I would post my experiences too and hopefully help others as I have been helped. I graduated 12/16/13. I took NCLEX PN on Tuesday 1/14/14. I was originally scheduled to take it on January 25 but this past Sunday, I had a moment where I felt like I was going to crack if I didn't just get it out of the way. I hated having NCLEX hanging over my head and I just wanted to be done with it. So I changed my test date.
My test time was 12:00PM. I made sure to get a good night's sleep. Then on the morning of the test, I treated myself to a nice breakfast near the test site. I got to the testing center 45 minutes before my test. I was able to start my test at 11:30AM. Speaking of the test center...my testing room was very toasty so I was glad I wore layers. If I had worn the sweater I originally planned on wearing, I would have been very uncomfortable.
My exam stopped at 85 questions. I had at a lot of SATA. I had about 5 or 6 in a row and then I started keeping track and I counted 32 SATA..so about 37-38 total out of 85. From this forum, I had read that getting a lot of SATA was usually a good thing (or more accurately not a bad thing) and might mean you were doing well in the exam. So the SATA didn't freak me out. In fact whenever I saw one it increased my confidence. I did have a moment where I was trying to remember the mnemonic for cranial nerves (the dirty version ) to help me answer a SATA question and for the life of me I could not remember it. I could feel this hysterical laughter about to come out but I managed to not make a sound.
I had 5 medication questions on drugs I was familiar with. The catch was that the question was not asked in the way I was used to and I had to really think about what they were asking and then look at the choices to see which one best answered the question. I had no calculation problems. I had some drag and drops and a lot of priority questions. It took me 2 hours to answer those 85 questions, yep 2 hours. This was the slowest I have ever taken a test. I read questions carefully and took my time eliminating answers. Once I was done, I was determined to wait till I got home to do the PVT but I lasted about 20 minutes before I pulled into a gas station to check on my phone. I got the good pop up.
Here's what I think helped me.
1. Practicing SATA and other alternative format questions. I bought the Lippincott PN 250 Alternative Format Questions book and I feel it went a long way in helping me get more comfortable answering these types of question. I came to know about this book from reading this forum so thank you to those who posted their experiences with it. In addition, the advice to think of each answer choice in the SATA as independent of the others and to use True or False to get to the correct choices helped me a lot! My NCLEX note board had T and F all over the place.
2. Kaplan Strategies Book 2013-2014. I used a lot of the strategies they give in this book to help me eliminate and narrow down the answers in a systematic way even when I didn't really know the subject matter all that well. My school required us to purchase Kaplan live review class and the Qbank. The Kaplan instructor went through a lot of the strategies but I preferred the way the book explained things. I did about 500 Qbank questions and my average was 65%.
3. ATI - I hated having to take ATI exams. Truly I did, but in the end I am glad I had ATI as a tool. During my last semester, we had to take weekly ATI tests, endurance builders that were like 300 questions, and extra practice questions on all subject areas. As much as I hated them, this was good training. Since I still had access to the ATI materials after graduation, I went back and went through some of these tests especially in my weaker areas. I alternated between ATI and Kaplan for questions.
4. I think most of us know this but I feel the need to stress it again since it is something that I feel helped me with NCLEX and with passing ATI exams....read rationales for every practice question you do, even when you get the question right. You learn a lot of valuable content this way, IMO.
There you have it. I didn't mean for this post to be so wordy but apparently I had a lot to say. Hope it helps.
Hi...Congratulations! Just a question, u think the ATI kind of practice assessments/questions helped u too? Coz I right now, I'm still reading the ATI book and would on practice assessment after each chapter...What did u use for SATA questions to review?
Yes to ATI helping me but not so much the books because I didn't really read those after the individual exams honestly. Mostly the extra practice exams that I had access to from my school. These were not the usual Practice A or B tests for each subject but a bunch of extra comprehensive tests. These were part of my curriculum for my last PN class role transition. During school, I was so busy with everything I did them but didn't spend as much time as I would have liked reading rationales and understanding everything but I took time do that when prepping for NCLEX.
I used the Lippincott PN 250 New Format Questions book for SATA. Here's a link.
Yes to ATI helping me but not so much the books because I didn't really read those after the individual exams honestly. Mostly the extra practice exams that I had access to from my school. These were not the usual Practice A or B tests for each subject but a bunch of extra comprehensive tests. These were part of my curriculum for my last PN class role transition. During school, I was so busy with everything I did them but didn't spend as much time as I would have liked reading rationales and understanding everything but I took time do that when prepping for NCLEX.
I used the Lippincott PN 250 New Format Questions book for SATA. Here's a link.
Thank you! Yes I'm planning to purchase that book after I finish my content reading..I alternate ATI book (coz I find it just short and direct) with Kaplan Book..Saunders was too lengthy for me...yes the ATI 180 qs we had too..but yeah any kind of Q/A practice would do..thank you very. Uh for the reply and information..
How long after graduating can we take the nclex? I would think that Id wanna take it asap before all the information I learned just disappears lol. Im just wondering if there is a wait time or anything??
How long after graduating can we take the nclex? I would think that Id wanna take it asap before all the information I learned just disappears lol. Im just wondering if there is a wait time or anything??
You can take it as soon as you get your Authorization To Test (ATT) from Pearson Vue. You receive the ATT after you register and your school submits the necessary paperwork. I'm in IL and it took less than a week for me to get the ATT once I registered and the paperwork was sent by the school. After you get your ATT, its just a matter of finding a testing date and time that is available and works for you. Some of my classmates took NCLEX 2 weeks after graduation. I took it about 4 weeks after.
You can take it as soon as you get your Authorization To Test (ATT) from Pearson Vue. You receive the ATT after you register and your school submits the necessary paperwork. I'm in IL and it took less than a week for me to get the ATT once I registered and the paperwork was sent by the school. After you get your ATT, its just a matter of finding a testing date and time that is available and works for you. Some of my classmates took NCLEX 2 weeks after graduation. I took it about 4 weeks after.
Very helpful!! Thank you!
Glad I found this thread, the info is super recent and exactly what I was looking for :)
Thanks so much SWM2009 for sharing your NCLEX PN experience and helping out fellow nurses.
I will take your recommendations and purchase those books you felt helped you.
I already have the updated red saunders PN book and the Kaplan Strategies Book 2013-2014 but want to get the new 2014-2015 updated version for the new test which has the alternate questions etc.
I'm definitely getting the Lippincott PN 250 Alternative Format Questions book because that will help me gain confidence in the SATA questions which is what's scaring me.
I'll go back to my ATI's as well So will be studying 3 books, plus ATI plus the NCLEX bootcamp over at Sycamore Learning Center in Los Angeles. I should be fine. I need many prayers =) :)
) to help me answer a SATA question and for the life of me I could not remember it. I could feel this hysterical laughter about to come out but I managed to not make a sound. 
:)
SWM2009
421 Posts
Yes to ATI helping me but not so much the books because I didn't really read those after the individual exams honestly. Mostly the extra practice exams that I had access to from my school. These were not the usual Practice A or B tests for each subject but a bunch of extra comprehensive tests. These were part of my curriculum for my last PN class role transition. During school, I was so busy with everything I did them but didn't spend as much time as I would have liked reading rationales and understanding everything but I took time do that when prepping for NCLEX.
I used the Lippincott PN 250 New Format Questions book for SATA. Here's a link.
NCLEX-PN® 250 New-Format Questions: Preparing for the Revised NCLEX-PN® (Nursing Review Practice): Springhouse: 9781582555348: Amazon.com: Books