My study plan for NCLEX!!!!

Published Jul 19, 2009

140 Posts

Ok, so taking the Nclex was something that I was terrified to do. I am a good student, but a horrible test taker! So I wanted to share my study plan with everyone here in case you are also not such a strong test taker. By the way I had 2 NCLEX reviews, one at my school which was KAPLAN, and the other that my employer supplied which was Sylvia Rayfields incredibly easy RN Nclex 101 review!

First and foremost I had Kaplan thoughout school, similar to what ATI and HESI are just incase anyone would like a better understanding of how I did what I did....

So the week after graduation my school had a Kaplan review, our first day we had a diagnostic test and I only got a 50%, then that week was a review and during such I did Question trainers 1-3, on 1-54%, on 2-60%, on 3-50%, so the scores weren't great as you can see. On the last day we had a readiness test which we were told that we needed to make a 65% in order for our school to release our transcripts so we could sit for boards. Well needless to say I only managed a 59%, so instead I had to take a Nursing assessments test that Kaplan also has through my schools program(not in the normal Kaplan Review) and achieve a 65%, well I got a 68% so my school released my transcripts...I evaluated why I was missing questions, an most were simple mistakes like not reading the question right, or not knowing certain things, so I knew these things were big anxiety triggers and needed to be addressed before I sat for boards.

My plan!!!

So I had always planned on taking boards the first or second week of july, and I knew i wanted to take them on a tuesday, not sure why but thats what I had my mind set on, so I stuck to that plan and scheduled for tuesday July 7th!

Knowing that I had about 6-7weeks to prepare I decided that the first thing I was going to do was take another question trainer to see if the review actually helped and my score increased. Well it did. but only slightly which was a 56%(4)...So that made me really nervous because Kaplan said we needed to get a 65% to be fully prepared and a 60% was exceptable also....At this point I needed more of a break down on what content was my trouble area, so I took the quizzes that were available through our schools Kaplan program. This was each section had a 30 question quiz, and larger sections had 2 or 3 quizzes and I did every single one of these quizzes. After I completed each one, I made a fact sheet of all the questions I missed, now I didn't copy the questions or anything I just pulled out what the topic was and stated a fact about it. After I completed all of those quizzes and reviewed my fact sheets I took question trainer 5 and got a 60%....Well that was an improvement and I felt that was pretty good. SO then I decided it would be a good idea to review the content videos from Kaplans Review course. I watched video after video and did qbank questions nonstop....I also made fact sheets on all the answers I missed just like I had done before......Then came the sylvia rayfield review june 9-11, at that time we had a pretest on the first day that she wanted us to complete, they said that you should achieve around a 70%, in which I got a 70% exactly....The course was basically just full of mneumonics and ways to look at questions differently. I found this to be a great content review!!!! So on the last day they said, if you recieve a 80% then you are ready for boards....This was the post test by the way, and I did recieve the 80% that they wanted....so anyway the book they gave us to do questions in had 10 content quizzes, a post test 2, and a pre-nclex exam...also ofcourse the pretest and post test 1.....So my job started on June 15th and from that point on, it was a lot to balance with trying to work and study all the time...By the way I am a parent and therefore couldn't really start studying until my daughter was in bed at night, so I was up very late most nights trying to do as many practice questions humanly possible...My plan was to go into the NCLEX knowing I had done everything I could to prepare myself....SO before boards my plan was to complete everything Kaplan related and everything in the NCLEX incredibly easy review book as well....again after each quiz I made a fact sheet(this was for recall mostly)...anyhow by the time I sat for boards I had completed all of my questions totally an astonishing close to 5000....NOW that is a little much I know, but I needed to do that to make me feel good walking though those doors......BECAUSE, anxiety is a big downfall I need to tame that anxiety by telling myself that I was ready and walking through the doors thinking I was going to pass!!! CONFIDENCE IS KEY!!!! I had done so many questions that I was ready to take all 265( or as ready as you can be, but prayed for only 75!) Anyhow, when I sat down for the test I was calm, I put in my earplugs and blocked out everything around me. After the tutorial I took a deep breath and told myself if the test doesn't shut off when I click next on question 75 then I will take a break, and calm myself. As I started the test my 2nd question was a select all that apply(not a strong point), but it wasn't so bad cause I told myself over and over these are just true/false questions I have had all my life..So I finally got to question 75 and when I clicked next the screen went grey then blue, and I took a huge sigh of relief, I took the survey at the end, and got out of the building as quickly as possible. I went to my car, and felt pretty good, I even told my mom I thought I had passed the exam...NOW I guess I am pretty odd, because most people came out crying and basically freaking out, whichI would assume is more normal than coming out feeling good...THat kind of worried me, but I just told myself that I must have come across some this material while I took those loads of practice questions, so thats why the material didn't really look all that bad to me...BUT I did have questions I didn't know, but I didn't freak out because that was expected...Its simply impossible to know everything and to think that you will not come across something you have never seen..So I prepared myself for those questions I didn't know by focusing on ways to figure them out...Anyways, that is how I studied, and on June 9th 2009 my name was posted on BON's website with a PERMANENT license number beside it....I PASSED!!! Every question I did, made it all worth it....SO anyone that is preparing for boards, know that you don't need to be the best test taker to pass, you just need to be calm, find ways to figure things out even when you are clueless on the content, and go in with confidence......

Here is a break down of my test...(reminder that each test is different)

I had 75?'s

10 or more SATA

10 or more meds

1 drag and drop

lots of isolation, priority and delegation

little peds and psych

NO math, No OB....

SO goodluck, and hopefully my long explanation with help you on what you can do to help yourself...what worked for me may not work for you....but when you find what works stick with it....!!!!

GOOD LUCK TO FUTURE TEST TAKERS!!! YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!