NCLEX advice - Read this before you take it!

Nursing Students NCLEX

Published

Okay, I promised myself to post this if I passed the NCLEX and I did, with flying colors. In fact, I finished in 45 mins total and passed with only 75q's.

I took the exam before several of my classmates and they asked me for advice so I told them what I am about to tell you .. and they said it helped them, so hopefully it will help you as well. Okay, here goes .. please PM me or respond to this thread if you have any questions/concerns/comments. This is a really long post, my apologies in advance.

NCLEX tips:

Before the test:

  1. First - breath. Yeah, I know thats stupid, but your poor brain needs the oxygen.
  2. Sign up for a review course. I really liked the online review course available through Kaplan because I felt it was better than the in class one (which I dropped after three classes). It also was nice to be able to pause, take notes, and replay the video. If you don't have the money for the review course its okay - get a review book, but just promise that you will actually review it.
  3. Go over the material. A lot. There's really no easy way to bypass this - you do need to know your information. I made a billion flash cards and it really helped me.
  4. Do a million review questions - I know Kaplan has their qbank and practice tests but in my opinion the Kaplan questions seemed more convoluted than the actual NCLEX. I never scored higher than a 64% on any of the practice tests (and i only took six out of the seven tests). I also used the book "NCLEX made incredibly easy" which was just a giant book containing thousands of NCLEX questions. I scored better on those questions and I believe that book is more true to the NCLEX style than kaplan. This is not to say one is better than the other since both are beneficial in their own ways.
  5. Don't bother hardcore studying the drugs section - just study the drugs that come up during any of the practice questions you do. That is - there are a MILLION drugs out there. You'll never ever memorize every single one. NCLEX knows that. It would be way too mean for the to expect you to know EVERY. SINGLE. DRUG. out there, you know. However - it IS important to know drugs in general (ie a drug ending in -lol is usually a beta blocker, etc) and how they work. If you are short on time (or brain space) just remember to focus on the drugs that can save/kill a life (insulin/heart meds etc) because the bottom line of the NCLEX? You need to have MINIMUM competency - meaning you need to know what will kill or save your patient. Erectile dysfunction drugs might be fun to learn about, and may be tested on the NCLEX but i am pretty sure if you fail those you will not fail the nclex - because you're not likely to kill your patient if you forgot to give him his viagra. You know what i mean? Also, instead of trying to memorize each drug, try to visualize and understand their mechanisms and how they affect the body. I realize this quite a bit of critical thinking, but as nurses, we must be able to think critically anyway, so why not get started now, if you havent already?

About the test in general:

  1. Remember what I said above - the NCLEX wants you to be minimally competent. Thus, it is really important to always remember that patient safety is your top priority - this is true in real life too. I mean, I would NOT want to be your patient if you didnt care about my safety at all times, right? Would you want to be my patient if i didnt care for your safety?
  2. Remember your ABC's - Airway Breathing Circulation. Sometimes you get stuck on a question - just remember your priorities: patient safety and ABC's and it can help you find the right answer.
  3. If you get stuck on a question where you absolutely have no idea what the question is even asking (yes, I think I got a few of those) dont worry. Now, I dont know if what I am about to say is true or not but I really feel that the people who create the NCLEX are not "out to get the test takers." They are not evil testwriters sitting in a room thinking up ways to torture the poor test taker (although there were plenty of times I thought that during my studying.. and im sure you might be thinking that now too). The test writers are also RN's who have been in the same boat - they too had to take the NCLEX before. I think they are fair - if you absolutely bomb a question, I really feel that they will give you a chance to make it up. I know that through my Kaplan course they told me that if you fail a question, the next question is easier so you can pick yourself up again. When they analyze your test scores, I am sure they will take into consideration the questions you got right, so in the long run, one question wrong means nothing. Just dont let it get you down, and keep going onto the next question. whatever you do, just dont kill your patient! :)
  4. Getting 265 q's does not mean you failed. Getting a random number of questions does not mean you failed. One of my classmates had 141q's. His test results did not show up on the date it was supposed to, so he assumed he failed (because isnt 141 an odd number of questions?) .. except he passed! My friend got 76 questions, and she passed! However, she was very distraught when her screen went to 76q's because she thought she was going to be there for the full 265. In fact, she was so distraught that she had no idea what question 76 was - she just randomly answered it.. and the computer shut off. Imagine her shock/horror! Did she fail the test bc of that last question? did she pass? My point is - if you get to question 76, dont freak out. You never know if that is going to be your last question, so do as well on it as you would have on your first.
  5. I remember reading this in a previous post so I'm going to reiterate it: If you have more than 75 questions: only the last 75 questions count. That is, if you had 265 questions, the first 190 do not matter, so if you're at question 210 do not mess up your mindframe by thinking "oh no, all the answers in the questions 30's to 40's were totally wrong! I'm so dumb!" Because those ones dont matter anyway at this point.
  6. Don't EVER think you're dumb. Even if you get a question you cant answer. At the test site, when you're taking the test, pretend you are a nurse. I mean, you are only one short test away from being a nurse anyway, right? When I sat down, I put in the earplugs they gave me, closed my eyes for a few mins before starting the test and pretended that i was walking into the hospital and I was the number one super awesome nurse and that I knew everything, and each question was going to be my patient for the day. I think this helped a lot in calming my nerves/anxiety (although trust me, a beta blocker would have been nice during the test.. my heart would not stop pounding!) which let me focus on the test, and not my nerves.

After the test

  1. To be honest - right after i finished the test I felt good. When the screen went blank at 75q's, i felt SUPER EXTRA good. But then I remembered how everyone kept saying that if you feel good when you leave the exam, that means you failed. Not true!! Several of my friends also felt good after they took the NCLEX, and they passed as well. Herein lies the problem though - I am not sure if it is because i thought I did good that I started thinking maybe I did bad... because then I started freaking out and thinking maybe I actually failed and that good feeling went away immediately and did not come back until I found out I passed. I know this may not make sense now - but those of you who have taken the NCLEX and passed (which is EVERYONE after reading this, right? hehe) will know what I mean.
  2. Being hit by a big rig truck. You know those giant 18wheelers on the road? Taking the NCLEX was like being hit by one of those. You have no idea what happened - you woke up early that morning, went to the test site, took the test, came home, fell asleep (almost everyone I know fell asleep after they took the test.. it was quite an exhausting/grueling experience), and then suddenly there is no more NCLEX. But you dont even remember the NCLEX - it was just one big scary blur, and suddenly, you were in your car driving home. At home you hesitate to put your books away because heaven forbid you failed and will need those books again. You might try to think back about some of the questions you werent sure of and furiously research the answer but for the most part you will have no idea what just happened. I have taken LOTS of tests in my lifetime (SAT, ACT, midterms, exams, MCAT) and nothing could compare. In case you didnt know, the MCAT is the test you take to get into medical school... and even that was far different than the NCLEX. I dont really know how to explain this .. but those of you who are about to take the NCLEX, just be aware that this is the feeling you get afterwards.
  3. Try not to think about your results until they come in. HAHA YEAH RIGHT! Everyone says to not think about it but COME ON, how could you not? I know i did, constantly. So i did what I do best to pass time - I caught up on all my beauty sleep. I also made sure to schedule lots of activities for the next two days until my results were in. If you are able to, try and do this as well. You know that spa treatment you always wanted to do but couldnt find the time? GO. Now is the time! Or maybe you have been meaning to go to that new park three cities over with your kids? GO. How about that friend you want to catch up with but never had the time? Now is the time! I know it sounds silly, but it helped. It also helped that I scheduled some of these fun activities before I took the NCLEX so I had something to look forward to, instead of a dreaded "omg im taking the nclex" date. In fact, sometimes the NCLEX was just something I had to get over so I could spend a day at the mall with my bestest friend that I had not seen in a few months.

Okay, so thats it, I think. I'm sorry for the length - i just want to help everyone out there. I think that the most important bottom line throughout all of this is to always remember - the NCLEX does not want you to be that experienced nurse who has worked over 50 years and knows the answer to everything. THe NCLEX wants you to be minimally competent which means knowing what will and wont kill your patient.

Get a review book/review course and start studying! Good luck!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Thanks for your post:up:!!!and Congratulations..:yeah:it was indeed very helpful...:saint:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Post Anesthesia Care Unit.

C

Congratulations!!!:bow:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Congrats on passing

Just mention not everyone can afford a review course or even want to do one, each makes their own mind up

Up Vote Up Vote ×

:balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons:

:balloons::ancong!::balloons:

:balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons:

and thank you so much for posting your information!! very encouraging!! :up: :yeah:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

thank u for sharing...and CONGRAts!!!!:yeah:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

thank you and congratulations!

i hope that soon i can write my own advice on how to pass the nclex.

thank you again!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER/Trauma.

BeagleLover is right. I couldn't have said it any better.

The part about question 76 was me. I got 76 question, and belive me, I analyzed the h*ll out of that one extra question all night long!

Congrats BeagleLover! (Love the name, I have 2 beagles too!)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Oncology, Emergency Department.

:clpty:Congratulations and thank you for taking the time to post exactly what people worry about and think after they leave the test. I will be testing for the second time a week from Wed and am terrified. I do feel more prepared this time around. I feel my biggest downfall was that I scheduled my first test way too soon. I am testing for my second time and many of my classmates just recently tested for their first time in the past two weeks. I am hoping that by studying my butt off and doing Kaplan all over again and scoring much higher and NOT remembering the questions from the first time around helped me alot. Although my Kaplan scores the first time were decent, most atleast in high 50's mid 60's I am scoring in the high 60's and low to mid 70's now. I also spent time on content review with Saunders 4th edition and have probably done close to 5000 questions in total in the past 6 weeks or so.

Although I am still worried that I will fail...and I don't know at all how I would approach this studying again for god for bid a third time, I am trying to keep a positive attitude and get the negative self talk I have been bombarding myself with since I found out I failed.

I had to leave my job although they gave me a personal leave of absence and kept my job open I am worried about returning. I just hope that even though it took me two times to pass (god willing) that people don't assume that I am inadequate. I am a constant worrier as you can probably tell by this posting but every other single classmate except for two that have not tested yet all passed on their first try. It was a huge blow to my self confidence and believe it or not I am still trying to rebuild what I lost in failing that test.

Again congratulations on having it behind you and you can finally relax and enjoy your dream. I hope that I have good news to share 10 days from now when I should get my results. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers anyone that reads this. I went to school rather late in my life...I am 53 and I made it through four years of nursing school. I don't want to put off my dream any longer.

BTW, you did not mention what types of questions you had on your test. Would you mind sharing just like if they were priority, infection control, how many SATA's you had and med calculations? I know we all receive different tests but I am still curious.

Thank you!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I'm testing the day after tomorrow . . . THANKS FOR THE POST~!

...and congrats on passing!

motivator

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Just a couple more things:

  • I know someone mentioned that not everyone can afford review sessions, and I can totally relate. It was really tough putting down the 300 dollars, but because I know that I absolutely would not be dedicated enough to sit there and review the materials on my own time, I scraped every penny together that I could to pay for the review. I kind of treated it like "well, you spent so much on reviews, you better actually review, and pass on the first try so you dont have to pay more money to retake it." However, there are a lot of good review books out there that could have worked just as well (just remember, books are expensive, so try to save money by going to the library or even just reviewing at the bookstore, provided they have comfortable seating/studying areas). Looking back, I am really glad I did just put down the money for the review course (but then again, i am already over 200k in debt from all my nursing school and other school loans that really.. whats another 300 dollars, right?) and so I recommend that if you CAN try and do a review course. Since I only tried Kaplan, I can only recommend Kaplan (the online review course), but I know there are threads out there that compare different review sessions. In the end you just really have to ask yourself and answer truthfully - what method will be the best for me to study and pass. If it means asking your parents to pay for the course in lieu of a birthday present, or maybe put it on your wedding registry.. whatever, do it. If you absolutely cannot, that is okay too, just know that you need to be focused about your studying and actually make sure you study from the review books.

  • Question types that I had: Well, im a little hesitant to answer this because for those of you who have not taken the test yet, before you go in they make you read over this sheet of all the rules and regulations (at least in California) and one of the rules is that your license can be revoked if you're telling people about the materials that were covered on the NCLEX. Oh and that you'll be taped both video and audio so yeah thats not stressful at all during an already stressful exam!! But in any case, I guess I do feel safe telling you that the book that I used for reviewing questions was "nclex made incredibly easy" was incredibly helpful. All of the materials that appeared on the test more or less was also in the "incredibly easy" book. I did have somewhere between 7 and 9 SATA's.. maybe more or maybe less.. to be honest I dont really remember. My classmates actually kept track of the numbers of SATA's they got but I was so focused that I forgot to until i was at question 50. :yawn: I also was lucky and only had either SATA's, multiple choice, or fill in math problems (I think I had like two math problems which made me sad because i LOVE the problems).

  • Pathophysiology maps (aka concept maps) - I dont know if your school focused your education on these awesome things but ours did and for that I am really grateful. I had a question about a drug that I felt like I knew the answer to but I just couldnt quite grasp it (like when someone's name is just on the tip of your tongue but you cant remember exactly what it is). Of course my heart started pounding even harder, so I relaxed myself my drawing the pathomap of the systems that the drug would influence (for example, if it is a beta blocker, how it affects the heart, what happens once the heart is affected, etc) and from that I was able to figure out the answer - it became plain as day all of a sudden. If you need any pathomaps/concept maps pm me and I'll see if i can figure out one off the top of my head (and also with the aid of my textbooks).

  • sprklplnty and others who are taking it more than once - dont let it get you down!! Honestly, sometimes it is all about the luck of the draw. I was lucky because the test focused on most of the stuff I already knew and felt pretty good in. Of course, there were several questions where I was stuck between two choices and I just picked my gut instinct. I did notice that several of the times I got a question that I was pretty sure of the answer and then right after I answered it I got a SATA question, which probably means I got that question right. Of course, just because the next question you get is not an SATA it doesnt mean you got it wrong, because there were some questions that i was SURE of and still didnt get an SATA.. so dont let that mess up your groove. I am sure you will do fantastic when you go back to take it. I dont know if this will help you or not, but it helped me.. dont think of this as your first, second, third, whatever time you're taking the NCLEX. You're just taking it and getting it over with. And that first time you didnt pass? it was all just for practice so you got more experience than those silly first timers! Also, yes, i know it sucks to have to take it more than once, but look on the bright side, at least you CAN take it more than once! I mentioned before that I took the MCAT's (when I was still thinking I wanted to go into medical school).. back when I took it, it was only offered twice a year, and you could really only take it once - if you took it a second time you better do significantly better or else you're just reaffirming to the medical schools that you're not up to par. Also, I heard that for the LSATS (to get into law school) you can only take it once or twice too... so really we're lucky. sort of. :)

  • Oh! and dont forget about those questions they throw in as trial questions for future NCLEX's. I remember there was a question or two during my test that I thought was absolutely ridiculous and am pretty sure they were probably the trial questions. I know at least one I just ended up guessing on and ended up getting wrong (i looked it up after the test) and still, I passed. So again, dont let these questions mess up your groove, just keep going. Like the dory fish from nemo says: "just keep swimming! swim swim swimming!"

I keep remembering little things I wanted to share and i'll post more when I remember more, but feel free to ask questions too. I'll end this post with a story though - at the test site they give you a dry erase marker and a scratch paper that is laminated for you to write on. Prior to the exam, they tell you to NOT ERASE ANYTHING from the scratch paper, and if you fill it up, just ask for more (but why give me a dry erase marker and a laminated paper built for erasing?!) so for the entire exam I kept freaking out about this. I was worried that I would forget and accidentally erase something I wrote and get kicked out of the exam room! Also, halfway through the test I dropped the cap of my dry erase marker onto the floor and was about to lean down to get it when I remembered I was being filmed and I didnt want them to misconstrue it as cheating! I think I was more worried about possibly looking like a cheater than the actual exam during parts of the exam.. :chuckle

mauxtav8r: good luck in two days! you'll be fine, just breathe :)

LoriRN2B: You're so lucky to have two beagles! I only have one but I love him to death - he kept me sane throughout all my studies. :heartbeat

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med Surg, Telemetry, Long Term Care.

congrats new,great nurse

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment