NCLEX....how bad is it REALLY...

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SOO, I just graduated nursing school with an ADN. I feel as though my school prepped me well and I have learned a lot from them. I have always gotten good grades throughout the nursing program and scored high on my HESI exams. What I am wondering is if the NCLEX is as bad as everybody says?! Are the questions pretty general or very in depth? Were there a lot of questions where you narrowed it down to two possible answers, and just chose one? Really, any info you can give will help! I just graduated so I do not have my test date yet!

Specializes in Emergency.

Good luck tomorrow SWimbish!!! You'll be adding RN behind your username by Friday!!!

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Hey, Joanie.

My mother's an RN that recently passed her NCLEX on the first try. From everything I've read and learned about the exam, the biggest problem people experience with it is themselves. Yes, the NCLEX is a very important exam, but... the stress and anxiety associated with it tends to become the most challenging obstacle for test-takers like yourself.

My mother was definitely a victim of this. She lost a lot of sleep, cried regularly, studied obsessively, and neglected to give herself regular breaks... Passing this exam was wasn't just her top priority. It was her only priority.Whether or not the test itself is difficult, many people have a problem with the process of preparing for it. You need to be fully aware of this difficulty and do what you can to relax yourself.

Hopefully this advice is constructive. Best of luck when you next write it. :)

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Specializes in PACU.
I just graduated so I do not have my test date yet!

Do you have your ATT yet? Set a date?

I took mine on Tuesday and just was able to see my license number tonight!

I thought the test was hard and came out of it sure I had failed... it seemed like all of my questions were knowledge, not priority, analyses types they say are above the passing level. So I had myself all freaked out yesterday and today I was gearing up to buy more study gear and give it a second go.

So maybe when we all think it's so bad.. it's not the test itself, but the anxiety we are carrying that makes it that way??

At least half my questions were SATA... but maybe some of those were the "practice" ones that din't count.

I did Kaplan (all the sample NCLEX, trainer and readiness test and all but the last 60 QBank questions). I did LaCharity book "Prioritization, Delegation, and Assignment" and questions off the picmonic (free question of the day ones.... but there were like 40 available) with the video picmonic clip if I had questions about the answers. And I reviewed all the rationales for things I got wrong, or guessed on.

Good Luck! Let us know how it turned out.

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Specializes in Med surg..

No I do not have my ATT yet- I am still (patiently) waiting for it :no:...haha! Wow awesome news for you though for passing, such a major accomplishment!! I JUST started to review the LaCharity book and plan to complete it from cover to cover, my nursing school stressed that book and that is was very helpful to the previous class that graduated. I am considering paying for UWORLD- I have heard really good things about it but I don't think right now I can afford a review course sadly :/ I am still trying to figure out my plan for studying from what others thought were helpful. When I get my ATT I plan try and take it pretty asap...like within 3 weeks I really want to test-be done-and officially be a RN! :sarcastic:

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It wasn't bad for me at all. Like others in the thread, I finished pretty quickly- under an hour. Locked out at 75 questions, about 8 or 9 SATA. About 10 pharma. I took my time studying (graduated in January, sat for the test 5/21- some of that was because my ATT wasn't emailed to me :down:). Spent the last three days doing nothing but questions and reading rationales. The night before, had a good nights sleep.

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I'd say there were about 20 questions where I narrowed it down to two, then made my best educated guess. I also did very well on tests in my school and the questions were similar, in my opinion. A lot of people say they are different but I don't agree.

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Specializes in Med surg..

I just wanted to thank everybody for their generous advise on this post I made awhile back. I am officially a RN and passed the NCLEX in 75 q's on June 17th!

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Omg congrattsssss ,what did you do to study ?? I will be taking it in September . Any advice ,thanks

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I passed with 75 questions in 30 minutes. There were a lot of SATA questions. I did multiple test questions prior to the exam but did not study the day before at all. Good luck!

what are "SATA" questions?

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTACH, LTC, Home Health.
what are "SATA" questions?

Select All That Apply

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