Published Aug 23, 2016
cw.sea
30 Posts
Hello everyone! I recently finished my BSN program and just finished the Kaplan 4-day NCLEX-RN course last week. I found the course useful, but I still don't feel confident or prepared for the NCLEX at all...Besides the Kaplan resources (Qbank, etc.), I have the "Saunders 6th edition comprehensive review" book (purple), and my program required the "Prioritization, Delegation, Assignment" book (by LaCharity).
Even though I'm only a week into my NCLEX studying, I honestly don't feel my Kaplan scores are going to get much better. I feel like i need to review literally everything again and the amount of content is overwhelming. I'm also aware that I have tons of resources, I'm just not very sure what to use. I plan to finish all the Kaplan question trainers and exams, and complete the 1300 Qbank questions. I'm contemplating on using the Kaplan ebook (definitely prefer using a book vs ebook) or the Saunders 6th book; I'm assuming that most people finish their study book(s) before their exams, right?
I plan to take my NCLEX on Sept 23ish so that gives me a month left. So far my Kaplan scores are not that hot...
Diagnostic: 61%
Trainer 1: 55%
Trainer 2: 57%
Trainer 3: 51 %
Phase 2 RN Practice exam: (60 questions): 50%
I find it hard to pin point a specific topic/section to study; again, I feel like I need to review EVERYTHING which just seems unrealistic. ANY help, tips, motivation, etc. would be much much appreciated! This exam is causing me so much anxiety
Thank you for your help!!
rnby21
59 Posts
Hi there, some advice from someone who failed the first attempt-
I have all the same resources as you and took the Kaplan course too. You really don't know what the NCLEX will throw at you so it's best to be over prepared.
I failed with 265 questions after using only Kaplan and some UWorld the first time. I found that Kaplan didn't prepare me enough because my content base wasn't that solid, but a lot of my classmates passed with it.
This time around im using Saunders and Lacharity- real books are great and writing out what you get wrong really helps. These resources are really helping me feel more confident in content base.
You need about 5 weeks to get through Saunders. I'm about halfway through and would definitely recommend at least going through the Fundamentals section and any weak areas you have. And definitely do PDA and then read up in Saunders on any topics you're not getting in PDA.
And a week before your test do Question Trainer 7 on Kaplan to prepare for 265 questions- dont go in thinking you're going to get 75 like I did! You've probably heard that, and I did too, but for some reason i still thought that since all my classmates had been getting around 75 I will too. Then once I passed 75 on my test my anxiety was through the roof. It really doesn't matter how many questions you get as long as you're taking your time and answering to the best of your ability.
Best of luck in studying!
acp2uu
4 Posts
I took the NCLEX 7 times before passing. Having 265 questions on 6 of the test and 75 on one of them in the middle. I ended up passing after doing the HURST Online Review Course. I did everything from Kaplan to the PDA book and all the others you have but I found the Hurst Course to be the most helpful in preparing you with the content needed to pass.