Here is what I did in preparation for the NCLEX to pass the first time

Hey everyone,

Since I've been helped so many times on here I would like to give some tips and my experience on the NCLEX. Here are some basic things first.

ATI assessment scoring:

70% chance of passing (My friend had a 50% of passing. He passed the first time. Personally I believe ATI is a total waste of time and money)

Study Aids for NCLEX:

NCLEX Feuer Review Course

NCLEX 4000 Cd (Lipponcott)

Saunders 4th edition + CD

Prioritization, Delegation, and Assignment: Practice Exercises for Medical-Surgical Nursing (Some of the questions in this book resemble the difficulty of the NCLEX, and in my opinion a helpful tool but not necessary)

Study Method:

Daily I would wake up and the first thing I would do is go over all the values in my head. (ABG, Electrolytes, Blood levels, therapuetic drug levels)

The first thing I studied was Med Surg. I would go into the Saunders book and do one system a day. I would read the section and then do all the Saunders cd question. Afterwards I would go into the NCLEX4000 CD and do all the questions for that particular section. READ THE RATIONALES! Type the rationale in a word document so you can make a quick review sheet of the things you learned. (Make one document for each section just to organize things)

About a week before the exam I started to do 75 question exams to see how I would do.

Some people took 2 weeks to study. After this a month and half of studying I really suggest you focus to study in a shorter period of time. Things will stay fresh. I started to forget what I learned from the beginning.

After a while of doing these questions you will be able to see the answer before you finish reading the question. READ QUESTIONS CAREFULLY. READ ALL THE CHOICES and RULE THEM OUT!

I was getting 65-80% doing 75 question exams in the NCLEX4000 cd before I took the real NCLEX (with repeating questions)

Anxiety Check:

I panicked a lot before the exam because I did some Kaplan questions and was only getting 55-60%. Luckily all my friends from school, home and my family were there to support me. If you don't have support get it on here! As you all know from nursing school uncontrolled and full blown anxiety inhibits learning.

The day of the exam my anxiety had lowered significantly and was able to take it with full concentration.

Day of the exam:

Get a good nights sleep or try. Eat a light salty breakfast and a lil caffeine. I ate 2 eggs sunny side up with sausage and home fries, then a cup of coffee =D. I also wore my championship intramural sports t-shirt haha. Get to the testing site early. Pearson will not now allow you to bring anything in, not even a piece of gum in your mouth.

When you sit the exam will look exactly like the Kaplan set up.

My NCLEX content:

I had a broad spectrum of questions. No med calculations. I received questions from every field and a TON of select all that apply. I also don't understand how people are able to count exactly what types of questions they got.. I was too worried about takign the exam to count lol..

Some of my questions got really easy and towards the end too.. eg. "Which of these are a symptom of hypothyroidism"

Maybe I barely passed... or with flying colors.. I dunno. However my last questions was a priority question which I heard means you most likely passed. But you must get these thoughts out of your head while taking the exam.. read below.

Tips:

I think this will be my best tip ever.

1. When you are taking the NCLEX, DO NOT GO INTO A PANIC about what kind of question you are getting. During my exam I was really worried because I wasn't getting as my priority or infection control questions. My friends also told me they saw things that were never taught or was never in any of the review material. I got worried but I composed myself and just said "Just answer them and do your best. Stop worrying about the computer's programming about how well you are doing."

Read the question carefully then read EVERY choice and rule them out. DO YOUR BEST because 95% of the time you will have 2 answers left. If you really can't answer it pick an answer and move on. There are "test" questions that they will put in that don't count anyway.

2. From what I've noticed the NCLEX will rarely ask you information that is popularly known. "What is a symptom of Cushing's Syndrome?" You will most likely never see hyperglycemia but may see something like "purple straie". So I would suggest building your knowledge by levels.

First know what the disease is, then the most common assessment findings then interventions. Then keep adding on new information. And it is important to understand why you see something or why you are doing something. Although sometimes in nursing you will not know why and must take it as it is. All this takes an ample amount of time which is why I started studying a month and half before.

3. You may feel like you don't know anything while you are taking this exam. Although not everyone will feel this way, some go into this exam and feel very confident. But if you have been studying the right way and put the time in you will be holding your own and not know it.

If anxiety kicks in during the exam stop for a second and just breath and compose yourself.

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I will come back and edit if I remember that I missed anything but for now I hope this helps. Please message me or post here if you have any questions at all. I know some people get a lot of relief just by reading what someone else has done. I want to help because this is a big step to take and a difficult one.

Good luck and Thank you for everyone's support =)