how i passed NCLEX on my first attempt

After 3 painful days of waiting!! I am proud to say that I am officially a REGISTERED NURSE! Just checked the BRN website not too long ago and my name popped up with my license number! Thank you to this site and everyone who kept the positive energy around here! It is still so surreal to me and I cannot stop rejoicing and thanking God for this amazing blessing! :balloons::clpty:

i wanted to share with you all what i studied since this website was very helpful for me...

1. preparing for NCLEX: once i received my ATT, i immediately went on pearson vue to schedule my NCLEX. i think that it's important to schedule it right away so that you have an end point, a goal date that you are working towards.

2. the next day after scheduling, i was getting down to business. i mainly studied KAPLAN online. i did about 50-100 questions/day doing the trainers, q bank, and focused reviews.

3. KNOW YOUR WEAKNESS. i can't say this enough. don't re-learn things you already know. know what your weakness is and do a focused review from there. read ALL the rationales (including the wrong ones) to reinforce material. if you still don't understand, take out your kaplan book and read from there. i know this is time consuming, but if you're only doing 50-100 questions a day it's possible.

4. have a study guide! here is mine that i printed out and read: https://allnurses.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=8697&d=1310274877 i read over this about 3 times... it has a lot of basic things you need to know about the common diagnosis', and a lot of pneumonic to help you memorize as well.

5. on the day BEFORE your test... don't study! don't go back on kaplan and try to finish a last minute trainer, focused review, or q bank question. relax and do something nice for yourself. go out and watch a movie, get a pedicure, get some coffee, etc. if you MUST study, study for an hour tops! don't do questions, rather, go online and watch kaplan videos, search for pneumonics on eriksons developmental stages... anything, just don't do questions! reason being is that once you finish that trainer and score below a 50%, the anxiety will kick in... and we wouldn't want you to have a panic attack the day before your big exam now would we....

6. last but not least, DON'T FRET. don't let your anxiety get the best of you. don't go crazy and do 200-300 questions a day. that's not how to study. the important thing is to take a deep breath and take it easy. the less anxiety you have over this test the more mentally prepared you will be to reinforce, take in new information, and overcome it. and like i said, don't re-learn things you already know! know your weakness and go from there. once you feel that your brain is mush from doing questions, take a break and be ready to do it again tomorrow.

here is that study guide again in case you missed it! https://allnurses.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=8697&d=1310274877

just a side note, 80% of NCLEX test takers pass their first time, so the odds are in your favor!

much luck and success to the future NCLEX test takers! :nurse: