My Experience With The Four-Day Live Hurst Review For NCLEX
The intended purpose of this article is to describe my personal experiences with the four-day live Hurst Review. Although I attended more than two years ago, I recall my experience with much positivity and would recommend this review to anyone who needs help with learning nursing content.
Nursing StudentsNCLEXArticle
Let me start by disclosing some background information to enable readers to paint a mental picture. I completed a 12-month LVN program back in late 2005 and passed the NCLEX-PN with the minimum of 85 questions on my first attempt by using the Saunders Comprehensive book for self-review. After working as an LVN in long term care for three years, I returned to school in early 2009 and graduated from an RN completion program in March 2010 which resulted in the conferral of an associate of science degree in nursing.
I knowingly enrolled in an RN bridge program at a private for-profit school that had consistently low first-time NCLEX-RN pass rates; however, the schedule and time frame being offered were convenient for me. To give readers an idea of just how low the pass rates were, this particular school of nursing had a first-time pass rate of 47 percent in 2007. The 2008 first-time pass rate slightly increased to 56 percent, and the 2009 pass rate was not much better. In case you are wondering, the state board of nursing did eventually place this nursing program on probation as a result of the dismal NCLEX-RN pass rates of its former students.
Live Review Through Kaplan?
The nursing program that I attended offered a four-day live review through Kaplan free of charge to all students, and although I was in attendance all four days, I felt it did not provide the content review that I believed I desperately needed. My friend had attended a four-day live Hurst Review session in Alabama back in 2005 while studying to take the NCLEX-PN and had nothing but good things to say about her experience, so we both made plans to attend as part of our review for the NCLEX-RN.
Live Hurst Review Session
My friend and I both reside in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas, but decided to make the 300+ mile drive to a live Hurst Review session in a small city in Arkansas. We stayed at a hotel during the four days that we were in town and managed to conjure up a mini vacation out of our time in this economically depressed city. We attended the live review from March 31 until April 3, 2010.
Is Hurst Review worth the money?
I thoroughly enjoyed the live Hurst Review. The instructor was an elderly, experienced critical care nurse who had a sense of humor, a passion for nursing, and a flair for teaching things in a simplified manner. The Hurst Review provided excellent content review. In fact, I ended up learning facts and tidbits that the instructors at my former school of nursing had never covered. In my opinion, the review filled in many of the knowledge gaps that my abbreviated nursing education left. The nicest part was the fact that the instructor employed techniques that helped attendees to easily remember all of the nursing content.
To keep a long story short, I passed the NCLEX-RN on May 11, 2010 on my first attempt with the minimum of 75 questions. Even though I attribute much of my success to my hard work, the Hurst Review was a major tool that helped me fight the uphill battle. My friend, on the other hand, took NCLEX-RN during the same week and failed with 265 questions after having reviewed with both Kaplan and Hurst. However, she did not study the test materials properly or put in the necessary time.
Use Hurst Review For Comprehensive Review of Nursing Content
In a nutshell, I would definitely recommend the Hurst Review for any student or graduate who needs a comprehensive review of nursing content. Kaplan is excellent for test taking strategies, but the Hurst Review is stellar for teaching the content in a manner that is easy to absorb.
