Old nurse trying to get my license again and need a few answers

i was a nurse 18 years ago. i worked nicu mostly. i also worked at the eye hospital in miami. (best job i ever had) i have home educated my children for the last 18 years. my oldest is 21 and married now and i am hoping to get back into nursing. for financial reasons from the past, i couldn't keep up with my license. but now, i am going to retake state boards to get it back. i could go the route of endorsement. but was hoping to do it this way just because it is quicker. in the stone age of 1980, i used mosby's and passed just fine. i'm not even sure there was a saunders back then. so i purchased the 2009 mosby's because i thought it being copyrighted from 2009, it might be more current than saunders which i believe is 2007. (wish i had read this message board first). :sstrs: anyhoo, i have been using the cd that came with this book and have been doing ok. my answers are no where in the ballpark of where i want them to be. unlike many of you, i do have a base knowledge of drugs but mostly with children, not with adults. so that is the part that i consistently have to review and know. plus, i have to refresh my memory on adult disease processes. where it comes to neonates and l&d, i usually get the questions correct. i get all those stupid psychology questions right that nobody ever does in the real world. i wish so much these folks that write these tests would recognize that it is the nurse's aids that sit and chat with the patients, not the nurses and yes i'm going to call them patients because that is what they are.

here are my questions:

1. is it still the policy of the nclex that if you do not know the answer to a question, you can skip it and you will not be counted off for that question. iow, if there are 200 questions and you only answer 195 of those questions, the five that you didn't answer will not be marked as incorrect since it is obvious you skipped past them? also do i understand most of you correctly that there are 70 questions on this test? the nclex will not allow you to skip any questions. you must answer question to move on to the next

2. is the nclex computerized like these cd questions? completely computerised

3. does anyone know if mosby's 2009 addition has improved from the past? i can see that many of you did not like it but i need to know if that was this edition.

4. does saunders do the same thing where it asks you sample questions? how does this compare?

5. i saw on the nclex web site a download sample of questions. has anyone looked at that and downloaded it? if so, did it help?

i noted one other thing about mosby's and i am wondering if anyone else noted this and that is answers that are incorrect. for example, the question is:

to promote comfort caused by back pain during labor, the nurse teaches the client to avoid the

1. supine position

2. sitting position

3. side-lying position

4. sims' position

i selected #1 and it marked it wrong. it said that the correct answer was #2. on their rationale area for #2 it said this, "low back pain is aggravated when the mother is in the supine position because of increased pressure from the fetus." i read that and thought, "what!!??" :anbd:

any help you can give me would be most appreciated!!

thank you,

vera

i can't answer on mosby but did use it the first time i took the exam and failed. i found saunders just before i sat it for 3rd and final time and much preferred it. we all have our own preferences on how to study but i would suggest you consider saunders book and suzanne's plan

I don't know thre requirements for the State of FL, however, many states will allow a license to be reinstated (without retaking NCLEX) upon the completion of a BON approved review course. With an 18-year absence from nursing, I would imagine that most employers will want you to have completed a review course before interviewing or hiring you. By re-taking and passing NCLEX, you may have your license, but I don't think that will open many employment doors for you. I think your time and money may be better spent on a review course.

Best of luck to you.

My license had been inactive for 20 years. To get it back I had 3 options. These included taking the exam, endorsement and the 3rd I can't remember. I chose endorsement. It can be a long process but studying for the exam can be as well. Check with your BON for all your options. I got my license back 5 years ago and never regretted the process I chose. Whatever you choose, that license is going to feel good back in your hands. Hope this helps.

Actually this is not the case any longer. if a license has been inactive for more than 8 years and the nurse has not worked in any other state in the field of nursing or another country, then every state that I know is requiring the NCLEX exam to be written again now.

It would be what is called a refresher program, and this requires an active license in that state. It cannot be completed if one does not hold a current RN license in that state.

Suzanne,

I respectfully disagree. I completed a BON approved refresher course in NE last year, after 10 years of inactivity. My classmates had been out of practice for as long as 20 years. NE requires continuing practice of 500 hours every 5 years, so some of these nurses had been without licenses for at least 15 years. We were required to complete the coursework and lab portion of the course, then the school submitted our transcripts to the BON, which granted temporary practice permits for the purpose of the refresher course only. When the clinical portion was successfully completed, we were awarded our licenses without having to retake NCLEX.

I realize that requirements vary by state, but I can assure you that retaking NCLEX after 8 years of inactivity is not universal.