Hi everybody! I just wanted to share my experience with the NCLEX and hopefully offer some reassurance to people who are in or about to be in this position. I took the NCLEX today, shut off at 75 questions, and had an active license on my state's BON within an hour of taking the exam! Granted that's not the normal wait time, but my state is small. Anyways, I digress. I graduated with honors from an ADN program on May 18th, and got my ticket to test within a week or so. I've generally been a good test taker throughout my schooling, but do get serious test anxiety so I wanted to give myself enough time to relax after graduating while still having enough time to study. I purchased 60 days of Uworld with 2 self-assessments and the unlimited test bank. I used UWorld exclusively to study, and really can't recommend it enough. The questions are tough! They make you think, and get you prepared for SATA questions because there is so many of them. The rationales are clear, and if you take the time to read them thoroughly you'll learn a lot. The feel of the NCLEX is extremely similar to UWorld, which I found very comforting. When I was taking the NCLEX, I definitely felt like I was screwing up because the questions were "easier" to some degree than what I was expecting (UWorld questions were really difficult in my opinion). I had about 15-20 SATA, many priority/delegation/teaching questions, and quite a bit of psych/maternal-fetal-newborn-infant-toddler questions. Several nutrition/dietary questions as well. My biggest piece of advice is to treat the NCLEX like a practice exam. Of course the stakes are high and you want to do your best, but place those fears aside the best you can because that is where people trip themselves up. There will be plenty of questions that you have no idea how to answer (if the testing proctors could see my face during some of them, they would probably have thought I was losing it 😂) but there is SOME piece of information in there that you do know. Take your best educated guess, and move on to the next. And remember, the test and your knowledge are both on your side! You received an education preparing you for this test, and the test is adaptive to your needs. You also have PLENTY of time. Take breaks if you need to, focus on your breathing, and do the dang thing. You CAN do it. It is a tough exam, but not impossible. It is testing the minimum competency needed to be a RN, and you have it. Set yourself up for success as best as you can prior to the test as well. If you do better with books/note taking, then study that way. Don't try to study too differently than how you did in school. I do recommend practice tests though, because it keeps you in the habit of answering weird NCLEX-style questions. Spend time with your loved ones, make time for your hobbies in between studying, sleep/eat well leading up to the exam, and most importantly, trust yourself. Don't burn yourself out or discredit your own intelligence/capability. If I can do it, you can do it! If you have any questions or anything to add, feel free! Best of luck to all of you 😊
