I graduated Nursing school and I am extremely strapped for cash. I'm a Nurse Extern but every time I pick up shifts I get called off due to low census including when I try to pick up on other floors. I feel as though there's a lot of pressure to buy all of these resources and I just cannot afford to do that between bills and paying the licensure fees at the moment.
If I have a Saunders review book and YourBestGrade that I used to study for the Hesi, do you think I'll be okay? I know that many nurses suggest UWORLD and Klimek, but in all honesty, as much as I'd love to do them I just don't have the means. On the Exit Hesi, it took me two tries because my class needed a 900. The first time I got an 897 and the second a 908. Do you think I'll be okay?
I know exactly what you mean - people keep pressuring me to get UWorld. I don't have the money and quite frankly, people passed NCLEX way before all these special reviews came about.
If you've studied hard, done well in nursing school and already have access to a review then use it. If you feel you need more questions, there are tons of other resources out there to help too - it's just based on preference and affordability.
I'll be using ATI from school, Saunders and Hesi for Qs to focus on weak areas. I also have been listening to audios just to cement concepts - it's no different than looking it up on YouTube. It may sound like a lot, but nursing is nursing. STUDY hard! People can still fail with all of these expensive reviews, it's up to you to put in the work.
We all have our own belief systems, so be advised—I wish I had been—that Mark Klimek and his cohort are evangelical Christians. They believe in traveling to countries racked by poverty and converting the populace.
I recently attended the Klimek course here in Southern California. It was held at Biola University: another institution built on proselytization. Within the first five minutes of class the instructor evoked the name “Jesus” three times. In the next five minutes she tried to sell us an app for $60 or $70. This, after we had given them close to $400 for the class. Jesus and money. Money and Jesus. Some things never change.
And she was invoking Jesus as the entity that had arranged for our books to be at the printers on time. I’m not an evangelical Christian, but do people really believe that Jesus is involved in the production and distribution of xeroxed nursing materials?
I am so sad that money of mine is going to damage the lives of people in developing countries. I lived and worked in Africa for a number of years and saw first hand the harm wrought by most missionaries.
If you are considering a class with these people, be informed. (I am sure that many people will be overjoyed, and others, like me, will be appalled.) Go to the website for the academic institution where Klimek is based—Cedarville University—and read the lengthy and bizarre statement every employee must sign every year. They teach science but believe in a literal creation story. They are almost 100% white. And here, at Biola University, they are proud of their work to convert Jews.
Jesus, have mercy.
There are far worst things in the world than belief in a divine plan. Missionaries have also done and continue to do many positive things in the world in terms of providing food, medical care, and even clean water to people of the world. True, much evil has been done in the "name" of Jesus, just as it has been done in the name of Stalin, Hitler, manifest destiny, or the East India trading company and opium wars. In the final analysis if you believe that the world has a "spiritual foundation" which is to say that we are more than "walking meat suits" then we must acknowledge that spirit, and souls are just as real (and perhaps more real) than the materialistic world. Who's right? Catholics, Baptists, Mormons, Buddists, Hindu's, Islam, Wiccan's all, none, some I frankly don't know. However, they all agree that we have a spiritual essence that supersedes this existence. Heck, even strict materialists like Nick Bostrum seriously posit that we may be living in a sort of complex "computer simulation" https://www.simulation-argument.com/simulation.html . Such a reality (if it is true) would be every bit as "supernatural" as the strict creationist theology posited by the people you mention above. Even our own government is seriously investigating unknown aerial/UFO like events https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/26/us/politics/ufo-sightings-navy-pilots.html . As the scientist John Haldane once said (paraphrased) it may be not only that the world is stranger than we imagine but stranger than we can imagine.
In any case, it is not necessary to spend much money to pass the NCLEX. I passed on the first try with 75 questions using a few books from the library. Certainly, I would start with the excellent free resources available at places like the khanacademy.org .
I graduated Nursing school and I am extremely strapped for cash. I'm a Nurse Extern but every time I pick up shifts I get called off due to low census including when I try to pick up on other floors. I feel as though there's a lot of pressure to buy all of these resources and I just cannot afford to do that between bills and paying the licensure fees at the moment.
If I have a Saunders review book and YourBestGrade that I used to study for the Hesi, do you think I'll be okay? I know that many nurses suggest UWORLD and Klimek, but in all honesty, as much as I'd love to do them I just don't have the means. On the Exit Hesi, it took me two tries because my class needed a 900. The first time I got an 897 and the second a 908. Do you think I'll be okay?
Also does anyone have any suggestions?
Just wanted to update everyone and let them know that I passed using NCSBN and Saunders! I did the comprehensive test in the back of Saunders and went through and reviewed my most common missed subjects each time I would take a quiz out of both out of NCSBN and the Saunders book. I spent a lot of time quizzing primarily though where I at least would do 200/day. I went in expecting 265 questions and came out to only doing 75. It's definitely more critical thinking than content! I studied for about a month. Thank you all for the kind words and support!
Just wanted to update everyone and let them know that I passed using NCSBN and Saunders! I did the comprehensive test in the back of Saunders and went through and reviewed my most common missed subjects each time I would take a quiz out of both out of NCSBN and the Saunders book. I spent a lot of time quizzing primarily though where I at least would do 200/day. I went in expecting 265 questions and came out to only doing 75. It's definitely more critical thinking than content! I studied for about a month. Thank you all for the kind words and support!
Congratulations!!!! Glad you defied the odds in terms of what materials you had used.
How did you use the Saunders to study? Did you use your pre-assessment's study plan? Focus on weak areas?
I had Saunders, did a Hurst Review (out of my own pocket) and UWORLD that was provided to me at no charge from my employer.
I thought Saunders was fabulous for personal study.
I could’ve done without Hurst, but it didn’t hurt.
I could’ve also done without UWORLD - but it was free to me, so why not. My NCLEX looked exactly like UWORLD.
I don’t think any of these necessarily helped me. The point was that I was answering 50-100 questions daily. There are several ways that you can get free questions, and see if some of your nursing school resources provide you with questions.
At this point you should already know you’re content. You just need to practice applying that to questions and scenarios that you may be faced with on NCLEX.
GOOD LUCK! I am so glad I only had to take that test once.
SqrB3ar, BSN, RN
98 Posts
I know exactly what you mean - people keep pressuring me to get UWorld. I don't have the money and quite frankly, people passed NCLEX way before all these special reviews came about.
If you've studied hard, done well in nursing school and already have access to a review then use it. If you feel you need more questions, there are tons of other resources out there to help too - it's just based on preference and affordability.
I'll be using ATI from school, Saunders and Hesi for Qs to focus on weak areas. I also have been listening to audios just to cement concepts - it's no different than looking it up on YouTube. It may sound like a lot, but nursing is nursing. STUDY hard! People can still fail with all of these expensive reviews, it's up to you to put in the work.