NCLEX Experience

Published Aug 1, 2018

62 Posts

Hello everyone,

I just took my NCLEX on July 14th and passed with 75 questions. I want to share my story and resources to help others who feel discouraged or like they are not doing enough. I know when I was anxious I came onto this forum and read stories and they would alleviate some of my anxiety.

So I graduated from my nursing program in May 2018 and scored in the 1100's in my Hesi Exit (I wouldnt be able to tell you the exact number, I forgot.)

I started studying at the end of May, giving me a month and a half to prepare. I used Uworld, Mark Klimek audios, NCLEX Mastery, and the Saunders Hesi book.

UWorld:

I found UWorld to be very helpful. I scored in the 68th percentile out of 48th average. It teaches you a lot of material and can be overwhelming at times but just try to rationalize to the best of your abilities because the rationales are good. The NCLEX, in my experience, wasnt as wordy as UWorld; it just got straight to the point.

Probably a month before my exam, I started doing 75 questions a day in test mode and timed to build endurance and mimic the NCLEX.

I also bought the 2 self assessments that were in my opinion, easier than the NCLEX but still got you to that frame of thinking and taught you how to think critically like they want you to in the NCLEX.

Mark Klimek audios:

They were so resourceful, like he really broke down things well and eased a lot of my anxiety. I would highly recommend to take time to listen to these, write notes and review your notes throughly. I think he helped a lot honestly.

Saunders book:

I tackled the medical surgical part only but after I finished reading, I barely remember anything I read. It can be a bit overwhelming so I would suggest just using this book as a reference if UWorld didn't clarify well enough. The questions on here are a bit too easy honestly so dont go by them AT ALL.

NCLEX Mastery:

I purchased the pre and post test from them because there was a sale. It was the closest thing to the NCLEX I experienced honestly. As for the entire program, I couldnt tell you because I didn't do their program but content wise I think UWorld pretty much covers it all.

I think NCLEX Mastery is more challenging because its so much more simple and to the point unlike UWorld. I feel like with UWorld, the wordiness helped with context clues but with NCLEX Mastery you didnt get many clues (but also there was less room for confusion, so I guess its you win some and you lose some, right?)

All in all, don't fret. As long as you are doing your part, you will be fine. You have to trust in yourself and in your gut and the best advice I can give is DO NOT CHANGE YOUR ANSWERS. Cover as much as you can. Relax the day before the exam and just look over lab values, to sleep I drank tea and had a hot shower and went to bed early because my test was at

Right now, the biggest monster you face is the NCLEX but I promise its not the monster everyone makes it out to be. Its a fairly simple test, do not complicate it for yourself or overthink because then you will be caught in a mess. Do not let your anxiety take over either, it is just a test. As someone with a lot of test anxiety, I can say firsthand that it really clouds my judgment and makes me second guess myself (worse thing you can do in nursing). You will know some topics but you probably won't know everything so just answer those to the best of your abilities. DONT freak out if your getting topics you dont know, answer as best as you can and move on.

I wish everyone luck, you will make it through!