NCLEX Journey

Published

I took my final exam at my community college on May 7 and received my authorization to test (ATT) on Saturday, May 9, at 9:19 pm. I immediately scheduled my exam for May 27 at 4 pm and started studying on May 10. I am located in North Carolina and it was pretty easy scheduling my exam, at that time, there were plenty of exam dates available.

Preparation

I studied for 17 days; yes, I studied on the day of the exam. I devoted at a minimum of 8 hours a day to studying. I completed at least 100 questions a day and reviewed material based on the questions I missed. I watched Youtube videos on diseases not covered in my nursing program, which amounted to 40 videos on Youtube.

I used the following resources to prepare for the NCLEX.

  • Mark Klimek
  • UWorld (completed 1976 questions, didn't complete pharm)
  • NCSBN RN Review (used to review material and completed 200 questions)
  • Nurse Achieve Adaptive Mock Exam (CAT) -RN (Completed 3 CAT exams)
  • Youtube

The most useful resources were Nurse Achieve Adaptive Mock Exam (CAT) -RN and NCSBN RN Review. The CAT helped me build confidence to think through the questions to get the correct answer. I utilized the NCSBN RN Review to review material. The NCSBN RN Review practice questions were just like NCLEX questions, which helped me because I knew what to expect.

UWorld prepared me to answer questions, but I am not sure if UWorld was worth the money. UWorld questions were much harder than the questions on NCLEX. NCLEX questions are straight forward and not complicated.

I enjoyed Mark Klimek's review, but his material did not help me with the NCLEX.

Day of the Exam

I took the NCLEX on May 27 at 4 pm. I read some posts stating the NCLEX was easy, but it was hard for me. I received mostly multiple-choice questions, 12 SATA, 1 fill-in-the-blank, 3 graphics, and 2 exhibits. My test covered Maternity (15 questions), Peds (5 questions), Meds (5 questions), Priority (15 questions), Delegation (3 questions), Communication (2 questions), Precautions (2 questions), Emergency (2 questions), End-of-Life Care (1 question), Religious (1 question), Substance Use (1 question), Non-Pharmacological Comfort (1 question), Ethics (1 question) and Nutrition (1 question).

I didn't have any dosage calculations, cardiac rhythm strips, or growth and development questions.

The exam stopped at 60 questions?!

PVT

I did the PVT 2 hours after taking the exam, and I got the good pop-up.

Official Results

I just received an email from the North Carolina Board of Nursing with my license attached. It's official, I PASSED?!

Advice

If possible, take the exam as soon as possible while your nursing education is fresh in your mind. Complete at a minimum, 100 questions each day. Once you get closer to your exam date, take the Nurse Achieve CAT at least 3 times over a 5 day period. This will help you immensely. Have faith in yourself, you completed nursing school and you CAN pass this test.

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Congratulations

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Did you work during the 17 days while studying?

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Yes, I worked. I took off the day before the exam and the day of the exam.

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CONGRATS! Solid advice as well.

How did you remember the number of questions you had per subject and format like that? I remember walking out of mine dazed and couldn’t remember a single question ? You have an excellent memory! That will serve you well

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On 5/29/2020 at 12:55 PM, careerchange19 said:

I took my final exam at my community college on May 7 and received my authorization to test (ATT) on Saturday, May 9, at 9:19 pm. I immediately scheduled my exam for May 27 at 4 pm and started studying on May 10. I am located in North Carolina and it was pretty easy scheduling my exam, at that time, there were plenty of exam dates available.

Preparation

I studied for 17 days; yes, I studied on the day of the exam. I devoted at a minimum of 8 hours a day to studying. I completed at least 100 questions a day and reviewed material based on the questions I missed. I watched Youtube videos on diseases not covered in my nursing program, which amounted to 40 videos on Youtube.

I used the following resources to prepare for the NCLEX.

  • Mark Klimek
  • UWorld (completed 1976 questions, didn't complete pharm)
  • NCSBN RN Review (used to review material and completed 200 questions)
  • Nurse Achieve Adaptive Mock Exam (CAT) -RN (Completed 3 CAT exams)
  • Youtube

The most useful resources were Nurse Achieve Adaptive Mock Exam (CAT) -RN and NCSBN RN Review. The CAT helped me build confidence to think through the questions to get the correct answer. I utilized the NCSBN RN Review to review material. The NCSBN RN Review practice questions were just like NCLEX questions, which helped me because I knew what to expect.

UWorld prepared me to answer questions, but I am not sure if UWorld was worth the money. UWorld questions were much harder than the questions on NCLEX. NCLEX questions are straight forward and not complicated.

I enjoyed Mark Klimek's review, but his material did not help me with the NCLEX.

Day of the Exam

I took the NCLEX on May 27 at 4 pm. I read some posts stating the NCLEX was easy, but it was hard for me. I received mostly multiple-choice questions, 12 SATA, 1 fill-in-the-blank, 3 graphics, and 2 exhibits. My test covered Maternity (15 questions), Peds (5 questions), Meds (5 questions), Priority (15 questions), Delegation (3 questions), Communication (2 questions), Precautions (2 questions), Emergency (2 questions), End-of-Life Care (1 question), Religious (1 question), Substance Use (1 question), Non-Pharmacological Comfort (1 question), Ethics (1 question) and Nutrition (1 question).

I didn't have any dosage calculations, cardiac rhythm strips, or growth and development questions.

The exam stopped at 60 questions?!

PVT

I did the PVT 2 hours after taking the exam, and I got the good pop-up.

Official Results

I just received an email from the North Carolina Board of Nursing with my license attached. It's official, I PASSED?!

Advice

If possible, take the exam as soon as possible while your nursing education is fresh in your mind. Complete at a minimum, 100 questions each day. Once you get closer to your exam date, take the Nurse Achieve CAT at least 3 times over a 5 day period. This will help you immensely. Have faith in yourself, you completed nursing school and you CAN pass this test.

Hi career change. I've been using NurseAchieve doing 2 CAT exams daily for the last week. I have never gotten a fail, only pass-pass and solid-passes. How did you do on the CAT exams?

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1st CAT I received a Slight Pass
2nd CAT I received Solid Pass
3rd CAT I received Solid Pass

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2 minutes ago, careerchange19 said:

1st CAT I received a Slight Pass
2nd CAT I received Solid Pass
3rd CAT I received Solid Pass

Thank you for your speedy reply! I appreciate it! I took an NCLEX Prep course and did not want to use UWorld again as I am a repeater for NCLEX. I decided to use the free trial from Nurseachieve and I think I prefer it over UWorld.

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I have heard good things about NCSBN review and My RN Mastery as well. UWorld is harder than NCLEX.

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Helpful info! exactly what I am doing, hoping to get the same result ! 

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