NCLEX-PN experience

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hello all! i just wanted to give anyone who was interested an insight about my nclex-pn experience...before, during, and after...the good, the bad, and the ugly...and i hope you all will find it beneficial to you!:rolleyes:

first off, i used kaplan's nclex-pn strategy and tips book. it's a very thin book, but i think it was by far the most important book i used. kaplan really gave some good tips on how to approach the test. remember, this test will not be like any test that you took in nursing school.

kaplan explains that there are 4-levels to test taking: knowledge, comprehension, application, and analysis. here's an example of a question in each of these areas:

topic: hypovolemia

knowledge: hypovolemia is defined as....

comprehension: s/s of hypovolemia are....

application: a patient is showing s/s of hypovolemia. what are your nursing interventions?

analysis: a patient comes into the er bleeding profusely from a recent mva. what would you do first?

do you see how all four levels of questioning surround hypovolemia, but they are asked from different vantage points?

when we are we are in school, we are given test at the knowledge/comprehension level, but the nclex will test you at the application/analysis level. therefore, you have to remember when you are answering questions at the analysis level, all the answers will be right b/c they exactly what your nursing interventions should be. so, don't look for the right answer....eliminate answers! remember, it's not asking you what your nursing interventions, it's asking what you would do first!

next, i used exam cram (mainly, the cd). exam cram is made by pearson vue, which is who gives the test, so the test resembles the layout of exam cram on cd. i had to use exam cram's 2nd edition and i had 2 questions that were word-for-word on my test. my answer choices were not the same, but the questions were exactly the same. the only thing bad about exam cram 2nd ed. is that it has absolutely no sata (select all that apply) questions...which were a good 1/3 of my test. i believe the 3rd ed is coming out in sept, so hopefully they've included sata questions in the new edition. another bad thing about exam cram is that it only had 1000 questions. i did about 300 questions a day, so i was done cd within a few days.

the last study tool i used was saunders 4th ed (again, mainly, the cd). on the cd, under step 1, i clicked on "study". under step 2, i clicked on "content area". then i would click on an individual subject. i would go through each question, read the rationale...and when i was all done, i would do the same questions again to test myself. the best thing about saunders is that you can practice the sata questions under "alternate item formats" in step 2.

i graduated in june, and i dabbled with exam cram here and there until i got my att on aug. 5th. that's when i really buckled down and studied at least 300 questions a day for 2 1/2 weeks. actually, it was 600 questions since i did each question twice (1st time to study...2nd time to test/reinforce). however, i refrained from studying the night before b/c i figured that if i didn't know it by now, i was never going to know it. i also exercised (running, walking, going to the gym) before i started studying b/c i felt trying to study continuously all day without any breaks would hinder my studies rather than help it. you really to take breaks in order for you to rejuvenate yourself. it'll help you focus more.

i tested on aug. 23rd. i was so nervous the night before that i couldn't sleep. i only slept about 3 hrs. i kept tossing and turning. i took a shower, got fully dressed in my best (but comfortable) outfit, put on my makeup as best as i could all in an effort to make sure i felt as best as i possibly could going into the test.

when i was studying, i noticed i had a tendency to read really fast and not fully understand what the question was asking. i was messing up on stupid mistakes. so when it came test time, i made sure that i slowed down and fully understood what the question was asking.

i noticed i had a lot of: sata, prioritizing (which patient would you see first), and patient teaching. i had like 5 pharm questions (drugs i had never heard of), 2 put-these-in-order questions, and 2 dosage calculations. it took me 2 hours when the computer to shut off at 85 questions. my head was hurting so bad from concentrating so hard!! despite all that, i felt pretty good. i didn't feel like i aced the test, but i didn't feel like i failed either. i actually felt like i made the test harder than it really was.

i immediately went out to breakfast with my husband b/c i needed to decompress. about an hour and half later, i came home and did the pvt and i got the good pop up! :yeah:

official results come in 3-4 weeks, so i'll give an update then on if i really passed! i hope this helps! :heartbeat

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thanks for some excellent pointers. I am scheduled to take the exam on Sept 8. So far I have been using my saunders 4th ed (reading the chapters then doing the questions on the cd) I think I will check out the exam cram.

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I'm so happy for you. i'm taking my NCLEXPN on saturday. i don't know what else to do. i have never been this stress. the last 2 wks i've had sleepless nights. i've studied the best i can.

did you study the day before your exam?

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i went to a review class. it's called lifesavers. i was told that saunders LPN is hard, that NCLEX don't even ask those hard questions.

i'm taking my exam this saturday.

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Thank you so much for that information and that explains why I felt every answer was correct when I failed my first nclex exam. Any other tips far as priority questions? I don`t know about everybody else but I could really use it for my next exam.

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hi joyarenas/williams!

i should rephrase....i originally said i did not study the night before. actually, i didn't study new material. however, i did do the exam cram simulation test one time...and i did only 2 of the 10-question quizzes from saunders. other than that, i didn't sit in front of my computer all day trying to cram information in.

you also have to be very careful when you choose a review course. first off, they can be really expensive. secondly, for me, i didn't want a review course that was basically going to be a 4-day crash course of the entire year i just went thru. personally, i couldn't see how that would help you take the test. now, i don't want to discredit some review courses b/c i'm sure they will help, but for me, prepping for this test was more about how to approach the test, rather than trying to recall information. all that recollection comes back to you when doing as many practice questions as you can between exam cram and saunders.

as far as tips for priority questions...the only thing i can say is remember your abcs and determine which patient is stable vs. unstable both systemically and mentally. i do remember a couple psych questions.

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Nice experience! Thanks for sharing. I also had a similar experience minus the "I felt pretty good" part lol. I felt like I failed. I cried going to my car because the computer shut off at 85. I had 27 SATA's and meds I NEVER HEARD OF! 1 Calculation. Ton of prioritizing! I also used Kaplan's review book. I think this helped me alot even though it only had 150 questions. I read the entire book for pointers! I took my exam 08/20/11 and so far I'm getting the "good pop up"..I'm still a little skeptical you can say lol. I found the Nclex very hard! I'm from cali so I have to wait about 3 to 4 weeks more for my results. keep us posted! Best of luck to all!

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I say that the NCLEX PN was hard too!! I felt I did ok enough for a Pass; but I wasn't as succesful this time around. I had a total of about 4 dosage and drop factor questions...I know I got all of them right! I had 3 SATA, several priority questions..2 or 3 infection control..Test ended at 100 questions. I studied the Kaplan PN book but only 150 test questions there..It was very good on exam strategies and Critical Thinking!! But I found all of the type of questions given on the NCLEX were no way compared to the way the NCLEX poses the questions. I think I will either get the Kaplan CD this time and or the EXAM Cram!!

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What do you recommend more Exam Cram or Kaplan?

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I personally think I needed all 3 books: kaplan, exam cram, and saunders. kaplan for the strategy on how to take the test, exam cram for an idea of how the test will look like, and saunders for the sheer amount of questions the book has (saunders has over 3000 practice questions).

i think doing as many practice questions as you can is far more important than trying to read a section about that topic, if that makes any sense. for some reason, if i read a chapter on a particular topic, i would forget what i would read when it came time to do the quizzes on the CD. but in doing a lot of the practice questions, i was able to recognize which answers i could eliminate...and from there, determine the what the right answer should be.

but to answer your question, i didn't use the kaplan CD, so i can't really vouch for that one. but usually, anything by kaplan is pretty good (I used the kaplan study guide for the TEAS assessment test and I passed with flying colors solely using that book).

i liked the layout of exam cram b/c it looks like the real test. the only thing i didn't like about exam cram was that there weren't enough study questions. but i think exam cram does sell a "questions only" CD study guide.

hope this helps. good luck!!:redbeathe

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oh by the way...i passed!!!:rckn:

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phallenangel .....:ancong!:
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