nclex-pn in a week and freaking!!

[cyde]

hi all. i'm pretty new here and am looking for some help and advice. I'm taking the nclex-pn in a week and i'm freaking. I can't seem to focus on anything and got study block that I can't believe. Been studying using exam cram, a little saunders 3200 ?s only did 700 (it so vast!) and tried the kaplan review book which i'm not doing too well on and i don't feel like anything is penetrating. had 80s-90s in school but only doing like 50-60s in kaplan and in the other books and cd. I'm starting to feel like I didn't learn anything in school. do you just keep going over the questions in the book/cd and memorize the rationals? I've tried the saunders book but with so many questions I feel like i'm lost and not hit on the content that I need to. I don't know where to focus. I'm at the point of puking!! I have so much riding on this test and although I keep telling myself failure is not an option i'm afraid that's where i'm headed. Can anyone suggest where I should be focusing? Should I stick to the crams and forget the saunders? i'm so lost... any advice as how to approach this? i feel like i'm running out of time before my test date. so sad. I'm not the fastest reader and getting buried in a lot of reading could create a huge set back for me. Please HELP!!

[closetoyou21, CNA]

I think you should use both! I took the RN boards and during my prep, I started with Pearson and ATI then merged to Saunders and Kaplan. At the end I felt well-rounded as far as content! Try to relax a little so you can study. I know it is nerve wrecking but remember, you have the knowledge, use the principles/test-taking strategies you have learned... Don't focus too much on your scores and more on remediation and understanding why you got an answer wrong or right.... Good luck! Let us know how you do!

[cyde]

thanks for your reply! going to try saunders again. i feel like i'm all over the place with all these books and i don't think i'll have enough time to get through it all. i will keep you posted. i hope i have good news in 7 days...

[lisa861971]

I'm freaking out I am taking my nclex Saturday the 10th and I am freakin out. I tryed studying today and I had to stop I'm mixing everything up. I have been studying everyday for the past 5 weeks. I feel like I don't know anything. Doing Saunders questions online and rationales used Kaplan book, and lacharity book....

[ER28]

I took my NCLEX-PN in June and found out 2 weeks ago that I passed! I'm not sure if you're familiar with ATI.. but I did ATI tests over and over again as well as the Exam Cram book! It helped me because both sources would sometimes repeat questions in a different way and you remember them when they are brought up again! My school also offers NCLEX review and the instructor was amazing!! She was a human encyclopedia. So listening to her for 2 days, 8 hours a day helped me immensely!! I'm a visual learner so I liked to draw out pictures of the heart, brain, etc. Memorize lab values! I wrote them on a poster board in colors and hung it in my room. Read them when you wake up and before you go to bed!

Another thing - focus on your weaknesses! I didn't thoroughly review things that I was comfortable with.

Good luck to you!! You can do it!

[cyde]

no not familiar w/ATI. can you share the link? is it free?

[ER28]

no not familiar w/ATI. can you share the link? is it free?

We were given ATI access at school and can still use it so I don't know how it would work for you unfortunately =[ and if you are able to sign up, there are codes that my instructor provided that you have to input to access different the practice tests. I'm sorry! BUT the Exam Cram PN book asked very similar questions. Not as in depth, but it still helped me!

[cyde]

lol!! that's cool...i wouldn't want you to do that. :) thank you tho. is that the same thing as what on the lippincott site? i love the crams and i do get a lot from it. gonna stick with that and poke around the saunders.