NCLEX prep dilemma

Glenna, LPN · Nov 23, 2011

I never used KAPLAN. All I used was the Saunders book (well mostly the disc that came with it) and the Pearson's Exam Cram book to help me review everything I learned during the school year.

Some of my classmates did use kaplan and didn't think it helped them all that much.

If you know your lab values, dosage calcuations, and you've been practicing answering questions on study mode (around 200-300 a day) for at least three weeks...I think you would be all set to take your NCLEX. That's what I pretty much did and it stopped at 86 question. Thank goodness. Some of my classmates went all the way to 205 questions and still passed.

I hope this helps. I wish you the best of luck during your final three weeks of school! You can do it!

NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN · Nov 23, 2011

I graduate in 3 weeks as well. Alot of my classmates are using kaplan but I honestly can't afford that right now. I'm going on a vacation in 3 weeks and its' the holiday, so money is really tight for me. I have three books that I'm using to prepare for boards: La charity, sauders and kaplan. I plan on reading all three books and doing atleast 100 questions per day until I take my boards.

I studied for my LPN boards just by doing questions for 2 weeks and I passed with the min. of 85 questions. I plan on doing the same when I graduate as a RN.

mangopeach · Dec 2, 2011

I don't graduate till May but this has been on my mind as well. Since 2nd semester I've been using Saunders so my plan was to continue to use it and get the LaCharity book and do as many questions that I can find for free online. I'm broke so I want to go the least expensive route. I don't want to be overly confident & I know the NCLEX is a beast like no other but I've done well thus far & really think my school has prepared us well. Most of the past students have passed on their first try. If I don't pass on the 1st try, I might consider a review course.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Dec 2, 2011

i used to teach the kaplan course. at the time there were 10 sections, and i taught 5, all the med/surg and the sample test and review. i always started the first section by asking what these new grads thought the nclex pass rate was in our fair state. "50%?" came one answer, "40%?" came another. "nah, it's gotta be 75%," came a third. well, at the time it was about 96%.

so i tried another tack. "your faculty, pretty easygoing bunch, right? let things slide, never leaned on you too hard, made your time in the program easy, right?" and of course those who weren't snorting their coffee out their noses were looking at me as if i had two heads.

"ok," said i. "your faculty let you graduate, so they think you're ready to be nurses. the programs around here have nearly universal nclex pass rates. since i'm not trying to do myself out of a job, i'm glad you're here for the review, but you have to calm down."

it is a good review, but honestly, the most important thing we did for these kids was teach them test-taking techniques and to chill the heck out. if you had half a decent education, you probably don't need to pay that kinda money. but it's your call.

nclex items are developed in part from knowing what errors new grads make and how. they tend to be of two kinds: inadequate information, and lack of knowledge (these are not the same thing). the goal of nclex is to pass candidates who will be acceptably safe in practice as nurses. so-- they want to know what the prudent nurse will do.

1) when confronted c 4 answers, you can usually discard 2 out of hand. of the remaining two,

-- always choose the answer that (in priority order) makes the patient safer or gets you more information. "can you tell me more about that?" "what do you know about your medication?" "what was the patient's lab result?"

-- never choose the answer that has you turf the situation to another discipline-- chaplain, dietary, md, social work, etc. it's often tempting, but they want to know about what the nurse would do. see "always..." above.

2) "safer" might mean airway, breathing, circulation; it might mean pull the bed out of the room and away from the fire; it might mean pressure ulcer prevention; or improving nutrition; or teaching about loose scatter rugs ... keep your mind open.

3) read carefully. if they ask you for a nursing intervention answer, they aren't asking for an associated task or action which requires a physician plan of care. so in a scenario involving a medication, the answer would not be to hang the iv, regulate it, or chart it; it would not be to observe for complications. it would be to assess pt knowledge of the med/tx plan and derive an appropriate patient teaching plan. only that last one is nursing-independent and a nursing intervention.

again, they want nursing here.

4) the day before the test, do not study. research shows that your brain does not retain crap you stuff into it at the last minute-- musicians learning a new piece play the first part on monday, the second part on tuesday, and the third part on weds. then they do something else entirely on thursday; meanwhile, behind the scenes, the brain is organizing the new info into familiar cubbyholes already stuffed with music, putting it ready for easy access. on friday, the whole piece works much better.

what this translates for in test-taking land is this: the day before the test, you go to a museum or a concert, go take a hike, read a trashy novel, make a ragout, do something else entirely. take a small glass of wine, soak in a nice hot bath in a darkened tub with a few candles on the sink, get a nice night's sleep.

5) read the mayonnaise jar and do what it says: keep cool, do not freeze. another thing to remember is that for any given exam (including nclex) there are some questions that are being trialled for inclusion in a future edition of the test, and they do not count. you got a run of ob? dollars to donuts some or all of them are extras.

moral is that if you run into a question that really is a bad question that defies your test-taking strategies advice, well, maybe it just is a bad question. make your best guess and forget about it.

jesskidding, LPN · Dec 3, 2011

Thanks, GrnTea! That is great advice!

Thanks again!