NCLEX question about preparing for the test

[Amber_2005]

I have several books I'm going to be using. Currently I am about halfway through Saunder's 5th edition. I also have a Kaplan book, NCLEX made Easy, ATI stuff, and am using NCLEX 3500. What I am curious about for those who have taken NCLEX, are the questions way more difficult than some of these books? I am trying to get through about 200 questions per day and plan on taking the test in June. On my ATI predictor, I only have a 92% probability of passing the NCLEX on the first attempt. I have a lot to study for. Mental Health and Pharmacology were my two worst areas for ATI. Do you have any great ideas about studying for those two areas????

[anna722]

First of all, congrats on getting 92% probability! Sure, there's areas you can improve on, but that's a great probability!

I haven't taken NCLEX yet, but as far as studying for Pharmacology and Mental Health:

Mental Health: a lot of the question's I've got are regarding therapeutic communication. Review the techniques and what you should or shouldn't do/say, review the differing symptoms from one condition to another, and definitely know the meds.

Pharmacology (I posted this response in another thread as well)

-Study medications by classification (beta blockers, ace inhibitors, etc.) not by individual drug. Most medications in the same class are very similar and can therefore be grouped together.

-I then made a chart for each classification of meds, including :

the classification, mechanism of action, conditions it's used for, common medications in this class, contraindications, side effects, , and nursing considerations

-I color coded each different category listed above

-i focused the most on the nursing considerations (as in, check apical pulse before administering, whether to give on an empty stomach or not, etc).

If you do have the ATI book for Pharmacology, the questions in there are helpful.

If you get them wrong, make sure you understand WHY.

I too am using saunder's (i have only about 15 chapters left) and i have been taking brief notes on each chapter as I go through it, as well as reviewing the questions and understanding why I got a certain question wrong. I also have the nclex 10,000 (prep u) by Lippincott, which has mastery levels and a bunch of questions that can be sorted by topic, I've been doing 150 questions each day. Work through the practice ATI's again if you still have access, but I prefer the PrepU rationale's better. They explain why the answer is wrong, and I've found with ATI sometimes I will get a generic rationale such as "This is not the appropriate intervention".

if you have any questions let me know :)