NCLEX...when to start studying....

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · Jan 2, 2009

Start day 1. As you prepare for your very 1st nursing exam use and NCLEX book--Saunders is a good one and you can target your questions to what your studying in class---Also I found alot of my nursing school teachers would use some questions ver batum out of Saunders.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jan 2, 2009

from the first day of nursing school the taking and passing of the nclex exam is always one of your primary goals. learning how to answer the questions on this test along with learning the information that is going to be tested on it is a priority. unless you pass this test you can never get a license to work as an rn. so, all the grades you got in nursing school will mean nothing. that license is ultimately what you are aiming for. the nclex exam is one of the most fairly composed set of questions you will be asked. it is an application type test so you need to know how to apply the principles of critical thinking which you, hopefully, will learn as you make your way through nursing school. for help, every week check out the sample questions posted on these two websites and keep a file of them for reference:

http://www.learningext.com/students/qofweek.asp - question of the week. every monday a question from the online nclex-rn examination course from ncsbn and its answer is posted here on this page.
http://www3.us.elsevierhealth.com/cgi-bin/mosby/cdonline/saxton/question - mosby's question of the week from mosby's comprehensive review of nursing. also has archived questions that you can access.

Melinurse · Jan 2, 2009

like the others have said, start studying right away. saunder's is a real good reveiw book. you can also look on the nclex discussion forum in the stickies and read through some of the random facts thread.

anyoone up for random fact throwing??

tommsbomb · Jan 2, 2009

I don't think you have to study the book like a regular nursing book, but you do need to have practice questions. The Lippencott NCLEX book is mostly questions, and yes the Saunders book does go into details. If I were you I would look at in now before tests, but really study the questions and rationales the second year. But they are right study it now too. But really this first year, you need to get the basics down and get your routine in order before you add more on top of it. During your summer, review skills and stuff and NCLEX questions.

fragino · Jan 3, 2009

They are all correct. Hit the first day reviewing NCLEX. As a matter of fact, I found that the worst use of my time the first semester was reading ALL the assigned reading. Unless you have outstanding memory, how much can you retain reading 50 to 200 pages every one to two weeks?

tommsbomb is also right though that the regular NCLEX review books are a little to in depth the first semester. Instead I would recommend using "Nursing Fundamentals (Prentice Hall Nursing Reviews & Rationales)" for the first semester. After that Saunders, Lippincott, Made Easy, whatever. They have different styles and each have their own proponents. I say, get them all and do them all. That's what I did. But to do the questions is only one part of it. The most important part is to understand the rationales as to why the answer is right or wrong for that question.

If you are memory challenged like I am, you may not remember a thing after slogging through pages and pages of dry material. However I looked at each NCLEX review question as a little story or mystery to be solved. I remembered more that way because instead of dry unrelated material, it was presented in scenarios, whodunits, and why they did it.