NCLEX success

Published

So I promised myself that I would write my success story after passing the NCLEX because this forum truly helped me when preparing for the NCLEX. I want to give back to the allnurses community.

List of main resources I used:

Kaplan qtrainers (I didn't finish all of them!)

Saunders Comprehensive Review for the NCLEX-RN Examination 5th Edition (No, I did not read the entire book, and no, I did not do all the ?'s)

The RN Course Book

That awesome PDF with NCLEX tidbits that has been circulating around the site (I read this several times!)

... and tons of other resources (I think this confused me way more!:barf02:)

My advice for NCLEX takers:

Set time for yourself to study with no interruptions, even if is an hour, a few hours, etc.

Don't overwhelm yourself with lots of resources, you will start getting confused with the inconsistencies

Don't pressure yourself with trying to finish everything, read everything, learn everything... I say this because I was honestly stressing myself out by doing this (on top of taking a class and working part-time at a restaurant) --- I was somewhat against just doing tons of questions because I truly felt like I was lacking on content but doing a bunch of questions really does help, and you start to realize how you should answer certain types of questions

Study how you learn best, don't feel pressured to follow others' learning techniques (for ex. I had a friend who would study by doing tons of questions, no note taking. Heck, I had to write everything down!)

I sucked at pharm and I even avoided studying for it, until the night before. I had so much anxiety when I realized I did not know any meds but I listened to the audio of the Saunders CD and that surprisingly helped

Focus on what you feel you are weak in, even if you don't want to

I read forums of others' success and advice/tips from here

Day of the test:

Don't let anyone drive you to the test center (lol), I did and ended up fighting with the boyfriend :madface:

Take a deep breath before the test and remind yourself that you've learned multitudes in nursing school and you've most likely done everything you could to prepare yourself at this point

I listened to my favorite song right before the test for some good vibes and energy

If you start losing confidence or start getting tired, take a break! I ended up having to take a break because I started getting angry and upset over the fight I had earlier

Feel free to ask any questions, add comments, etc.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Congrats! :yes:.. 'im still reviewing and i will take the exam on january 2013. how many questions did you have? could you pls tell me more about your study habits and what areas should i focus more on to? i am also afraid of pharma you know! lol. thank you!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Hi Sandra! I had 75 ?'s and I finished in about 2 hrs? Complete shock and panic when the computer turned off. Half way I started feeling a little discouraged but I kept telling myself "the test wants me to pass... that's why it's giving me more questions!!!"

For study habits, I have to admit I was a bit overwhelmed with the studying and workload for a class and working part-time while studying for the NCLEX. I typically tried to set aside approx. 4 hours of dedicated time for studying daily (I always aimed for more!) - this didn't always happen with work and school. For Saunders, I tried to do as many questions (per system! this is easier for me to process, rather than questions from random sections) as I could on study mode rather than exam or quiz mode because this allows you to look at the rationale right away, and I knew that there was a good chance I might get lazy after doing questions and not look thru ALL the rationales. I also took notes while studying, so I would not forget. Most people recommended 200 ?'s a day but I honestly wasn't always so lucky.

Anyways, I dread dread dreaded pharm. Luckily, by doing questions by system, drugs particular to that section were covered. Besides studying pharm through this way, I also read the PDF from here, which had drugs that seemed to be popular for NCLEX prep, and I listened to that audio lecture the night before. I took down basic notes which included the ending of drug types and what they do. If you listen to the lecture, it's really basic. For me, it was sufficient, but it's hard to say for others since every test is different.

Focus on your weaknesses as much as it sucks to study. While I was taking the exam, I realize I didn't study some of the fundamentals, and I wanted to scream when there were things I really should know but didn't.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Congratulations! Thank you for sharing your experience. :up:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Hello and congrats on passing! Im graudting friday and plan on taking boards sometime in february. Did the test have a lot of knowledge base questions or more questions that you have to apply&comprehend. Im not sure if this makes since..

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Congratulations and the part about the bf, I was actually thinking that maybe this time around he shouldnt be with me. the last time i took it he drove me and actually waited for me, maybe that added on more pressure. :no: hehehe. As you probably read in my other post I too am writing everything down, note cards are my best friend. But with that said it's taking me more time to finish the saunders book. It's okay I guess. I dread pharm as well, do you mind sharing materials you used study pharm? my email is [email protected] I would truly appreciate it. Again, congratulations and happy job hunting. Oh and if you dont mind me asking was that your first time taking it?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

wow congratzzz. I had my NCLEX last Dec7 and i failed..I have lots of SATA and meds.. can i ask also ur material in pharma? thanks. [email protected] is my email thanks

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Congrats! I have been studying since oct. It's nice to have read your story because I too have been studying after work for 4 hours during weekdays (and trying to sneak in 1-2 hours of review during work). Yes I agree that each person has their own style of reviewing. Im planning to take my exam on Feb I'll try to be competent and confident so I can pass my exam too.

Congrats again!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Hello and congrats on passing! Im graudting friday and plan on taking boards sometime in february. Did the test have a lot of knowledge base questions or more questions that you have to apply&comprehend. Im not sure if this makes since..

I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean but let me try to see if I can address this for you. I had a lot of prioritization questions and honestly, you couldn't really prioritize unless you knew what the diseases were and what was an expected s/sx vs. an emergent unexpected situation. Does that kinda answer your question? :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Congratulations and the part about the bf, I was actually thinking that maybe this time around he shouldnt be with me. the last time i took it he drove me and actually waited for me, maybe that added on more pressure. :no: hehehe. As you probably read in my other post I too am writing everything down, note cards are my best friend. But with that said it's taking me more time to finish the saunders book. It's okay I guess. I dread pharm as well, do you mind sharing materials you used study pharm? my email is [email protected] I would truly appreciate it. Again, congratulations and happy job hunting. Oh and if you dont mind me asking was that your first time taking it?

Yes it was my first time taking it. I actually took it in October, but I forgot of the promise I made to write back on the forum. I found a job a month after passing my boards. I didn't get a chance to finish the Saunders book with all my commitments so congrats if you are able to get through the whole thing! The paranoid, studious side of me would have loved to read that book cover to cover but it wasn't very feasible for me.

I do recommend that you drive yourself (if able to) because it gives you time to clear your head and only focus on the NCLEX. No added pressure. I must admit that when I was waiting for him to pick me up, I drove myself CRAZY thinking "oh man, I didn't pass, how am I going to tell everyone?" I was waiting and walking around for a good 30 mins. Right before he got there, I did the PVT (so I could just get it over with and tell him I didn't pass) and got the good popup!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Basic info:

Angiotensin converting enzmes (ACE) – treat HTN and HF

- End w/ PRIL ex. Enalapril (Vasotec)

Antilipidemic – treat cholesterol

- End w/ statin ex. Atorvastatin (Lipitor)

Antivirals – treat viral infection HIV/AIDS

- Contain VIR ex. Ritanovir

Benzodiazpines – anxiety-reducing, sedative hypnotic, anticonvulsant

- End w/ PAM

Betablockers – HTN, angina, dysrhythmias

- End w/ LOL ex. Atenolol

CCB – treat HTN, angina, dysrhythmias

- End w/ PINE ex. Amlodipine (Norvasc), cartizem, verapamil

Glucocorticoid, steroids – suppress inflammation, adrenal insufficiency

- End w/ SONE ex. Prednisone

H2 inhibitor – suppress gastric acid, prevent ulcers, treat GERD

- End w/ DINE ex. Cimetidine (Tagamet)

- Biggest s/e: confusion

- Less common s/e: HA, drowsiness, dizziness, hallucination

NITR – nitroglycerin, nitrostat

- Have nitro

PPI – suppress gastric acid secretion, prevent ulcers

- End w/ zole

Sulfanomides – treat infection

- Have sulfa ex. Sulfasalazine

- Ok to take w/ food

Thiazide diuretics – treat HTN and peripheral edema

- End w/ zide ex. Hydrochlorithiazide

Thrombolytics – Dissolve clots

- End w/ ASE ex. Altaplase, actiplase

Thyroid hormones – treat hypothyroidism

- Have thy in name ex. Levothyroxine

Bronchodilators – treat resp disorders (asthma, bronchoconstriction/spasm, COPD, emphysema)

- End w/ line ex. Theophylline

- SE - tachycardia

Theophylline

10-20

Restlessness, increased HR

Digoxin

.5-2

GI and ocular disturbance

Lithium

0.5-1.5

Lethargy, hand tremors, muscle weakness

GI disturbance

Phenytoin

10-20

Muscular incoordination, nystagmus, diplopia

With this basic knowledge, along with the meds you come across while doing ?'s, I think it is sufficient. I bought the Kaplan NCLEX-RN Medications You Need to Know for the Exam (4th edition) but I didn't even read through it. For me, I accepted the fact that I probably would never, ever be able to know all these drugs so I think as long as you know what drugs can be used to treat certain diseases, you study that super helpful PDF on the forums, or you study drugs you tend to see a lot during practice questions, then you at least have some pharm knowledge to hopefully get you through the exam. Sorry that I can't be more helpful, I really didn't focus on pharm like I should have.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Where did you get the audio reviewers for the pharma? thank you. ;)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion