NCLEX support

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · May 31, 2008

I passed Nclex in Jan 08 with 75 questions. I finished the test in 45min. My test was very generic, a few math, a few SATA, a handful of who would you see 1st, a few pharm. none of the newer drag over questions, no diagrams. My questions were all very small, a few sentences, no long paragraph questions.

I also find this interesting but I had no OB, no pregnant women scenarios, no labor scenarios. The only kind of OB related question is what advice would you give a 17 year old who was considering terminating her pregnancy--and I think that was more of a psych question. OB was my weak spot so i figured I would have had a ton of OB questions, but they must have snuck a few in there on me that I didnt even notice and Lady Nclex must have thought I was competent in that area...

I know the tests are random, but I swear I got the dummy one as it just was not that hard, I knew the second I hit submit on #75 that I passed. I drove home smiling~~in my personal opinion the anxiety is worse than the actual test. I did thousands of practice questions in the course of 3 weeks and knew I had prepared to the best of my ability. So I was not stressed out walking in to take it. UMM I did wear my lucky sweatshirt though, so I am sure that is why I passed!!

My heart breaks for those who go home feeling ill--I have heard horror stories of people throwing up in the parking lot after the test. I dont think it needs to be that way, if you prepare, and relax and think positive and look at the facts over 85% of US 1st time applicants pass, you will too.

Best of luck, I hope you have as good as an experience as I did.

baceball6 · May 31, 2008

I passed Nclex in Jan 08 with 75 questions. I finished the test in 45min. My test was very generic, a few math, a few SATA, a handful of who would you see 1st, a few pharm. none of the newer drag over questions, no diagrams. My questions were all very small, a few sentences, no long paragraph questions.
I also find this interesting but I had no OB, no pregnant women scenarios, no labor scenarios. The only kind of OB related question is what advice would you give a 17 year old who was considering terminating her pregnancy--and I think that was more of a psych question. OB was my weak spot so i figured I would have had a ton of OB questions, but they must have snuck a few in there on me that I didnt even notice and Lady Nclex must have thought I was competent in that area...
I know the tests are random, but I swear I got the dummy one as it just was not that hard, I knew the second I hit submit on #75 that I passed. I drove home smiling~~in my personal opinion the anxiety is worse than the actual test. I did thousands of practice questions in the course of 3 weeks and knew I had prepared to the best of my ability. So I was not stressed out walking in to take it. UMM I did wear my lucky sweatshirt though, so I am sure that is why I passed!!
My heart breaks for those who go home feeling ill--I have heard horror stories of people throwing up in the parking lot after the test. I dont think it needs to be that way, if you prepare, and relax and think positive and look at the facts over 85% of US 1st time applicants pass, you will too.
Best of luck, I hope you have as good as an experience as I did.

first of all thanks for the luck, and the confidence

I have taken the hurst review 2 times and studied the material multiple times, also, i have done most of the questions from the green and blue saunders books

i have applied myself in hopes of passing the first write

congrats on your 75 question delightful experience

did you think the nclex was more obvious than the hesi? i mean as far as what answers were right and wrong?

Kat0430 · May 31, 2008

Hi Baceball,

I just took the NCLEX yesterday morning and felt that the questions were harder than the HESI. The format was similar but answers were not as obvious. I took the Drexel Review course, studied out of Saunders and Kaplan, and I feel by far the Kaplan questions most similarly reflect the NCLEX. I finished with 75 questions and was begging for more, when I left I did not have a good feeling. I really thought I bombed it, but I checked later that night on my states BON and I have a valid RN License so I guess I passed! Just keep positive, study hard and continue to take questions. You will succeed if you believe in yourself and put the work into it! Good Luck!

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · May 31, 2008

I did not have to take the HESI, in fact I never even heard of the HESI before I joined this board. I thought Nclex was most similar to my Davis disk. I also did the entire prioritization(sp) and review book and found that helpful.

I did meet with a friend of mine once a week and we did the Kaplans book. I used a variety of Nclex review material. Saunders/Mosby/ATI. I used what ever people gave me, I was lucky to already have a job at a hospital so I borrowed other nurses Nclex stuff, some of it was pretty old, but it was free questions so I took advantage.

Do what feels right for you, I liked the variety, others swear by using Saunders only. Others swear by Hurst. You know your what ever style works best for you.

You made it through nursing school and that alone is a huge accomplishment, the material is there in your head, you just need to be relaxed enough to retrieve it. I am a big believer in positive self thought, so I would make my self envision the screen turning blue at 75, I envisioned a red sloping upward line over a black horizontal line (this being me getting the higher level of questions correct) I envisioned logging on a seeing a lic number behind my name. I told myself if I passed 75 and got to 76 it was not because i was doing poorly it was because I was one of those unlucky few who got the mandated 265 no matter how well they were scoring. Thank God I didnt get to 76, but I had a back up plan of how to rationalize why i did had I of.

I think mild anxiety is good, it makes you sharp, but some people get to an almost near panic when they take Nclex, and I dont see how you can think clearly if your in a near panic state. Relax-deep breath-know you have done all you could do to prepare and know it is all there in your head.

Best of luck!!!