Need advice from those studying or passed the NCLEX!

PSK09 · Oct 11, 2009

hi! I have taken the NCLEX-RN two times so far & have failed both times. The first time I purchased the Kaplan Online program (which obviously was not successful for me) but I had friends do the Kaplan classes in person & passed the first time I guess Kaplan wasn't for me. The second time around I used the Saunders 4th edition blue book. Again not successful. After asking advice from others on allnurses people have suggested using Exam Cram NCLEX-RN with the Exam Cram Questions & Answer Book. As well as Prioritization, Delegation & Assignment by LaCharity. I just purchased all three of these new books in preparation for try number 3 on Thursday. The Exam Cram NCLEX-RN review book is still in shipment. SO I started w/ the Prioritization, Delegation & Assignment book by LaCharity. It is a workbook that helps you make decisions with delegation & prioritization, so far I'm liking it. You can probably get through this workbook in a week give or take. Hopefully this new study review helps. GOOD LUCK W/ YOUR STUDIES. If you have any advice feel free to share, if I hear anything else I'll do the same. :) Happy Studying! lol

Moosey32 · Oct 11, 2009

My background... I took the Kaplan Course and I passed on my first time with 75 questions. I thought Kaplan was amazing. The QBank questions really got me prepared.

Now, my question is, the Kaplan book youa re purchasing on Amazon, does it include practice questions to do?? Because I suggest getting some form of study material that provides practice questions with rationales, at least 1000. Because in my opinion, you can study content night and day, but if you don't know how to answer it in question format, it's not going to do you any good.

Good luck!!!

mitchell79 · Oct 11, 2009

I used this and loved it

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Illustrated-Study-Guide-for-the-NCLEX-RN-Exam/JoAnn-Zerwekh/e/9780323039567/?itm=1

electronsi00 · Oct 11, 2009

Moosey: Thanks for the reply. The book under the link I posted is actually a book that teaches Kaplan's strategies to answer questions. "Decision tree", Maslows, ABCs, etc.

I agree that I may need a good question source to practice questions. Kaplan's has a Question Bank that I can buy a subscription for online for about $300. I will purchase that to supplement Saunders and the Kaplan book.

For all of those that took Kaplans course (class or online), do you feel that the Q-bank was the main attraction of that course?

Moosey32 · Oct 11, 2009

moosey: thanks for the reply. the book under the link i posted is actually a book that teaches kaplan's strategies to answer questions. "decision tree", maslows, abcs, etc.
i agree that i may need a good question source to practice questions. kaplan's has a question bank that i can buy a subscription for online for about $300. i will purchase that to supplement saunders and the kaplan book.
for all of those that took kaplans course (class or online), do you feel that the q-bank was the main attraction of that course?

i took the whole kaplan course because i got a discount through my school. believe me, you aren't missing much with the in-class part. the best part is the online stuff. i had access to qbank, which had 1,200 questions. then i also had 7 practice exams which were really beneficial because they increased in length each time so you could get an idea of how the full nclex would work. (the first test was 75?'s and by the 7th test it was 265?'s)

hope that helps!

Flames9_RN, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Oct 11, 2009

i agree, i did kaplan and the in class part I could have done without! The videos, questions bank and the book are the key elements

electronsi00 · Oct 11, 2009

Thanks for the responses. This is sort of what I have been hearing, that the classroom portion is not so great.

So if I get the question bank and question trainer of Kaplan, the book of Kaplan that teaches strategy, and do content review from Saunders, I should be covered?

Are the Kaplan videos at all worth paying for?

Ace587RN, RN · Oct 11, 2009

IMO its worth it. youll recoup the cost once you become an RN :)

Moosey32 · Oct 11, 2009

thanks for the responses. this is sort of what i have been hearing, that the classroom portion is not so great.
so if i get the question bank and question trainer of kaplan, the book of kaplan that teaches strategy, and do content review from saunders, i should be covered?
are the kaplan videos at all worth paying for?

i have heard the videos are good... however, i didn't get to use them because the videoplayer wouldn't even work on my computer. so i just used the book, the q trainers, and q bank. i think you will do fine, but you may want to get more input on the videos. i didn't need them, but others may have found them really important and what not.

Flames9_RN, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Oct 11, 2009

I watched most of the movies--takes awhile to do them all!!!!--and i thought they were ok. Hard to say or sure, but i did pass with 75 questions. My plan of attack was: Did ALL the kaplan question bank questions, read the book a few times and questions from Saunders 4th ed Nclex book. Thats it, did NOT look back at any of my school notes, just kaplan and Saunders. Bought the reviews and rationales nclex book, but barely even touched it

electronsi00 · Oct 11, 2009

I watched most of the movies--takes awhile to do them all!!!!--and i thought they were ok. Hard to say or sure, but i did pass with 75 questions. My plan of attack was: Did ALL the kaplan question bank questions, read the book a few times and questions from Saunders 4th ed Nclex book. Thats it, did NOT look back at any of my school notes, just kaplan and Saunders. Bought the reviews and rationales nclex book, but barely even touched it

So to clarify, you did Kaplan Qbank and Q trainer, read the Kaplan Strategy Review book(?), and did questions only from Saunders? Or did you read Saunders as well?

Thanks.