Need help in studying for NCLEX

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I have been having a real hard time getting back into studying for the NCLEX. I took it on August 10 and failed it. I am scared to death to take it again. I had taken some time off from studying because my fiance passed away on July 25 from leukemia. I wanted to get my mind cleared before I started back up studying. I am now ready to start studying again but have no idea on where to start. I need help you guys. I need lots of suggestions. I am depending on my all nurses buddies to get me through this. I know you all can!!! I just need some guidance. I have opened up my Saunders NCLEX book but I just don't know if I should start with a certain section or just start from the beginning. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

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hey sorry to hear about the death of your fiance, may his soul R.I.P. Sorry dont feel bad, i also didnt pass my nclex the first time, and it was hard getting back to studying...i would suggest just easing your way graudally into studying just doing a few questions a day and then gradually increase the number of questions you do a day, i would also suggest starting from basic nursing stuff, just as a fresher and then as things start coming back to you you start diving in deeper. In addition, i think by now you should have recieved your nclex report, so you could start doing content review on the section you were below passing and then after content review focus an ample amount of time on answering questions in that section you were below passing.

Oh by the way i retake my nclex tomorrow, please wish me luck and pray for me. Thank you n God bless, hope this helped a little bit

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Sorry for your loss. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. I took was unsuccessful on my first attempt at boards (Pn). As jonglewarrior recommended I would start studying at any courses I was below pass and then work my way up to near passing. I heard the key is to do atleast 100 questions a day. You may want to also purchase Kaplan Test Taking Strategies book to help with answering questions. We now atleast have some idea what the test is like.

Good Luck jonglewarrior!!!! You can do it!

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I suggest you just start from the beginning and go through the books from front to back. Good luck.

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I am very sorry for your loss. I also failed the nclex rn in july and am sceduled to retake it in october. I have been reading kaplan review and also did the ncsbn review, although i did not complete the entire course before it expired. I wish u luck. The kaplan does seem very helpful but I am looking for some type of up to date question bank. Everything i see is older and as we know the nclex has been modified this year and i wld prefer to study from up dated sources. Any advice is appreciated! tHANKS!

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Thanks for all the tips on the studying. I wish all you well on your nursing careers. If any body else has tips on studying, I am all ears. Thanks again.

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hey sorry to hear about the death of your fiance, may his soul R.I.P. Sorry dont feel bad, i also didnt pass my nclex the first time, and it was hard getting back to studying...i would suggest just easing your way graudally into studying just doing a few questions a day and then gradually increase the number of questions you do a day, i would also suggest starting from basic nursing stuff, just as a fresher and then as things start coming back to you you start diving in deeper. In addition, i think by now you should have recieved your nclex report, so you could start doing content review on the section you were below passing and then after content review focus an ample amount of time on answering questions in that section you were below passing.

Oh by the way i retake my nclex tomorrow, please wish me luck and pray for me. Thank you n God bless, hope this helped a little bit

yo folks....i DID IT...i PASSSSSSSSEDDDDDD...omg....damn...wow...75 questions and passed wow...i cant believe it... i mean i found out like 5 hours ago and im still excited...wow...well i took the exam yesterday 09/28 and around 8:59am today (09/29) checked the BON website and there was my name with my license number and everything....woooooow....and ok the Peasue Vue Trick thing does work, the first time i took the nclex, i tried the Trick and it took me all the way to the credit card page and of course i failed my first nclex try .....and then yesterday soon after i get home from taking the exam(like 30mins after taking the exam) i tried the Pearson Vue trick thing and the good pop up came up and it didnt take me to the credit card page and like i said i just found out 8;59 am today i passsed...wow...75 questions

my advice to anybody who hasnt taken it....of course do your delegation, prioritization and assignment questions..practice these well.... practice your infection control well...and funny enough practice management questions, as far as types of leaders, management of conflict kind of stuff....also dont forget incident reports...also know your GI and pschy stuff very welllllllll......very GI heavy and pschy heavy....

goodluck to those who havent taken it///remember u can never feel ready to take the exam..study very hard and just try your best and leave the rest to God...dont forget to pray b4 and after the exam...Amen....woowwwwwwww im an RN....God Bless everybody in their careers.....im an RNNNNN....wooooooo

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Thanks for all the tips on the studying. I wish all you well on your nursing careers. If any body else has tips on studying, I am all ears. Thanks again.

Alright, i had the kapaln course...but that crap really didnt help me a lot honestly....the main thing with the nclex is content review and the kaplan book is crap with that...for my nclex re-take i started studying the saunders book ...use that for content review and then use the saunders cd to just get more practice questions on same topics..

for my second nclex try as i started studying the saunders book and also answering questions at the end of each chapter and cd...i started writing down some noteworthy ideas and information and rationales ..so i basically had up to 25-30 pages of this notes rationales and lab values and i carried this along with me wherever i went...so instead of waiting in the doctors office doing nothing, i just read through these rationales...instead of sitting in the car waiting for somebody and listening to music..i turned the car radio off and read these rationales...while watching tv instead of watching the commercials..i just read these rationales during commercial break...at least u get the point...this rationale was just very portable and very handy and by the time i read through this rationales like 100 times, everything in there stuck with me......

for the kaplan, like i said it was useless...i answered like 30 percent of question banks or whatever it was called and that crap expired on me...so basically just use saunders book and cd and then another source..examcram force had good questions and straight to the point rationales...

i did 100 questions a day...and then a week before the nclex i broke down my days monday focus on pschy, tuesday pharm, and wednesday and thursday delegation and prioritization

a day before the exam...they said dont answer questions...well i couldnt help it...i answered like 10 questions...lol..and also studied my notes i talked about earlier for the rest of the day. and also for like an hour or two the day of the exam....this the strategy i used for my second nclex try which i passed with 75 questions

sorry for the ramblin..but im still excited i passed...but please feel free to ask more questions, i kno what u are going through

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CONGRATS JONGLEWARRIOR!!!!!!!i take my nclex rn for the first time 10/27! im nervous as all get out. i havent really been motivated since graduation. i was a B/C student in school and i think my fear has overcome me. I cant seem to focus and have less than a month to review. im taking a review class that ends a week before the test. i bought practice questions from ncsbn that i scored 56% on my pretest. I have saunders & exam cram as well. how long in advance did you start studying before the test? i feel like im going to fail because i have less than a month!!!! Worried Sick : (

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CONGRATS JONGLEWARRIOR!!!!!!!i take my nclex rn for the first time 10/27! im nervous as all get out. i havent really been motivated since graduation. i was a B/C student in school and i think my fear has overcome me. I cant seem to focus and have less than a month to review. im taking a review class that ends a week before the test. i bought practice questions from ncsbn that i scored 56% on my pretest. I have saunders & exam cram as well. how long in advance did you start studying before the test? i feel like im going to fail because i have less than a month!!!! Worried Sick : (

i started some serious studying exactly a month in advance...you have about a month so i think you have some time...just depends on how you plan your study out...just at least study saunders and start off doing 85-100 questions a day (mixing saunders with exam cram)..then increase it to like 125 questions a day plus more studying...knowing content was the key for me..so study study...but a month is enough time...so start now and crank it up...hope this helps...goodluck..lemme know if you have more questions

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Specializes in School Nurse.

I studied the Exam Cram book and CD. The CD also has a mock NCLEX test on it to help you prepare. Also make sure you read all the answers even if you get the question right. Good Luck!!!

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