NLN Anyone??? A LIL Venting, ADVICE HELP!

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My concern is the NLN(enterance Exam). I'm 22yrs of age and attend a ADN program at a community college in TN. I have taken all classes prior to being accepted to Nursing School and I'm in good standing so far. The program I attend requires you to have a score of 100 or better on the NLN. My question is when should I take the NLN should I wait until I'm done with Micro? Was taking General Biology a help on the NLN or prior to taking A&P's and Micro? This is important to me since after the 1st attempt in taking the NLN if the score isn't up to par then I will have to wait a year to take it again. Also, which came as a shocker to me. If you are a LPN, and going through the LPN-RN fast track you don't have to take a NLN. And I mean in a whole year that you are preparing to take the NLN again you could be a LPN. The only thing is in the city of Memphis,TN there is only one location you can become a LPN. And that is at a workforce insitution outside of a ran down area. Not to say that I'm better than anyone but the school is very much ran like a highschool along with it being centered in a bad neighborhood. So I really don't want to go there,:uhoh3: . So anyone have any advice on the NLN? Or my course planing. I also want to take a CNA course soon when ever I save or get the money for it.I hope to take the CNA course well working on the weekends and taking a course towards my RN degree. I have been calling some local Nursing homes for free classes no input. I even called RedCross and they was suppose to call me back with information. Lets just say they never got back to me. I have been trying to do so much to just get my foot in the door at a local hospital. I even applied for a job at one of our major hospitals being a service clerk. The requirement was to be able to type 20wpm. Lets say I typed 45wpm and its still on file until Oct. And this was told to me by the Human Resource Dept. I mean I just don't understand. Okay as you can see I'm just a lil bummed,lol. You can't rush through nursing school like other degree's. And alot of times it gets to me. Sorry everyone for the short venting and self pitty party,lol. Thanks for taking time to read my post!

-Future Male Travel Nurse,Med/Surg,CRNA-

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Specializes in Emergency & Trauma.

First of all calm down LOL.

You need to be aware that the NLN scoring sheet has many figures on it. Which figure is required to be a 100?

I have attached an actual NLN scoring sheet so you can see what it looks like. This was the example given to us by our Nursing Dept. My school uses the Composite Percentile Score for ADN (which shows as 72) Our requirement is atleast 50 on that. I got a 93 .

As for the pre-req's, I would just go buy the $25 NLN study guide (at any major book store) and study that. The NLN has 4 testing areas. Vocab, Reading Comp, Math (geometry, basic algebra and ALOT of ratio and Percentage problems) Science (involves weather (barometric pressures, etc), electricity (OHMS) and some Chemistry. I have never taken Chem in my life and I totally suck at Math, but i studied that guide ( I think the author is Mary McDonald) and you see what my score was.

I can't help you with the CNA question, although my first class is Fundamentals, which teaches basically what a CNA has to do. I was told by my mentor that once i complete Fundamentals, I can get a job at any hospital as a CNA to help supplement my income thru school. Now, your school may be different, but the 1st thing I would recommend is contacting the Nursing Dept of your school, not the local hospitals. The school will have some one that can help guide you in your decisions. Make sure to talk to the Nursing Dept though and not just a guidance counselor, as some guidance counselors dont have the inside scoop on certain programs..

Good luck and don't get discouraged!!

Cheryl

http://www.ircc.edu/pdf/health/nursing/RN/nlntesting.pdf

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first of all calm down lol.

you need to be aware that the nln scoring sheet has many figures on it. which figure is required to be a 100?

i have attached an actual nln scoring sheet so you can see what it looks like. this was the example given to us by our nursing dept. my school uses the composite percentile score for adn (which shows as 72) our requirement is atleast 50 on that. i got a 93 .

as for the pre-req's, i would just go buy the $25 nln study guide (at any major book store) and study that. the nln has 4 testing areas. voca reading comp, math (geometry, basic algebra and alot of ratio and percentage problems) science (involves weather (barometric pressures, etc), electricity (ohms) and some chemistry. i have never taken chem in my life and i totally suck at math, but i studied that guide ( i think the author is mary mcdonald) and you see what my score was.

i can't help you with the cna question, although my first class is fundamentals, which teaches basically what a cna has to do. i was told by my mentor that once i complete fundamentals, i can get a job at any hospital as a cna to help supplement my income thru school. now, your school may be different, but the 1st thing i would recommend is contacting the nursing dept of your school, not the local hospitals. the school will have some one that can help guide you in your decisions. make sure to talk to the nursing dept though and not just a guidance counselor, as some guidance counselors dont have the inside scoop on certain programs..

good luck and don't get discouraged!!

cheryl

http://www.ircc.edu/pdf/health/nursing/rn/nlntesting.pdf

she is so correct the mary mcdonald book is what you need and study it throughout. your school probably wants at least 100 for the overall composite score, you should verify this with them. if that is what they want, believe it or not that is not too hard to get if you study. micro, not even on the test. earth science, know the difference between a animal cell and a plant cell, study the math, fractions, decimals, percents, word problems, vocabulary read every word in the book and write down and look up all the words in every section of the book you are not sure about. that alone can take weeks to do, but i did it and so can you. another thing about the nln most people run out of time on each section, not enough time. i highly suggest to save the last two minutes of each section and fill in guessing anything that may not have an answer,, do not leave any question unanswered. as far as vocabulary/reading comprehension, that section is set up like this: vocabulary-reading comprehension-vocabulary. i also highly recomend that you do both vocabulary parts first and then return to the reading comprehension, you will answer more questions with out guessing at the end faster than you would on the reading comprehension part. physics study electricity. biology know parts of the eye, as well as your general anatomy not so much physiology. know how to balance equations on chemistry and know how to tell a single, double and acid base equation from each other. know what the basic symbols are for the elements on the periodic table and the trends across rows and periods of the table. make mary mcdonald your new roommate.

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Thanks ladies.......

Truely I don't feel prepared for this exam. I believe the book by Mary McDonald will be very benifical. I looked the book up on amazon.com also called local libraries to see if they had it. Lets just say that at the main library had more than one copy checked out. The librarian did tell me that they had one on reference though on the third floor,lol. So I will get on studying this book from page to page. You all had very good informative information on how to obtain sucessful scores. Thank you so very much. On amazon.com one of the customers reviews replied by saying she scored 150 by using this book placing her in the top 1%. Also 3 out of 5 people said they scored over 100. The scores was 150,118 and 115. So Mary McDonald must be knowing what she is talking about,lol. Once again thanks ladies.

-Clevian

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical, Hemodialysis.

The above posters definitely pointed you in the right direction. If you know anyone in the nursing program that has used the study guide don't be to shy to ask to borrow their copy.

Good luck! I take my NLN this winter when I'll be 3/4's of the way finished with Chemistry, Math for Meds, and A&PI the people I've spoken to that have taken the exam say that I should do just fine.

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I think this thread is probably pretty old but...

I haven't started my pre-recs yet (Start Fall 07)but the first thing I did was buy the study guide. Since my weakness is Math and I haven't been to school in 10 years, I've been really pounding the Math section. I took the first set of practice questions and did really lousy 10 out of 40 correct...

Just one week later, after some studying, I got 25 out of 40 correct. I think that's a good improvement considering and now I am more aware of what I need to really focus on...for me, it seems, fractions.

So yes, the book is the best thing to use. By the time I take my test for real, I should be fine (she says hopefully);)

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I think this thread is probably pretty old but...

I haven't started my pre-recs yet (Start Fall 07)but the first thing I did was buy the study guide. Since my weakness is Math and I haven't been to school in 10 years, I've been really pounding the Math section. I took the first set of practice questions and did really lousy 10 out of 40 correct...

Just one week later, after some studying, I got 25 out of 40 correct. I think that's a good improvement considering and now I am more aware of what I need to really focus on...for me, it seems, fractions.

So yes, the book is the best thing to use. By the time I take my test for real, I should be fine (she says hopefully);)

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