Nurses who took the NCLEX, share some tips, please!

MorgRN2B2011 · Jan 18, 2012

I second this!!! I take my NCLEX on January 27th and I am COMPLETELY OBSESSED!! I cant sleep at night, and I go between stress eating and feel nauseous! Its running my life and I cant take it much longer! :cry: I just need some encouragement!!!! For those who passed the first time around, let me know how it was please!!! I feel like it has to be basic nursing!! But i hear sooo many horror stories!!! I only want to hear positive things from now on... please

Thanks anyone and everyone, willing to help us future NCLEX takers out!

anne919 · Jan 18, 2012

i took the test last nov and i want to know the other questions if its still the same content, but the hard type question that i got was to figure out the correct med order by the dr please share some other insights.

Nurseadam · Jan 18, 2012

There's a lot of passing students, i guess when they pass, they don't come here no more... lol :)

-think ABC

-think Maslow

-use elimination

what else?

Jazdani4 · Jan 18, 2012

relax take deep breaths think priority

~PedsRN~, BSN, RN · Jan 18, 2012

When you are thinking on these priority questions --

NEVER delay care (don't reassess in 15 minutes. In that 15 minutes your patient just coded and died.)

Once you narrow it down to two (you usually can do that quickly) -- look at the answers and pick the one that you can do something about IMMEDIATELY.

Good luck! I just passed first time around last Thursday. You will walk out thinking you failed no matter what. Just go in relaxed, take some deep breaths - and pretend it's just another nursing exam.

ashburns4ever · Jan 18, 2012

I take NCLEX tomorrow as well!! I'm super stressed too. However, I feel pretty prepared and I know i'm definitely not going to bomb it. So, that leaves me with passing lol. You have to think positive and know you know the info. Trust me i'm probably not going to sleep tonight either but WE know this info. Take time for yourself today and think IT IS ALMOST OVER! yayyyyy lol Good luck tomorrow :)

:cheers:

allnurses Guide · Jan 18, 2012

These are a few of the things I learned through Kaplan. I take NCLEX next week. Everyone so far who has taken it from my Kaplan class passed in 75-77 questions.

Always remember safety - don't kill your patient. With each answer, take the time to ask yourself "Why would I do this?".

Actual problems always take priority over potential problems, even if the potential problem would be worse than the actual.

Stable, stable, unstable - if you are having to prioritize what patient to see first - of the four, select the most stable and eliminate it as an answer. Then select the next most stable and eliminate it as an answer. Then, of just the two left, select the most unstable. That is your answer.

In the NCLEX world, pain is a psychosocial problem. And psychosocial never takes priority over physical.

If there are both assessment answers and implementation answers, look at the assessment answers first. Again, ask yourself why you would do it, whether it makes sense/is logical and whether it would need to be validated.

Tips to help control panic:

Remember that 15 of the first 75 questions are trial questions - they don't count for or against you, they are just testing them out as future NCLEX questions someday. That means you really only have 60 questions to answer that count.

The exam is meant to establish minimum competency. Therefore it will ask you questions until you get half right and half wrong. That is where you are supposed to be to pass this exam. Half right, half wrong. In that light, you need to answer 30 of the 75 questions correctly to pass NCLEX.

If the exam is still giving you questions, YOU ARE STILL IN THE GAME. So if you see it going to 76, 90, 150 etc.....that is GOOD NEWS. It means you have not failed the test thus far. Keep going, don't panic.

Tips to avoid unfortunate results:

DO NOT BRING YOUR CELL PHONE INTO THE BUILDING!!!! Tell everyone you know for six hours you will NOT be available for any reason.

Bring your legal ID, your ATT letter and anything else the paperwork tells you to. READ your paperwork people, please!!

Pack a couple of small, high protein snacks. Eat a good breakfast. Dress comfortably.

Make sure you know at least two routes to get to the test building. Have contingency plans if weather looks bad. Know where you are allowed to park, what suite you are going to, where the elevators are etc. In other words, make a dry run a few days before.

DO NOT BRING YOUR CELL PHONE INTO THE BUILDING!! OR YOUR IPOD!! OR YOUR COMPUTER!! OR YOUR IPAD!!!

Plan on being there the entire six hours even if you think you won't be.

Good luck everyone!

amca_rn · Jan 18, 2012

This goes without saying, but make sure you read the questions at least twice, especially if you are typically a fast test taker.

I did horribly on my practice tests because I rushed through them, and missed words like "FURTHER TEACHING," "PRIORITY," etc.

I took my NCLEX this week, making sure to read through each question and each option slowly. I passed! :)

Good luck to you.

CorinneRN · Jan 18, 2012

When I sat down to take the test, I kept tally on how many of each kind of question I got. Maybe some people wouldn't suggest this, but it helped me keep my cool when I felt myself starting to freak out. I knew exactly how often I was getting the SATA questions; I knew I was passing and it boosted my confidence. I was relaxed the entire time because I knew how well I was doing. I got all kinds of questions:

SATAs: 9, 20, 22, 27, 33, 39, 44, 56, 66, 72, 78... Total 11 out of 92 questions

2 drug calc (both peds)

6 med questions

Several Prioritizing/Delegation

Several "client understand" or "needs further teaching"

3 image questions

1 exhibit question

4 infection control

artimjo · Jan 19, 2012

Don't panic! Relax and read your questions carefully...Goodluck!!!

Nurseadam · Jan 19, 2012

thanks guys, helpful posts !! :)