Nursing School Assignment about NCLEX

garciwarsi · Nov 7, 2013

I don't want to say that there is only one "best" way to study for the NCLEX. Everyone learns differently so it is really important to tailor your study plan to how you best learn material.

Personally, we were also given access to ATI material in my nursing program, but I didn't use it besides taking two required proctored exams for the program. I decided to use Kaplan's NCLEX-RN 2013-2014 Strategies Practice & Review book. I found it at my local library. I read that cover to cover and did the two 265 question practice tests that were included. Kaplan has some great strategies in that book for NCLEX-style questions.

I decided to purchase the Hurst review. Along with the Hurst review I also purchased the Saunder's review book and utilized my patho/pharm notes from school (we had an AH-MAZING instructor that taught both).

The Hurst review is broken down into different content areas (i.e. cardiac, psych, neuro, GI, etc). Once I finished a Hurst video I would sit down with the corresponding chapter in the Saunder's book and then my corresponding pharm/patho notes. Once I reviewed all that I moved on to the next content area until I got through all of the Hurst videos.

I think the most important advice I can give is to do questions. I probably did over 3,000 questions in the 6 weeks I studied. It's important to understand the core content, but it is also important to understand what the question is actually asking. I think that comes with practice. I installed apps on my phone. I would do questions while waiting for class to start, on my lunch break at work, right before I went to bed at night.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

patel.748 · Nov 11, 2013

You need to think hard and determine what your strengths and weakness' are.

I felt really good about the content but I really struggled with test taking strategy.

We also had ATI included in our nursing education and I felt it was a big waste of time in my opinion.

I did research and many people have said that Kaplan's questions above par in difficulty in terms of the NCLEX-RN question similarity.

Kaplan's content review is not that good from reviews. To counter that I purchased Saunders RN content review. I did not read this book cover to cover. I did 100-150 questions a day from Kaplan and whatever I had issues with in terms of recalling I did a brief review on that topic.

I upped the questions to about 200 the last couple days before the test to get ready for possibly getting all 265. This test is a mental marathon and you have to train for it.

I did about 2500 questions in 3 weeks and took Saturdays and Sundays off to rest, relax and enjoy with my family etc.

Work/Study hard and play hard. Do not overwhelm yourself with a ton of content reviews. The two that I have selected is a pretty solid 1-2 punch.

Have a plan and stick with it. Do not get off track and have confidence in your preparation and yourself and go rock that test!