Passed with Hurst review (study tips, discount info included)

[NjRN_1004]

Since I was able to get a lot of help from AN during nursings school and also to study for the NCLEX, I thought it'd be nice to pay it forward and hope I can help others as well.

So I graduated nursing school in NJ last December 2014. I went to a school known for their Nursing program so it was extremely tough. (Also, not the mention the catty people you deal with that sour at your success, making it even tougher to get through). Nevertheless, I ended up graduating :)

We took our Hesi a couple of days before graduation. I had no idea how to study an entire two years worth of material in just a few days. So, after doing some extensive research on different review courses, I decided to go with HURST REVIEW ONLINE. Because this course gives you access to 90 days of content material, I purchased the review to study for the HESI and knew I would have enough time to also use it to prepare for NCLEX. For HESI, i just watched a videos I was the most weak in (there's no way you could possibly watch all the videos and actually learn something in just a few short days), did a lot of questions on Elsevier and just hoped for the best. Got a 76% on HESI (still below the national average but I wasn't worried).

Fast forward to post graduation: I took exactly two days off and started to watch one video (beginning with the intro) a day, so as to not overwhelm myself with so much information. Prior to begiinig the first video, I printed all the worksheets, which was A TON, and filled the information in as I went. I went quite slowly but was able to complete all the videos in about 2.5 weeks. Once I was done with all that, I spent a week or so just rereading all the material again. While doing so, I took all the normal values, insulin times, brain function, and medications and put them into quizlet to memorize.

After a week of just rereading the material (didn't really memorize the information but tried to understand it) and memorizing quizlet flashcards, I made the following study plan (just a brief example):

Monday: Go over everything in quizlet, do Hurst Q bank #1. Review all rationales (right and wrong). That's it.

Tuesday: Quizlet. LaCharity PDA book - Chapter 1 and 2. Go over all rationale (right and wrong). NCLEX 4000 (30 - 50 questions...go over rationales)

Wednesday: Quizlet. Hurst Q bank #2. Go over rationales.

Thursday: Quizlet. LaCharity PDA book - Chapter 3 and 4. Go over rationales. NCLEX 4000

and so on...

As you can see on days I did Hurst Q review, I didn't touch any other resources..simply because 125 questions a day for me was waaaaaay too much, especially when you have to review every single rationale as well. And on days I didn't do Hurst Q review, I only did two chapters of LaCharity PDA book and supplemented with NCLEX 4000 to make sure I did about 100 questions a day. Also, it was VERY important for me to go over my quizlet daily before starting any questions, because one thing I couldn't stand was getting a question about knowing normal values or medications and kicking myself for not being able to answer it bc i was too lazy to review the values/ meds.

When I got my ATT, I was able to schedule my test for Feb.3.2015...the earliest date available. I planned my study guide out so that by Feb.1.2015, I would have finished all 6 Hurst q reviews. It was VERY important for me to finish all 6, just in case I failed the NCLEX on my first attempt, I wanted my full refund back.

Studying was going great. Although I wasn't scoring the recommended 84/125 on Hurst q Reviews, I still felt okay. I was more in the 70's range. Here are my results:

Test 1: 72/125

Test 2: 79/125

Test 3: 80/125

Test 4: 78/125

Test 5: 81/130 (got super excited with this result...then realized it was out of 130 :-/)

Test 6: 77/125

So, as you can see, I was almost in the 80's but never go there.

I guess it'll be appropriate to mention at this point... I was 39 weeks pregnant the week I was scheduled to take the test. My daughter decided to come a week early...so I had to reschedule my exam to Feb.26.2015...the next earliest available date.

After giving birth, I took exactly a week off from studying and from pretty much EVERYTHING...

Once the 1 week passed, I began to review all my quizlet flashcards again and only did between 74-100 questions on NCLEX4000. At this point, I had finished all my Hurst q reviews and had done all 18 chapters of LaCharity. I did NCLEX4000 for the next 3 weeks and felt that the amount I studied before and after giving birth was waaaaaay more than enough. Actually, the last 3 weeks of studying felt like overkill and I was waaaay over-prepared.

Fast forward to test day. Got to the testing center an hour early by 1pm. Got seated by 1:30.... it took me a little less than an hour and half to get through 75 questions. Got a ton of SATA, of course PDA, a handful of meds, etc. I felt that I knew a lot of the answers...only because of the core content I got from HURST REVIEW ONLINE. Once the computer shut off at 75, I was pretty confident I had passed. In all honesty, as soon as I sat down, my anxiety level went from a 5/10 to 2/10. How? While most of it has to do with being so overwhelmed with a newborn....to the point where any test anxiety I had was in no way comparable to the efforts of taking care of a new baby... a lot of it also had to do with the fact that I wrote down everything I had memorized onto the plastic board they gave me. So basically, I started with writing down insulin times, drew the rule of 9 man, drew my cranial nerves face, jotted down any medication classes and a brief info about them that I found hard to memorize, etc. This way, I was able to start with a clear head and didn't have to do any digging in my brain and panic bc I couldn't remember anything...

When I got home, I did the PVT...got the good pop up.

Thats the story.

Now, for some tips: (in no particular order of importance)

1. Hurst review discount: sign up for aftercollege.com...I think I got a 10 or 20 percent discount for doing that. I ended up paying $280 instead of $300 for their online review course.

2. You are more than welcome to use my quizlet flashcards for medications, normal values, insulin times, and functions of brain:

Medication suffixes: Med term prefix/suffix flashcards | Quizlet

Normal values: Normal values flashcards | Quizlet

Insulin times: Insulin Times flashcards | Quizlet

3. Don't overstudy. I only spent about 2..maybe 3 hours a day. I took maybe 1 or 2 days of the week to do a full 5-8 hours...but not every single day.

4. Don't memorize answers but try to understand them. When I didn't understand something, I googled and youtubed the subject.

5. Study everyday. Not studying for a weekend was too much of along break for me. I at least did 50 questions on the weekend just to stay in the momentum of doing questions.

6. Study medications by class and suffixes (check out the link above to my quizlet). It is near impossible to study EVERY SINGLE medication out there. It's easier if you alt east know the suffix and the class...and of course what the class does.

7. Only take HURST if you, like myself, are weak in content but fairly strong in deciphering and answering questions.

8. On test day: Get plenty of rest, breathe, don't look at the clock, utilize your board well, ignore the number of questions, and stay confident!

If what I did can get me through, it may help you too.

Honestly, this is coming from someone who started nursing school with ZERO medical background and averaged B's in school. There were many times I wanted to give up bc it was just too much...but kept going..

Ok, I think that's about it. Message me or leave a comment for clarification or questions :)

Good luck!

[Haize]

Congratulations. I tried the link and I like it. Thanks for sharing it.

[RNfindingherway, BSN, RN]

Congrats on a job well done.

[memern14]

Congratulations

[TroyM]

I would like to try the board routine when I retake...but I've heard stories on how we're not supposed to do that. Hmm...

[LuvCash RN, ASN]

Congratulations! Very inspiring

[Rechilda, BSN, RN]

Congratulations! God Bless on you're job hunting!

[NjRN_1004]

Thank u everyone... For those preparing to take the test, I wish u the best of luck and hope this post may be helpful in any way.

With utilizing the dry erase board, I've read countless posts about ppl taking the nclex n doing the same thing (I.e. Writing values).... I've never come across anyone being penalized for doing it nor have I read on the instructions that it wasn't allowed. I could b wrong but if I, along with many others, have had no problem...then.......u get the gist. But don't take my word.... Do it under ur own discretion.

[TroyM]

Congrats on passing! I'll have to check the instructions again when I retake. Thanks for all the info.

Do do you feel that doing tons and tons of questions prepared you more than material? When I took mine the first time, I seemed to put a lot of time knowing the material from the Hurst review and doing their questions. I didn't incorporate LaCharity at all, only a few kaplan questions here and there.

[NjRN_1004]

Congrats on passing! I'll have to check the instructions again when I retake. Thanks for all the info.

Do do you feel that doing tons and tons of questions prepared you more than material? When I took mine the first time, I seemed to put a lot of time knowing the material from the Hurst review and doing their questions. I didn't incorporate LaCharity at all, only a few kaplan questions here and there.

i was weak on content..so I first focused on content then did a ton of questions... So to answer ur question, doing a ton of questions is helpful after knowing ur content. Also, for me, "a ton" is doing 125 max.

I really think that LaCharity saved my a**. By the time I was done with all 18 chapters, I got very confident about PDA content. Definitely recommend the book.

i don't think that the 6 test on hurst is enough questions....so I supplemented with nclex 4000.

also, the ncbsn website has the rules on there...I tried to coy n paste but didn't work on my iPad .

[jfantacone09]

Rebecca,

That is truly great and inspiring story. I recently failed one of my nursing classes of my 2nd semester and I have to wait till next Fall to repeat the course. Over the past month of so I have doing alot of research on how to organize my notes and different study habits that I can utilize that may help me undersatnd the material better than I did. My question to you is I am considering the onluine Hurst Review; I am thinking of prucahsing the online review around June or July to help me prepare for when I return to nursing school next Fall. Would it be dumb of me to purchase it?

Thanks Jeff

[NjRN_1004]

Rebecca,

That is truly great and inspiring story. I recently failed one of my nursing classes of my 2nd semester and I have to wait till next Fall to repeat the course. Over the past month of so I have doing alot of research on how to organize my notes and different study habits that I can utilize that may help me undersatnd the material better than I did. My question to you is I am considering the onluine Hurst Review; I am thinking of prucahsing the online review around June or July to help me prepare for when I return to nursing school next Fall. Would it be dumb of me to purchase it?

Thanks Jeff

Hi Jeff,

First of all, I'm responding thinking that whatever I say, you'll only think of it as an option, and not base your entire decision off of this response.

So here's my take on using HURST to prepare for school. I vote "NO" and here's my reason why. I had access to all of HURSTs videos while I was in school but used it, maybe, about 2% of the time. I felt that the content in HURST was too brief and really only confused on CORE content (like what they're really known for). For school, just core content was never enough. Things were so detailed that with just HURST, it was ver difficult to answer questions on school tests.

However, I do think that it may be a good idea to at least get a general idea of what you'd be studying for the semester... if studying beforehand works for you. For me, I never reviewed before class or read textbooks during the summer bc I hated reading EVERYTHING and finding out that the professor wanted to skip a chapter or two, or wanted to only focus on certain topics. So, for me, it was a waste of time. Also, I like to clear my head over vacation period and then mentally prepare myself to go full (hardcore) into studying once school started.

So, that's my two cents about this topic.

Good luck!