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!
