Passed NCLEX-PN July 2015 with 60 SATA questions

jaluo2014 · Jul 19, 2015

For those who are preparing for this exam, here is my amazing journey experience. I graduated in May 2015 and right away I started preparing for this exam. I had NCLEX-PN by Saunders 6^th ed., Prioritization, Delegation, and Assignment by LaCharity and exam Cram that was not of good help at all, it actually made me depressed. I set my goals and did upto 500 questions each day sometimes more. After I was done with the above study materials, I started going through flashcards and quiz-lets online particularly on my weak areas (I hate SATA type of question) so I basically put more efforts in understanding how to answer SATA questions. I can't put in words how I did study for it but I was good at it. I did more practice SATA type of questions on Elsevier Evolve website (My school is using Elsevier and we have access to its free books and practice tests)

The questions are content based. Knowing the content is important. You can't answer a question that you have no idea of what it is asking, so know your content.

I arrived at the center one day early just to get used to the place. Got a good hotel nearby, did not sleep because of anxiety. I reviewed all the labs until 1am, went to bed and slept till 7am. My hubby said to me that I talked through the night (I sleep talk when I am stressed) At 7am, I felt like reviewing dose calc for an hour. Then got ready for a good breakfast. I hate eating in the morning but I had to. I hydrated myself by drinking pure water. My stomach felt empty despite the fact that I ate. My stomach was hurting and I had to visit bathroom like 4X before the exam.

Well, my exam was to start at 11am but because I was so stressed, I thought waiting was not the best option. I went in at 10:15 am and right away after security checks and biometrics, I was showered into the exam. I would not go into details, the exam was really hard. My 1^st exam was a multiple choice then from the 2^nd question till 25^th question it was SATA's. I felt like throwing up at some point but I kept my confidence up. One hour passed by and I was in question 37, that tells you how slow I was. I wasn't worried about being slow (That's how I am, English is my 2^nd languageâ€ I didn't care about the pace but I cared more about how I answer my SATA questions. I was convinced that incase I ran out of time and my last 60 questions were all right then I am good. By the time I was at the 85^th question, before I submitted, I said a word of prayer and talked to God. Then it shuts off. I was happy the screen turned blue because I wasn't sure what I was doing. I am a straight A student, and I don't study the recommended text book to get high scores but I study through questions. This exam was not close to my straight A. I would say, if it was scored, I got a 40% or below. In all the 85 questions, 60 were SATA. I literally counted as I go.

When they say that NCLEX is not about how many questions you get right, from my experience, I believe in that theory 100%.

Now, go there and shine!

All the best to candidates.