First of all let me start off by telling you a little bit about myself.... I went through the nursing program and the entire time I was fearing this brutal exam we all know as the NCLEX. This website helped me manage my stress and I want to truly thank everyone that posted their experience up to and post exams. I spent sleepless nights browsing this website for tips and advice about how people study, I followed a few of their tips and now it's my turn to share what I did to help me pass.
When I finished the nursing program I created a schedule that I made myself follow! There is no time to slack when you are studying for the nclex, that comes afterwards! I started with Saunders and read certain units a day after reading those units I would take the exam questions at the back of the chapter and then I would do questions on the LaCharity Book that pertain to the chapter that I just read on Saunders. I also used the book by Lippincott and did questions on those pertinent chapters. I made it a point to follow systems for example if I read G.I. in Saunders I would do questions from LaCharity on G.I. as well as in Lippincott. I tried to focus on a particular system at a time and if the chapters were short enough I would study as many systems as I could that day. But I would make it a point to learn everything there is to learn about that particular system. I also wrote notes about the chapters as I read them. This really helped me a great deal! I never felt truly ready for the nclex but I continued to study like this until I finished all of Saunders and all of LaCharity. I was not able to finish Lippincott because it's way too many questions however; I did manage to do about 3000 to 4000 questions in a three-week period! I also did flashcards for the lab and ABG
values, and for certain medication prefixes.
I basically had no life for those three weeks but boy am I glad I did what I did because I took the NCLEX and stopped at 75 questions and through the grace of God I passed! I was so nervous taking this exam that almost after every question I would say a prayer! LOL! I told my husband that the people at pearson were probably saying "this girl came here to pray, not to take an exam!" LOL! Oh well it worked for me, and it helped calm my nerves.
After I finished reading Saunders and LaCharity I reviewed my handwritten notes. And those notes were very thorough so what I did was I typed my notes and made them as short as I possibly could.... Putting everything that I thought was important about a particular illness, disease, or disorder but limiting it to the minimum of one or two sentences. Yes I know this is very repetitive but in order to pass the nclex you need repetition repetition repetition.
This website helped me get through this very stressful part of my life which is why I am writing my experience here. I want you to know that if I can do it you can do it too! I studied hard, I worked hard and in the end it paid off. I am now a registered nurse and it's such a wonderful feeling! I have attached my notes to this post and forgive me if you find them absurd or useless, please don't bash them as I am posting them because I want to help anyone that wants a little extra help. So, a little info about my notes..... If you know the core content about a particular illness my notes are only here to add small pinpoints that will refresh your memory. That's how I used them, just as a refresher. For example if I knew something about Buergers Disease, I would use my notes to refresh my memory and remind me that part of the treatment includes: stop smoking, hydration, and avoid cold temps.
Yes I studied very hard and I worked very hard but the day before the exam I used it as a ME day! I studied nothing at all!!! I pampered myself a little bit, I went to get a pedicure and a foot massage and I got my eyebrows done... J The morning of the exam make sure you eat something that has protein and sugars. Your brain needs food to process everything that's going on on the day of the exam. I had a bagel with peanut butter and jelly and coffee. Although I don't recommend the coffee, I would recommend a glass of milk however if I don't have coffee I get a headache and I did not want to have a headache taking my exam. If you're religious, PRAY! I prayed so much and I know it helped!!! I still pray today, just to thank him for everything he did for me. He put me through school and gave me the extra push I needed to pass the NCLEX.
I wish you the best of luck and feel free to ask me any questions, I will help with anything I can.
Regards,
CeleneRN
Ok apparently I cant figure out how to "attach" them so i am going to copy and paste them on the following post.... :)
Congratulations! You deserve it! You indeed studied well! Im having difficulty with SATAs.. Any advice how I can defeat sata questions? thanks
Hi butter&jelly,
The way I was taught was to see the options as a "true or false" type deal. Look at what you have in front of you and think about what you would do. If you answered false then the chances are that this is not one of your choices. I tried that technique while I was practicing and it really helped me. Give it a shot and see how it goes! J
Some of ya'll have asked me to email you privately but I cant because I've tried and I get this message:... .
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Im so sorry. I think you can copy and paste my notes and save them to your computer. However; I will keep trying and hopefully I can email people soon. Until then, good luck!!!!
Hi got your message but couldnt reply privately.... so Im writing it here....
HI Jsanchez512,
I was studying about 6-8 hours a day. But everyone is different. I just needed to repeat it over and over because I don't absorb it a quick as othes per-say. Study as much as you think you can handle and make sure to take a 15 minute break every hour! it's very important!
You've got this! If you study hard it will al pay off in the end! I will keep you in my prayers.
Excellent notes and oh yea congratulations RN!! Besides doing questions,were these the only notes you studied to be successful?
Hi yeli550i,
Thank you! And oh God no, these are not the only notes I studied for this exam....I posted my study routine on my initial post..... I read A LOT! These are just my compressed notes, but I only studied these for the last few days before my nclex, just to "refersh" my memory. I read several books and did flashcards and tons of questions.
I am strange I guess. I don't think any amount of memorizing or content studying helped me pass NCLEX in 75 questions. What helped me were practice questions. I did about 2000 of the 4000 in the Saunders bank without ever studying the book and reading the rationales of the ones I got wrong. I felt like I went to nursing school to learn content so if I don't know it now, I'm SOL so just seeing what I really did and didn't know by practice questions helped me most.
I am strange I guess. I don't think any amount of memorizing or content studying helped me pass NCLEX in 75 questions. What helped me were practice questions. I did about 2000 of the 4000 in the Saunders bank without ever studying the book and reading the rationales of the ones I got wrong. I felt like I went to nursing school to learn content so if I don't know it now, I'm SOL so just seeing what I really did and didn't know by practice questions helped me most.
Yeah, everybody is different. I tried the whole "let me do questions and read rationales" but then the rationales would contradict themselves, so I decided to refresh my memory by doing some reading instead. Saunders is very "to the point" in my eyes so I really liked it. I also did lots of questions and rationlaes but didn't base my studying solely on that. But hey you passed and that's what counts! : )
. 
butter&jelly
61 Posts
Congratulations! You deserve it! You indeed studied well! Im having difficulty with SATAs.. Any advice how I can defeat sata questions? thanks