Passed NCLEX in 75 questions-1st try. Plus some tips from me.

[Little_Bear2013]

If this is against this forums rules please notify me or take this down immediately.............But anyways, I just got my quick results today and was notified that I passed my NCLEX in 75 questions with 30+ SATA options and at least 3 exhibits !! Scary? Yes!! But with your hard work, YOU CAN TOO!!! But anyways, to the point....I want to help give others some advice regarding the NCLEX and how I studied in hopes that it may help some of you as well!

First of all, this may sound weird but go into these exams with some anxiety as one of my instructors taught me this actually helps keep you focused but don't go in feeling like your about to have a panic attack though! Also, realize were all human and we are not perfect so realize you can NOT know everything going into these exams as I thought I could but go into these exams with your head held high realizing you know this information enough to be a competent nurse, ESPECIALLY as YOU graduated from nursing school and that's quite an accomplishment that not many can say.

Before I go any further, for those still in school but preparing for when this day comes I can't recommend or say more than enough to BUILD a STRONG foundation early / now and STUDY HARD and practice NCLEX questions EARLY as personally I think that is what helped me out the most during the exam because YOU WILL or I can almost guarantee YOU WILL see questions / information you haven't seen in years. For instance, I'm not saying the question but I had a SATA in which I had to think all the way back from Human Anatomy that we hardly ever touched on in nursing school!

Anyways off my rant, but these are the resources I used to study but not just throughout studying for NCLEX but also throughout school as well.

• Kaplan*
  
• Virtual ATI*
  
• NCLEX Mastery App*
  
• ATI Tutor app
  
• Lippincott NCLEX questions
  

The ones I put an asterisk next to are the ones I primarily used to study for NCLEX, the others were throughout school. Personally, I wish I could say which company mirrored the NCLEX more than the other but I can't because it's all a blur at this point; however, I can say that each one was beneficial in someway as I explain here:

• Kaplan
  
  • These questions are NOT EASY by ANY MEANS; however, I think they prepared me the best for NCLEX. So, that means do all the question trainers and as many Qbanks as you possibly can!!
    
  • They'll teach you some methods you've NEVER thought of before!! Personally I had to use go with the weird answer a couple of times and even think before I went with the assess answer first.
    
  • The questions on NCLEX appeared to be somewhat easier than Kaplan's in my opinion; however, not by much though so they are just as tough or can be!
    
  • READ YOUR RATIONALES and REMEMBER it's okay to get mad or upset especially if your not scoring above Kaplan's standard as I didn't plenty of times but still kept on trying and so should YOU.
    
  • I think A LOT of their prioritization questions matched NCLEX's; HOWEVER, I thought NCLEX's prioritization questions were MUCH MUCH HARDER and I really had to remember to follow the expected vs unexpected findings not just per disease process but even per clinical situation such as administering blood or TPN.
    

  [*]NCLEX Mastery App

  • Now this I used mostly during school or while I was on the go; however, some of it did follow Kaplan's style of questioning were assessment isn't always the FIRST thing to do
    

  [*]Virtual ATI

  • Okay, now I know we all hated ATI in school and don't get me wrong virtual ATI did suck as I though the questions were too easy and BARELY mirrored NCLEX's questions as assess was usually always first if it asked!!
    
  • HOWEVER HOWEVER HOWEVER, once I got through every assessment with above their standard I was ready to take their predictor, boy was I shocked! The predictor made me think and was not anything like their previous assessment tests and I thought this mirrored NCLEX quite well.
    
  • My instructor was very friendly and gave me personalized assignments to email after each assessment based on the questions I missed and I was suppose to read the content too but lets be realistic here as by no means did I, I just looked for the information for the homework questions they wanted and realized why I got it wrong in more detail then moved on.
    
    • This may sound like a waste of time to some but honestly, it stuck for me! As I forgot some things that I didn't get to in Kaplan such as how myxedema is r/t hypothyroid or thyroid storm = hyperthyroid.
      

Sorry in advance this is pretty in detail but if I think of more things I'll try to add them later as I want as many people here to succeed on the NCLEX as well!

Best of luck to you all and if you have any questions please do NOT hesitate to ask me.

[RaggedyAm]

Congrats on passing! That's amazing Every time I see a thread like this I take notes on it. I'm still doing prereqs so I have a long time, but I'm so thankful for posts like these.