Passed NCLEX in 75 questions!

[Erin1984]

Hi everyone,

I came to this site frequently when I was preparing for my NCLEX and it really helped me to know what to expect when I sat for my boards. I decided when I passed my test I would write about my experiences so that I could share my 2 cents. ANYWAY, I took the NCLEX on Monday (July 21) and found out yesterday that I had passed! So whew hoo!!! Here was my experience...

I graduated with my ADN on June 12. I took about a week and a half off after graduation to spend time with my family and regroup, and then started studying hard for my boards exactly 3 weeks before my test date. For 4 days of those three weeks I took the Kaplan class. These were long days. 8 hours in a classroom just doing question after question with the instructor and my classmates. I think that I really, really got a LOT out of Kaplan. One thing to know though, they don't teach you content. You have to already know the content. They do, however, teach you how to answer NCLEX type questions, which is half the battle eh? So after my 4 day review I emptied my schedule, told my friends and family to leave me alone, and told my work not to call me. I had exactly 16 days to study. For those 16 days I studied HARD. Probably 8-10 hour days. The only resource I used was Kaplan. I read the book they give you cover to cover, plus I watched their lessons on demand which were awesome. Yes boring, but important info you need for your boards. In addition, I did about 75 questions per day. All Kaplan as this was my only resource.

As my test day approached, I got more and more anxious. I get HORRIBLE test anxiety and I wasn't feeling particularly ready. My qbank scores were OK- 60% usually. My qtrainers were Ok as well, nothing spectacular. High 50's but on Qtrainer 7 I did get a 66% which I was stoked about! The pressure was building as well, as I was one of the later people in my graduating class to take the test and EVERYONE was passing! I said to myself, dear God please don't let me be the first in my class to fail!

So the day before my test I did not study at all. I had read that your brain really needs to rest, and mine did. I had overloaded it for 3 weeks. It was hard not to study, as it felt weird not doing so, but I think it really helped rest me for Monday. The day before was definitely worse than the day of and seemed to last forever! That being said, I relaxed the best I could. Finally. Test day. I was actually surprisingly calm. I told myself that I had worked my butt off for the last 3 weeks, and that I was going to do the best I could. That's all I could do. If I passed, I passed. If I didn't, I could always take it again.

My test. Here is the thing about my test. Well wait...first of all let me just say I had talked to several classmates who had recently taken the test, and the consensus was the test was SUPER hard and they did not feel good about it. Ugh, I thought. Just what I wanted to hear. Here is the WEIRD thing about my test: I did not feel like it was that difficult. At all. I felt Kaplan was 10 times more difficult! My entire test I was freaked out because I was thinking to myself these can't be higher level passing questions! I know this stuff! This isn't as hard as what everyone was saying! I had 75 questions. 30 SATA and 5 drag and drops and 1 super easy math question. Yes, SATA were difficult in that there was always one or two options that I was unsure about. But NOTHING compared to Kaplan in level of difficulty. When my computer shut off at 75 I walked out nervous because I thought to myself ,what the heck was everyone talking about! That test was not that hard! Like I said, I felt like I probably wasn't getting passing level questions. Plus, I'd heard that math isn't passing and I had gotten a math question.

When I got to my car I immediately attempted the pearson vue trick. And I got the good pop up!! I tried it again a couple hours later to make sure, and again got to the good pop up!! Stoked!!! Heck yeah!!

So here is my consensus. The NCLEX is challenging but if you do the work, you'll be fine. Don't listen to everyone else. Do your thing. Study. Prepare. You will be fine. It's really not all that difficult. Thanks everyone!

Erin RN

[yedwards42, BSN, MSN]

Congrats - this is terrific! I'm thrilled for you. Congrats big time!! Also, reading your post (as many posts say NCLEX is super hard) I was somewhat relieved. I hope it's not THAT hard as I'm taking in two weeks and have been studying loads (HURST course, Kaplan and NCSBN)

Regarding your prep - did you watch Kaplan videos (content) or just read the Kaplan content book? Besides the qtrainers/qbank - did you practice other q's or read content? Also, on NCLEX did you get a lot of priority/delegation (who would you see first, etc.), nutrition, positioning type q's, procedures (put in order), and infection control? I know you can't give specific q information (and I totally respect that and will do the same) though looking more advice for q's in categories. When reading the NCLEX q's did you feel you could either determine the answer right away and/or eliminate 2 choices and narrow it down? Do you use the decision tree or your own method to decipher questions and evaluate answers? Feel free to give us some advice/tips. Tysm

[Erin1984]

Hey there,

I read the Kaplan book AND watched the LOD videos. I really liked the videos because they really broke it down in to what you really needed to know. I found the book to be good, but dry and hard to get through. Honestly, I think that doing questions is WAY more important than studying content. As long as you have the important stuff down (lab values, infection control, the big diseases like Diabetes, HF, etc...) you should be good on content. In terms of questions I got, like I said, I thought they were easier than Kaplan. Besides my SATA and drag and drops they were primarily priority/delegation, a few pharm, and a few infection control questions. The entire time I was taking the test, with the exception of like 3-4 questions, I felt like the material was familiar. And yes, I could almost always break it down to 1-2 answers pretty easily. Picking between those two was something difficult though sometimes! I did use the decision tree as well but found for most of the questions it wasn't super useful.

Let me know if you have anymore questions. You'll be fine!

[msg88]

Thank you for your tips. I recently took my NCLEX this past Monday and found out I failed. I was thinking about doing the Kaplan NCLEX Classroom Anywhere review course do you know if it's similar to the Live Classroom ?

[Erin1984]

I am sorry to hear you failed. A classmate of mine took the online classroom version of Kaplan and really liked it. I think it's pretty similar to the real live version. Kaplan is awesome and I would definitely recommend it to anyone studying for nclex. Good luck!

[yedwards42, BSN, MSN]

Thank you so much!! If I have any other questions I will let you know.

[pdb660]

I am sorry to hear you failed. A classmate of mine took the online classroom version of Kaplan and really liked it. I think it's pretty similar to the real live version. Kaplan is awesome and I would definitely recommend it to anyone studying for nclex. Good luck!

I read you exclusively study by kaplan . I have access to kaplan on line can you be more especific in the resources you used did you heard the audios or watch Kaplan videos on deman on line. ?? Did you completed the QTrainers and Kaplan CaT exam too .?? I have been using so many resources I did Nclex fee days ago and did not pass 211 questions Time out. 6 long hour suffering and the worst walk out knowing the 60 rules is a big lie . But any way. Please help me with this

[Erin1984]

I read the entire Kaplan book, which took me about a week and a half. I also watched all of the LOD videos, which I thought were awesome and really helped prepare me for nclex. I also did all of my qbank and completed all 7 trainers. I only had 3 weeks to prepare and didn't want to overwhelm myself with several resources. Plus I heard Kaplan was the best and most similar to nclex. I hope this helps and I wish you luck the next time you take it!

[dbrenda1510]

Ddb 660, Sorry you weren't successful but you will be. I have taken it twice and will retake in 4 weeks. 2nd time I used only Hurst. It's great for content review. I did 3 of the 6 sets of questions 125 each and scored in the 80's, did other questions from multiple books and sites. I really thought I had passed until the OCT brought me down to reality. I ran out of time waster 250+ questions. I was tired and hungry by I got to 250 so I know I messed up on the last 60 which were the ones the test was based upon. Still makes me mad! The grade should be on all the questions you finished if time ran out not just the last 60. That is my opinion and I am sticking to it. Lol. My 3rd and final nclex is going to be the one where I become a RN. I am doing Hurst remedial plan, repeat review but with 800 plus question to go over about what was studied from the book. I'm repeating the videos & 5th day material...esp pharmaceuticals, which I hate. I am also doing the remaining 3 sets of questions. I am absolutely terrible with SATA questions. If you have any tips please share. Thanks and good luck this next time. Believe it and it will happen.:-)

[stella789]

Erin1984...Congrats on passing!! welcome to the RN club! :)

msg88...I am so sorry to hear you failed. I would not wish that on my worst enemy. It has been just over 2 years since I took the NCLEX but I will share my experience in the hopes that you may be able to take something away from it.

Throughout nursing school I was always average when it came to testing but clinically I would say I was above average. With my history of poor test taking regardless of how well I knew the material, I was incredibly nervous. We had to take and pass the HESI along with ATI in order to graduate so I had been steadily studying for at least 2 months by the time it was time for boards. About a week prior to my test date I was DONE. I had enough of studying and I just could not bring myself to answer one more question. Sooo I get to the test and as if it wasnt nerve-wracking enough, there is a glass window with people watching you which made it even worse. However, once I started answering questions I was extremely surprised as to how much less difficult it was compared to the HESI exam. The more select all that apply you get, the better (not saying if you don't get a lot of them it's bad). I think I finished in maybe 2 hours but my final question was a select all that apply (which by the way I was never good at) and once it shut off after that number 75 I was fairly certain I had passed because those are the most difficult questions. My isntructors were great about informing us how the electronic test worked so that's why I was so confident. Was I a complete ball of nerves for 2 days unable to do anything productive? OF COURSE!! The questions aren't difficult, you just have to take yourself back to the BASICS of nursing. My point is that taking at least a day or two before your test is absolutely NECESSARY in order to regroup and give your brain a break. As I said before, I was barely an average test taker but you have to have faith in your own skills and abilities in order to conquer that test. TRUST yourself. Keep your test date to yourself. I told only a handful of people when my test was including my parents, but I also told them not to ask me about it....too much added pressure! Good luck!!

[DeniseR16]

Erin - thank you for sharing your study tips. Will definitely be saving the info for when I get ready to take my NCLEX.

[Erin1984]

I totally agree with Stella. The content isn't difficult. If you know your core nursing you are good. It is as much a mental toughness test as a knowledge exam. You have to believe in yourself, take each question as it of and do the best you can, and then move on. Hopefully you pass but if you don't, it's not the end of the world. This was my mentality going in to the exam and it helped me to relax.