Passed NCLEX, 75 questions, 4th attempt

Nursing Students NCLEX

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After an arduous journey of daily prepping and 4 attempts at NCLEX, I have finally passed it at 75 questions.

I wanted to extend a word of encouragement to those that have tried and failed NCLEX: Don't give up and don't ever give in! You will pass!

What did not work for me the first 3 attempts was my method of study and a choice of resources.

I used the following:

* Kaplan - full review, 2 times. Kaplan was good at Priority, Assessment, Delegations, Decision Tree and Maslow hierarchy. It was not good at questions and expensive.

* Lippincott - I think I got a 2014-2015 edition. It is a good book but is cumbersome to work with. It also has online portion that really needs an update.

* NCSBN Learning EXT - subscribed to 3 times, 5-week each; It was the money worst spent! Their question bank is nowhere near the format of real NCLEX and was least helpful.

* NCLEX MASTERY - mobile app and online access - the BEST RESOURCE at $29! It has about 1600 questions with comprehensive rationales; lots of SATA questions - I did about 1300, about 30-50 per day.

Initially I thought I'd have it on my Android phone only, but ended up studying online on my Mac. This is what worked for me the last time. Their questions were almost identical to what I have seen on NCLEX. This one is what I highly recommend. (I have no financial or otherwise vested interest to promote this)

* Medscape Online subscription to Nurses - Free resource with lots of info on conditions, treatments, pharmacology, research, etc. - a great daily read! You can switch from MD to RN to Pharmacist mode.

Lastly, I am going to scan my notes, combine them with my online notes at Evernote and give them away to anyone, who is interested or needs it.

Best of luck to all NLCEX test takers!

Specializes in cardiac ICU.

Hi Dorota,

I know the feeling, but don't despair! Practice makes perfect and that being said, all you want to do is practice trainer questions.

After I realize that Kaplan was no good (except for decision tree, Maslow and priority) and frankly a waste of extra money I did not have, I turned to Nclex Mastery. Alternating between resources was tempting but I decided to stay put with one and knock out all Nclex Mastery questions, taking the notes along the way.

If I am in any position to make recommendation, it would be as such: Set everything aside except for one resource (Nclex Mastery or other - you take a pick); Do most of their questions, about 30-50 every day. At such rate, it will take you month and a half to do about 1300 - 1600 questions.

Do not over-study! Take frequent breaks - I did play video games in between questions :)

Review and come back to review those questions you answered incorrectly - it'll cement the knowledge.

The 1-2 days before NCLEX do NOT study - you need time to unwind. This was a good advice by my clinical preceptor.

I'll PM the link to the notes.

Best of luck!

First things first, congratulations!!!

Could I have the link to your notes sent to me please? Thank you!

Can you please send me a copy of your notes! Thank you!

Kelly

congrats!i would like to have a copy of your notes as well.thank you for helping out others!

Great advice. If you could please send me your notes as well that would be great. Thank you!

Congratulations!!! I think you offering your notes is very thoughtful and I do appreciate that. I am new to AN, and so I am not familiar with how I can obtain those from you bc it states I can not PM anyone yet bc I have not posted enough post yet :p :) Is it possible for you to PM me? Again, I am new at AN so I hope that question doesn't sound as dumb as I feel it does :)

Thanks in advance

Congrats on your victorious trail!

Will you PM me your notes as well? or just email them to [email protected]

Thanks so much

Hi RUmedic, Congrats and good luck. Could you please PM the notes? My friend failed twice and he is all depressed. I am trying to help him in all possible ways.

Specializes in cardiac ICU.

Sure thing, will PM the notes to you. Please tell your friend not to give up.

I know the feeling..

Congratulations. Could you please email me your note? I failed once... [email protected]

Congrats! Thank you for sharing your journey. It is encouraging.

Would you please share your helpful notes with me. My email ID is [email protected].

Thank you.

Congratulations! Can you please email the study guide to me? [email protected] (I can't get PMs yet) And thank you for offering this to everyone! It is very much appreciated!

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