Hello,
I took the exam last week and passed on my first try with 180 questions!
I barely passed nursing school so I knew I had to work hard to pass the NCLEX. So I studied for about two months. For one month I studied for about 3-4 hours a day for 5 days a week. And the next month I studied for 6-8 hours a day 6 days a week. The tools I used to study were:
Saunders Comprehensive Review for the NCLEX-RN® Examination, 6th Edition
Nclex Mastery App ($30)
Hurst Audio Reviews
Kaplan NCLEX-RN Premier 2016
Lippincott's Q&A Review for NCLEX-RN: Edition 11
35 page study guide on allnurses
Hurst and Kaplan was what helped me the most! I memorized everything by rewriting and reading everything over and over again. I also made sure to do about 5,000+ questions and read every single rationale.
I took the exam last week during the afternoon confident I knew my material. But I was WRONG. It was like the exam was everything I DIDN'T study. I was expecting to stop at 75 questions but I did not. And that made me anxious. I took the break the computer gave me and went back to answering questions. After awhile I started to go threw the questions faster than I did in the beginning. But I made sure to read each question and answer fully before moving on. After 3 hours the computer shut off on me. I walked out of the center feeling like I failed.
The next two days were horrible. All I could do was research my possibilities of passing or failing. I was convinced that I had failed. But I didn't! I actually PASSED!!!!
My advice for those taking the NCLEX:
-Study. And study the way that is best for you. If you need to takes breaks then take breaks. If you study better alone than study alone. If you study by audio, find something that uses audio. Don't study according to how others study. They are not you. But make sure you don't slack off. Make a schedule if you have to.
-Do questions. Expose yourself to as may questions as possible. And make sure you read the rationales!
-Take a break if needed. You're brain will be fried if you don't spend time taking care of yourself. But don't take too long of a break, you need to get back to studying!