Passed NCLEX-RN in 75 questions - tips and reviews

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Hi, everyone! I'm a new BSN graduate (got my degree last month), took the NCLEX on the 29th. Computer shut off at 75 questions, the entire exam took 1 hour and 5 minutes. I've been constantly checking the Breeze website for any chance that my name would pop up. That was also the first thing I did when I woke up today and found out I am now a registered nurse!

Study materials:

Kaplan Live Review (includes Question Trainers and QBank), ATI review books (if your school uses ATI, please download the PDF versions of the books on the ATI website--they're very useful especially if you're trying to quickly search for a specific item), Saunders 5th edition (the yellow book). I also used UWorld for a bit (with a free trial), and it was great.

Honorable mention:

LaCharity's book on prioritization and delegation is really good too, but I couldn't make full use of it due to lack of time (and my brain already being fried).

After graduating I wanted to take a break from studying (wrong move--keep studying!) so I didn't actually review for the NCLEX until I got my ATT sometime in late November. After that, it was studying almost everyday. There were days when I felt too burned out from the intense review I tried doing, and whenever that happened I would close my laptop and stop studying. I thought it was very important to keep my sanity and refresh and then go back when my head is clear and I could think again.

For those who are using (or planning to use) Kaplan to study, I recommend it. I didn't get to use a lot of the Qbank (only used around 150 questions specifically targeting my weakest points) but I thought the questions were harder in Question Trainers 6 and 7 compared to the actual NCLEX. This recommendation, however, comes with a caveat: the rationales for the questions are really short and, unless you make full use of their decision tree, are not quite helpful. The Kaplan 3-day live review focuses on getting the decision tree down pat, and I honestly thought it was stopping me from genuinely using my brain the way my brain naturally works, so I decided not to use it. What I did instead was to review all the questions AND all the rationales and if I don't understand something I would go to my review books (ATI, Saunders) and occasionally to my nursing textbooks (and Google, hah) to find out more. This, I feel, is the most crucial part of studying for the NCLEX--if there's a term, a process, ANYTHING that comes up in a question (or in an answer!) that you don't know or aren't sure of, READ ABOUT IT. It's not just about getting the right answers, but understanding why that's the right answer that is key. UWorld is great at this as the rationales they have just explain everything and you don't have to search for it at all, so if you're on a budget I would highly, highly suggest it.

To all the new and not-so-new graduates about to take the NCLEX, YOU CAN DO IT! Believe in yourself!

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First, we both joined in 2012, went awol, and back after passing NCLEX-RN.

Second, love that December perk: license posted all under 48 hours.

Third, Yay! for using Saunders 5th ed in 2015...seriously guys, check out Amzn one user review who compared 5th and 6th eds, virtually no difference.

Lastly, congrats! and Happy New Year!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
First, we both joined in 2012, went awol, and back after passing NCLEX-RN.

Second, love that December perk: license posted all under 48 hours.

Third, Yay! for using Saunders 5th ed in 2015...seriously guys, check out Amzn one user review who compared 5th and 6th eds, virtually no difference.

Lastly, congrats! and Happy New Year!!!

2mint, I'm also from SoCal haha! Congratulations to you too and a very happy new year! 2016 will be great for the both of us!

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