Passed the NCLEX with 1 Try!

Published Feb 26, 2016

3 Posts

Hello everyone!

I passed the Canadian NCLEX on my first try. I had 75 questions - 26 SATAs, 1 exhibit, 1 calculation. I wanted to share my experience and hopefully help other Canadian NCLEX test takers.

So here is what I did to study:

I finished school last November so I started somewhat studying in December. During this month I took the live Hurst review which I found very helpful in reviewing core content. I took a break mid December and did not really study because I had surgery that time and the holidays got busy. I also downloaded the NCLEX Mastery App last year in June so I did some practice questions here and there, but did not really retain anything back then.

I started hardcore studying in January. Reviewing mostly from Hurst and taking practice quizzes on U-world. I really recommend U-world as I learned a lot form its rationales and I found the NCLEX is very similar to it. I try to do at least 75 questions per day, sometimes I do more. I also had the Saunders Comprehensive book and Kaplan review book, both of which I did not very helpful. Saunders gives too much, Kaplan gives too little. I only used both books for more practice questions.

Two weeks before the exam (I took it Feb 11), I mostly focused on practice questions (making sure to review each rationales and understanding why I got them wrong) and reviewed pharmacology/labs. You have to know your lab values for NCLEX. I only had 1-2 lab questions.

I think what really helped me was Hurst and U-world. There were a lot of NCLEX questions I got that were very similar to U-world, some questions I was confident in answering because U-world asked the same.

The day before the exam, I tried to relax- went out for dinner and church. I did not study at all, I might have skimmed that 35 page review that goes around the internet. The next day, I was very nervous, I threw up before leaving my house. During the exam itself, I tried to calm myself down. I was surprised to be on question 69 and only half an hour passed. I slowed down after that and the test finished at 75 within an hour. Got my results the next morning.

Ultimately, take studying seriously and make time for it. Do a lot of practice questions and don't focus on the marks you're getting but try to understand the rationales. Lastly, remember to take breaks! I studied at least 8 hours/day (with breaks) and had 1 day off/week when I didn't study at all.

Hope this helps! Good luck test takers!