Planning to take NCLEX-RN,Graduated 5 years ago

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Hi i am living here in California for nearly 5 years now.I got my BSN degree back home in the Philippines in march 2002 and since then i have not taken the NCLEX board exam yet,because i am scared to fail the exam,and i do not have the confidence to pass the exam.So what i did for the past five years is working as a Nursing Assistant in a hospital and did not studied at all for the exam.But now i realized that i have to pass this freakin exam,thinking that i spent 4 years just to get my BSN degree.So i am planning to give it a shot.My concern is,how can i prepare to take the exam?Is it advisable for me to take Kaplan's Complete NCLEX-RN Review?I am so worried about this since i was out of school for a long time and i havent been studying at all for five years.Any asuggestions?thanks you so much!

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Hi i am living here in California for nearly 5 years now.I got my BSN degree back home in the Philippines in march 2002 and since then i have not taken the NCLEX board exam yet,because i am scared to fail the exam,and i do not have the confidence to pass the exam.So what i did for the past five years is working as a Nursing Assistant in a hospital and did not studied at all for the exam.But now i realized that i have to pass this freakin exam,thinking that i spent 4 years just to get my BSN degree.So i am planning to give it a shot.My concern is,how can i prepare to take the exam?Is it advisable for me to take Kaplan's Complete NCLEX-RN Review?I am so worried about this since i was out of school for a long time and i havent been studying at all for five years.Any asuggestions?thanks you so much!

welcome, Check out the NCLEX forum there are a few good info threads there

Good luck

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Good luck.

It might not be a bad idea to take a review course of some sort since it's been five years.

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I definately suggest a review course. The single best thing I did to prepare!

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Specializes in Neuro Surgery,telemetry.

i didnt take any professional review, i have used different kinds of books (made me more confused), i basically reviewed at home, sad thing, it isnt enough. i didnt make it the 1st try. now i am preparing for nclex the 2nd time around. i took ncsbn for 2 weeks last DEc(my friend in London paid the 3 week review used it for a week and took the test the same week leaving me with 2 more weeks to enjoy the review! he passed with flying colors! now works in VA) since january 07, i am concentrating with Saunders and doing Suzanne's plan. i am sure you will do fine. and best of luck to yah...

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By the way i am new on this forum and i was wondering what is suzannes plan?could you please email it to me guys so i have an idea what kind of plan is this.And hopefully it will help me on preparing for the exam. thanks!

e-mail addresses are not permitted for your safety

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Hi,

Go to the Forum: NCLEX discussion forum. At the top of the forum is a thread near the top that is a permanent sticky on that forum. It says something like: New Revised Study Plan from Suzanne (or something along that line). She recommends Saunders Review Book and gives you instructions on how to follow her plan. The first step is listed on that posted thread. Only after you complete that step do you pm her to get the next step. I am going to try the plan myself. I will be graduating in about 2 weeks and hope the plan works for me.

Since you have been away so long I think a review course would be helpful too. My current instructor has really helped bump up my scores on my NCLEX review tests that I take sometimes. A few pointers she gave us...1)Remember your ABC's - they are always the most important, 2) Our program followed Maslow's Hiarchy of needs--after ABCs it is useful in prioritizing the needs of your patient. 3)Know normal function - if you know what is normal you will be able to recognize something abnormal easily--ex. know how the body functions normally, know what you should find on assessment, know normal lab values (CBC counts, electrolytes, liver enzymes, etc.) 3) Remember the nursing process - Assess, Dx, Plan, Implement, Evaluate -we always have to assess first before we do anything and nurses are always reassessing, 4)Know priority concerns for the disease process and ask yourself--What is unique about this disease? 5) For Psych, Pediatrics, Women's Health-->Focus on the things that are unique to those fields. A lot of things carry over from what we have learned in our Med Surge. 6)My weakest point right now is pharmacology. I am fine with drug calculations, but I am not one to memorize things. I always study to understand--so I had make an effort memorizing lab values and now I really need to focus on meds. My plan is to go back and review the really popular drugs and their dosages and nursing interventions. I'm going to study by drug families. Take one drug from each family and know the side effects and etc --like one opioid, one ace-inhibitor, one beta-blocker, and etc.

I hope this helps. I wish you the best.

Sheri

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hi! i know this post has been years ago... u probably already an RN now, i am the same too been graduated 5 years ago in the philippines and want to take the nclex now. can u give me some tips on how to study?

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There are many study tips posted in the NCLEX forum, some in quite detail if you take some time to do some reading. Most people use some form of answering as many NCLEX type review questions as possible and studying the rationales given for the answers, both right and wrong.

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bryantan502, I am in the same boat as you! are you studying now and what is your strategy? I have forgotten so much that i feel like i am reading greek when i attempt to study...would appreciate your feedback with similar situation of having graduated years ago and not taken the nclex. thanks everyone!!

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