liangchia

After sitting for 6 hours, my head was twirled up-side-down. I thought that I was set to fail. Obviously, my self-conscious was wrong. I waited until monday evening to log into PearVue to find out my test result. (I took it on Saturday and started new job on Monday). My mother espeically drove to my apartment to be with me while we found out. It was scary. My hands were shaking when I typed in my credit card info. Anyways, I would say the best way to do NCLEX if you're unsure about your study ability, minus well pay $300-400 to Kaplan, seriously, that money is worth of it. As a RN, you make $24/hr initially. Your first week of work will pay that right off. I did a complete Kaplan review course in 2 weeks. I started reading the course book back-and-forth as soon as I received it in the mail. When the classed began, I already knew most of the materials. In class, I just focused on testing strategies. (You will need to do alot of work by yourself. No on can do it for you. )I also borrowed the Lippincot's Review book from a professor, but did not use it once. It is too comprehensive. NCLEX is not testing you the facts. Although you need to know the basic A&P for sure and new materials built through nursing school, but they don't want you to memorize EVERYTHING. Plus Kaplan's course book was like a life savor for me. It has informational categorized into tables. So, for me (a visual learner), it was easier to study. On my test, I got lots of psychosoical,meds, and basic med/surg. You won't believe the amount of "ALL-you-can-apply" were in my test. And, I got ZERO calculation questions. Man, that test was brutal.:trout: Even the proctor felt sorry for me when I walked out. "You finally can go home now!" she said. That weekend was also Sea-fair, Blue Angels weekend. Everyone was out to watch crazy hydro-planes and jets flying around. ****make sure you don't take too much time for breaks. The time would keep ticking! Estimate how long you will need to finish if you have 265 questions.** I clicked my last question just a minute before the time ran out. Overall, I took break twice, but the second one was much shorter b/c I realized " I might get 265!" ****Don't feel panic. If you can still keep a clear mind, you are still winning.***** If you're taking Kaplan, here are the tipbids: 1. Do the content review online prior to class. 2. Practice the question trainner up to #3 prior to class and save the rest during and after class. 3. Practice the Q bank through out the month. I did 100 questions/ day from various sources (ex. Saunder's CD). 4. If you keep getting 50-60% on question trainers, you might be ready. But Kaplan will say no. I was on the borderline from the readiness test. I got 55% overall on the Qbank and 58%ish from the QTrainer. 5. Do the QT all the way through #7 before you took NCLEX. It will help you to sit through 6 hours of testing. Gar...it was not fun. But it helps. 6. Keep it in mind that you need confidence and calmness to handle the test. It is just like working. You need to be smart and confident at the same time, while having the sense of peace. For everyone: Be sure to pack water and snacks for the test. You never know how many questions you're gonna get. So, BE PREPARED! Good luck, Tammy S, RN