waterpaint

Did you find that the questions were similar to the NCLEX question style?? I found that the questions weren't similar at all and actually felt the style and type of questions weren't hard enough to prepare me properly. You're right though--it really does depend on the person. Congrats on the exam.

I wouldn't recommend using too many resources. Saunders is not a good resource. The material and style of questions are not going to prepare you for the exam. If you haven't already taken the in-class version of kaplan, I would highlyyyyy recommend you spend your money on this instead. A lot of companies will pay for your class free of charge. This class will teach you how to answer the questions and break down everything. Another resource I would recommend is "Exam Cram" book. Their questions are very similar to the NCLEX exam as well and they even include a mock-trial exam on their CD. Stick to 2-3 resources only. If you don't know something, i.e. Parkinson's signs and symptoms then look it up. But don't spend your time reading old school textbooks and paragraph after paragraph of details. Do questions...and questions and questionss. Good luck!!

Suggestion: Get Exam Cram! Do all the questions. Helped Me

i also graduated may of 09. however, my wait wasn't as long as most of the comments i read. i waited about 8 months before finding a job. i was applying everywhere in my area or near my area (fairfax, va...dc...maryland). no luck. i ended up hearing of job opportunities from a friend back in ny, applied...traveled for my interviews...and eventually got a job. i ended up having to relocate to ny and am currently working as an rn in a small town. the funny part was that as soon as i moved to ny, dc was calling for interviews. i think the key to finding a new job as a new graduate is 1. don't give up 2. consider relocating to another state to get at least 2 years under your belt. some states are hiring more so than others. (alabama, upstate ny and texas are hiring-pa is barely hiring) 3. constantly send out your resume and fill out applications. i was filling out at least 10 a day, almost every day out of those 8 months of being jobless. good luck! it'll happen...

have you looked at nursing homes??

check your institution's policies. at our institution, we are to change the inner cannula every 8 hours.

By the way, if you want any person to really respond to your messages in a cordial manner, I'd advise you to watch how you respond to another's post.

Sorry for not being specific enough Dragon... I have applied and called all the hospitals and LTC facilities I can...and all do not hire new graduates right now. This may change for the new year but as of now, none, zero, nada. I wish this wasn't true...but it is. And I'm only speaking from Fairfax so....

Binghamton NY is hiring! Wilson Memorial Hospital (UHS) and Lourdes Hospital. It's pretty much a small college town, but experience is worth it.

I currently live in Fairfax, VA and have been having a difficult time just applying for new graduate positions. There are little to no positions available in the VA, Southern Maryland, and DC area. Only a couple of hospitals are hiring new graduates and I'm talking maybe 5 for their 2 floors and not even. Most new graduate fellowships are starting in January and February so now would be the time to start applying. However, it's VERY competitive and the amount they're accepting is very minimal. Even the nursing homes, LTC facilities, are not hiring new graduates as of now. I have contacted over 20 hospitals within an hour or 2 of my area, and have had no success. I'm actually moving back to Binghamton, NY because the hospitals there are hiring new graduates willingly. Hope this helps!!

I'm also a new graduate having just passed the boards last month. The job market in the VA/DC area is horrible especially for new graduates. They're wanting more experienced nurses. If you had a choice as to where to relocate...I would not make VA your first choice. Go to Texas! I hear they have opportunities there

I wouldn't recommend moving to VA unless you're thinking of West Virginia. A lot of the hospitals here are only hiring experienced nurses...and the few that are looking at new graduates...are highly competitive and very hard to come by. I'm a new graduate with a recent RN license and have yet to get a call-back from hospitals. I would recommend TX or another state if you're going to relocate

Prepare now for NCLEX if you're doing good in your classes. I noticed that a lot of the students who started preparing for NCLEX their senior year, by doing questions here and there, passed the exam after graduation. Can't guarantee this is successful, but just what I noticed

thanks! I passed at 75 questions :) I appreciate all the advice you had to give

oh and day of... wear a rubber band on your wrist! It helped more than one graduate with keeping their attention on the computer. If your mind starts to wander...flick the band on your wrist. Also, DEEP BREATHES! Take a deep breathe if you're stuck on a question...take your time with each question...and don't look at the clock. These tips will all help your anxiety :)

first of all, i would recommend reviewing your first two attempts at the nclex-rn examination and recognize how you prepared for it. i would then take this information...and change your plan for the 3rd time around. it obviously didn't work for you the 1st and 2nd time...it's not going to work for you the 3rd time. when i prepared 2nd time around, i recognized that i needed to do more questions rather than content, and set goals i.e. finish all of kaplan q-bank and finish all of exam cram. this new plan should include goals you're going to set for yourself. if you don't reach those goals (i.e. finish one whole book of questions) by your exam date, then you should change that exam date so that you have time to finish those goals. remember to do 50-200 questions a day! if you take a day off every now and then, don't fret! our brains need time to relax. but, the week before your exam, i would consistently do at least 50 a day. i too have test anxiety, and even felt the need to review old questions and their rationales (about 15 questions) the day of my exam (my exam was at 2pm). not a lot of people recommend this...in fact, most recommend that you take the day off before...and obviously the day of. i did not listen to this piece of advice, and did a few questions the day before, and the day of. i also read over lab values and my one cheat sheet full of random info (i.e. burn %, labor decelerations,etc) the day before and day of. figure out what works best for you and stick with that plan. i too had to work my butt off during nursing school and repetitiveness seemed to be the key for me. so every time i did 50-200 questions a day, i would go over every single answer and their rationale regardless of whether or not i got it right or wrong, and if i didn't know a certain drug or disease, i would type it up and then read what i typed up before i went to sleep. week before my exam, i got 10 pages of notes reduced down to one cheat sheet. exam cram is a book i recommend to everyone and have heard countless praise about how this book has helped. if you haven't tried it, i would recommend buying it and doing all their questions! the form of the questions in this book are very similar to the nclex and so are the topics! if you need more advice, please let me know. i'm more than happy to share!

I surprisingly was skeptical when I heard about this because everyone calls it a "trick" however, have found that IT WORKS (or at least that's how I feel). I don't see it as a trick but rather as a "it makes sense". If you passed, why would they let you continue on to the payment section. And if you failed, vice versa. I also think that this "trick" is just another great belief for helping those with anxiety and fear, to relieve a fraction of that. You're still going to be stressed out though! I checked an hour, then two hours, then 5 hours after my exam and pearsonvue wouldn't let me continue to the credit-card page. 15 hours later and I found out I passed by checking the automated number for BON. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE

First of, I would like to say that this has been a long journey. Perhaps short compared to some, but long nonetheless. After struggling through nursing school, having been a horrible test taker accompanied by test anxiety, the NCLEX exam was another dreadful ordeal to overcome in order to FINALLY become an official Registered Nurse *sigh* How great do those two words sound? Absolutely amazing! Especially when you don't get it just handed to you, but instead, have earned it with each drop of sweat and tear manifested by all the stress that comes along with it. I don't want to make this too long of a thread, so you can read about my NCLEX experience the first time around here: https://allnurses.com/nursing-articles/i-am-not-411743.html If you want to know the difference between the first and second time experience, just ask me and I'll be more than happy to share. There were a few perks that possibly made the experience better 2nd time around, but again, I don't want this to be too long of a thread Time and time again, I see people stating that you need to spend 1/3 of your time on comprehension and 2/3 of your time doing questions. I never really believed that this would be true for myself, and prepared for the exam the first time, quite the opposite of the norm. I would say I spent most of my time on comprehension and a week or two on questions. That was not enough for me! And it was apparent when I failed at 160 something questions. MY ADVICE: QUESTIONS QUESTIONS QUESTIONS. I really stress that for any new graduate taking their NCLEX exam. Learn how to take NCLEX-style questions. They're not like the exams you have in nursing school. Learn WHAT they're asking you, and HOW they want you to respond. Each and every question you face while practicing as well as on the NCLEX-RN exam, should be approached in this manner. I recommend Kaplan. Kaplan taught me how to appropriately defeat the questions. You should have 1,200-5,000 questions under your belt before walking into the NCLEX. I did approximately 50-200 depending on how felt that day. Occasionally I took a day off to rest up. By the time I took the NCLEX-RN exam, I did about 5,400 questions If you're taking Kaplan, I would recommend finishing the entire program i.e. ALL the Q-trainers and Qbank questions before taking your exam. First time around, I only finished 50% of what they had to offer. 2nd time around, I finished 100% While practicing questions, every rationale should be reviewed. Even the ones you got right (just to see if what they're looking for matches up with what you thought they were looking for). If you know you won't remember a detail, write it down and if you want, review before bed every night (in my opinion, best time to retain information). I would recommend Exam Cram. The "style" of the questions is very similar to the NCLEX. I also liked how some questions were repeated but in a re-worded manner. Repetitiveness is great! They include 5 tests, and also a CD in the back with a mock NCLEX exam, that actually shuts off in the same manner and tells you whether or not you passed or failed. I personally didn't utilize the CD because of my test anxiety, but many have found it useful as a diagnostic guide to what their weaknesses were. My input about Saunders. I love the comprehensive book, having used it whenever I forgot a disease etc. But that was it. I also love the pictures in that book. There's also the internet for those of you who can't afford this book. Saunders Q&A is not a personal recommendation. I did the first 200 pages, and then stopped because the questions were too easy. I felt that Kaplan and Exam Cram were closer to NCLEX style and more challenging for that matter. Last but not least, if you feel that you need more time to do questions...do not be afraid to post-pone the exam date. Better you post-pone than to waste hundreds of dollars only to do it again. Take a deep breath as you face each question on the NCLEX-RN exam. Oxygen to the brain... You can do it!! Hope this helps!!!!

I'm a second time test taker and passed at 75!!!! Am so grateful the studying payed off and am excited to share the great news!!! Thank you for all the great support!!

I agree and disagree with Bluee... End of your nursing program isn't going to be any easier than the beginning. Keep focused because it's not hard to lose track when senioritis is kicking in. However, I do believe it can't hurt to prepare for the NCLEX early. First of all, I would read up on how to answer NCLEX style questions. They're not like the nursing exams you've been taking. Look up "decision tree". Kaplan was great at explaining how to properly read and answer NCLEX style questions. Secondly, I would just start doing questions 50-150 a day. You should have done at least 1,200 practice questions by the time you take your NCLEX. Read over the rationales of ALL questions including ones you got right. I hope this helps OH and book I recommend is Exam Cram-it's similar to NCLEX and has mock test on their CD. Saunders is a little on the easier side but covers comprehension, and Kaplan is difficult but similar to NCLEX style as well.

I would recommend Exam Cram because the test question format is similar to that of the NCLEX...it also has a CD that comes with a mock NCLEX examination, that will tell you whether or not you're in the passing or failing range. NCSBN's website has 3-15 week sessions for online questions...they're the ones that create questions for the NCLEX Last but not least, Kaplan course (whether it be live or just the QBank) had more difficult questions I was looking for. I stopped doing Saunders because I found that Kaplan was more challenging

Regarding plants in the house, you want to assess where the family keeps the flowers (whether they're hanging or on the floor) because the children like to crawl into whatever they can (especially when they're young) and they come across problems with infection, aspiration, etc. Regarding plants in the hospital setting (and this goes for uncooked vegetables and fresh fruit baskets), your priority will be to take it out of the room or tell the family to take it home with them, if the patient is immunocompromised i.e. HIV, low cell counts, etc. The plants, uncooked vegetables, and fresh fruits all harbor bacteria. Hope this helps!!

I know how you feel! I wanted to take the test at an earlier time but my only option was at 3:45PM, if I wanted to take it sooner than later. I am taking it this Wednesday and don't know whether to be nervous or excited. My QBank grades are typically in the 60's...sometimes I'll get in the 70's or 80's BUT occasionally Ill get a low 50!! Those 50's really bum me out! Makes me wonder if it's my nerves or if I'm truly not ready :imbar I hope I pass...I have 50 more questions for Kaplan until I'm completely finished with their program. Prayers to everyone!

I agree with previous poster...do not waste your money on Kaplan again. GET YOUR FULL REFUND and put that money towards Exam Cram or NCSBN's website (http://ncsbn.hivelive.com/hives/534b38552a/summary). Exam Cram has a cd on the back of the book with a mock NCLEX exam that tells you if you're in pass or fail range, and NCSBN are the ones who come up with questions for NCLEX

Thank you for sharing your story! I too am a second time test taker...actually....I'm taking it in 2 days! I hope I have as much success as you did! Congratulations!!!