Amberjo

Jewls67- I received the e-mail you sent me however, I can't e-mail you back so I am replying to you via this post :) Here is what I would say about your following questions: 1) When trying to decide who to send home after a disaster has happened think about the following...all the patients are going to be unstable however, it is your job to figure out who is the MOST unstable, who is chronic vs acute etc. In order to do this go through the decision tree so you can narrow it down to only two options, then you should have a better idea on what the answer is. For example if you are left with a patient that has been in the hospital receiving antibiotics for a couple days vs. a patient who has only been there for 4 hours and has a head injury, you would discharge the person on antibiotics. (not the best example, but hopefully you get the point) 2) As far as ABCs go, airway will ONLY be the answer if it is something that needs immediate attention and is not chronic like COPD. If a person has had COPD for years, their O2 Sat is only going to stay around 85% that is normal for them. Something like internal bleeding could trump this if there are no other better options after using elimination via the decision tree. 3) I did not have a lot of OB complications on my third attempt but I did on my first one. If you got a lot you might want to refresh yourself on the topic. However, I did get a lot of hypo hyperthyroid, and diabetes questions; this seemed to be common on all three of my attempts :/ Hope this answers your questions ok!! Let me know if I can be of any further assistance! Don't get discouraged, this was only your first attempt! Now you know what to expect and you can go into the exam a second time and pass it!! GOOD LUCK! You can do this!

I am so glad that this post is helping you all find that extra bit of courage you may all be needing! Trust me if I can do it so can you! Never give up on yourselves or your faith! As I have already stated in my long story and many nurses have told me, nobody cares how many times it took you to pass the NCLEX and nobody will ask, all that matters is that you are a RN Hang in there everyone and let me know if you are in need of any advice or want to know more about how I changed up my study plan the third time around! GOOD LUCK! Study that Kaplan Decision Tree!!

:redbeathe I wanted to take a moment to let everyone know a little bit about my journey to passing the NCLEX. I had to take the NCLEX three times before I passed! I was always a good student in nursing school and I got all A's and B's in my classes. After I graduated in Sept of 2010, our class was given unlimited study time with the ATI program until we passed the NCLEX. Our director and assistant director of nursing told us that they had gone ahead and purchased the program for all of the nursing students at no cost to us. As far as I knew, this sounded like a great deal! I started going through the online program and took the tests, studied, and got advice from my coach when I needed it. When I ended the program the first time around, I was told to take a predictor test and I got a 94% chance of passing the NCLEX on my first try! My coach told me I was ready for the NCLEX so I scheduled it and took it about 2 weeks later. I got 108 questions, and I FAILED!! I walked out feeling horrible about it and I was in tears! Two days later, I found out that I had for sure failed! I was so upset I took it out on my ATI coach. She said she felt really bad and that we would figure out where I went wrong and she assured me I would pass the second time. After I took a few days to sulk and be upset, I moved forward and I was determined to pass and I knew I would never give up until I passed this stupid test!! I decided to do the ATI one more time since I could not see myself spending anymore money on NCLEX prep material, especially since the NCLEX itself is $200! I went through the whole program again, took some different tests, focused on my weak areas like pharm and contact precautions for certain diseases and then I took the predictor test again and was told that I had a 93% chance of passing the NCLEX the second time. After the "go-ahead" from my coach I scheduled the NCLEX again and this time I got ALL 265 questions!! I was there for 5 and a half hours!! I walked out crying (again) and I had the worst headache ever! My Mom came to pick me up and I told her how it went and that I just knew I didn't get the last question right, but I still tried to hold on to the little bit of faith that I had that maybe I had passed this time. Two days later, I found out that once again my gut instinct was right and that I had AGAIN FAILED!! I couldn't believe it! I had lost all hope that day and a little piece of me just wanted to give up but I didn't! I knew that God had a plan for me and it just wasn't in my plan to be a RN at that time. After I found out, I stopped all studying for about 2 weeks and I let my ATI coach know that I would no longer be needing her assistance and that I was going to go in a different direction as far as studying was concerned (this was my nice way of telling her to f*&k off!!). After the two weeks had passed, I decided (along with my parents) to make the big investment with Kaplan. I had heard great reviews and all of my friends that had taken it passed the first time. $500 later I found myself in a week long class and taking a WHOLE LOT of questions from the online qbank and question trainers. BEST INVESTEMENT I HAVE EVER MADE!!!! The in-class part didn't give us new material to study but a new way of understanding how to critically think and disect the questions in order to answer them. The decision tree became my new best friend!! I used it every time I answered a question. I was getting questions right even when I didn't really understand some of words/diseases in the question! I was feeling a lot more confident and relaxed about taking the NCLEX! After I had gotten good scores on my question trainers and finished 95% of the qbank, I felt I was ready to once again take on the NCLEX! I scheduled it and took it on June 8, 2011. I went through every question using the decision tree and taking my time. I got to number 75, which was a select all that apply and after I answered it the screen went blue!!! I couldn't believe it! I walked out feeling neither happy nor sad, I just felt unsure of how I did. The whole ride home by myself from Denver to Colorado Springs, I was in a daze. I was so anxious to know how I did that I had my Dad to the PVT for me as soon as I got home. I couldn't even look at the computer! And then...there it was....the good pop-up!! I was in such shock and I just started jumping up and down screaming and balling my eyes out! Sure enough, two days later I had found out that I had for sure PASSED!!! It was the best feeling in the world!! The main reason for me telling you all this is because I know that if I, an average nursing student, can pass, you can too!! Take the Kaplan course and do all of the online questions and most of all DON'T EVER GIVE UP!! Nobody will care how many times it took you to pass....all they care about is that you are a Registered Nurse!! Hope this helps for all of you who are in the same boat that I was in and I wish you all the very very best!! GOOD LUCK!!

Okay everyone....I PASSED ON MY THIRD TRY!!! The PVT DOES WORK!!!! So if you get the "good pop up" you should be good to go!! :clpty: I will write later about all the maddness that ensued, that got me to where I am today :) Thanks again for everyones advice and input! God is good!

FL2VA- My studying this time around consisted mainly of Kaplan test prep. I purchased the $499 package (which I thought was well worth it, especially for my third time!!). This included the week long in-class session which was mostly just going over A LOT of questions and learning how to utilize the decision tree. I also did all the question trainers and payed special attention to the rationales. Finally, I did 92% of the q-bank. The more questions you do daily the better. I found I was getting more comfortable with the questions and I wasn't spending as much time on each one. I also went over the Kaplan book that was supplied to me by the course. This was a good resource b/c it broke things down into the sections tested on NCLEX and it only gave you info you really needed to know. Hope this helps! Still waiting on my official results so I will keep you posted!! gcat626- Your first two trainers sound good!! That is better than what I got so it sounds like you are on track :) I honestly can say that I still thought NCLEX was hard, however Kaplan really helped me in the way I thought about each question i.e. the decision tree. The questions were about the same difficultly and topic wise. I had a lot of pharm, and priority questions! I only used Kaplan this time around and I am very happy I did! I mostly focused on doing lots of questions everyday and read a little bit out of the book and made sure I knew my lab values. Just waiting on my official results to come in this afternoon!

Ok guys...I took the NCLEX for my third time yesterday here in Colorado and I couldn't wait unit tomorrow to have an idea of how I did, so I did the PVT and I got the "good pop-up!" Hopefully this trick has truth in it and I passed!! The computer shut off at 75 questions this time which is A LOT better than the 265 questions I got last time! I will know for sure tomorrow and I will keep everyone posted :) Thanks for all the input and advice on here!

I have not taken the NCLEX yet. It was scheduled for May 18th but I stressed myself out so bad I got really sick so now it is scheduled for June 8th :) Kaplan has made me feel a lot more confident after taking the exam two times already using the ATI method of studying. This time around I am doing a lot of positive thinking knowing that I can and will pass this awful exam!! I know you can do it too! Good Luck!

cooliegirl- the book that Kaplan provides is great! It has the info that you need and not any of that extra material that you don't need. I found it very helpful and it made my studying so much easier because I wasn't having to go through all of my old nursing books to find info I needed. It also breaks it down in to the certain categories we need to study like physiological integrity, psychosocial integrity etc. I would definitely recommend it!

Thanks everyone for all the help! I got a 60 on question trainer 7 and now I will make sure I review the rationales and know my lab values and go over infection control and stuff. I'm thinking positive and praying that Wednesday is the last time I ever have to go through this!!! I am soo ready to move on with my life!

Thank you Pooh Bear and passredskins!! I appreciate the feedback!

Hi guys! So I take my NCLEX for the third time on next Wed the 18th! I am freaking out! I have finished almost all of the qbank except for 500 questions with a 73% and my question trainer scores (1-6) are as follows: 1) 63 2) 59 3) 58 4) 60 5) 62 6) 58 I will be doing QT 7 tomr. I would just like to know if anyone has passed with scores like these and how similar the NCLEX was compared to Kaplan. This is my first time using Kaplan and I used ATI in the past. I have also read through the Kaplan book and took the week long course in the classroom. Any info/advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks! :)

Hey guys- I took the NCLEX in October and did not pass. However, I did not complete the Ati-Virtualed program like the rest of my classmates did that passed I am getting ready to take it a 2nd time on Jan 31st and this time I completed the program and took the ATI predictor. I received a score of 68% with a 93% chance of passing the NCLEX. Does anyone know how much truth there is to this? Has anyone gotten this score and passed the NCLEX successfully? My coach said that people that have above a 90% do well on the NCLEX. I guess I'm just getting anxious about taking it again and I really want to pass this time!!! Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks :)