kitty_deville13

I told myself that if I passed my NCLEX that I would share my story on here to give hope to other people…so here we go!

So I graduated in July 2015 from a diploma program in Pittsburgh. I wasn't the greatest student (c-average) so I was kind of freaked out at any mention of the NCLEX.　 In school, we used the EAQ program for our final transitions/leadership course to get us ready.　 We also took the HESI twice (once in the beginning of transitions and again in the end).　 I scored less than normal on both (EAQ questions were insane and 745/798 on HESI) so this added to my already mounting anxiety about the NCLEX.　 I didn't start studying for my NCLEX until the 1st week of August (my exam date was on 8/24/15). I decided to take the classroom Kaplan course with a few of my friends in the beginning on August 2015. It was very helpful to use the decision tree in class but when it came to me doing the Kaplan tests on my own….that was a different story. My Kaplan scores are as follows:

QT #1: 58%

QT #2: 56%

QT #3: 54%

QT #4: 52%

QT #5: 52%

QT#6: 50%

QT#7: 42%

Diagnostic: 56%

Readiness: 54%

To put it mildly, I was in full fledge freak out mode at this point.　 I was visiting AllNurses a lot during this time and looking at other people's Kaplan scores and advice.　 I was very close to rescheduling my NCLEX because I felt like I wasn't measuring up.　　 On the other hand, I was using my NCLEX Mastery app with any spare moment I had in the day and my scores were pretty decent on there.　 So I felt like I was stuck in the middle.　 I watched some YouTube videos of things I didn't fully understand and made a TON of notecards for things I want to make sure I know (labs, procedures, insulins, isolation precautions, etc).　 That 35 page document on here is fantastic! Here is a link for it if you're not familiar with it:

[COLOR=#003366]https://allnurses.com/attachment.php?...7=&d=1310076980[/COLOR]

　

I didn't study at all the day before and the day of my NCLEX. I wanted to give myself some wind down time and try to clear my mind as best I could. The morning of my test I ate breakfast, drank a cup of coffee and sat on my porch and tried to remain calm.

I took the NCLEX on a Monday with a friend that happened to schedule hers as well for that same date and time.　 The NCLEX itself wasn't too bad.　 I felt the Kaplan questions were wayyyy harder. My test took me just under 2 hours and it shut of at 132 questions.　 Nothing prepares you for that blue screen!　 　I left and I felt pretty decent. I went home and tried to keep my mind occupied. Of course, like a million other people, I did the Pearson Vue trick. I used an old bank card to a closed account I have for the credit card information. It gave me the good pop-up and I was relieved!

Pennsylvania is pretty good in making sure they load the majority of their licenses the following day after NCLEX. I searched the following morning and nothing was there! My friend's license was there and I was IN SHOCK. I tried the PVT trick again and I was still getting the good pop-up. The whole rest of the day was filled with anxiety and massive checking of the state board website. The next morning nothing was loaded still and I was convinced I failed. I tried the PVT trick again and I was still getting the good pop-up. I checked the state board website AGAIN and my license was there! All within the span of 10 minutes from each other!

My message to anyone reading this: try not to stress yourself out too much. I was basically living in my local library by the time my boards came. Try not to pay too much attention to your Kaplan scores (I know, easier said than done) and focus on basic material. If you could do one thing and then leave a patient's room, what would you do?

　

I wish all of you the best of luck!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think if they offer you a job after you pass your boards, you have to take it or pay back your loans. Not 100% sure on that though.

I'm currently a student. I'm from beaver county too. It's about an hour drive for me. I don't mind it though. Just make sure to leave about a 1/2 hour early for morning commute. They have parking by consol that you shuttle to and from.

You do most of your clinicals at mercy. You may have 1 day you will rotate to different sites a few times each semester. We went to the children's place, children's hospital, Canterbury place, heritage place, south side surgery center, a few different hospice places, Magee and Children's bilingual clinic. You won't go to all but they're all in the running for going to.

It depends. They've been letting in bigger classes but we don't have a ton of room in the school so I'm not sure how big the fall of 2014 class will be. Between 80-100 people. I did okay on my psb. Somewhere the 80's and 90's.

I'm a certified pharmacy tech so I'm on my feet all the time. My sced is really packed though. Each semester your sced is different so based on last semesters sced: sun: work 10-6, mon: class 8-12 work 2-9, tues; class 8-12 work 2-9, wed: class 8-12 work 2-9, thurs & fri: clinical 7-3, sat: work 9-6. It's brutal but it can be done. I always take the day off from work before a test and then ill work after clinical then. I also have all my core classes done already so I don't need to take anything but nursing. So no a&p, micro, psych, soc, etc...

I go to mercy and I love it there! I work full time so it can be done but it's super stressful. Good luck on applying!

I think it's too late to apply for this upcoming fall. You would have to apply to the fall of 2014. Most classes are 8am-12 or 3pm depending if you have to take other courses. It's normally 4 days a week. It can be 5 days a week depending if you need to take other courses.

I'm working on some tips for your class to help everyone out as far as getting adjusted to what nursing school is. I'll be handing them out on transition day too along with the rest of student council. My suggestion for successful studying is doing your readings, taking notes on your computer in the notes section in the powerpoints, doing an outline of the course objectives and doing a bunch of NCLEX questions. It's ALOT of work but it will payoff.

For all piercings, it's a safety issue incase someone somehow would try to pull it out while you're on clinical. It's only during clinical though, not class. Hope you guys liked orientation. See you on transition day!

Some people took the CLEP for English and said it was okay. Good luck on it. I'm CLEPing sociology this summer. I already CLEPed out of psych and it was horrible.

You should get your book list on orientation day.

I asked Dr. Balistrieri and she believes non-employees can use the daycare. Stop in her office and see her on orientation day. Thanks!

Mercy has a good Wi-Fi connection you can use all over the hospital. I'm not sure about the daycare. There is a daycare for the employees of the hospital but I'm not sure if the students can use it.

You're allowed to record lectures.

Hey guys! If I may interject here... I've been voted the president of student leadership for Mercy! So if you guys need ANYTHING at all, message me on here or you can email me at [email protected]

I look forward to meeting all of you soon. I'm not sure if I'll be at orientation. If you guys can think of anything you would like to be implemented at the school or some good ideas, I'm all ears! :-). Thanks!!

-Ashley

I would get as much out of the way as you can. I'd def take a&p 1&2, and micro. If you can get anything else out of the way too then do it but those are the heavy hitters.

Scrubs to clinicals only.

Naturalgirl, I can't reply to your message. It said something about you exceeding your limit for messages. My email is [email protected]. Send me an email lol

You need to take the cpr for healthcare providers course. I took mine at ccac on a Saturday.

You won't graduate earlier but your schedule will be freed up which is a blessing.

I sent mine in before but they recommend you wait til you get your scores.

First off, congrats on getting accepted! I'm in my first year at Mercy now. It's such a great school and you have made an awesome choice! Tuition reimbursement is a great option. Everything should be in your packet explaining it more. I believe most of my class is enrolled in it too. If you need any help or have any questions, feel free to let me know!

I go to mercy. I know they're going to be changing the program but I don't know what they're doing. I think my class is the last class to go through with the old way. I have all my pre-reqs out of the way already. If you can do them before the start of school, I would. There are a lot of people in my class struggling to balance the workload. For example- this semester we have foundations, pharm, psych and a&p1. I only have to take foundations and pharm. it makes life a lot easier. Lol.

http://www.psbtests.com/site_resource_files/11RNSAEsq.pdf

this is exactly how it is.

Have you tried any of the practice books? I know a lot of people like the Barron's nursing school entrance exams book.

There are a bunch of topics about this posted in the "Pennsylvania State Nursing Program" section. Good luck!