QuenymamiRN

I highly recommend Sheri's workshop. It is a teaching and practicing workshop,

I used study guide 101 for this test and passed 1st time. Good luck.

I highly agree! I used Sheri's online workshop and passed 1st time. Make sure you know the study guide from front to back like the back of your hand. I didn't study with anyone. I practiced by myself everyday until the day of my test. Good luck!

I was able to transfer all of my Pre-reqs but not nursing courses.

Its really hard to keep your motivation up in the RN program at excelsior. I recently graduated this march and got my license this June. IMO the tests are really hard but they prepare you well for the NCLEX. I work FT night shift 11p-7a in a nursing home. I also have 4 girls, the youngest just turned two. If I can do it, anyone can do it. I did the program in 3 years with the 1st year just doing the Pre-reqs which were only 2 courses. The 2nd yr was part time, and towards the end was close to fulltime. I learned the only way I was going to get it done was by paying for the classes. This way I knew I had to complete the courses within 6 mo or lose the fee. Good luck!

Everyone gets a 50% on the NCLEX when they pass. Higher level questions are given when you are doing well.

The day before I read the allnurses study guide. That's it. I had a good nutritious dinner and got as much sleep as I could.

LPN can suction a stable patient but on the NCLEX likely not stable so don't pick that. LPNs can do sterile wound changes and unsterile wound dressing changes. Can't do 1st dressing change after surgery. Can insert a foley and do straight cath. Can't reinsert a GT or peg. Can't insert NGT. Can't insert suprapubic. No IV period! Insulin yes if stable. Trach care yes if stable. Tube feeding yes. Chest tube No! Can ambulate a pt except when assessment is needed such as first time pt ambulated after surgery. Pick the most stable patient. Usually it will be giving meds (not IV) ambulating a patient or doing a wound dressing change. Can do colostomy/ileostomy except sp surgery and needs assessment of stoma. Can irrigate. As I suggested in my prev post get the PDA book. For cna do not assign a patient that needs to be assessed in any way, needs teaching or evaluation. Can feed but not a sp cva being fed first time or having a change in condition that affects swallowing. May calculate intake and output (even with a foley). Can bathe and transfer a pt. Can't do colostomy/ileostomy care. Can't take care of an unstable pt.

I heard that a nurse lost her license and is now working for Walmart because she didn't call the Dr for a BP of 200/100. The patient ended up having a stroke and the employer reported her to the BON. So, keep that in mind when considering whether to call a nasty dr or not. When they are rude just go to the supervisor and call the head dr. There is always another dr you can go through.

I have 4 kids, one who still breastfeeds. I also work night shift full-time. If I can do it, anyone can do it! Good luck on your studying!

I agree. I am an LPN, recently just passed the NCLEX RN. I had a resident that went south. She was a DNR and the supervisior wanted to wait it out and let day shift deal with it. I ended up calling the MD and having the resident sent to the hospital for further eval. She was later admitted with respiratory failure. There are some docs that are very rude and will say "And you called me because?" I just reply "Doc I called you because....needs...because..." and get my orders and go on my merry way.

Try not to stress yourself out so much. The NCLEX really is not that bad. I studied 3-4 hrs a day with Kaplan, Saunders and I did practice questions on Facebook from Pedia and ATI. I also found some old Kaplan Qbanks and I had a few apps on my iPhone (all free). I think Saunders was great for review. Focus on infection control and labs. There was some meds but not that many on my test. Just try and memorize the basic categories so you can recognize any meds that you don't immediately remember what it is taken for. Also try and memorize the most important ADR to watch out for. For example ototoxicity, hepatotoxity.

I used Saunders and Kaplan (the book, not the course). The questions did seem to be easy but I wouldn't say easier than NCLEX. To me the NCLEX seemed pretty straight forward and I feel that Saunders did prepare me well for it, not so much Kaplan.

I had a ton of SATA, I would say at least half of the exam was SATA.

When you take the NCLEX they are very clear that you do not get partial credit. You either get the question right or wrong. There is also no such thing as a certain set of options always being correct.