RachNurse

How about sleep medicine? That's what I did for 12+ years while I was raising my kids and waiting for the right time to accomplish my ultimate goal, which was nursing. I am a Registered Polysomnographic Technologist in addition to now being an RN. Sleep does involve patient care (and working nights!), but once you have been working in it for a while it is easy to move into a daytime position with less patient-care oriented work like scoring sleep studies, working on making sure clients have their equipment, answering phone questions, working with providers, etc. Sleep incorporates a bit of respiratory, but nothing an RN couldn't learn or easily brush up on from nursing school. And the pay is comparable. When I left the University Hospital in my state 7 years ago, the sleep technologists had just been bumped up to respiratory/nurse pay. I hate to say it but in some cases you can actually make MORE in such a specialty, when I was working as manager of my sleep clinic I was making very decent money, and out of state would have been even better. Just a suggestion, I have known a few RNs who continued to work as Sleep Technologists as well, including my regional manager. I often wonder if I will do a little bit of both. Sleep comes with significantly less liability (no IVs ever, really no med-passes to speak of, the provider will instruct them to take any sleep meds pre-test and the tech is not responsible for that), the biggest liability is making sure you are awake all night and with your eyes on the respiratory and EKGs (sleep patients HAVE died in labs before as a result of sleep techs falling asleep). On one hand it's nice to be able to sit down during a shift as a sleep tech, on the other it's also nice to be doing things so you don't fall asleep, lol. Good luck!

Congrats on passing!! I would debate the idea that "you will get credit for the second best answer". That is not true. What the NCLEX DOES do, is narrow you down to a competency where you have a 50% chance of guessing correctly (as opposed to guessing 25% correctly, which would obviously be random, and anyone taking the test would have a 25% chance of guessing any given question correctly). In other words: can you rule out 2 questions successfully most of the time? There will almost always be 2 easy rule-outs on any nursing school or NCLEX exam (i.e. you can easily rule out an assessment-type response if it asks you what INTERVENTION you would take). Even if you are successful at ruling out the obvious two "no-ways", you still need to guess or, better yet, KNOW the answer to the question out of the 2 responses left, MORE than 50% of the time. So while your strategy is not a BAD strategy for questions where you don't have a clue and must USE a strategy, the test is still going to narrow you down to a competency, and if you're above their line you pass, below it you fail. I think it's slightly irresponsible to suggest that people will pass the test if they narrow it down to 2 answers and go with either one. This test is also about critical thinking, and in many cases you should be able to narrow down the answer to the absolute correct one.

I keep running into threads where people say Saunders is "too easy", but I actually felt like the questions were pretty on-par with what I encountered on the NCLEX. I did almost exactly what you are doing: the NCLEX-3500, and Saunders. And that was about it.

Saligurl: Select All That Apply OP: I was very pleasantly surprised with how "easy" the test seemed. OK, it wasn't "easy", but it wasn't as hard as I was anticipating, and oddly, it did seem EASIER than the NCLEX-PN (which I took in May 2012). On the PN, I had 20+ SATA (computer shut off at 85, which is the minimum on PN). On this one, the RN, I had maybe a total of 8 SATA (which worried me, lol, I hoped that didn't mean I was "failing"). The SATA's I DID have seemed non-complex to me, they seemed very standard and I felt like I knew the correct answers without straining my brain too hard. My test had TONS of peds, not one OB, not one cranial nerve, not one alternative format question, not one EKG. I had maybe 6 meds (and they seemed like pretty basic meds, I felt like I knew the correct answers). One surprising thing to me was how many, "Who would you see first" questions I had. They were complex, and the two things I kept remembering with them were: ACTUAL, current problems always trump a potential problem that doesn't exist yet, and your ABC's. Handful of delegation questions. It really is the luck of the draw to some degree, and I felt like I "lucked out". Don't get me wrong, it was plenty hard, and there were some questions I flat out guessed at, didn't have a clue. Also one question I thought was very poorly worded and I'm not positive I even knew what they were asking. Computer shut off at 75, and I found out this morning I passed. Good luck, I hope you get a test that's just right for you!!

I graduated on 12/14/2012, I gave myself pretty much a clean break for about 10 days. Then I started dipping my toes back in, at that point I did maybe 50 questions a night on the NCLEX-3500. At New Year's, I figured I better really get with the program, and went to Barnes & Noble intending to buy SOMETHING (all the while googling which study guides were the best), had it narrowed down to Kaplan (which is about $34.99 at B&N), then I kept running into comments about: "Saunders, Saunders, Saunders!" and started wondering if I better find Saunders, which none of the B&N seemed to have in stock. Also wondered if I should get the med flash cards, but then kept reading that people didn't like them that much (flimsy or something). Didn't purchase anything, kept doing the NCLEX-3500 and with more frequency. By the time I located Saunders at one last B&N in the city, it was the 6th of Jan. Came on here, started freaking out about all the prep people were doing, and second-guessing whether I was ready to take the exam. Tried to read the book, ADD got the best of me and found myself "spacing out" and wondering what I read over the last 3 page turns. Started doing the practice quizzes from Saunders, found that was a much better way for me to stay focused. Dealt with kids, work, and life, realized I was down to 5 days to study, posted on my fb that I should probably re-schedule my test because everyone on Allnurses.com had 50 study guides and were failing! Got numerous responses from my friends and family who are RN's (and I have a lot), saying, "Are you crazy? You're going to pass! Don't re-schedule, go in there and get it done!!" Told everyone to go away and leave me alone for the last 4 days (including my poor kids, fortunately they were able to go to their dad's house while I studied). Studied from 8 a.m until midnight, with cleaning breaks, and I'm not going to lie......spaced out some. Made sure I had my lab values down. Liked Saunder's quiz CD in that I could narrow it down to studying meds only (I think meds are my weak spot). Not going to lie, I did study the day before the test. BUT, I also took some very good advice, and that was to rest up. I ate the lucky/traditional bowl of red beans and rice my Vietnamese nursing school friend insisted I eat the day before (I think it's all the protein that makes a difference). I fell asleep at 4 p.m. the night before, I did wake back up at 8 p.m., studied for 2 hours, and then went back to bed to be up at 4 a.m. to make it to my test at 8 a.m. (huge snow storm here, literally took 2 hours to make a drive that would normally take 1/2 hour). Went in with a clear head, and reminded myself repeatedly to NOT panic, and not get flustered, and to ONLY focus on the question at hand. Computer shut off after 75 questions, and I found out this morning that I officially passed That was a long answer, but if you got all A's and B's in school, and if your school has a >85% pass rate for first-time takers, my advice to you would be to go get it done, especially if you took High Acuity last semester.....you will never be more prepared than now. GOOD LUCK!!!!

I noticed that my ESL buddies in nursing school had a more difficult time with the tests, i.e. the HESIs. I remember one coming out and frustratedly asking, "What is 'prudent'?" I don't THINK the hang-up is content, because these same ESL folks seemed to master the concepts of the systems in med-surg very well, they were all very intelligent, it seemed to me to be more a matter of grasping the core of what the question is asking. I am probably not the best person to answer this, I can only imagine what it's like from your perspective, but I felt like the questions in the Saunders study guide I used were fairly on par with the questions on the NCLEX. I personally would vote for it being a matter of interpretation of the question, and not a matter of you learning the info. I also know that a couple of my ESL friends took a lot longer on the tests (and did well on them), I only point that out to say that even though the test is timed for 6 hours, and you COULD end up with 265 questions, wouldn't it be better if you took a bit longer on the questions and answered them well, and the exam ended at 75-100 questions, than to feel rushed because you MIGHT have 265 (and therefore feel like you better take no longer than one minute per question)......in other words, take your time on the questions, don't let yourself feel rushed. Just some thoughts, best of luck in your study efforts.

Well done!!!! I really think a lot of it is going in with a clear head, and KEEPING a clear head. I kind of freaked out when the first 10-15 questions on my exam were stuff I seemed to know nothing about (and I do wonder if some of those were the "pilot" questions or whatever.....at least one of them was really poorly worded). I started panicking a little, but I stopped myself, and reminded myself to focus on the question at hand.....one at a time.....let the answered ones be gone. I think it is REALLY easy to second-guess yourself on this test, especially where we've been told stuff like, "They get harder until you answer one wrong, then you get knocked down to an easy one." so when you get an easy one you think you must have answered "wrong" on the question before, so then you start second-guessing yourself into answering differently on future questions, wondering if you have the hang of the test. (Don't do that.......take each question at face value). Anyway.......the above^^^^^ obviously was more for people who are getting ready to take the test. Keep your cool people, you made it through nursing school, don't let the test screw you up. But huge congrats to you, navynursejoy, that is great news, and well-deserved. Now take a little break and pamper yourself!

I disagree with that, that is not always the case. I have left one employer off my resume, and you will never convince me I should put it back on. No employer has ever questioned whether I have had that job, most employers (even big hospitals) do not have sophisticated enough systems to find out every last job we've ever had. MOST of us have at least one bad experience to speak of. While I'm not advocating lying, she needs to look out for herself. Any "job coach" out there would tell a person to leave it off. Just like when they ask you what your weaknesses are, you don't spill every last weakness you've ever had as a human, you try to tag ONE weakness and turn it into a strength. OP: I'm with the others-leave it off your resume. Try again, and take whatever you can from this experience and turn it into a learning opportunity. At the very least, sounds like you will probably be much more weary about dotting your i's and crossing your t's, whether it's in front of a proctor or alone.

I remember a couple of A&P related questions (I had a couple of alternative-format inquiring where X was located), and I had a TON of med questions on NCLEX-PN, I knew NONE of the meds, and guessed at all of them (and passed). NCLEX-RN seemed easier overall, isn't that weird? Or, I guess there's always the possibility I've actually learned a lot more (which is probably closer to the truth.....wait until you get to High Acuity/Critical Nursing/Med-Surg III, OMG.....). I had less prioritizing (although there were a few), and more SATA's on the NLCEX-PN (I believe I had at least 20 SATA's, computer shut off at 85). Anyway.....good luck, sounds like you will be well-prepared if you are beginning to study a month in advance.

baby-like I said, I have always felt meds is my weak spot as well (I am *fantastic* at rote memorization, which is what got me A's in my pharm classes.......retaining some of that 1.5 years after Pharm I.....not so much). The meds on my test were all known to me, and seemed relatively "easy", while I'm not guaranteeing that will be the case for you, I think your best bet might be really understanding those classes and the very common adverse side effects that pop up (like nephro/ototoxicity with the -mycins). Like I said, this was actually one spot where I felt like the meds on my NCLEX-PN test were more difficult than this one (BUT, keep in mind I did not study meds at all for PN, all I used was the NCLEX-3500 link, not a ton of meds on there). Also, one thing to keep in mind with the meds: while I do think it is very important to test yourself on these, and retain what you can, part of your "meds" knowledge will be safe administration........(i.e. the area of the IV has become cool, IV is no longer administering, what do you do?) In other words, you can probably slide by if you get a med question (or even a couple) wrong, as long as you know how to safely administer, etc. I would definitely say to prepare yourself as well as you can, don't just ignore meds, but study up on it, and if it's your ONLY weak spot, you're probably going to be okay.

Thank you all :) bw2012-yes, TONS of priority questions.....who would you see first. Really I was surprised at the shear # of those.

Thanks jngo91, caur, and Thanks Dubs2012, and good luck next week, you can do this!!!!! Picture yourself telling friend, "I got the good pop up!!" OR: "Dubs2012, RN" (lol). Believe in yourself!!!

All right folks, I took my NCLEX-RN this morning, got the good pop-up (yay me), and just wanted to offer a couple of thoughts. First of all, the BEST advice I can give is to NOT do what I did last week, which is: come to this site, start stressing over Kaplan vs. Saunders vs. this, that, the other. Start reading about people's difficulties and taking them on as your own. Assume you have to have all 25+ study guides out there (heck, even 5 is probably too many), and start psyching yourself out of going in there and getting it done. I ALMOST re-scheduled my test after reading some of these threads. I was stressing HARDCORE, especially after reading about some of the people who have taken it more than once: the people who got straight A's, 1050 on the exit HESI, etc., etc. Let's face it: SOME of this is luck of the draw. If you're presented with numerous items that you're unfamiliar with, you *might* be in trouble. I was expecting tons of really difficult med questions, lots of difficult disease process questions, etc. The truth is, some of the most simple advice was the most helpful: know your ABC's, know Maslow's, do a lot of practice on who you would see first and why. Prepare to critical think, but when you're in there taking the test do not go into a full-blown panic attack if it seems like at least the first 15 questions are stuff you have no knowledge of (which is how I felt today). That sympathetic nervous system response (fight or flight mode) is NOT going to help you. Let it go, and focus on answering the new question in front of you. Most of the SATA's I had (and I had maybe 8), the answers seemed to me to be very obvious, very standard stuff we learned in school. To be quite honest, the SATA's on my NCLEX-PN last year seemed MUCH harder than the ones I took today. If you're curious, I'm willing to share what I did to study/practice (and I do think studying and practicing and getting yourself in the right mindset is important, it also refreshes some of those less-frequently-thought-of disease processes that might pop up). I picked up Saunders 5th edition at Barnes and Noble. I tried reading the book, but I had one week to study and after a while I felt like that was not where my time was best spent. I mostly used the CD, at first I did the instant feedback review, but then started doing the 100-question exam where you can review at the end to see where you went wrong in your thinking. This REALLY helped me be in the right frame of mind for NCLEX. I also liked that I could narrow the Saunders CD down to meds only (since I feel that is my weak spot), and those little bits other people have posted on here about classes of meds were very helpful too. The only other thing I did was the NCLEX-3500 (there is a link floating around on here, but I'll post it again at the bottom). I think some people feel it is outdated, but there is quite a bit on there that will never change, and it is the major thing I have used during nursing school to keep my memory active, and it was also the ONLY thing I used to study for NCLEX-PN I took in May 2012. I guess what I'm saying (and this is the same good advice I got from friends and family who are RN's already) is: have a little faith in yourself!!! You are intelligent, otherwise you never would have made it to nursing school in the first place. If your school has >85% pass rate, you have a pretty darn good shot at passing, you should be fairly well-prepared. Do NOT look at these forums and psych yourself out, I think when you get to the test you might be pleasantly surprised. Very best of luck to each of you, and I have appreciated the info here that has been helpful to me. http://nursing.slcc.edu/nclexrn3500/question.do;jsessionid=564B9D604DE8E737AA25E09A43A70E11

Excuse the ignorance, but what is "PDA"? Thank you!

The only thing I used (and please keep in mind that everyone's different, but this worked for me), was this link: Main Menu - NCLEX-RN 3500 - Institutional Version which was posted in another thread, however that also happens to be my school, but apparently the link is making it's way around I did the "review" mode with instant feedback......when I answer a question incorrectly it helps me to know why right then and there, I feel like I retain it. The only other thing I did was review chemistries, electrolytes, CBC, etc. norms and made sure I remembered (there are a few goofy videos on youtube with some ridiculous mnemonics (but hey, if it's memorable, that's all that matters), and reviewed abg's: ABG Interpretation Quiz The above site was VERY helpful for me in mastering abg's. I did not review meds, but should have. That was my weak point, I got quite a few med questions (maybe 8), and out of those 8 I knew 1 at best. Regardless of my med issues (which continues to be my weak point and I am taking nclex-rn on the 12th), I passed first try at 85 questions (although I left the test and texted my nursing school buddy and told her I failed, lolol, it felt like it at the time). So anyway......that's what worked for me. Good luck!!!