SasRN

CONGRATS Cntw82BanRN I remembered you would be taking the exam and came back to see how it went......HORAY! I am so happy for you-what a great early Holiday present for you. Ha, funny you are getting the Coach purse......go get it, as you deserve it! My husband bought me a Cartier watch when I graduated nursing school. When I passed the NCLEX-RN (second time), he bought me the Cartier purse I've been wanting. After all we went through we deserve it....have fun shopping RN! :rotfl: SasRN

Hi Cntw82BanRN, Here is a link for the different assistive devices and the proper use of them. There is an old post in here from a guy who gave an easy way to remember them, if I can find it I will post it for you. SasRN http://connection.lww.com/Products/timby-fundamentals8e/documents/Ch26.pdf

Oh, did you get any herbal questions..how was it like? You also mentioned that you have purchased the ncsbn learning ext. How did you use it? Were the questions more similar to the "real" thing? I am so nervous, my exam is fast approaching (Nov. 26th). Do you think if I purchase the ncsbn, it will still benefit me since I only have less than 3 weeks to prepare? Did you do their review or you just went straight to the practice questions? thanks again... Hi to you too! No, I didn't get any herbal questions, though I did study them and even wrote them down. Personally, I really liked the ncsbn 3 week program. I signed up for it exactly 3 weeks before my exam date. I reviewed my weak areas (ortho, oncology alittle). I liked how they broke everything down and their safety area was awesome to me. I did the pretest and scored 70. Then skipped most reviews and did the practice questions...just to see how I did. if I did poorly I would read over the material for that particular section only. I liked the bottom review questions. They were random and really challenged me. I read a post by someone who said it could give an edge to those who have failed the NCLEX-RN----and so I went for it. I was just determined to pass. Because I know how your feeling, and the stress is hard. I will answer any questions you may have...just let me know.:)

I also did ncsbn and Saunders before my exam couple weeks ago...no math, one alternative, most priority. Stopped at 75 and passed. Just think positive, it will happen. SasRN

CONGRATULATIONS !!! Starting on my 2nd semester of classes in Nursing school, I have been using the book(s) and cd(s). I am now going to graduate in May. In our school we had to buy Saunders Nclex-Rn with our Med-Surg class. I am glad to know that our instructors are thinking! Thanks for the advance and I'll continue to use Saunders. Was there any question of Herbals and interactions? Hi Christian_SN, Thanks! I did study herbs for the exam, as others noted they had a question or more on their own exam, (I even wrote them all down before the exam on the board they give), but I did not have any on mine. Just 1 check all apply question and that was it. SasRn

Thanks Suzanne.....I had followed all your posts. Your statements that all have passed under you, made me go in that direction. I am sure there are others out there, like me, who were not members of this forum that you helped motivate......a BIG THANKS TO YOU!:) :)

Hi Cntw82BanRN, Thank you for your reply and questions...hope I answer them all. I think we all use Saunders in different ways, some doing 100 questions, test mode, study mode, etc. For me, I was determined to pass the 2nd time around. I began using Saunders in the test mode, then stopped. Instead for the next 8 weeks I only used study mode period. Then I was able to get instant answers and rationales. Suzanne and others recommend doing 100 questions daily....for me, I was able to do more and when I felt I could not retain any more information I stopped for the day. I am not sure if anyone has ever touched on this, but I learned so much from the others in this forum. For instance, my strong areas have always been renal, cardiac and endocrine. My weak areas are ortho, anything having to do with ortho. Well I found one entry from a man on here who passed his NCLEX-RN who was giving advice to another on how to remember how to use the cane, walker and crutches...(using stairs he learned in school the phrase---"Up with the good, down with the bad"). I couldn't believe it, but I was given 3 ortho questions on the exam, and all the answers I remembered from his post! There is a great wealth of information in the past posts in this forum. I especially paid attention to those people who failed it the first time and what they did differently the next when they did pass. As for the priority questions-----I also did Kaplan cover to cover. I did it once, and always went back to saunders. I made a mistake on a previous post, I said I did Hurst online review...when it was actually ncsbn.com (I paid for 3 weeks, very cheap). Now besides reading past posts for information on priority questions, I also used this website...http://caring4you.net/tests.html . Honestly this forum and the website were all I used. I also took my time answering the first few questions on the exam, and then most after were all priority and education. Please let me know if I can be of help.... SasRN

Hi kjbridges, I know exactly how you feel. I didn't mention in my other post about my own test anxiety. But I had it the first time. Alot of mine was because I knew I wasn't prepared and many questions seemed to be of diseases or meds I hadn't studied or just couldn't remember. This time around, I prepared myself for the content of the exam. Knowing there will always be some area I wouldn't be familiar with. But through my study guides, I learned how to narrow down the answers and take my best educated guess. This time, before the test actually began, I wrote down all my lab values, acid-bases, medications therapeutic levels, herbs, etc...any and everything I could think of. Just in case I got so nervous, I forgot them during the exam. When the first question came on, my heart pounded so loud. After 3 deep breaths, I read the question and looked at the 4 choices and threw out 2 immediately and picked the right one from the last two. I could feel the anxiety leaving me and plowed right through the questions. I paced myself, as the first time I was done in an hour with 141 questions. This time it took me 1 hour and 50 minutes and it stopped at 75...and I read each answer thoroughly before I chose one. Once I threw one out, I never looked back at it (has always been my problem). I know you can do this...like you said, your smart. I will be praying for you. SasRN

Hope my story helps... I graduated from nursing school, with top grades, especially in clinicals. I decided after a break to take the exam. Because of my previous experience in school and clinicals I was overly confident about the difficulty of the exam. I barely looked over old notes and went to take the test. Imagine my surprise when the first question stopped me in my tracks. It was in that moment I knew I had made a big mistake, as I am sure you all knew. It stopped at 141 questions, which I guessed on just to get out of there. I knew I failed and wasn't surprised to find out 2 days later. Then I found this site.....and began reading it. Reading from Suzanne about her success with students using Saunders. I began doing Saunders Comprehensive review...the entire CD, reviewing both correct and incorrect rationales. I finished with Hursts online program and read over Kaplans test taking strategies before the exam. Overall, I did over 4,000 questions. When I was done, I was so comfortable with the format that I knew I was ready to take the NCLEX-Rn for the 2nd time. When I sat down for it, I took a deep breath and told myself I could do it. When my first question popped up...I immediately knew the answer. It was that way for the entire exam..one new format question, no math, mainly priority and it was over in 75 questions. This time when I walked out, I told my husband I felt I passed. I found out I passed 48 hours later. This board was instrumental in helping me change the was I studied. While I may have used various study guides, it was Saunders that was my foundation. With it, I passed and did not have to spend hundres of dollars on classes. I hope that this helps someone----just because one comes from a great nursing school, or graduated at the top of the class---doesn't guarantee them a "pass" on the NCLEX. It was all about how to apply what I already knew. Thank goodness for sites like this one to help those of us to pass the next time around! SasRN