Question about Saunders

ManyRN2B · Sep 22, 2005

The book is for review only, the best part is their review questions with the CD. That is what most should concentrate on, not the book, unless they trained out of the country.
I have prepared hundreds of nurses for the exam, and have found thru the experience what works the best for the majority.

You hit it on the head! MAJORITY! What works for the majority is what you have found is Saunders. I'm usually not the majority. My learning style is very different. So I have to be picky with what style of things I use. I'm new to the whole NCLEX preparation and you are the expert so I think you would know best. But I don't think it is set in stone for everyone. Trust me when I say I read/flipped through many different NCLEX books. Not all of them I bought, just looked at. When studying for the exam I used 4 main books for questions. Now I can't tell you if they had right or wrong answers etc. I just went with what worked with my learning style.

I agree we shouldn't use the review book as a main source of studying for the exam but I wanted a good review book that had a style I liked. I guess it's hard to explain. I'm ADD and clutter doesn't work for me. I saw clutter in the way Saunders was set up. The book I choose was set up in a more organized fashion. JMHO. It wasn't just the information that I looked at it when choosing my review book it was also the appearance from page to page and how it was organized. When I studied in groups with ppl that had the Saunders book 9 times out of 10 my book had what we were looking for. Maybe it was in the Saunders but my book seemed to be more organized and easier to locate information.

But I think on this board you shouldn't really emphasize to ppl that Saunders is the only way to go. That is the way I feel with your responses sometimes. Maybe that's not your intention but it comes off that way. Those preparing should know there are other sources out there that may work better for them and that it's okay to use other sources if they think that is what they need. I just personally wouldn't feel comfortable using just one source for an exam like this.

Sorry I gave you an ear full.

Tiffany

suzanne4, RN · Sep 22, 2005

Each person is entitled to their own opinion. I got into this by preparing foreign nurses for the NCLEX exam, and most of them did not have English as their primary language. And nursing is taught very different overseas, as well as the responsibilities that the nurses have in other countries. After much trial and working with these students, we found that by using Saunders and that alone, they have all been able to get thru the exam the first time.............Price of American books overseas are also more expensive, and the salaries are much less, so many were able to get only one book. We have found that they do the best job of explaining rationales, and this is as important as doing the questions.

NCLEX exam expects you to have the knowledge already in the back of your head, it is not about learning new things, but learning a technique in how to answer the question in the way that they are looking for. The exam wants to make sure that you can initially practice as a safe nurse, it really has nothing to do with what information that you have already learned and memorized, but how you will use it.

Sorry, if you have taken my recommendations the wrong way, but every nurse that has approached me after they did not pass the NCLEX exam and has followed the tips and study guide that I have designed, has passed.

Sure, there are different study techniques and what works for one may nor work for others, but when they have tried others, and they have not worked, then you go to plan B.

And for the foreign nurses, passing the exam the first time is key for them to coming to the US, everything is based on that. The cost of taking the exam, as well as flying to another country to take the exam, or travels to another city for it, are quite costly. In some countries, it is more than three months salary..................

jalvino1 · Sep 22, 2005

Each person is entitled to their own opinion. I got into this by preparing foreign nurses for the NCLEX exam, and most of them did not have English as their primary language. And nursing is taught very different overseas, as well as the responsibilities that the nurses have in other countries.
And for the foreign nurses, passing the exam the first time is key for them to coming to the US, everything is based on that. The cost of taking the exam, as well as flying to another country to take the exam, or travels to another city for it, are quite costly. In some countries, it is more than three months salary..................

Hello suzanne4,

I just wanted to let you know I think it's a great thing you're doing helping foreign nurses pass the NCLEX. I'm a filipino and I came to America when I was 5 yrs old, so I don't have trouble with english. However, I remember being 5, and my mom studying for that exam. She failed 3 times before passing that exam. She told me later "it's not that I didn't know the material, it's that I thought broccoli was some type of meat." The NCLEX is challenging enough without having to translate every word in your head. So I just wanted to give you a thanks for helping out.

ABENA · Sep 22, 2005

HI I'M FROM GHANA. YOU ASKED THIS QUESTION AND YOU WANT ME TO USE SAUNDER FOR THE NCLEX EXAMS. IS SAUNDERS THE ONLY BOOK FOR ME

There is a CD-ROM that comes with the Saunder's book, that is all that you should need. Do you have the book for the RN exam? And which edition?
I suggest that you briefly go thru the book and review anything that looks unfamiliar to you to begin with.
Which country are you from? As training differs between countries.

ManyRN2B · Sep 22, 2005

Suzanne,

See like I said, You are the expert. :) You have been at this a lot longer than I have and therefore, have more experience and feedback. I have a "researcher" inside myself too.

I was wondering if the books in foreign countries were more expensive then here. Secondly, yes passing the first time means a lot to everyone.

Thanks for all the work you do here!!! I'm sure your plan works for those trying to pass after failing. Most often it's because they weren't organized or weren't sure how to approach studying for the exam because it's not like school exams.

Tiffany

ManyRN2B · Sep 22, 2005

HI I'M FROM GHANA. YOU ASKED THIS QUESTION AND YOU WANT ME TO USE SAUNDER FOR THE NCLEX EXAMS. IS SAUNDERS THE ONLY BOOK FOR ME

From talking to Suzanne, YES you should use Saunders. If she has a 100% pass rate for foreign nurses passing on the first try, I sure would be buying that book.

Tiffany

suzanne4, RN · Sep 22, 2005

Any books from the US are more expensive overseas, some countries have duties on the books, as well as shipping costs. Plus even if the book is the same price as here, most nursing salaries overseas are one month equal to one day here. And even less............

suzanne4, RN · Sep 22, 2005

My reason for loving Saunders is that their rationales are very easy to understand. They put everything in an easy to use format...........and they do not have any mistakes that I have found with their rationales.

Their book also does an excellent job of explaining something that a nurse is not familiar with or has never learned in school.

ManyRN2B · Sep 23, 2005

Any books from the US are more expensive overseas, some countries have duties on the books, as well as shipping costs. Plus even if the book is the same price as here, most nursing salaries overseas are one month equal to one day here. And even less............

Wow! I didn't realize their pay was that low. One month is equal to our one day? Wowser!! I guess the cost of living is cheaper. At least I would hope so.

Tiffany

suzanne4, RN · Sep 23, 2005

An average salary in the Philippines is $150 per month with the exchange rate, Thailand is about $450 per month. Cost of living is of course less, but there isn't much money left over for anything. Nurses are also not held in the same regard in most other countries as they are here.

That is why you see so many Filipino nurses wishing to come to the US, as well as physicians and attorneys there going back for nursing as well. To be able to work in another country is their goal.

Bambury · Sep 26, 2005

During nursing school, I never took notes in class nor opened most of the textbooks we were asked to buy (they are still in their original packagings). I listened to all the lectures carefully, did my homework, was good at clinical areas, and when exams came around, I studied from Saunder's Review. I got straight A's in school, and am in the national honors society. My point is, Saunder's REVIEW is an excellent source for those IN nursing school, or IN another country taking the boards to come to the U.S. But for those who have been trained in the U.S., and have graduated, the Saunder's Review can seem way too rudimentary, and blah. As others have said, it should be used as a reference. However, to study for the NCLEX, and more, to garner some needed confidence, the best is to practice (the operative word) with several different sources. I didn't think I would have liked the Lippincott book based on some bad reviews I read on amazon.com, i.e. their CD ROM has lots of mistakes, etc., but I was so intrigued by the negative reviews, that I decided to go to my local bookstore, and check the book out myself. I looked through a section for about an hour, and I was amazed at how much I had learned, AND how much I enjoyed the learning. So I bought a copy. I went through the old fashioned way of reading the entire book (not the CD ROM - though I'm a computer geek), and found maybe 15 mistakes in all of 3500 questions found in the book - forgivable mistakes, which I typed up to send to the publishers.

After graduating form the Lippincott Q&A, I decided to tackle the whole of Saunder's Q&A, and found the questions really easy. I began getting above 85%, and often times, 100%. I think part of the reason is b/c I knew my material, and when I didn't know the content, I would take some extra time to think through both the questions and the answers. I would then narrow down to 50-50, and then to 51-49 from a further analysis.

Saunders Q&A is wonderful in one area that is not covered as much in the Lippincott book - delegation! Also, the Saunders Q&A is sectioned off in the major NCLEX categories - Safe, effective care, Physiological integrity, etc.

My recommendation is that you go with both books, and study them thoroughly.

Don't just go with my comments only. You're going to have to go out and check these books out yourself and see what works for you.

Good luck all.

ManyRN2B · Sep 26, 2005

You might want to keep the Q&A book as well. That's extremely helpful also. It'd be good if you went through the Comprehensive Review book first, and then get through a regimented series of questions, as offered in the Q&A book.
Another thing that I found helpful was to not rely on one publisher alone, but buy others, like the Lippincott or Mosby Q&A books, to get more variety, as well as more practice. While they will cover the same topics, i.e. body systems, nursing process, etc, they do so with a different bent. The rationale portion of the Lippincott book was extremely good in really helping me understand the content, while the Saunder's answer's rationale was more focused on strategies, but didn't add as much value in knowledge content as did the Lippincott. Mind you, Lippincott, for all the joy I got from it, is pretty verbose in their rationale. You can get a headache, if you don't segment your day with lots of breaks. But gaining all that knowledge was ah-so-sweet. The Mosby's Q&A book wasn't as helpful in the rationale department, but if you just have extra time to spare, it will be helpful to study with it too. Again, while they delve into the same body systems as all other books, they will have a different bent. By that I mean, in speaking of pediatric related tumor, one book might give you more questions on Wilm's tumor, while another might focus more on say, leukemia or such.
The format of Saunder's Q&A, as well as Incredibly Easy series of Q&A (not their Review) are great, as you will find the answers in the column next to the questions.
I think Kaplan is a great coorifice that teaches you good test-taking strategies, but don't always lean on their tips. They do not work 100% of the time, but somehow they teach it to you as tough it was a commandment. Strategies are great when you just don't know the content, and thus you have to arrive at an answer by elimination. So you will need that too. But the best thing is a combination of both - know content, and test-strategy.
Lastly, the folks who write the NCLEX also have an online review of their own - http://www.learningext.com. But the site is AWFUL!!! I was embarrased for them, as I found a plethora of mispellings, grammatical errors, and at least one question that did not apply to the answer choices. This made me realize how human (thus flawed) these NCLEX developers are.

I agree totally with you! I really loved the lippincott book. The rationales were excellent and really strengthned my content knowledge. I would get frustrated with that book because it was tough, but after taking the NCLEX, I realized how much it really did prepare me.

Learning ext. I agree with. It was good to get a feel for how the NCLEX questions may be like.

Good luck!

Tiffany