Published
Greetings!
I read TINKs post and just had to reply!
I am a May09 grad of a ADN program that was an utter hump buster. Straight A students were told at the onset that they should expect to be happy with Bs and Cs, some instructors who would scare the Devil away and a relentless pace that hammered the weak into a wet, mushy pulp.
Thankfully we applied stress management techniques (primarily a sense of teamwork and copious amounts of alcohol) and most of us graduated.
I purchased a set of 3000 NCLEX questions on cards (question on front, answer on back) on eBay and worked through them and did the Saunders CD.
Took the NCLEX on Friday July 17th. Walked out unsure of the outcome but KNOWING that all that studying was pointless. The questions were either things I knew from school or not. Plain and simple.
Don't stress. Review a few basic techniques including looking for two answers that say the same thing (those ARENT the correct reply), watching for wording (if Rx if for so and so dose per DAY what is the dose each time if its q8 and double checking doseage questions).
Other than that - I would say that if you were in a tough program you wont need to study much.
And trust me - I was NOT one of the kids who got great grades and found tests to come easy (never have).
The NCLEX is simply not worth freaking out over. If you are losing sleep, vomitting, quivering, pulsating, shaking, stuttering, weeping, in the fetal position or seeking mental health care because of it - you are taking it WAY too seriously!!!
Save the uber-seriousness for patient care and don't waste it on the exam.
And yes, I did pass. Found out at 0900 yesterday (Monday).
-L-Clubber
Thank you so much. I'm glad you passed...CONGRATS!!!
I'm not freaking out and I never have been one to freak out over exams. I was using a book that had REALLY difficult questions in it and I was getting 60-65% on every 100 questions I would do. So of course, I started to think, *** I don't know anything, I'm going to fail! Oh no! I only have a few weeks till I take this thing...what am I going to do? I think another reason I wasn't doing well is because my grandmother just passed 2 weeks ago and I'm still having little moments of crying every once in a while, but thats beside the point.
And of course I wanted to move my date, but then I thought "No, don't because its best to just get it over with and the longer you wait the more you will stress".
I agree that its not worth getting anxious over at all because I believe the NCLEX to be a GIANT psychological mind game of how well you can keep your cool and read every word of ever question and answer. Its not testing how much you know, but its testing whether or not you can be safe, a good critical thinker, etc. Its all a mind game and I'm going to play it and just relax. Because when you relax, you think SO much better.
Tink7586
16 Posts
Hi,
I will be graduating from Nursing School in June and hopefully be taking my NCLEX in August. Does anyone have any recommendations as to how I should begin to study/review?
Thanks,
Tink