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The journey to becoming a Registered Nurse culminates with passing the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN). In 2026, with the evolution of the Next-Gen NCLEX (NGN) format, strategic preparation is more critical than ever. For countless nursing students, UWorld stands out as a premier test preparation tool, renowned for its challenging questions, detailed rationales, and realistic exam simulation. This comprehensive guide, informed by current nursing education standards and the latest data, will help you determine if UWorld NCLEX-RN is the right investment for your NCLEX-RN success in 2026, paving your way to a thriving nursing career. UWorld NCLEX-RN 2026 SnapshotProduct: UWorld NCLEX-RN QBank Target Audience: NCLEX-RN First-Time & Repeat Test-Takers for 2026 Key Feature: Over 2,700 high-quality practice questions, including extensive Next-Gen NCLEX (NGN) items, developed by nurse educators. Core Strengths: Exceptional rationales, realistic exam interface, powerful performance tracking, and strong correlation with passing the NCLEX. Mobile app offers flexibility. Considerations: Higher price point compared to some alternatives, no live tutoring sessions. *Overall Value (2026): Excellent investment for comprehensive, self-directed preparation. The cost of UWorld is typically recouped within the first few shifts as a registered nurse, given the average entry-level RN salary, making it a sound career investment. -
Hey guys, Has anyone heard / know how accurate Uworld's new self-assessment exam is? They recently added (01/01/2017) the new self-assessment portion. I had a friend score a 98% on it and passed her NCLEX in 75 questions. She was the only person I know of that took the self-assessment test. Was wondering if any knows about others that have taken it and scored high/low and passed the NCLEX as well. I took my assessment and scored a 92% so I am a bit worried about my chances of passing the NCLEX now... Thanks in advance!
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Guys, I can't believe it, I passed NCLEX-RN on my second attempt. ? Here's what I did on my NCLEX journey: 1st Attempt:SaundersDid 1550 questions 3 times and took lots of notes. Kaplan QbankFinished all the questions, scored 65% average, typed out hundreds of pages of notes and memorized notes 10 times over. Kaplan QTrainers 4 to 6Took it few days before exam with average score 61% I studied assiduously. I dedicated my days, afternoon, nights to NCLEX. I was thrilled to reach the desired "passing" score Kaplan recommends. Exam Day: December 8, 2015On the exam day, however, my NCLEX exam felt nothing like Kaplan. 15 questions into the NCLEX, my heart was pounding as I was guessing my way with each question. What a nightmare! It was as if I can almost hear Beethoven's 5th Symphony playing in the background. The exam churned out 265 questions, in which time I was no longer critically thinking from the panic and anxiety. I took breaks during the exam, but the breaks did nothing to relieve the stress. I felt like vomiting after finishing exam. A week later, I get my CPR results: 1 above passing, 1 below passing, the rest near passing. Failed! ? 2nd Attempt:Clearly, Kaplan did not work for me. So I decided to change my game plan. This time around I used LaCharity PDA and got a 3 month and 1 week subscription to UWorld. LaCharity PDA:This book is very helpful and a needed study supplement. I am foreign educated, so I had no clue about delegation LPN, UAP etc. I did this book 2 times, typed notes up to Chapter 9. I did not bother with the case studies in the back. UWorld:I only finished 1475 questions out of the 1840 questions with an overall average of 64%. My initial average was 56% and climbed very slowly to 64%. I was plugging in 10-12 hours a day studying for 3 and a 1/2 months. I would do a 75-questioned exam and then type out 100-paged notes (using font size 20 times new roman). I only did 75 questions every 5-6 days, but spent the majority of the time typing notes and memorizing the notes. For this, I did lots of active learning. I would close my typed notes and recite them out loud from memory. My Dad would check if my memory work was correct. I would memorize each 100-paged notes 5 times until perfect. As I do not have photographic memory - doing this helped me enormously. I retained information better and had faster recall. I had about 1300 pages of memorized notes. I went over all of them one last time 3 days before the exam. Reading the Qbank is only passive learning, I feel. Give the voluminous information, it is impossible to retain information just by mere reading. Also, cranking out 200 questions a day on the Qbank is not ideal. I believe in quality over quantity. I didn't even get to finish the Qbank. Exam Day: March 30, 2016My exam had 75 questions. 43 of my questions were SATA, 3 exhibits, 5 priority questions, the rest multiple choice, no math, 2 pharma questions. I thought the NCLEX exam was ridiculously easy. For over 3 months of grinding away at UWorld, the real NCLEX looked like child's play. There was not one question on the NCLEX that wasn't discussed in UWorld. UWorld discussed all topics to death and in such intricate detail. Even the UWorld SATA's were infinitely harder than the NCLEX SATA. By my 75th question, I was 100% sure the exam would shut down. Just got my exam quick results: PASSED Okay, for those of you taking it a second time or more. I hope this helps. Do not give up and be willing to put in the long hours of study. Your NCLEX success is possible. ?
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I am scheduled to take the NCLEX-RN on June 28th, 2016. I'm freaking out and wanting your opinion. I completed the Kaplan live review & 60% of the qbank with an average score of 71. I completed the Hurst live review and completed the specialty topics in the book on my own. I have reviewed the entire Hurst book once more, and wrote down the things I felt I needed to be stronger with. Now, I have purchased UWorld and taking about 100 questions a day/5 days a week. I am scoring mostly mid-60s, my low being a 55 and my high being a 68. UWorld says I'm in the 85th percentile compared to the average. I am not sure if I should feel confident with this or if UWorld simply is leading me to be more confident than I should be... and I am not as prepared as I need to be. What do y'all think about UWorld?Should I continue my study plan with it or integrate Kaplan/Hurst back into the plan? Watch UWorld NCLEX-RN Qbank Impressions video... Related Topics Has anyone passed Nclex specifically using Uworld?Passed with 75 questions using UWorldUWorld vs. KaplanPassed with 75 questions thanks to UWORLD & HURST
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Hi all! I am just looking for some guidance on studying for my NCLEX- RN. In the past, I used Kaplan to study for my NCLEX-PN and passed first time in the lowest amount of questions, but this was five years ago. I am now going to be graduating from an RN program and it seems that people are all about UWorld. I guess my question is: What did you use and what did you find the most helpful? Is there anyone who only used UWorld? Is there anyone who just took it and didn't study? I also have a Saunders book that I just got but it's a billion pages and I'm kind of just having a hard time deciding where to start. Help meeeee! Thanks ?
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Hi everyone, I’m an absolute ball of anxiety. I took my NCLEX-RN yesterday morning (02/08/2020) with the new COVID19 adjustments. I started at 8a and finished around 10:25a. I had all 130 questions. I received the confirmation email at 10:58a and I IMMEDIATELY (11a) tried the trick. I got the “bad pop-up” and I was able to register to take another NCLEX. I am beside myself, mentally physically and emotionally. I still haven’t received my quick results. I have done about a total of 950 UWorld questions, the first assessment I scored 41% with the average score being 56% the test said “low” chance of passing the NCLEX. I took that about 3 weeks prior to receiving my PTT. After receiving my PTT I scheduled for 5 days later. (Otherwise I would have to leave NY or wait until Sept 30th). I studied hard those few days and took the Kaplan Readiness test the two days before and scored 52% (which I believe was a 60-70% chance of passing the NCLEX). They could come anytime in the next 24hours. I am a mess, according to all the forums regarding the trick it is very accurate. However, I’ve also read that going all the way to 130 questions during these covid adjustments... theres could be a gray area? I know there is no true way for you to tell me but any info would help get me through the next day... day in a half. What do you think!?
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I took the NCLEX RN the first time on February 14th. I honestly didn't feel prepared and I got the whole entire test and failed. The first time I studied using the NCSBN review which was a big mistake. Since I failed I wanted to try a different review program. I purchased Uworld with 1 self assessment. I did about 100-150 questions each day. These questions were really hard but I studied all the rationals. Two days before I took my exam I did the self assessment. I felt like I was getting on the questions wrong but I ended up getting a 73% which meant I had a very high chance of passing NCLEX. Took the exam and computer shut off at 69. I felt much more relaxed and prepared after using World. I tried the Pearson due trick and it really doesn't work
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Preparation for First Attempt of NCLEX My school used Kaplan and let me tell you, I SUCKED at Kaplan. I hated it. I thought their questions were so stupid and it just never made sense to me LOL. I didn't even bother to practice Kaplan questions because I wanted to find another resource that would be more beneficial for me... I heard so many great things about UWorld. Most of my classmates only studied for a few weeks with just using UWorld and easily passed the NCLEX with 75 questions. I thought to myself, "Wow, the NCLEX shouldn't be THAT bad then." -- WRONG. I was totally wrong. I should have never had this mentality as I began to study for the NCLEX. I studied for about 1 month, did about 50 questions/day (10-20 questions at a time - untimed which btw wasn't good because I wasn't building up my stamina of taking multiple test questions on time-mode), didn't really take notes and didn't truly try to understand why I got certain questions wrong or right. My scores ranged from 43-55% (definitely low scores) on UWorld but for some reason.... I still assumed I was gonna pass the NCLEX since all of my other classmates were easily passing. Clearly, I was overly-confident for someone who didn't really study. HUGE MISTAKE. First Attempt of NCLEX As I walked into the test center, I began to get nervous. When the first question popped up, BOOM. I completely blanked out! My anxiety was OVER THE ROOF... Looking back, I had many easy questions but I couldn't seem to figure it out because so many things were running through my mind that I couldn't think straight. 75 questions passed and its been about 3.5 hours. 80, 90, 100, 168.... I RAN OUT OF TIME. It took me 6 freaking hours to answer 168 questions. I immediately knew I failed. Before I even stepped out of the test center, I broke down into tears, went to my car and began calling my family. I was sobbing. I was hysterical. I was angry. I felt defeated. I was filled with disappointment. I didn't want to go through this again. Preparation for Second Attempt of NCLEX For 2 whole weeks, I decided to give myself a break. I reflected on myself and went over what I did wrong so that I can take better action to prepare for NCLEX the 2nd time. LOTS OF PRAYERS AND THE SUPPORT OF MY LOVED ONES IS WHAT HELPED ME PERSEVERE THROUGH THE 2ND ROUND OF STUDYING. I not only prayed to God, but I also prayed to Mama Mary, my guardian angel and many Saints such as St. Joseph of Cupterino; I asked them to intercede for me so that I may overcome the fears and anxiety of retaking the boards. I prayed throughout the first round of studying as well, but I had just assumed "God's got my back" LOL even though I didn't put 110% into studying. Totally no one else to blame, but myself. THIS TIME, I made damn sure that I gave my 1000000000% into studying — because you gotta meet God halfway... DO YOUR PART, AND HE WILL TAKE CARE OF THE REST. For 6-8 weeks, I treated studying like a full-time job. This was my schedule for about 6-8 hours/day Mon-Fri: Gym in the morning 75 questions (timed-mode) Remediate on both wrong AND right answers Listen/take notes to at least one of Mark Klimek's lectures Do additional questions from LaCharity Don't forget to take breaks here & there On the weekends, I would look over ALL of my notes so that it will engrain in my brain and I won't forget it. In total, I did about 2,000+ questions. You can scroll all the way down to view my scores. RESOURCES Kaplan: This time, I used Kaplan and it helped so much! I used to despise their questions but tbh — their questions were much more similar to NCLEX. UWorld: I used UWorld for a bit as well, and my scores were so much higher this time. LaCharity Prioritization, Delegation and Management: THIS BOOK SERIOUSLY HELPED SO MUCH WITH PRIORITY QUESTIONS. Mark Klimek: YOOOO. I swear to you, if it weren't for Mark Klimek I would have failed my NCLEX! He teaches you all the basics you need to know to be successful in tackling the NCLEX. All of his lectures are avail on Spotify! Every day that I went to the gym, I would listen to Mark Klimek instead of music — even if I already heard the lecture, I would still replay his lectures over and over again. Notebook: Make sure you write EVERYTHING down and split your notebook into sections e.g., RENAL | CARDIOVASCULAR | GI | etc. The more questions you do, the more you will get a feel of how to answer certain questions correctly. NCLEX is VERY STRAIGHT-FORWARD. Many questions were one-sentence questions (similar to Kaplan). Make sure you know your basics and lab values! Once you get this down, you will ace the boards. Second Attempt of NCLEX I woke up at 5am, worked out, ate breakfast, prepared food for the boards assuming I'd stay there for 6 hours, visited the chapel and took my exam at 8am. I WAS CONFIDENT and I knew God was by my side guiding me as I took the exam. I was one of the last few people to get checked-in, but I was the first one to finish! It took me one hour and 15 min. (I built up my test-taking stamina by doing 75+ questions/day on timed-mode.) The computer shut off on me at 75 questions and I KNEW I PASSED. Instead of waiting and paying for quick results, I logged into Breeze exactly at midnight the day after I took my boards and my license id # was posted! I WAS SOOO HAPPY! I could not sleep (I ended up sleeping around 6am hahaha). All that hard work and prayers paid off... GLORY BE TO GOD! Thank you Mama Mary, my guardian angel and all of the Saints for your intercessions. This success is dedicated to my parents, family & loved ones. GOOD LUCK if you are taking/re-taking the NCLEX. If I can do it, YOU CAN DO IT! BSN, RN. Woo woo! ? Also... here are my scores 2nd time around from studying: Kaplan TEST SCORES 75's: - 47% - 60% - 41% - 53% - 52% - 52% - 49% - 55% - 60% - 53% - 48% NCLEX SAMPLE TESTS: - 58% - 48% - RETAKE: 90% - 87% *who do you see first* - 22% SATA - RETAKE: 52% Q-TRAINER TESTS: 1. 67% 2. 55% 3. 49% - RETAKE: 72% 4. 59% 5. 57% READINESS TEST: 63% YAY! ? *pat on back* (Kaplan recommends 60% or above) UWorld TEST SCORES 10's: - 60% - 90% - 70% - 80% - 50% - 70% - 50% 25's: - 76% - 60% - 60% - 56% - 48% 75's: - 80% - 52% - 57% - 50% - 49%
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I just finished Nursing School in July so I understand the confusion on how and what to study. Along with my anxiety-ridden journey here's what I found. I hope it helps someone! Let me start by explaining what works for me... I never learn by reading; med surg textbook with over complicated words and no way to establish priority? NOPE. Never helped me in school, not going to help me on the NCLEX. Old notes that I'm never going to look at again? Nope threw those out the day I finished Nursing school. Why? Because NCLEX isn't testing on patho. It wants application. It wants you to take simple concepts and be flexible with them. I learn best by hearing, seeing, doing, and WRITING. Concepts to me need to be broken down and simplified so that they stick. Example: magnesium and calcium are sedatives so their signs and symptoms will sedate you if you have too much of them. So far I've used UWorld, Kaplan, and Hurst. I did not pay for UWorld, my friend let me use hers. Kaplan was paid for with my tuition to school. And Hurst was my choice. Here's what I found on these websites... UWorld Great concept based questions with amazing rationales. But that's it, questions. Unorganized content review. The questions are harder than the NCLEX from what I have been told. My friend also used UWorld and failed NCLEX. Kaplan They offer a course that teaches you how to critically think through questions. Which I liked and found helpful in getting questions right on their website. It also allowed me to better understand the "Who do you see first questions". (The person with something going on RIGHT now. Not the potential for injury person). But the decision tree is not the end all be all. You have to have content to back it up. At times the decision tree will get you out of a bind and guess and other times it just doesn't. They have tons of questions in the Qbank (1800). And trainer tests that simulate NCLEX. The questions are more like the NCLEX than UWorld but they questions are still harder than NCLEX. The rationales are basic at best. Overall Kaplan is my choice for questions and practice because of its NCLEX like questions. They also offer videos for content review (300 of them) but they are at your own will to watch and are out of order so you can't build upon topics easily. A book also comes with their program which has tons of content including drugs. But the drugs don't differentiate between Side effects and Adverse effects. Remember side effects are bothersome. Adverse effects are never good. Hurst My savior at this point. I'm using the Hurst option that lets me move at my own pace. Hurst is content review and at the end, you get 4 practice tests. Hurst has videos that you watch in order and a (you print) study guide that you fill in as you watch the videos. At the end of the course, these study guides are your notes. There are options for closed captions that are accurate to what is being said. The content review videos are AMAZING. They break down confusing topics and giving the real explanation to WHY someone has these symptoms and why are we treating them without overcomplicating things. Hurst is allowing me to connect the dots between conditions and making feel like I will be a better Nurse. It's filling holes that I didn't fill in nursing school in a simplified way. Honestly, Hurst should have their own Nursing school. I have yet to do their practice tests but I'm over halfway done with the video content. They don't go over medications in detail in the videos but they bring them up and mention basic stuff about them enough for you to say hey I probably need to look more up about this medication but I'm glad it told me to check BP and HR before giving it and explained what it does. They have an Ebook that gives you the detailed information about the drugs they mention in the videos too. Also, the ebook includes content like infection control and giving blood which they don't go over in the videos. Hurst takes 5 days to watch the videos, but this doesn't include going over the ebook material and going back over your notes. They recommend you study the notes for 1-2 weeks and then coming back to do their tests. I also find myself crying laughing over some of the videos. The instructors are so funny! So which do you choose? If you feel like you don't know where to start and want the content review - choose Hurst. The Kaplan book that comes with the course is great with content but I can't sit around and read concepts and expect for them to stick. Especially when the book doesn't give rationales or priority or break down concepts to make the memorable. After content you need practice questions, it's a must. I pick Kaplan. Simply because of its a tried and true resource. And is similar to NCLEX questions. UWorld- Although I enjoyed the resource, I didn't feel it was necessary or as close to NCLEX as Kaplan. Books I'm using the Kaplan book for medications, you can also buy their companion drug book. Focus on medication stems and major drugs. Ex. lithium and digoxin, antithyroid medications, Synthroid, anti-infectives. I never got a great review of pharm either in school so it isn't my strong suit. Davis's Q&A also has 10k questions, it's sitting on my shelf and I haven't touched it yet. I plan to after I finish content videos. Prices Kaplan and Hurst are in the 300's. Hurst offers payment plans. Each site has a money back guarantee if you fail NCLEX, stipulations do apply. Read into these beforehand. Look for coupon codes online before purchasing. Sometimes you can find them on AllNurses. UWorld is 80 per month. When to study? I recommend 1 week after graduation/last day of class. Why? Are you really going to be focused on NCLEX when you are studying for your final exam? No, not really. Is the undue stress worth it? No. It's stressful enough. And you deserve a break after you finish Nursing School. It's an amazing accomplishment you deserve to celebrate it. Take time to reorganize life and do something you love. Then hop back into the "grind". You will feel refreshed and ready to take on the world. This is the confidence and energy I needed to face the NCLEX. How long to study? It's recommended you take 4-8 weeks to study for the NCLEX. Remember you want to pass the first time. So make it count and give yourself time. You never know when a family emergency will interrupt your studying, or when your internet will be out for an entire week because of your terrible internet service provider. Truly plan for these emergencies and give yourself time. TIPS: Do practice question sets 75 at a time and then go back and review all of them and read the rationale. This can be painstaking and boring, so if you aren't fond of doing this, you'll be glad you didn't schedule your test as soon as you graduated. Take notes of everything you didn't know or want to remember as you read the rationale. This will help it stick. Also about half of NCLEX is select all that apply questions. Also, check AllNurses for study guides others have made via the search bar! I hope this helps! Good luck on your NCLEX study journey!
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STEP 1 Familiarize Yourself With the ExamThe first thing you should do is become familiar with what the NCLEX-RN exam is, what is covered on it, how it's administered, etc. You can find this information on the website for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN). NCLEX & Other Exams | NCSBN On the NCSBN's website, you can find the "Candidate Bulletin", which covers an overview of the exam, registering and scheduling the exam, what to bring on your test day, test rules, how test day runs, the content covered on the NCLEX, and information on the structure of the exam, such as the adaptive testing and the passing standard. You can also find the Test Plan for the NCLEX-RN examination on the NCSBN's website. The Test Plan shows the general content areas covered on the NCLEX-RN exam, including the percentage of items that are covered in each content area. STEP 2 Start Preparing Your FIRST Semester of Nursing SchoolThe best thing you can do to prepare for the NCLEX-RN is to start early, as in, your first semester! In most nursing schools, your exams each semester will include NCLEX-style questions. In my program, many (including me ) complained about the number of select all that apply (SATA) questions on our exams. When I took the NCLEX, over 20 of the 75 questions I had were SATA! Good thing we had that preparation. When you're studying for your exams, you should be answering the questions at the end of each chapter you're studying. Nursing school textbooks generally also have companion websites with even more questions related to each chapter (note: to access these questions you may need a code, and this code generally is only available for new copies of the book, not used). All of these questions not only reinforce the content you learn from your lectures and readings but also help you get into the habit of answering NCLEX-style questions. In addition, look into review books that have NCLEX-style questions. Throughout nursing school, I used the "Success Q&A Review" series of books. I highly recommend these books, as each book has 1000+ questions just on that subject. There are books for Fundamentals, Pharmacology, Research, Pediatrics, Maternal/Newborn, Psychiatric/Mental Health, Medical-Surgical, and Leadership. Check them out here: https://www.fadavis.com/nursing/success-series You may also find the Pearson Reviews and Rationales series helpful as well. These books contain content review, as well as questions, for each subject. Check them out here: Nursing Reviews and Rationales Check your local library for these books, rent them from Amazon, split the cost with friends, either way, doing as many NCLEX questions as possible during school will not only help you do well on exams but minimize the amount of time you spend after graduation prepping. STEP 3 Standardized Preparation Programs During SchoolMany nursing schools also employ standardized test preparation programs throughout their curriculum. This can be ATI, Kaplan, HESI, etc. My program used HESI. Some schools will factor your scores on these exams into your course grades, some require you to obtain a certain minimum score on a comprehensive exam at the conclusion of your program to graduate, and others only use them as guides for you to focus your study. It is to your benefit to maximize your use of these programs. One major benefit to these programs is that they build your test-taking stamina. In my last semester, we took three comprehensive HESI exams, with 150 questions each. This helps you get used to sitting for an extended period of time, under testing conditions, answering NCLEX-style questions. STEP 4 Start FOCUSED Preparation As Soon as Possible After GraduationAfter I graduated nursing school, I took a full week off from everything. I was done with school, I was off from work, and I did absolutely nothing related to nursing. You should definitely take some time off after graduation as well. You completed a great accomplishment: you finished nursing school! Reward yourself with a vacation or a staycation. The next question is how long should you take off? Opinions vary on that. Personally, I think 2-3 weeks max is ideal. You should definitely treat yourself after graduating, and decompress. At the same time, you don't want to take too long to get back into study-mode, especially when, if your school used a standardized testing program, you probably just finished taking a comprehensive NCLEX-style exam, and are already in NCLEX mode. Therefore, after your break, it's time to get back into the books! STEP 5 Content Review BooksOne resource that you can use is a content review book. Lets fact it, there's no way you're going to reread all of those 1000+ page nursing school textbooks. There's no way you're going to go through thousands of PowerPoint slides. A content review book summarizes the most important information from all of your nursing classes, giving you the "high yield" information that can show up on the NCLEX. The most popular content review book seems to be "Saunders Comprehensive Review for the NCLEX-RN Examination". This book has very high reviews, and I recommend it. Now, although this book is a summary, it is still dense. You should focus your reading on areas that you know you aren't as strong in. For example, I knew that pediatric nursing wasn't my strong suit, especially congenital heart defects and GI anatomical disorders. I focused my content review in pediatrics. The Saunders review book is the one I recommend, and you can borrow it from the library, split the cost with friends, buy used, etc. Note that if you buy it new, you also get a code for online questions on the companion website, which help to reinforce content. Check out the Saunders book here : Saunders Comprehensive Review for the NCLEX You can also purchase through Amazon. STEP 6 Question Resources (Books, Apps, Programs)In addition to content, your primary focus on studying should be answering as many questions as possible. For many, content review with a book like Saunders can be skipped, especially if you did extremely well in nursing school. Question practice is a must for everyone. You should have practice answering all types of NCLEX-style questions (multiple choice, SATA, hot spot, ordered response, etc.). BooksThere are a number of books that contain NCLEX-style questions for you to practice. The most highly recommended I have heard are: Lippincott Q&A Review for NCLEX-RNPrioritization, Delegation, and Assignment by LaCharityLippincott NCLEX-RN Alternate Format QuestionsI personally used the Prioritization, Delegation, and Assignment book, and this book was consistently recommended here on allnurses, and I saw why. Many NCLEX questions ask you to prioritize. Whether it's which patient you will see first, which intervention you will carry out first, or which action requires you to intervene immediately, practicing these types of questions is essential to doing well on the NCLEX-RN. These questions are also on the more difficult side, therefore they give you quality practice for the NCLEX. AppsAs I'm sure you can imagine, there are many apps available for you to answer NCLEX-style questions on the go. If you're standing in a long line or sitting on the bus, instead of checking social media again, why not answer a few questions? The best-reviewed app, and the one I used is "NCLEX Mastery". This app has over 1300 questions, and it also has mnemonics and terminology to help you study. Highly recommended! nclexmastery ProgramsThere are also a number of computer programs that offer NCLEX-style questions. The most popular are UWorld and Kaplan, which offer question banks (Kaplan also offers courses). Both UWorld and Kaplan have 1600+ questions in their banks, with all the different types of questions you would see on the NCLEX. I tried both UWorld and Kaplan. I completed all of UWorld, and about 600 questions from Kaplan. Hands down, I recommend UWorld, and I have found consistently more positive reviews for UWorld than Kaplan. UWorld offers challenging questions with a large number of SATA questions. I believe this was critical in helping me pass the NCLEX-RN. As I mentioned earlier, over 20 of the 75 questions I had were SATA, and I often had 3-4 in a row. UWorld's user interface also mirrors the NCLEX, so when you're sitting for the exam, it won't be a shock. Finally, another major benefit of UWorld is the rationales. These are the best rationales you will find anywhere. They are detailed, given for the correct and incorrect options, often have color images, and are essentially a content review. Kaplan wasn't bad, but UWorld was better. The rationales given on Kaplan questions are not detailed, and sometimes it isn't clear why an option was wrong. If you only can get one, UWorld is the one you should choose, without question (they both cost the same). UWorld also has an app that you can use on your phone. NCLEX-RN Exam - Online Practice Questions & ReviewHow do you prefer to prep for the NCLEX-RN®? STEP 7 Review CoursesFinally, a number of companies offer review courses for the NCLEX. Kaplan and Hurst review courses are very popular, and I have especially heard Kaplan mentioned. Kaplan offers a live in person review, a live online review, and a self-paced online review course. Kaplan also offers a guarantee that you'll pass the NCLEX. I have heard good things about Kaplan's course and strategies, so if you have the money, perhaps that is another option for you to consider. A course offers you a set, structured schedule to study and prepare for the exam, which can be beneficial if you need guidance in your studies. My school offered us a virtual ATI online review course. This review course was ok, it offered a tutor who gave you recommendations on what to study based on your scores on assessment exams, as well as access to other questions banks, ATI review books, and powerpoints. I don't think I would recommend it if you have to pay for it. Kaplan Review CoursesHurst Review STEP 8 Focus on Question Strategies!Let's face it: there's absolutely no way you can know everything there is to know that may be tested on the NCLEX exam. But, you can still pass! When I was taking the NCLEX, there were many questions that I didn't explicitly know. However, using test strategies I learned, I was able to narrow down the options and make an educated guess. Kaplan advertises its decision-making tool that helps you answer questions. If you purchase their course, you will learn that strategy. The Saunders book has a chapter on test-taking strategies. There is also a Saunders Strategies for Test Success book that details their strategies and provides practice questions. ATI also has test-taking strategies, and I have attached the document found on their website (note: the exam plan they discuss is not the current one, however the strategies always remain the same). Either way, learn ways to answer questions you may not know, and use those during the NCLEX. For example, if a question asks you which intervention would you implement first, you may use the ABC (Airway, Breathing, Circulation) strategy and choose to open the airway first (by sitting the patient up, for example), then administer oxygen. You may also use Maslow's Hierarchy to answer questions (by focusing on physiological needs before love/belonging needs, for example). Learning question strategies is a must to be able to answer any NCLEX question thrown at you, even if you don't know exactly the disease process or the medication being asked about. STEP 9 So What Should I Use to Study? There's So Much Out There!From all of this, it seems like there's so much out there to help you prep for the NCLEX! Indeed, it can be overwhelming. The key is to only pick a few resources, and stick to them. You absolutely need a question resource, over 1000 questions. If you feel like your content foundation is lacking, even in one or two areas, then a content review book is helpful. If you feel like you need guidance from an instructor to help you prepare, a review course would be helpful. The key is to maximize your resources. For me here is what I used: Saunders Comprehensive Review BookI only used this for a few chapters. I would use it if I found I was consistently getting certain types of questions wrong. Virtual ATI Online ReviewI completed most of this before the NCLEX, but did not complete the Predictor Exam, though I completed all of the modules and assessments. UWorldI completed all 1900+ questions Prioritization, Delegation, and Assignment BookI completed all of the questions in the first half of the book (not the case studies) Kaplan QBankI only completed about 600 of these questions NCLEX MasteryI completed about 1000 of these questions, usually on my break at work or when I was out and had downtime. So, in general, most people would find success (again, if you maximize your study) A content review bookUWorld QBankPrioritization BookFor many, a review course such as Kaplan could also be added. Based on what I have seen posted on this website, the Saunders Book, UWorld, and the PDA LaCharity book all get consistently good reviews. STEP 10 When Should You Take the NCLEX?So you've applied to and paid the state board and Pearson Vue, you've received your ATT, and now you're looking at the dates available. When should you take it? The answer to that question is individual, however, you don't want to wait too long. For me, I finished my program on 8/4 (graduation 8/31), received my ATT on 9/16, and tested on 9/20. So, I was doing focused studying for over a month. If you are doing well on your practice questions and in your review course, then you should schedule your exam as soon as possible. The best thing to do is choose a date, and as long as it's over 24 hours from the test date/time, you can reschedule. I've found that once you choose a date, it becomes more "real", and your studying becomes more purposeful. STEP 11 Tips During the ExamRemember your test-taking strategies!Carefully read each question, and look for keywords/phrases (like "not", "further information", "first", "successful", "priority")Once you choose an answer, reread the question again, check your answer, then click next! Don't dwell on an answer, as you may choose a correct one to an incorrect answer. I know I have!Take your time! Give yourself a minute or two for each question.Take a break! Sometimes it's helpful to step away for a little to refocus your mind. You don't have to wait for the scheduled breaks. If you need a break, take one! STEP 12 After the ExamCongrats! You completed the NCLEX! This is a big accomplishment, and you should be proud of yourself. If your state participates in Quick Results, you can pay for your unofficial results 48 hours after your exam on the Pearson Vue website. My exam was at 8am, and two days later the results were available at 9am (of course I was checking every 2 minutes starting at 8, haha). During the time in between, do something fun to get your mind off of the exam. It can be nerve-wracking waiting what seems like an eternity, but taking your mind off of it helps. Yes, you can also try the Pearson Vue Trick (PVT) (I know you're wondering ). Basically, if you try to re-register for the NCLEX after you put in your credit card information and hit submit if you receive an error message saying that you have recently scheduled an exam, then you passed (maybe). If it accepts your credit card payment or says declined for insufficient funds (some try this with a gift card with $5, for example), then maybe you passed, maybe you didn't. The PVT isn't 100% right all the time, but many try it. I did as well. I tried it 20 minutes after the exam, 2 hours after, 6 hours after, and after 24 hours, all the so-called "good popup". I'm not recommending you do this, but I know that many do it, and at least for me, getting the "good popup" helped me convince myself that I passed while waiting the 48 hours for quick results. ConclusionThanks for reading! I hope this guide helps you in your NCLEX-RN prep. The key is to start early, use a limited number of study resources, do focused studying, learn test-taking strategies, and remain calm during the exam. Whether you're taking the NCLEX for the first time or taking it again, with preparation, you CAN pass the NCLEX.
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1st Attempt at the NCLEXI graduated from nursing school with a BSN in December '15. My school has a very high passing rate on the first attempt, so I had no doubt I would pass, after all, I was B+/A student in nursing school, how bad could NCLEX really be. I didn't take NCLEX seriously. I scheduled my exam for February, was getting 50s-60s on Kaplan Q bank, got 58% of Readiness test. I did 50 NCLEX questions per day, read the rationales for every wrong answer, and that's it, I figured that all of the knowledge I had from nursing school was good enough, plus it's impossible to re-read everything. When I took the exam, the computer shut off at 114 questions and I got a big FAIL 2 days later. The only thing I used was Kaplan Q bank. 2nd Attempt at the NCLEXOkay, this is not as easy as I thought. I underestimated the exam and it was my fault. I took me about a month before I started studying again due to family problems (BIG mistake to wait that long). I decided that I didn't use Kaplan right, so I wanted to give it a try one more time. This time I watched every single video in Kaplan, did every question trainer and took notes on anything that was new to me or felt was important, as I continued using the Q bank questions that were left. I reviewed every right and every wrong answer to make sure I understood why they were wrong. I also bought NCSBN, finished the course while taking notes, and did half of their questions (scored around 70-75% on them). In addition, I used Saunders Q&A review. I studied for about 4-5 hours a day every day except weekends for about 2 months before I felt like I was ready to try again. Went to take the test, got to 240 questions and ran out of time. I was devastated. I used Kaplan fully, Saunders Q&A review and NCSBN course. 3rd Attempt at the NCLEXI cried, I cried, I cried. After all, I really tried last time, and it didn't work. Watching my classmates getting jobs while I still couldn't pass the exam made me feel so dumb. It was getting closer to summer, all of my friends were making plans to go out, and all I thought about was NCLEX. I knew I had to finish this before I can finally relax. I downloaded the NCLEX Mastery app and bought Lippincott's Q&A. I also watched lots of Youtube videos on tips, downloaded a study guide for all nurses and other study aids and tricks that I found online, and I reviewed them every once in a while. I used NCLEX mastery everywhere I went. Even when I went to a birthday party, I couldn't allow myself to have fun so I was on my phone doing NCLEX questions from the app. I did around 200 NCLEX questions daily for around 2 months before I tried again. I went in August, got all 265 questions and a big FAIL 2 days later. I used NCLEX Mastery app, Lippincott's Q&A and notes/tips that I found online 4th Attempt at the NCLEXAt this point, NCLEX became my life. I cut everyone off from my life. My friends, my family. I saw no future ahead of me, the only thing I saw was NCLEX. Everyday. Every night. I even had dreams where I was studying, then I woke up and went to the library to study, fell asleep at night and got more dreams where I study (can I say I was studying 24/7? lol). I was falling into a depression because if I'm already doing everything that's in my power and can't pass....then how am I supposed to pass? What if I'm not meant to be an RN? What am I missing? Do I really have to re-read every single thing? But that's over 1000s pages, how am I supposed to memorize that? Even if I'll know every single symptom and intervention for every disease, that still doesn't guarantee that I'll pass, because the exam is all about prioritizing and critical thinking. I drove to the library and studied every single day (1 day off a week) from the time I wake up (10am-11am) until late evening (10pm-11pm). I purchased the UWorld. I did 75 questions in untimed tutor mode and took notes on every single question (yes on every single question, unless you know the topic in your sleep). I had around 7-8 pages of handwritten notes after finishing the 75 questions. I continued using the NCLEX Mastery app everywhere I went and before sleep. I also made drugs notecards, I wrote down every single med that I saw and didn't know. In the end, I had around 400-500 notecards that I reviewed DAILY until the day of my exam. I also created isolation precaution note cards that I reviewed daily. I created a huge binder so I could keep everything organized, put all of the online notes/tips and my handwritten notes there. I reviewed that binder DAILY before doing the 75 Uworld questions and every day I added more drug cards and handwritten notes to the binder to study. I kept doing that since the beginning of September until a week before my exam date on October 24th. When I had a week left, the only thing I changed was I started doing Uworld in timed non-tutor mode instead of the untimed tutor (still reviewed and took notes on every question). 1 day before the exam I didn't do any more questions, I just reviewed my notes and my note cards. The next day I had the exam at 8 am, I woke up at 5 am (I went to sleep early so I guess it worked! haha), ate healthy breakfast, drove to the testing center and reviewed my binder and notecards before going in. I said the prayer. My computer shut off at 140 questions, and I freaked out. I was sure I failed because near the end I wasn't getting any of those "bolded" or priority questions. 2 days later I found out I PASSED! It felt so surreal. I used Uworld, NCLEX Mastery app, LaCharity Prioritization, Delegation & Assessment book and notes/tips I found online. Here are some NCLEX study tips that I wish someone would have told me:Keep a consistent schedule what you're going to study and when (might not seem like it's important, but it is)Don't take too many "days off" between studying, or else you'll start to forget and will have to do everything all over again. You have to study every single day or at least every other day if you want to retain information. Studying for a week and taking 3-4 days break will not lead to anything good.While taking NCLEX, treat it just like any other practice test, it will ease your anxietyTreat all of your timed practice tests just like actual NCLEXBefore clicking 'next', tell yourself "okay, so if I won't help this person, they will die. The rest will not die and can wait". If it makes sense to you, click 'next'On SATA, not every option relates to your questions. The answer might seem good and look like it won't do any harm, but if it has nothing to do with what the question is asking, then it's the most likely wrong answerNote cards are probably the best way to memorize drugsEmbrace it, become a nurse on an emotional level (start thinking like a nurse even in everyday life)You can do it! ? Don't give up and don't stop believing!NCLEX resources that worked for me:UWorld!!!! It truly prepared me for SATA. The questions seemed harder than the actual exam.LaCharity. The questions seemed harder than the exam, and I feel like it really trained my critical thinking.NCLEX Mastery app. The questions are also tough + you can use this app everywhere you goLippincott's Q&A. It was alright, it also had alot of challenging questions, and it trained my critical thinking, but not as good as LaCharity.NCLEX resources that did not work for me:Kaplan. Fully finished the course and didn't work.NCSBN. I felt like their course wasn't detailed enough, and the questions didn't give good rationales.Saunders Q&A. I feel like the questions were too easy, I was getting 80s-90s on it and still failedFeel free to message me if anyone wants any of my notes or needs any help! ?
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STUDY METHODFirst and foremost, instead of studying random questions each day, I divided the topics and studied each of them for a certain amount of time. They are as follows: Adult Health: 3 weeksPediatrics: 1 weekMaternity: 1 weekPharmacology: 4 daysCritical Care: 3 daysLeadership: 3 daysMental Health: 3 daysReview Period: 6 daysTotal: 7 weeks, 5 daysI purchased the program uWorld to practice questions along the way and had two assessments available to use. My first assessment, prior to any studying, was a "Low Chance" of passing. My final assessment, 4 days prior to my exam, was a "Very High Chance" of passing (84th percentile). Prior to answering questions, I reviewed my notes to the best of my ability and would do 10 questions, then review and write the rationales, and continued that pattern until I reached about 50 to 70 questions each day. Regarding writing rationales: if it was a topic that I did not fully understand, despite if I got the question wrong or right, I would write the rationale anyway. I did study about 7 to 8 hours a day, with light study days here and there. However, you may not need this many hours depending on your study method. My study method includes re-writing notes and remembering each line (doesn't need to be word for word). Because of this, studying was often slow for me, but allowed me to understand concepts well enough. Towards the end, I took some time to review my notes and rationales for each topic. I re-did the max amount of questions available for each topic (75 max if there were more than 76 practice questions). 4 days prior to my exam, after reviewing, I did my final assessment, and for the next 3 days, I reread whichever topics I felt uncomfortable with. The day prior to the exam, I spent most of the day for self-care, and spent the night re-reading the challenging topics again. The morning of, I re-read the smaller topics (Critical Care, Leadership, and Mental Health). JUST PRIOR TO THE EXAMWear a bright colored shirt for the examEat a salty mealGet a good night restBoost your confidence! ?My professors said #1 and #2 helps stimulate your brain. MY EXPERIENCE WITH UWORLDBIGGEST TIP: view uWorld as a learning tool not too much as an assessment. The reason being is that uWorld average percentages are based on how its users perform on each question. However each question could be timed, un-timed, and you may never know if users are honest with how they're answering their questions (did they look up answers, etc.). Essentially, there may be too many factors to determine the accuracy of the percentages. Instead, I have focused on the percentages when I was reviewing the material. Because I have already reviewed the rationales provided, I aimed at receiving an 80% or higher for the topic. By achieving that score, I can determine that I understood the material well enough. I totally understand how overwhelming this may be, since I have had my days worrying about whether or not I will be able to do it. Take your time -- go at your own pace, and remember to take any breaks that you need. You can DEFINITELY do it, and all the hard work you put in will reward you in the end ? GO AND SLAYYYY THAT NCLEX! P.S. Attached is a calendar of the above. NCLEX Review Calendar.docx
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I’m so heartbroken, but I think I cried all my tears and I’m ready to pick myself up again. I took the NCLEX-RN last week and received my results and I failed. I used UWORLD. Had less than 200 questions left in the QBank and had a “very high chance of passing” with the Self-Assessment. Everyone I know highly recommended it, but now after failing when I was using it to study, I don’t know how to go about studying again. I don’t even know what to use anymore. Does anyone have any other suggestions please?
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Hello everyone, I took the nclex for the second time on Wednesday 07/24/2019 at 8am. For preparations this time around I used Uworld. I loved it esp. the rationales. Uworld gave me a high chance of passing the NCLEX (76%). I went into the exam room and this time around I was more confident and calm. I was given a private room I was soo happy. At 137 questions the computer shut off. I was giving two breaks and trust me I took them this time around. I then went to the restroom and I prayed both times and even throughout the test. Praying helped calm my nerves. This time around I did not do the PVT trick. I just waited for the 48hrs to get my quick results. Of course I couldn’t check for myself so I had my husband check while at work (1st time too). That’s how bad my nerves are...I was like, good news call and bad news text me. When I saw that sad face ? I almost died y’all. I was sooo hurt! But I didn’t cry ?. I just said to myself! “Girl you know you always have to go through that battle to get to where you want to be, so just Thank God even in the bad times and keep pressing on!” Even though the news wasn’t what I expected I still managed to pray. You only fail when you give up and that’s not me or else I wouldn’t have been where I am today! Anyways, the test started of pretty smooth. The test threw at me sooo many SATA ?; OB; I had about 3 dosage; 1 EKG; Delagation; Prioritization; Click and drag for certain techniques; I had a lot of Infection control questions; about 3/4 meds; Um some safety ; what should the nurse document; and the list goes on. Also, had about 6/7 diseases on there that I’d never seen before ?. I came out of the exam in mixed feelings. Not sure what to expect but at the same time remaining positive. Since it was my second time retesting it was just a different set of emotions to that off my first time. I am indeed a bad test taker! Ask me to explain something to you and I will but give me a question and I’ll be freaking the hell out! Daily i’ve done 2/3 sets of 75 questions on Uworld. Went to the library everyday. I created a binder and separated the pages based on systems. So when Remediating I’d write rationales for cardiac in the cardiac section in my binder rather than having all the systems all over the place. A more organized structure is sorta what I did. I’m visual so colored pens/ markers helps me remember also while writing. I didn’t get to remediate all the rationales for the questions I did daily on that very same day. But I finished them before starting a new set of questions. Coming closer to the test 2-3 days. I started doing just strictly questions and looking over what I really didn’t know. Now I am sort of lost because I don’t know what else to do. My friend told me about Remar. She’s going to send me the CD ? so that’s good I don’t have to spend extra money. And there’s a book for it which is about $16 at barnes and nobles. So I’d try those. I forgot to mention I did use Mark K a lil bit this time around but more on my first time. I also read through that 35 nclex packet about 3 times. So I really don’t know what it is I’m doing wrong. Id wait for my report. Anyone else on here passed On the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th time it don’t matter please send me some tips. I know what works for others may not work for me but it’s only one way to find out. To know about my first experience it’s on my profile. I apologize for this long message. Thank you
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I graduated with my BSN a year ago in May. I took the NCLEX the first time in June and found out i failed with 75 questions. I took the NCLEX again in september and found out i failed with 265 questions. I had to find a full time job as a CNA in order to be able to pay for my student loans. One thing led to another and here i still am, still haven't taken it. I have been so mad at myself because everyone i graduated with passed their nclex either the first or second time and I really feel like a failure. I used HURST and UWORLD the first time. Then just UWORLD the second. Do any of you have any advice? I really feel defeated and have had to go to counseling because i have a really bad fear of taking this test and failing again. I feel really alone in this and like im never going to pass.
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I’m scheduled to take the NCLEX this coming Monday. I’ve been using UWorld to study and teetering between the 58th and 63rd percentiles with 400 questions left in the Qbank. I did the first RN assessment and got a borderline chance of passing and just recently did the second RN assessment and finished in the 52nd percentile with a high chance of passing. I’m freaking out and considering changing my test date. Does anybody have similar UWorld experience and passed the NCLEX? Or would it be wise to push my test date back? Help!
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Hi Friends, I graduated Nursing school and I am extremely strapped for cash. I'm a Nurse Extern but every time I pick up shifts I get called off due to low census including when I try to pick up on other floors. I feel as though there's a lot of pressure to buy all of these resources and I just cannot afford to do that between bills and paying the licensure fees at the moment. If I have a Saunders review book and YourBestGrade that I used to study for the Hesi, do you think I'll be okay? I know that many nurses suggest UWORLD and Klimek, but in all honesty, as much as I'd love to do them I just don't have the means. On the Exit Hesi, it took me two tries because my class needed a 900. The first time I got an 897 and the second a 908. Do you think I'll be okay? Also does anyone have any suggestions?
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Let me preface this by saying that I am not a stellar student. I got by with A's and B's and sometimes C's. When I first started taking HESI's, I was struggling. Obviously, I started getting anxiety about the exit hesi. SO I did some research and found 'yourbestgrade'. I did about 1600 practice questions and walked out with a 921. Same for NCLEX. I got a job that required me to pass first time so again, anxiety started building. So after doing more research, uworld seemed to be the consensus. I did 75q a day during my practicum and a month after. I also did the hurst review. I took my NCLEX a few days ago and CRUSHED it and knew I was crushing it during. Everything felt familiar and it seemed like the answers were just popping off the page and a lot of concepts were familiar from uworld and I knew my test would shut off at 75. and it did! I did all of the questions on uworld and after I ran out, I started redoing questions. I think doing questions kept content relevant and the questions were much easier on the actual hesi. The whole point of this post is that, hard work and discipline will pay off 10-fold. There is so much anxiety around these tests (understandably so), but if you stay diligent and practice questions, you will ace this exam. A lot of people from my program have passed as well (so far), but they all walked out saying how hard of test it was and how much it messed with their heads. I felt completely confident and would have done my study plan all over again just to know I was doing well during the test. Hope this helps. You guys got this!
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I write the NCLEX in 2 days and I am currently experiencing the typical pre-NCLEX jitters and panic. I find myself alternating between rock solid confidence and debilitating insecurity and I cannot concentrate on any more studying. I was wondering how accurate was your chance of passing predicted by the UWorld self assessment. What was your chance of passing, percentage, and did you pass? I currently have a 62% out 2,000 questions taken and 66% on both self assessments putting me in the 84th percentile with a "very high" chance of passing. I am worried because 62% isn't great and UWorld was the ONLY study resource I used.
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How's it going, guys. So I just found out today that I passed NCLEX and would like to shed some light on which review I thought was most beneficial. The 3 reviews I will be reviewing are UWorld, Hurst, and NRSNG. UWorld:This was my favorite out of the 3. UWorld looks most like NCLEX and while the questions are hard, they are very detailed (something you will not find with NCLEX). UWorlds real selling point is the rationales. My god, AMAZING. If you take the time to read into the rationales, then you're golden. I finished all 2000+ questions in a little over a month and scored a 78th percentile overall with Highly likely to pass on my practice exam that was included in the 90-day bundle. I paid $180 for the bundle w/ 2 practice exams. Hurst:I struggled with retaining content through school semester to semester so Hurst seemed like a good idea. The 3-day class was very informative, and I "remembered" a lot that I had forgotten throughout my 2 years of Nursing school. However, for the price of $400 (I paid $350 w/coupon code), I don't recommend it unless you're really trying to review content. Their practice test ?'s are also subpar, and "Aunt Marlene's" voice is annoying as hell. NRSNG:I have been a member here for almost my whole treck through nursing school. Jon and the gang do a great job at providing literally everything for you to succeed. They have lessons upon lessons, practice questions, and my favorite, SIMCLEX. SIMCLEX is a CAT test (the algorithm is apparently mimicked to NCLEX) that predicts your chances of passing NCLEX between 75-265 questions. I took this at least 6 times and passed all but 1. Compared to UWorld however, the questions are not challenging and while they swear they have 10,000 questions built in a question bank, I found a lot of repeats. Also, there are quite a few grammatical eras. Prices are free, $15 or $30 for unlimited. Unlimited gets you unlimited attempts at SIMCLEX and all the content. Also, they have a great money back guarantee for up to $500 if you fail NCLEX and have been a member for 3 months and taken SIMCLEX at least 3 times. Hope this doesn't happen to anyone, but they do have a lot of faith in their program! So the breakdown: 1. UWorldfor the price, it's def. the best bang for your buck. Rationales are great and it looks just like NCLEX. Be sure to get the package with the practice exams, they're really helpful! 2. NRSNG While it cost $30 a month for the unlimited (they have a free and intermediate plan as well) this is a great content review resource. Their customer service is unlike any other as well. It ranks second because their NPQ's aren't quite as challenging as UWorlds, but it's definitely a great resource. 3. Hurst Good content review but that is about it. My biggest gripe is they didn't even cover all the content in the 3-day class. This is fine, but for that price I expected it to be much more. Overall: UWorld for the win.If you must choose 2, go for NRSNG too. I have no experience with Kaplan but have heard mix feelings. Honestly, I don't think you can go wrong with UWorld, but that's my 2 cents. (And yes, the PVT worked for me; my results were posted to the BON within 24hrs) Good luck to everyone!
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I know people say this but I had probably read every NCLEX post on here. I lurked for weeks, did not have an account but boy did I benefit from what people were kind enough to share. I vowed I would contribute something to the pot of bliss this site has been for me. I'll try not to ramble but I do want to share because I've seen how helpful people sharing their experiences can be. To start off Nursing school- I did very well, I worked very hard and fortunately, it paid off. However getting ready for NCLEX is vastly different, it was adaptive- to you. I was a slow studier but fast test taker. Preparing for NCLEX I learned the necessity to read so carefully, reading quickly was damaging. I knew I'd need to prepare and do it differently. I did an online review with Feuer Nursing- online. Do not recommend. Poor lecturers, they didn't explain concepts. Grammar spelling mistakes and even their tests had inaccuracies. Also, the videos would freeze. Then all the hype I did U WORLD. It was so helpful in actually teaching me knowledge and test-taking strategies. I completed about 1600 questions, first test 45%. I thought Oh boy- I made notes, watched videos, created Q cards and made sure I knew key concepts well enough that I could teach to it (not that they really listened) but something about hearing yourself explain concepts was helpful. All in all- I felt I was on the right track by the end of 1600 questions I was consistently scoring 65- low 70's%. I know it's not everyone's experience but my UWORLD marks did improve. I did sets of 75 questions, 150 per day (literally ALL day) and after about 500 questions- my marks were better but more importantly, my knowledge base grew until of course some random drug or disease would come up- and I'd be like "What where and in what language is this a thing"? Some answers I'd get wrong & be like "Ah yes that makes sense" Some I'd be like "Shut the front door...how". My NCLEX was scheduled the end of April 2019 but I had to change it earlier by 2 weeks but felt pretty ready. 1. Day before examI know people say don't study but I did- when I'd get into my zones, I felt I did better with more questions. Like I'd start cruddy then get better- I felt like I needed that momentum but I didn't go as hard as I was before. I tried to eat something and get to bed early- which I needed to do because I was writing in a different city and had a morning commute on a weekday (another consequence of changing my date). I was SOO nervous and anxious I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep. I went to bed at 8- took melatonin and didn't fall asleep till probably 11. I woke up at 1:30 AM - I know to cry or to cry. Insomnia and anxiety are a wicked combination. I knew I wouldn't go back to sleep- I had planned to leave at 5 am but decided instead since I was up Id get ready and drive into the city. I felt nauseous- had a smoothie and got there at 3 am! The parking garage was closed, I couldn't sleep in the car, so I flipped through my notes and did about 10 questions. Felt tired and I can't drink coffee- I don't tolerate caffeine well and was thinking 2.5 hours of sleep and no food, rough start but I WILL push through this- even if I have to vomit every 30 minutes. Id invested too much, so much riding on it- splashed some water on my face and gave myself a pep talk (i needed it lol and everyone I knew was sleeping) 2. The EXAMNot surprisingly, I was the first person there even before the staff. After all the security (Photo, palm scan, photo ID, signature, putting your belongings in a locker and confidentiality form) you get a computer. There are big headphones and whiteboard, marker and a brief tutorial before the exam. Yes the NCLEX has SOME similarities to UWORLD but this my first time taking it and was taken back by how VAGUE Many questions were. The difficulty was not content but ambiguity- because I got used to teasing questions apart in UWORLD. This hurt me in NCLEX because it was mostly bare bones. Tips- You have to take the question exactly as it is- no ifs or in this or that scenario. Exactly as they tell you- how do you proceed. There is no crossing off incorrect answers like in UWORLD so use the notepad to keep track if you can't remember the answers u don't want to select. Words like PRIORITY or FIRST are bolded however " require further teaching' or " is appropriate teaching" or "would clarify" or "is correct understanding" are NOT BOLDED or emphasized. You have to read carefully, one question I thought they asked is appropriate teaching but it actually said clarify teaching- when I read it a second time. Exhibit questions- they can have multiple. I had a scenario question and one exhibit item was an ECG, another vitals and the third a progress note. If its say 1/3 you have to look at ALL three unless it says 1/1, otherwise you'll miss pertinent information. SATA- I did feel UWORLD helped me with these but do not think if you get a SATA and then regular MC u aren't doing well. I was fixated on the SATA and assumed if I didn't get ALL of them I was doing poorly. At about 25 questions I had about 8 SATA but 17 other mostly MC, I figured I was doing poorly but I was JUST at 25 questions and felt some SATA were easier than some of the MC. Some were real head-scratchers. I know everyone tests differently but I took my time and honestly because I was SOO tired I knew I needed to be extra cautious. I prayed before, throughout and after. I was in no kinda hurry. I took 2 hours 45 min to do the test. At 74 questions, I had maybe 15-20 SATA, 3 order the following, one calculation, lots of maternity, mental health and fundamentals- a few priority delegations. BUT LET ME tell you I WAS DRAINED. I prayed to GOD " OH DEAR GOD PLEASE LET IT BE OVER". I was gonna go the 265 if I needed but by God's Mercy, it shut off at 75. I didn't know if I passed but my last two were SATA and felt pretty confident about the last one. The rest maybe 2 I was 80% the others maybe 50-60% but I supposed that is the adaptive nature of the test, test your individual ability against the benchmark. AFTER: I researched and wrote everything and because I had spent SOO much bloody time staring at each of the 75 questions, I remembered a lot. I found out the first question I got wrong for Sure. Several others as well. I immediately went into panic nausea mode- convinced I failed and regretting the awful state in which I wrote such an important exam.I read EVERYTHING I could find online about the aftermath I read about the Pearson vue thing but felt my HEART could not handle "a bad pop up" without more certainty about it and many posts were old so I didn't know if I could trust them. I could do nothing but think about the test, it was all-consuming, you'd think I'd sleep but no I ruminated about every aspect of the test. It was MADDENING. I was going to do the 48 hours Quick results but I tested on Thursday and Friday (today) I checked the board site and PASSED. Most beautiful 6 letters I've ever seen. I refreshed over and over, signed out and back in and checked on two devices LOL I know it's much but the anxiety of the NCLEX was unlike anything else for me. I DO NOT RECOMMEND what I did but on 2.5 hours of sleep, no food, nauseous anxious mess, I somehow passed in 75 questions, I am sure you can too. I want to offer help if anyone has questions, I'm new to this but will check and hope some of this Ramble is helpful.
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I'm averaging between 20-70s on my tests. I'm in the 35th percentile, I test in two weeks ... I already failed once. I don't know what to do. Has anyone else had scores like this before and passed !? I feel so discouraged at this point and don't know what to do anymore. I'm sitting at a overall 41 right now and I am almost through the whole entire Q Bank
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Graduated in May 2017 with my BSN. Took my NCLEX-RN in June 2017. Scheduled my exam on a Thursday and took my exam on the following Monday. Yes, I technically only had 4 days to get in "test mode". However, I had planned to take my exam ASAP after getting my ATT, which I did. If you plan to do this too make sure you are studying A TON so when you get your ATT you are ready to go take that exam! I studied for weeks leading up to my exam. Resources I used to prepare:SAUNDERS: I used Saunders NCLEX book throughout nursing school. Throughout each course, I would go through the Saunders chapter that coordinated with it. It was a good review while learning the material. I also did all the online questions that came with the access code. HURST:I did the HURST live in-person review. It was AMAZING! Better than my nursing school lectures! It reviews core content, has 1,000 practice questions, and 4 125-question practice NCLEX exams. It also has recorded lectures on the website. I did used every resource this organization offered and studied the way they told me. Btw HURST does NOT teach test-taking strategy, only content. Personally, I liked this. If you want to use ONLY 1 resource than I highly recommend HURST! The online lectures the exact same in-person (word from word). Uworld:Ah, the famous Uworld. Great resource! Great rationales! I bought the 2-month option. I did ALL the questions and the 2 75-question practice NCLEX exams that came with it. Both of my practice exams told me I was "strongly likely" to pass the NCLEX. And it was right! Read all the rationales. And use the "make note" feature. I also marked the questions that had the best rationales so I could read them again later. God bless the people at Uworld for creating this! LOOOVED the questions. If you only want to buy 1 resource, this is the one to buy! Kaplan Q-Bank:I did NOT like Kaplan's Q-bank. I bought the 1 month option which was cheaper than any other resource I bought. However, the questions seemed to be out-of-date. Also, there were also no rationales. Many rationales said "this is the incorrect answer" instead of explaining why. Personally, I do not recommend this resource. I did about half the questions in the Q-Bank. However, if you already bought it then you might as well do all the questions to get your money's worth. More questions you do, the better. My notes:I made a binder full of material I knew I needed to review during my last semester. This binder included charts, lab values, diagrams, math problems, formulas, etc. I also had a notebook full of information from topics that I kept getting wrong when during practice questions. I read through this binder 2-4 times a week until my exam date. NCLEX STUDY SCHEDULE:I studied my butt-off of during nursing school. I did practice NCLEX questions prior to every school exam. For example, during my OB class I would do OB practice questions. I highly recommended doing this if you are still in school! This helped me because I felt more confident while preparing for the NCLEX. Post graduation is when I got into NCLEX study mode. I studied for 4-6 hours every day for 4 weeks. My plan was to study hard so whenever I got my ATT I could sign up for the next possible NCLEX date. I had a job waiting for me and I wanted to hurry up and get my test done with it! DAY BEFORE EXAM:I tried to "relax" but honestly, I haven't relaxed in 4 yrs because of Nursing school lol. So I ended up pacing a lot and trying to watch Netflix. Finally, I gave up and looked over some lab values.I did not sleep the night before. I was nervous and my house was SO hot from the summer. I was sweating through my sheets. I ended up watching funny Youtube videos to calm my nerves. It didn't really help but it passed the time.EXAM DAY:I finally got to sleep for 30 mins. Then woke up and starting having chest pain like no other! I was so nervous. I took a cold shower and it kind of helped.Got to Pearson Vue 2 hours early (it was in an unfamiliar city so I wanted to take my time driving) and they took me back right away!I had 75 questions in 40 minutes (I timed myself during my practice tests so I wasn't shocked when it took me 40 minutes. However, I was shocked I only got 75 questions!)I had chest pain and a migraine between my exam schedule date and getting my results. I never felt pain like that before. I was so anxious and I was scared I had failed after the exam. Also, I have a job lined up and I DID NOT want to lose it.I got home and about 8 hrs later I did the PVT trick. I got the "bad" pop up. I do not recommend the Pearson Vue Trick, it will only make you more nervous. I panicked when I tried to calm down because it is called a "trick" for a reason..it is not an official result. Thankfully, my results were up within 24 hours and it said "license active" I was SO HAPPY. My mom nearly jumped through the roof! And now I am officially a Registered Nurse! Moral of the story: YOU CAN DO IT! I freaked out but I also studied hard. I focused all my energy on using my resources and it helped! Do not freak out the day of the test like me! Relax, go on a walk the day before. You've made it through nursing school so you can make it through ONE LAST EXAM! Study now, celebrate later. If you have any questions please let me know! I wish you all the very best!
