Should I buy an NCLEX book before starting nursing school

cracklingkraken, ASN, RN · Oct 8, 2015

You won't really be able to use it for content. I would wait until you actually start nursing school for that. But I know the Saunders' NCLEX book has some test-taking strategies that you could look over.

chris21sn, BSN, RN · Oct 8, 2015

I say it is never too early to start learning. So why not.

I especially love the Saunders Comprehensive NCLEX Content Book. When I saw it, I thought to myself - "Oh, how I wished I knew about this when I was first starting!" It summarizes huge chapters into a couple a pages, and pretty much highlights for you, things you should know! So yes, definitely. Also, please don't be hard on yourself, if you don't understand the material right away! Learning is a process, let the book simply guide you :)

queserasera, RN · Oct 9, 2015

If I were you I'd buy Fundamentals Reviews and Rationales by Mary Hogan and if your school uses ATI for benchmark exams, I'd get a copy of the Fundamentals book for that as well. NCLEX questions would be good if you read through all the rationales, but most of the content wouldn't make sense yet to you anyways without the info from lecture.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Oct 10, 2015

Short answer: NO. It really CAN be "too early to start" when it comes to NCLEX prep. After all, the point of the prep is to take the content you KNOW already and put it into practical use, demonstrate you understand the knowledge you gained in school and know what to do with it. You are nowhere near that yet.

There will be PLENTY of time to work on NCLEX books, test questions, all throughout school, but doing this before learning Step One is NOT a good use of your time.

Learn the fundamentals. Study and learn and understand what it is you are being taught, THEN see how what you know stacks up against review books. You cannot review what you have not yet learned.

WookieeRN, BSN, MSN, RN · Oct 10, 2015

You're not going to really be able to practice the test taking skills without knowing the content first, so no.

direw0lf, BSN · Oct 10, 2015

I feel like getting an nclex book and going over it before I actually started a nursing class definitely was a benefit. One of the best things I could have done to prepare, for me at least. It prepared me for the nclex style questions that is every nursing classes exam format, besides reinforced A&P and terminology.

I didn't focus on the questions per se. I mean that I didn't memorize material in the questions exactly. I didn't memorize for example what a nurse should do first for a multigravid client with a fetal head crowning. But I did learn what multigravid, antepartum, etc means and I read the rationales. I didn't memorize but some things I recalled when we learned them in school.

I got the Illustrated Guide to the Nclex which I reviewed the summer before nursing school. Then I got Saunders Comprehensive which I haven't looked at yet but it's what my school sold.

There's a lot of free ways to practice nclex style questions as well. Facebook has several nursing groups (Simple Nursing is my fav) with questions posted every day by members. You can sign up for a free nclex question of the day in your email from here NCLEX-RN Exam Study Guide 2014-15, Practice Quizzes and Questions and there's probably other sites like that. If you already are strong with A&P you might want to just do those things but like I said I really feel the Illustrated Guide was helpful for before school.