Study habits as Nursing Student -vs- New Grad-->NCLEX-RN Prep

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  1. Did practicing TONS of NCLEX questions help you pass the NCLEX?

    • 3
      Yes, I did tons of questions to prep for my NCLEX. I used this method as a SN
    • 8
      Yes, I did tons of questions to prepare for the NCLEX. I did not use this method in nursing school

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Hi All!

So I see tons of posts about NCLEX prep tips... "How to prepare" for the biggest Exam of our lives.

As a SN, I excelled through complete and utter dedication to my notes.You guys don't even wanna know how long it to me to perfect my notes (to my liking). In School, my study habits allowed me to graduate with honors.

However, I was one of the few (if not the only) student in my class who did not include practicing NCLEX style questions as part of their test prep.

I am a repeat NCLE-RN test taker...

My school uses/used Kaplan as part of their program. So when I failed I was fortunate enough for Kaplan to re-enroll me and grant me access to all available online sources.

(*of note: Kaplan really deserves credit and appreciation to their commitment of paying costumers to pass the NCLEX)

The problem or more the frustration I am having right now is in regards to Kaplan's plan for success. After failing, I got in touch with one of Kaplan's "NCLEX Experts." After writing them a long email about my concerns and dedication to my future success on the NCLEX-RN... They simply responded, suggesting that I dedicate myself to ALL of their qbanks and qtrainers.

All of this has lead me to AN. There are TONS of threads recommending to do a TON of NCLEX questions and to study the rationales of both correct and incorrect answers. My prep for my failed NCLEX included a mix of my study habits but primarily Qbanks and Qtrainers 1-5. (Yes, I know I failed to complete QT 6 & 7, and maybe this was my downfall). Regardless, I am not going to dwell on my failure; instead I am trying to move forward and achieve my dream to be a RN.

Sorry this is getting a little long so I'll get to the point. I am going to add a poll to this post. I am curious for all those who passed the nclex... do you feel endless practice with nclex questions lead to your success? If so, did you utilize this method in your nursing school exam prep?

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Thank you for sharing your story. I myself am struggling in balancing it all with multiple sources of questions and reviewing content. Id like to see what the idea way to prepare for nclex is. I have a Saunders book, Hurst, and Kaplan and nclex 4000. plus all my notes and books from school.

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Thank you for sharing your story. I myself am struggling in balancing it all with multiple sources of questions and reviewing content. Id like to see what the idea way to prepare for nclex is. I have a Saunders book, Hurst, and Kaplan and nclex 4000. plus all my notes and books from school.

Thx for replying amy. Have you tested yet?

I was hoping there would be some more activity on this thread... anyone out there who has passed the NCLEX-RN please take a moment to share your thoughts.:)

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Specializes in Critical Care/Vascular Access.

I did well in prerequisites and nursing classes, and was among the top of my class when we took the HESI exam(I don't know if all nursing schools do that, but we had to), so I was overly confident after graduating and did not pass my first try at the NCLEX-RN because I had barely put any time preparing since graduation. I had to take all 265 questions, and each question after the 75th question got me more and more frustrated because I thought I was prepared and each question I got made me realize I wasn't. I'm a very calm, collected person, but by the time I took that 265th question and walked out of that room (almost 5 hours later) I was more angry and disappointed than I have probably ever been in my life. Mostly at myself, because I knew I could have prepared better.

So after getting out of that I set out to actually prepare for the next time. Of course I did the usual thing: answering every NCLEX style question I could get my hands on, but what I found most helpful was the Kaplan decision tree. The fact is that you WILL NOT be able to study all the material on the exam. Period. I'm not saying don't study, but there's just waaaaaayyyyy too much material for you to memorize, but the beauty of the decision tree is that it teaches you how to approach questions and situations which you don't know the answer too. It teaches you how to weed out the least likely answers based on the way the question is asked and what type of information is presented in the question. I have talked to other people that didn't feel like it helped them at all, but I think it was what helped me most.

I went in to take it my second time a couple of months later and walked out 75 questions later without a doubt that I had passed it.

Good luck. Everyone has to find what works best for them, because we all think differently, but that's what did it for me.

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Thanks for sharing

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I did well in prerequisites and nursing classes, and was among the top of my class when we took the HESI exam(I don't know if all nursing schools do that, but we had to), so I was overly confident after graduating and did not pass my first try at the NCLEX-RN because I had barely put any time preparing since graduation. I had to take all 265 questions, and each question after the 75th question got me more and more frustrated because I thought I was prepared and each question I got made me realize I wasn't. I'm a very calm, collected person, but by the time I took that 265th question and walked out of that room (almost 5 hours later) I was more angry and disappointed than I have probably ever been in my life. Mostly at myself, because I knew I could have prepared better.

So after getting out of that I set out to actually prepare for the next time. Of course I did the usual thing: answering every NCLEX style question I could get my hands on, but what I found most helpful was the Kaplan decision tree. The fact is that you WILL NOT be able to study all the material on the exam. Period. I'm not saying don't study, but there's just waaaaaayyyyy too much material for you to memorize, but the beauty of the decision tree is that it teaches you how to approach questions and situations which you don't know the answer too. It teaches you how to weed out the least likely answers based on the way the question is asked and what type of information is presented in the question. I have talked to other people that didn't feel like it helped them at all, but I think it was what helped me most.

I went in to take it my second time a couple of months later and walked out 75 questions later without a doubt that I had passed it.

Good luck. Everyone has to find what works best for them, because we all think differently, but that's what did it for me.

Thank you for sharing. I remember when Kaplan first came to my school (during week 1/orientation). The lady who presented told us that she could pass the NCLEX using the decision tree even though she had no formal nursing education. As I practice questions the decision tree is useful in helping me not lose focus when I find myself staring at the question, thinking..."seriously, I've never heard of the disease before. Not even a mention through all my education!".... I will admit I have not mastered the use of the decision tree. (sometimes its distracting if I know the answer already) As I progress through my qbank, "psychosocial integrity" questions are killing me! Any tips out there on how to approach these questions?

Also..THANK YOU to everyone who has taken a moment to answer my poll (on this thread) & CONGRATZ to all the new RN's!!!

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