any study tips/help in how to prepare for the nclex lpn?

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hello everyone. i'm about to take the nclex lvn/lpn in about a month. does anyone have tips they could share about how to prepare? i have about three or four nursing cds which i've done but i feel like i've forgotten everything i've learned. it's been at least 5 months since i've graduated and i have no idea where five months have gone to be quite honest.

so now i have to cram everything into 1 month.

i'm not so sure how i should cram 1 years of work into 1 month of studying. should i reread my nursing books? just look over notes? or do the powerpoints? should i read my review books? or just do nclex questions? how much time should i spend on a topic? how many questions should i be doing per day? did anyone make a calender? how did you organize your time? how did you figure out which systems to study first? do you do questions first? do you just reread old books? i'm also really bad with memorizing medications.. their adverse effects and side effects. i don't feel like i really learned the medications....

i feel like i slacked off in preparing and so i feel like i forgot all of the information and have to relearn everything. i'm kind of scared and i haven't had much contact with people who have already passed the nclex from my school. basically, i feel alone and need some tips. people have told me oh review all the a/p. know the abnormals and normals. read everything line by line and then do nclex questions. just do nclex questions. do at least 200 questions a day.

is this reasonable? enough preparation?

thanks for your tips!

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Actually just took my test on wednesday for pn and found out today that I passed. to be honest with you , I was over prepared and the test actually felt easy. Computer shut off at 85 questions. For the last 5 weeks I really dedicated myself to studying and when I say studying, I mean doing questions. About 150-200 questions a day. ATI, Kaplan, Saunders and Pearson Vue Exam Cram. Truth be told, I barely used the Kaplan but I really did questions non stop. Even have the app on my iPhone to do questions on down times.

Didn't think I was ready and wanted to push the date back when I realized that no matter what I probably wouldn't feel prepared and wanted to get it over with. Soon as I walked in the room to my computer I wrote on the board they give "I AM CONFIDENT, FOCUSED AND RELAXED AND AN LPN :)" every time I would get nervous I would look down at the smiley face I drew and read the words. If you made it out of nursing school, I am sure you can do this. So just make sure you get your questions done every day and you will be fine. GOOD LUCK TO YOU!

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Practice questions! I learned through Kaplan that it's more important to focus on strategy when test taking rather than knowledge, since it's impossible to know everything that will be on the test. Focus more on different test taking strategies, such as never choosing an answer that makes an absolute statement, such as "never" or "always", etc. Hope this helps!

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Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.

Moved to NCLEX Discussion Forum for better exposure.

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Specializes in LTC.

Hello OP,

I passed LPN boards in 09. I used Mosbys' for PN and saunders for RN. Yes, I used an RN book for LPN boards and that worked for me. I studied for about 2-3 weeks, 4 days a week, 50 questions a day. Good luck and keep us posted.

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