Studying for NCLEX tips please

[salemar]

So I took the exam about a week after graduation, got all 265 questions, & didn't pass. I was going off momentum, was gonna pass, get a job and then flop. In all but one of the categories I was near passing & the other one I was above passing. It put me into a serious funk. Now I'm in this weird limbo, not in school, not working. My confidence has really been shot & I know I need to suck it up, put on my big girl panties & move on.

It seems my biggest issue is the prioritization...did I miss that day in class? Why don't I get it? I am so type A in so many ways & how did I make it through nursing school & not learn how to prioritize patients? This is so frustrating. I know I have all the right materials to prepare for this (according to the rest of the world). I have the Lippincott's book, The Exam Cram & the Delegation, Prioritization books, but find it hard to motivate. Anyway, my question is this: will just doing questions over & over really prepare & teach me what I need to know? How else can I be more prepared before I walk into that test again?

Thanks for letting me vent. Off to study, until its time to make dinner for the kids.

[itsbekah]

I'd like to answer but I'm a failure so don't listen to me. I'd like to know the same thing.

[swansonplace]

I have not taken the exam. I am studying for it. Like everything there are many ways to Rome. Some people only concentrate on test taking strategies, some only on content, others only on questions and rationales.

So I am doing content, questions, and test taking strategies. I take assessment tests, and review over the content if it is low, and then go and do questions in the specific area. I then retest in the low area. Also, as I answer each question, I try and apply test taking strategies. So I am not reviewing every area, just the areas that are below the line. I will do this, until I consistently pass in every area.