Taking Nclex for the third time......need help...

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First time I took the nclex was november last year. I stopped at question number 85. I left pearson testing center thinking that I did good only to find out later that I failed. Second time I took the nclex was April 23 this month. I stopped at question number 75, then I failed again. I used saunders 5th edition for content material, used the Prioritiy and delegation book by LaCharity, and for practice questions I used the cd that came with the 5th edition saunders and I also used the saunders q&a review cards.

My wife is urging me to enroll with the kaplan or hurst review course. Kaplan is sure pricey and am leaning more to the hurst review because the review center is near our place and it costs less. What are your experiences with this review centers? Are they worth investing on time and money?

I am also considering on buying new review materials such as the 6th edition of saunders....Should I stick with the 5th edition saunders or just go ahead buy the 6th edition? My only noncurrent review material is the saunders 5th edition book, my saunders q&a cards and LaCharity book are recent releases.

I am just lost right now with how to prepare for my third nclex exam.

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Specializes in NICU.

What is the NCLEX pass rate for your school? Did you take any Comprehensive NCLEX predictor test prior to graduation? what was your result? You shouldn't have to study for the NCLEX, your school should have prepared you throughout the program to be able to pass NCLEX. It should be more of a review before taking the test. While the Saunders and Kaplan are good sources to help you review, they are not comprehensive as to all possible areas that NCLEX could choose to test. In other words, they will not teach you everything you need to know to pass NCLEX otherwise I could pass NCLEX without going to nursing school.

This summer I have my NCLEX review class before graduating in August. The instructor will have us do 4000 NCLEX questions and keep track of the ones that we get wrong and what the concept that they were looking for. After 4000 questions, there should be a pattern of my areas of weakness. I would suggest answering questions from Saunders book and every question that you got wrong look at what areas that they are testing on. If you consistently get questions relating to cardiac or diabetes wrong then that is a weak area and concentrate on extensively reviewing those areas in your text books.

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical.

Hi! It's also my third time to take NCLEX. I also used the review materials you used for my first and second takes.

I prefer Kaplan over Hurst. Hurst was good and simple but me and my friend agreed that it didn't really help at all when we took NCLEX. I'm not sure about other people.

I'm nearly finished with Kaplan now. Their online review and live classes are pretty helpful. Their questions are much more harder than the ones in Saunders. Saunders questions are good for studying content. Kaplan's questions are good for critical thinking and answering passing-level questions on NCLEX. For me, Kaplan's Question trainers, Qbank, video lectures and Readiness test are really helpful for NCLEX and provide much more than Hurst's review. The level of difficulty is also comparable to NCLEX.

I know a handful of people who passed NCLEX just reading Saunders, PDA by LaCharity, and Hurst.

I know people who passed with just Kaplan and Saunders.

It really depends what area you're weak in.

Since this is your third take I suggest you try something new.. I have a friend who also took NCLEX for the third time and he passed just last week. He tried something new by using Kaplan and Saunders and passed with 75 questions.

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I graduated nursing school from abroad, my taking/preparing for nclex is kinda a solo thing for me. Thanks for the advice.

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
I graduated nursing school from abroad, my taking/preparing for nclex is kinda a solo thing for me. Thanks for the advice.

Kaplan has online & classroom reviews especially designed for internationally educated nurses to help make up the knowledge. & practice deficits as you were trained to practice in your country of education. Statistically IENs have a less than 30% pass rate on the NCLEX first try and that rate drops significantly with each subsequent attempt. I think Hurst offers a review for IENs also.

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i am so sorry about your situation, you should look into signing up for NCSNS review this is from the people that write the NCLEX exam , Cost:

3 weeks - $50 | 5 weeks - $70 | 8 weeks - $100 | 15 weeks - $160. this review especially the question bank was very helpful. also when doing questions it help to read the rational for why you got a question right or wrong and write it down. i hope this helps wishing you the very best and you can do it God bless

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I too just recently took nclex rn and found out I failed (through pvt) im still waiting for the official results. I graduated nsg in the phils in 2007. Long time ago I know. Nonetheless, I still wanna pursue my career. I am also debating which one to purchase hurst or kaplan. If I may suggest. Try to watch videos in youtube. There's michael linares, annielyn garrison, tootrn and so many more.

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thanks for the info. I am checking out the ncsbn website right now.

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I watched michael linares for review content too on my last review. My official fail notification came in the mail just today. Onyx26 suggested that I check out NCSBN website for review. I am looking at the website right now with my wife. Actual nclex rn question writers, and the online review packages are fair too.

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I watched michael linares for review content too on my last review. My official fail notification came in the mail just today. Onyx26 suggested that I check out NCSBN website for review. I am looking at the website right now with my wife. Actual nclex rn question writers, and the online review packages are fair too.

NCSBN is actually a good option. That was my first choice but I feel like doing kaplan or hurst first then maybe purchase a 3wk ncsbn review for the last few weeks leading to the exam.

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Hurst is good for content and Kaplan for questions and strategies. I think you have the best materials, same as I used and found very helpful. Saunders 5th ed and la charity for pda. Also use the cd for Saunders. 2 days before my exam I found random q&a from ncsbn and questions were similar to the type of questions I encountered in the real exam. I'm also a foreign grad but I was able to pass with 75questions. If I did it, you can also do it. Just believe and have faith. If there's anything I can help, just send me a message. Good luck and God bless! :)

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