Thank you Allnurses and my NCLEX Story

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First and foremost l would like to thank the Allnurses community for great support. l just made this account to let everybody at allnurses know that this is by far the best support group l have ever encountered.

Moving on l took my NCLEX on Dec 29 2014 and passed. l left thinking l bombed it, like most of the people on this site initially feel. The computer stopped me at 75 questions and l was a wreck until l found out my results. l did do the Pearson Trick and got the good pop up as well :), but l was still nervous until l knew for sure.

Furthermore, this site was a great resource for me, both before and after my exam. Suggestions that community made on what books, study guides and resources they used helped me with my preparation. l'd like to share what helped me and maybe help others who are studying right now.

1. Saunders Comprehensive Review - Excellent for content; fairly concise l would say. l read maybe 80% of the book an skipped the Crisis management and Developmental and Immunology parts (l was going to go back to finish them but was tight on time.) (l used the 5th edition)

2. NCLEX Kaplan Strategies, Practice and Review (2010 - 2011 Edition) - Read the book from front to back, found it helpful for prioritization questions ( ABC's, Maslow).

3. Prioritization, Delegation & Management of Care - This book is all practice questions, it's an excellent resource to test your skills and critical thinking, (l ran out of time so l didn't do the entire book but if time is not the essence definitely use this book).

4. The NCLEX Study Guide (allnurses) - l read through this study guide a couple times; l couldn't tell you how much the mnemonics helped me when l was given an infection control question. l did a search on Google to find the link since l wasn't able to find a direct link from here.

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&ei=NtSmVL6_F4OUyQTUwICgAw&url=https://allnurses.com/attachment.php%3Fattachmentid%3D8687%26d%3D1310076980&ved=0CBsQFjAA&usg=AFQjCNHzkGJxC4HsT_JfAh7KsjV285gF_g

Lastly, a colleague of mine gave me Lippincotts Q A Review for the NCLEX. l did a few questions, they were tough, tougher than the NCLEX. l also found the NCLEX to be not as wordy as the Kaplan questions.

Now what l did to prepare for it is l read through Saunders first, then l read through Kaplan. After l completed both books l did questions until my exam. For SATA (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY), l used the Saunders CD (which also has a section to select Alternate type Questions only) and the Prioritization, Delegation and Management book.

Good luck to all who are yet waiting to write :)

PS quizlet is also a good place to find nclex questions and some have made medication lists l think l have the links to those somewhere on my computer if l find then l will post them.

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Which lippincott q and a edition did you use? Was it the 11th edition?

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I am new to NS and I need some recommendations. I keep hearing that if you're just starting out you need to get NCLEX books to help study for nursing school exams. My biggest question is should we buy an older published book or buy newer ones? I have a few in mind from 2010,2011 Mosbys red book book and saunders yellow book. Does the year matter when it comes to buying NCLEX books? I start in 2015 and will probably be done in 2017. Does the information change a lot from year to year ? I'm a little worried that the older books may be outdated by new changes if they do occur.

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Congratulations on your NCLEX, registered nurse =]

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l used the 9th edition, it was from a colleague who wrote his exam several years ago.

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l am not sure how much the information changes to be honest with you; however, l had no new editions to the books, l had the yellow Saunders book which was one less the current edition, and two Kaplan books one from 06-07 and 10-11, both books had most of the same questions. It could be likely that information can change if new evidenced-base practice and research conducts a better way of doing things though. If you are really worried, l'd wait until your last year and pick some up used. l hope that clears things up for you, and thanks!

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l am not sure how much the information changes to be honest with you; however, l had no new editions to the books, l had the yellow Saunders book which was one less the current edition, and two Kaplan books one from 06-07 and 10-11, both books had most of the same questions. It could be likely that information can change if new evidenced-base practice and research conducts a better way of doing things though. If you are really worried, l'd wait until your last year and pick some up used. l hope that clears things up for you, and thanks!

Oh I see. I may wait for a bit if new books come out but for now since I'm new I might stick with slightly older books as they aren't very expensive compared to new books right now. Do you think the Saunders comprehensive 5th was very helpful and are the questions too easy compared to actual NCLEX questions?

Would you recommend this book for beginning students?

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Congrats nurse!!

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l felt the Saunder's question were very straight to the point and they were great for helping with content retention. The Kaplan, Lippincott Q A and The Prioritization, Delegation & Management of Care were far better in developing your critical thinking and preparing you for the exam. For alternative level though, Saunder's had about 300 questions on the CD to help you prepare for other types of questions. Prioritization, Delegation & Management of Care also dishes out alternative level questions as well.

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Haha thanks!

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