my thoughts on preparing for nclex

[LAW79]

hi everyone! i PASSED the nclex on thursday june 21 with 75 questions. thanks to the goddesses :-)

i read this site a lot and got lots of good studying tips and wanted to share my own impressions of the exam.

i studied for this test much differently than i have done for any other test...i did not memorize ANYTHING. i really believe the key to acing this test is not to learn content, but to practice your questions! i attended a kaplan review and felt like the classroom learning was a waste, but their online question trainers and q-bank were worth every penny. their q-bank tests are EXACTLY like the real deal. there were absolutely no surprises, i felt just like i was at home practicing on kaplan.

i just took test after test in tutor mode (kaplan's q-bank), and every time i missed a question i wrote my rationale down in a spiral notebook, then reviewed that notebook once a day. seriously, that is ALL I DID. it was really hard to resist "cramming" for this test, but i am so glad i did not. a lot of questions on the nclex are so random that cramming most likely won't help, but the ability to think critically will. (even though i am an OB person, hate med-surge and know nothing about buck's traction or the like.)

just thought if there are other "type a" folks out there, my experience may help. resist the temptation to "know it all!" also, my other piece of advice is to take the day before the test off from studying and get some R&R. the day i quit studying was so hard, i had to keep fighting the urge to take another test, so needless to say i was a little wound up.

oh, and this has been said before but it bears repeating: the test is designed for everyone to get 50% wrong, so be prepared to get a lot of questions on the test you don't know. just don't let it trip you up. remember 85% of people pass on the first attempt, the stats are in our favor.

very best of luck to all the test-takers out there!!! thanks again for this great supportive group.

in peace, law.

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

I thought someone mentioned a fail rate. What is the fail rate? Does anyone know?

Varies but I think I have seen quoted 85% pass if trained in the US and 45% pass first time when trained overseas

[wishiwereanurse, BSN, RN]

This is sooo funny! how does the computer "know" your strong suit, and avoid it?

:dzed: I asked that exact same question on my first take! I thought it was just me!!!

[Diahni]

:dzed: I asked that exact same question on my first take! I thought it was just me!!!

Isn't it remarkable? Maybe it's because of how we answer one particular question. On the other hand, I didn't feel prepared for the pharm stuff, and I had very little - maybe it's because I answered a question correctly about meds towards the beginning of the test. I still have no idea why I was asked more or less the same basic math question over and over. Why oh why? Worse, the computer turned off right after a math question. I was SURE I flunked, but I didn't. As for the fail rate, which somebody asked about - it fluctuates around ten to 15 percent, and much higher for foreign trained nurses. You know how students are always expected to read the latest edition of a text? I think this is why - the content is changing all the time. One thing I noticed about the national nursing board online questions is they tended to be the most current, for instance , something about care for a person with a condom catheter, which are being used more and more in recent times.

Diahni

[MAILMAN]

new to the site.but very motivated, and inspired by comments on this site. graduated from the lpn course 3yrs ago but did not take nclex due lack of confidence, and abundance of excuses, right now i have a long journey ahead of me but looking forward to it. any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

new to the site.but very motivated, and inspired by comments on this site. graduated from the lpn course 3yrs ago but did not take nclex due lack of confidence, and abundance of excuses, right now i have a long journey ahead of me but looking forward to it. any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated

Welcome to the site

Practice as many questions as you can and understand the rationale to the ones you get wrong. Think about using Suzanne's plan is aimed for both PN and RN

[MomenTs]

Thanks

[wannabeRN2]

Last tip - it was my observation that the ncsbn.org questions were not only most like "Real" questions, I actually had one that was the same. The ncsbn writes the test, so it figures.

Where do you get these question your talking about? I went in ncsbn.org and couldn't find any questions.

Could you guide me to where I can find these questions?

thanks

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

Where do you get these question your talking about? I went in ncsbn.org and couldn't find any questions.

Could you guide me to where I can find these questions?

thanks

NCSBN have a section learningext and for a fee you can access questions found under products heading

[missez_sweet]

Thanks for sharing your experience.. I will look into the Kaplan Q-bank.

[tyandlindsma]

oh, and this has been said before but it bears repeating: the test is designed for everyone to get 50% wrong, so be prepared to get a lot of questions on the test you don't know

I think that has been what made waiting for my pass/fail result so excruciating for me. I did get a lot of questions that I knew nothing about and just felt doomed/defeated during the exam, knowing that I would fail. That is a great point to bring up and remember though - don't freak out when you see a med or topic you may not have studied or know much about.