TIPS/Info for passing NCLEX

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Hi,

To everyone who passed recent nclex-rn, can you please share what helped you best (cd's, printed materials, etc..) ? Where to focus? and how did you study/prepare?

thanks... this will help a lot of us who are scheduled to take the exams soon

Specializes in LTC, Rehab.
Hello I passed the Nclex and studied from Kaplan 2007 and saunders DVD. concentrate on knowing critical vs. stable patients and knowing when to applay Maslow, ABC's and the Nsg Process. Know how to do the most difficult calculations ,the one's that you have to convert ex. mcg to mg, if you know how to do the hard ones the easy calculations will be gravy. and know ABG's. I think knowing The Endocrine disorders is good because they involve alot of diet teaching and other things, but the Kaplan will break it down for you. Most of my questions on the test touched base in the same areas the kaplan said it would. God Bless!!
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Specializes in LTC, Rehab.

I dont remember even scoring myself,I just made sure I understood why and when to apply the ABC's Maslow and the Nsg Process, and I also praticed know which Patient is most unstable on the "who would you assess first" questions. I thought the test was going to be soo hard before I took it and I thank God I did think that way because when I actually took it the questions were actually a little easier than I imagined and that helped calm me down while taking it. Stay calm that is an important key to passing. God Bless!!

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1) As my A&P professor stated a million times in class, "repetition is the mother of retention." A fancier way of saying "practice makes perfect", I guess. But its true, if there is stuff you can't remember & you think it is important, MAKE FLASH CARDS! You absolutely need to know your lab values like the back of your hand, so start making cards of those ASAP. I brought my cards on the train with me, to the grocery store and the bank to do in line, while waiting for appointments - every 10 minute block of flash card time helps. And remember that successful test takers use little word tricks to remember things- there have been studies to prove it. What can you find in a word to remind you of its meaning? I memorized a lot of lab values this way -for instance, the "M" in "Mg" has 1,2 peaks = normal Mg range is in the range of 1-2...1.5 to 2.5....it may sound absurd but if you practice this it becomes second nature & you find yourself retaining a lot more info.

2.) Do THOUSANDS of practice questions. Statistics show that doing thousands of practice questions is predictive of NCLEX success. I did about 4,000 including the ones assigned for my required review class at school. About 2,500 of these questions I did day and night in the 2 weeks before the test. Most were from the Saunders review book, which I found to be very comprehensive. However, during the last week before my exam a friend offered to let me do some review questions under her Kaplan account. This was a true gift! She told me that she found the Kaplan questions to be most like the NCLEX, and boy she wasn't kidding. If you can afford it, get yourself access to these questions. They are big on prioritizing, which is a lot of what NCLEX is about. They include a strategy in each rationale, to help you practice skills like deciding if you need to choose and implementation or an assessment answer. This is really a key skill, because sometimes you can be "tricked" into choosing an appropriate implementation, when really they wanted you to assess first. Kaplan is expensive, but if a group of you from school approach them to put on a class for you, you can get a discount. If you aren't interested in taking the in-person class, you could probably also get a group discount on access to the online qBank without the actual course instruction. I'm sure this is not encouraged, but it may also be possible to "share" a subscription with a friend....

3.) COMMIT yourself to a prep schedule, and STICK to it. I graduated in the winter, so I planned a vacation my first week off, visiting for the winter holidays my second week off (I brought my review book and flash cards for when I had a little down time, of course), and then intensive study the next two weeks, until the day of my test. I warned my friends, family, and boyfriend that I would be "off the grid" those two weeks, and to please bear with me, and be supportive. I did 100 - 300 questions per day, intermixed with flashcard review and reinforcement, and hardly anything else. This helped me to feel very prepared, and keep my anxiety to a minimum. Of course I wasn't working, and I don't have kids, so it was easier for me than those of you with other responsibilities. Hopefully you have a good support system - ask for help! Maybe the kids can go to gramma's for a week, autie's for another. Maybe you have some vacation/sick time at work. You don't want to have to go through this twice, do you?

Hope this helps! I really feel it is a perfect recipe for success.

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Hello,

I have finished my Kaplan review and tons of practice questions. Please pray for me, I am taking the test on Wednesday. Thanks for all of the wonderful advice. Will let you know....

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good luck sikkemarn

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Include me on the good thoughts...another wednesday nclex taker here!:D

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hello fellow RNs. I have been a member of this forum since late last year and I have been reading all your wonderful posts that are deem useful to those who will be taking the NCLEX. I will be taking the NCLEX this March and the mere thought that the date is getting nearer and nearer, cant help but get anxious. My anxiety level is starting to rise. I am presently attending review classes in a prestigious review center here in the Philippines but I can't help but worry over concepts unread, NCLEX CDs left unpracticed and of course thinking bout that much awaited date has sent butterflies in my stomach. BUT am always facing such worries with HOPE. I am hoping for the BEST and I am always PRAYING hard for that anxiety to be taken out of my system. Let us just be HOPEFUL FOR THE BEST and I know GOD will always be with us. Goodluck everyone!

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what exactly is suzannes plan. I dont understand. i am taking the boards in feb.

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HI, I saw your post that you took the boards the 17th . I hope you passed. if you finished using kaplan and its not expired yet would you mind letting me use the website i would compensate you. thanx. I am taking boards mid february

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Thank you all for such inspiration!

After graduating 26 yrs ago I'm finally preparing to take the NCLEX!

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Hello I passed the Nclex and studied from Kaplan 2007 and saunders DVD. concentrate on knowing critical vs. stable patients and knowing when to applay Maslow, ABC's and the Nsg Process. Know how to do the most difficult calculations ,the one's that you have to convert ex. mcg to mg, if you know how to do the hard ones the easy calculations will be gravy. and know ABG's. I think knowing The Endocrine disorders is good because they involve alot of diet teaching and other things, but the Kaplan will break it down for you. Most of my questions on the test touched base in the same areas the kaplan said it would. God Bless!!

Hello. I didnt know Saunder had a DVD. Is it a good tool to use?

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hello i am new can anyone tell me who is suzanne and what is her plan? yea iam slow.

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