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 Med/Surg, Academics.
SBoatwright said:
Im sorry, but when you guys talk about Kaplan, are you talking about the actual Kaplan College's program? Or is it a book or something youre talking about? Sorry, but Im just started out taking the pre reqs to apply to my LVN program. So just reading up early. Thanks

Kaplan NCLEX test review class.

crystal207 said:
Hi I am new on this. I have more then 15 post how can I pm Suzanne for her plan. is there an email address?

Thanks

It is no longer available.

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lilly thankyou for your story. i was really depressed failing my second attempt yesterday...i've posted here numerous times just to make me feel better, my eyes still hurts from crying but im hanging on there..i will take advantage of slideshare and i will stick to saunders, la charity and kaplan until in the next 45 days. wish i could review with hurst but i dont have the money for it anymore. i reviewd with kaplan the first time and it was pricey..i dont have a job and currently being supported with my older sister who is also an RN..she too had to struggle with this..but she passed on her 4th attempt..she's my inspiration to keep moving and studying till i make it..amazing story u have..GODBLESS everyone who are about to take this battle again. GOD is with us.

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hi thywillbedone!

hang in there...it's not the end of world, the great thing about it is you can take it again. you're doing the right thing, you have all the study materials, all you need to do is FOCUS and study hard. Good Luck! You can do it :)

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Hi,

I just passed NCLEX RN after failing once.

I did not study when I took for the first time and that was why I failed..

As many other people mentioned, you gotta study hard to pass.

For the second time, I studied for good 3 weeks (the last 2 weeks, I did not even work to focus on studying)

Especially for Canadian RNs..

- Do know the delegation rules since it is different from Canadian nursing (I.e. never assign pts who needs to be assessed to LPN)

- Do know the rules, regulations, state laws, ect.

- Do know all the normal lab values ( BUN Cr Na K Mg Hg Hematocrit Pt INR blah blah- oh! the blood sugar level is 70-110 in the USA since they use a different unit )

- Do review the patho part throughly such as Hyperthyroidism, Hypothyroidism, Addisons disease...)

- Do memorize symptoms of electrolyte imbalances ( hypocalcemia, hypercalcemia, hyperkalemia, ect)

- You should know the different precautions (rubella, HIV, MRSA, TB...); contact, droplet, airborne

- Some medications should not be given to patients with certain disease

- Practice with the CD ( I did about 5000 questions before I went to take the exam) especially, Select all that apply type of questions

- Study how to interpret ECG strips ( I never learned it in school so I watched video clips on Youtube )

- Know where to auscultate for specific heart sounds (I.e. Apex, Mitral Valve, Aortic Valve)

I found that many people asked which books to use. I used 5 different books to review over and over, and all the books had CDs which were useful.

I think which book to pick is NOT important. It is a matter of practicing over and over so you would memorize all those details without having too much difficulties.

Good luck with everyone who is studying and I hope this helps little bit. ( but technically, you should review what you have learned for 4 years LOL )

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@thywillbedone::

If you can at all save up for the hurst review, I would. I was never a strong student in nursing school and hurst review made everything just... Make sense. The hurst is 350, and you get online lectures (or you can attend a live review somewhere) and 6 tests similar to Kaplan. I test in 9 days but am confident! Wishing you the best.

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Thanks pinkkitty.. Yes, I'll save for it if I could..I need all the help I can get. Goodluck to you and your upcoming nclex. Let us know the good news! Sending you my prayers..

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I read through the Kaplan review book but for me, the most beneficial tool was the Saunders CD that has thousands of practice questions. I did anywhere from 30-100 questions a day for two weeks leading up to the test. I passed with 75 questions (25 of them were select all that apply...ouch!).

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Hi Lily1622, thanks for sharing your story it gives me hope that I could pass the nclex test on my 3rd time. Im currently looking for a review course, but I dont know which one to choose. My question to you is, how did you like the sycamore nclex review course and which one will you recommend Sycamore or Hurst review?

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Hi bless11! I'm proud of your fighting spirit...think PASS :). Sycamore is more of a quick refresher course in the classroom for 1month, 2 times a week...the instructor helped me more on positive thinking more than anything. So, I would recommend HURST review over Sycamore because it gives you more details on each systems and they will give you handouts to follow while Marlene (the instructor) talks on the video. She gives you pointers on how to answer the questions. Also, they give lots of questions to answers...and the questions are more similar to NCLEX. In my opinion, I passed because I feel more comfortable reviewing the Hurst review.

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Hello Lilly1622,

Thanks for responding back, I will take your advice and use Hurst review better..

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Hi Lilly,

Thanks for sharing your story. I also graduated on 2006 and took it 3 times and now I've been preparing since January but haven't studied for a month now. I have a full time job and a mom to toddler. I just want to know how many months have u prepared for the last exam? Did u go back to like studying for the first time or just did Q&A? Thanks to you! :)

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HELP! What it is the best book for NCLEX-PN? Thank YOU!

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