Unsure of my studying plan.....warning a rant!

Are you going through the rationales after you do the questions?

Yes. Just seem's like it's neverending!:trout: It will be so great to just be done!

Hi Justme123

Back in April, I took the exam and fail. Back then I felt the same way you feel now. I used everything I could get my hands on, but I still felt like it wasn't enough. The first exam I used Kaplan, Saunder, ATI and Lippincott. However, this time I'm focusing more on Saunder book and CD Also, I'm really focusing on knowing the rationale behind each question. What I do is answer the question and before I look at the answer I also say to myself why I picked that answer to see if I get the rationale correct as well. This way I'm not just memorizing material but understanding why that answer is correct. Also, I try to do at least 100 to 150 questions a day. I hope this helps you because I really feel that I'm better prepared to take the exam this time around. Good Luck!

Remember, "repetition is a mother of retention"

The only way to remember things is to keep going over them again and again and again... Test questions mostly teach you to think critically... They should not be used for building your knowledge base since they're just scattered facts, they're only good for filling occasional gaps in your knowledge. And I think focusing on one book would be more effective... These books are way to big, and there's too little time to switch back and forth...

Try to remain positive and remember that you made it this far. Having recently taken the NCLEX I can tell you that doing the practice questions and reading the rationales behind the answers helped me the most. Like an above poster said, in the end it will help you to critically think out the questions. Remember your ABC's and follow the nursing process. I did 3000 practice questions before the test and it wasn't the content I learned from them that helped me make it through the test. Something about just answering the questions helped me think. I did use the learning.ext website and believe that was beneficial and one of the cheaper ways to go. I didn't read the content on the site but only answered the questions. I had about 18 meds on my exam and knew 2 of them for sure, most of the meds, as you will read on this site are CRAZY. Know your normal lab values. Also the Prioritization book you bought is GREAT! Hope this helps and good luck to you.

I did tons of questions too, but I think the Delegation, Prioritization book was the most helpful. I had lots of those questions.... and passed!

NCLEX is nothing like any of the books I used - Saunders, ATI, Lippincott, Incredibly Easy. I felt as though I was guessing on most of the questions.

Best of luck to you!

i am going to joing your rant...tonight as i do practice questions, i can't remember anything about endocrine! s/s addisonian crisis? i thought i *knew* that!

What I have done to study this past 6 weeks---ATI focused review questions to see where I may need more help...watched a couple of videos about these particular subjects. Then I got the blue Saunders' book that is in Suzanne's plan and put in the review cd...have done about 3700 of those questions...plus all the ATI. Maybe it's a little OCD, I don't know. I feel like with all the question practice that it is helping me "think more like a nurse" rather than bombarding my head with information. There is no way I could know every single thing!!! If I can use my best judgment, I think I will be okay...at least according to the questions I've been doing so far in practice.

I take the NCLEX on Sunday the 8th. I'm scared to death, primarily because two girls on our floor flunked it (I'm working as a nurse tech) and have been badmouthing it left and right, also heard about a few other people who have failed and have called it "impossible." This fuels my studying even more. I've been talking to another nurse tech on the floor telling her not to listen to the rumors because they are not helping us and to stay positive. I'm hoping this will get me through, I can't afford it to flunk!!! I also feel like I'm losing skills (you don't do anything nurse like as a grad nurse at my hospital), so 45 more days is not going to help....just gotta take the bull by the horns =)