Urgent help needed regarding the NCLEX...

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Hello guys,

My girlfriend just took the NCLEX and had 75 questions; unfortunately, she failed. She is devastated by this, and I promised her Id help her pass this exam. She is a very bright girl who graduated from a top university in the area, and I know she can do this. I was hoping I could get some input on a possible strategy. She used Kaplan, and used the videos and questions. Is there a different path she can take that many people have had success with? I know from personal experience, when I was studying for my MD boards, I personally didnt like Kaplan; perhaps she just needs a different medium. So, I guess Im wondering what tried and true strategy she can use. She was accepted into NP school, and she must pass these boards! Thanks guys!

Specializes in LTC.

I second the above, ATI is what my school uses and its kept my skills sharp as well as had loads of review modules. Check it out!

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Hey there,

I have gone through this phase and i know how it feels to fail being a bright student.I have given my NCLEX-RN exam twice once by using kaplan(i didn't like kaplan at all) and second with the saunders which is so vague(questions are so straight forward not even 1% like that of NCLEX).I did so many research on which review to take and in this forum i found so many people talking about Hurst review and finally decided to do that.Non of the review taught why the s/s occurs,why we use this,why not that.Really it's a great review to fresh up what u have studied in nursing.I have not given NCLEX-RN after using Hurst but going to appear soon.Will let u know how i did.

Gud luck for whtever u choose :)

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Specializes in Hospice.

Saunders is too 'easy' i think. I did the questions and read some of the review (which is more of an outline) but it didn't seem like the actual nclex.

My school also had us do Ati as well as the ATI predictor at the end. (which was similar to the nclex) I also passed at 75 as did many of my classmates. My school pass rate is 95 percent and the way they do that is introducing us to nclex style questions from the get go. I think the key for her is to find out what her 'downfall' was ......is it that she doesn't know her content or she doesn't know how to answer the question..... those are two very different problems and they need to be addressed differently. If she already knows the content well and it was the question format that hurt her...... learning more content is just going to cause her to overanalzye the questions and talk heself out of the correct answers...kwim? if its a content issue than memorizing questions isn't going to help. she really needs to figure out what to focus on before she jumps in.

I read the hurst review book and i liked it better than saunders. it was very simple and gave strategy. I hate to tell you this but the kaplan questions are the most 'like' nclex out of all of them. Good luck

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My school also did the ATI and i was not too impressed, although i did complete all of the exams plus some extras... after i graduated i took the kaplan, wasnt crazy about the structure of thier program, alot of time consuming, but did most of those questions too, my final strategy was to do the ncsbn program for 3 wks before i tested it can be found at www.learningext.com.. it was the most like the nclex; wording and all... I wish her luck!!! its a very intimidating process and i would of bet a million dollars i had failed, but maybe all those questions helped more than i thought... Persistance is key!!!

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Specializes in OB/women's Health, Pharm.

Be aware of one pitfall as you help her. The questions are written from a nursing point of view, and are based on the nursing process, not medical knowledge. Therefore, looking at questions from your medical point of view may lead her down the wrong path.

As a nursing educator, I have had smart students fail NCLEX. It seems like there are several factors behind this: over-thinking or over-analyzing the questions is one. Another is doing "Yes, but..." and adding a twist to the situation presented, either by comparing it to a similar situation encountered in clinical or to a thinking about a rare "zebra" possibility.

I correctly predicted that one student who graduated with a high GPA would fail NCLEX. She constantly argued with us over the answers to exam questions; she was more interested in being right or in making her point than in understanding that while yes, she was partially or technically right, her answers were too narrow, or were not the best choice.

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Thank you ALL for your responses. I can't tell you how helpful all of your responses have been! I think we have decided on a plan; she is doing Saunders for content, and all of the Prioritization and Delegation questions; in addition, she is going to do all 7 of the Kaplan module tests (which she hasnt done yet). What do you guys think of this plan? Again, thank you all!

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Specializes in Cardiovascular.
thank you all for your responses. i can't tell you how helpful all of your responses have been! i think we have decided on a plan; she is doing saunders for content, and all of the prioritization and delegation questions; in addition, she is going to do all 7 of the kaplan module tests (which she hasnt done yet). what do you guys think of this plan? again, thank you all!

i think that is definitely a good plan. i personally loved kaplan and did all the questions in the qbank and all 7 of those tests as well as any other questions i could find on kaplan. she definitely needs to do all 7 of those tests because they have short ones and ones that go all the way up to 265 questions and that will teach you how to sit for that long and do an exam. i think the questions on kaplan are very similar to the nclex. i also skimmed the book they give you to look at content i wanted to brush up on. tell her to do as many questions as she possibly can before test day. i got to over 4000 and passed with 75 questions in june. search on here the infection control mnemonic..it is so helpful and half the reason i probably passed that test. she must know infection control. tell her to read a test strategies book to maybe help with the stress of re-testing. i loved my saunders q&a review book (its bright orange) because the question is right next to the answer and the rationale is right there too, so it is better than flipping to the back for answers cause its quicker! also, tell her with any book to use the cd as well, because i felt it was better to experience as much computer testing as possible to get used to it. tell her to take a lil break to relax and re group than start over again. good luck to her! hope this helps a little! :)

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Specializes in NONE.

DrJoey,

It's not really about how many questions you do in preparation for the NCLEX RN exam. Can I ask you, how long your girlfriend each question on the actual NCLEX RN when she took it? That should make a difference. The reason why I'm asking this is because the time in answering per question relates to your instinctive or intuition in handling a healthcare related "situation." Meaning, on the boards, if you take more than a certain amount of time and your answer if wrong, at least the computer will give you the "benefit" of the doubt. I feel that your girlfriend and I are in the same situation as well as the rest of future NCLEX RN test takers. She has to definitely go with her "gut" on what the answer is and move on, without hesitation. I can promise that she will have a different RESULTS OUTCOME the next time she takes the NCLEX RN exam. I did not do any questions at all. I did no Kaplan review, Hurst review, or any review sessions at all. Everyone is different. I was like your girlfriend, top of the class, and determined to go to NP school. The only thing that saved me I think with my heart is that I answered the questions around 1-1.5 minutes each, answered the EASY or simple questions right 1000% (I took 2-3 minutes for these questions), and did not PANIC or get FRUSTRATED. The other thing that saved me was the notes on the FACTS THROWING FORUM. It has soo many mnemonics that helped me alot on the boards. I studied only 2 QUALITY days of studying those FACTS THROWING FORUM NOTES and the ATI Comprehensive RN Review study booklet. The main thing I think that is important is to know the BASICS and these 2 items will BUILD YOUR CONFIDENCE IN BASICS/FOUNDATION. Doing questions are great, I love them but the boards won't ask you REPEATED CONCEPTS!!! Because that would be tooo easy, everyone would pass and not complain or feel STRESSED OUT after the test. They want to make it impossible. But believe me, if you know the basics and NOT PANIC after reading the first question, and questions thereafter and keep it together, you will PASS! Remember you got ACCEPTED to NP school like me, so there's no difference between our levels of intelligence. My info, I passed with 75 questions, had lots of SATA, 1st priority questions. Also, I focused on my weak areas. I got tested on my weak nursing areas 1000%. Don't waste your time studying your strengths! Study your WEAK areas. MEMORIZE YOUR WEAK AREAS LIKE A BOOK. Don't be passive (you know what I mean)! Study like as if you REALLY WANT it. When I studied for this test, I had a PURPOSE. And it was to actually know and remember in verbatim just in case a REAL patient ASKS ME about something, you know what I mean. HAVE FUN WITH YOUR STUDIES, don't make it BORING. That's how you remember. Dr. Joey, you know what I mean, the MD boards are no joke, I know that for sure. Bottom line, make it FUN to get it in and no matter how SIMPLE something is, make sure you know it to HEART! Sorry if I wrote a long message. I think this forum has saved me alot and I wanted to contribute. Everyone who comes here are future RN's no matter what the NCLEX RN board says. That test only tests your WILL and not what you really know! GOOD LUCK with your next NCLEX RN exam. I have NO DOUBT you will PASS it!!!!

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I am not a good "test taker" but, I studied Saunder's content review book and did over 3000 questions between that book and the Saunder's Q&A book. I passed on the first try with around 85 questions. I will say the questions in the Saunder's books are very similar so I ended up wishing I didn't spend the money on the Q&A book. The content review is a lot of information but, I found it very helpful and think it was worth taking the extra time reading through it. I would go to the back of each section in the book and answer the questions. Then, I would go on the CD and do a one section quiz (like endocrine for example). I would read in the content book the sections where I did poorly. I think this approach helped me pass that test. I started reading other books but think I was getting too bogged down with too many different things. I don't think any books are exactly like the test but her girlfriend has an advantage now because she knows the kinds of questions to expect. Good luck to her, she can and will do it. :)

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Wow guys, thanks so much. I sincerely appreciate each and every one of your responses. You have all been wonderful; if all nurses are this nice, my residency will be sooooo much easier :) You have certainly alleviated a lot of her stress, and I'm confident she is on the right path now. By the way, the reason she isnt on here posting herself is that her computer has been in repair for 2 weeks now (my gosh, I dont think I could live, lol)!! Being the nice bf that I am, Im trying to do as much as I can to help her; when I was studying for Step 1 and both parts of my Step 2, Im sure I wasnt an easy person to get along with, so Im hoping to repay the favor now. Hope she appreciates me, lol. In any event, thank you all so much. It's refreshing to see people who genuinely want to help. God bless!

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