What/how to study for NCLEX

[dannygirl04]

I can't take the NCLEX til mid December at the earliest. I have only two clinical classes this semester, no book or theory classes. So I'm trying to use this time to study for NCLEX so I can take the minute I'm able to. We use ATI for school (will take the ATI predictor test Dec 10). So far every ATI test I've taken at school I've scored a level 3 on. I was thinking about buying the NCLEX RN Mastery app for my phone and doing that. Any thoughts on what to study or how to study? I have to pass this the first time as I have a job waiting for me after graduation and if I fail I can kiss my job goodbye.

[yedwards42, BSN, MSN]

Hi ~

I took NCLEX in August (and passed at 102 questions) and studied almost two months with several resources: HURST, Kaplan, NCSBN, Saunder's and La Charity PDA. I also used the 35 page study guide "cheat sheet" here for some general information. Overall, are you a visual or book learner? If visual, you may like HURST for review of content as the live classes and videos are great. Kaplan is also great - I found it very helpful for content review (though there videos are very long and boring so I reviewed the book). What was most helpful from Kaplan is their strategies/decision tree, qtrainers/qbank and also their question videos! Their question videos are comprised of about 300 questions (in sets of 10 or something) and they review with you how to break apart the question and to evaluate/eliminate the answers! Very good info and strategies! Saunder's is great for content!! I used it to reinforce core concepts from Hurst and Kaplan (Saunder's is more broad and dotted the i's and crossed the t's). Excellent for content (and fundamentals/procedures which you need on NCLEX) . Saunder's questions are easy though provide reinforcement to each chapter you study. I didn't study the medication chapters - just body systems and fundamentals. NCSBN is made by NCLEX - excellent for questions and content. I think the q's are very similar to NCLEX. Lastly, La Charity is great for the priority/delegation questions on NCLEX (I probably got 20 questions on NCLEX). Definitely know what RN/LVN/UAP's can do and which patients you would see first (acute and unstable versus chronic and stable). Overall, I used a lot of resources, though I knew NCLEX was a broad exam and wanted to go into the test knowing "bits of everything".

NCLEX is a bit hard to study for, though if you know important core content, fundamentals, procedures (IV, TPN/PN, administering eye/ear drops, dressing and wound care, catheters, bed pans, etc.) infection control (very important - know what diseases are airborne, droplet and contact and if the door should be open or closed and what PPE to wear), common med's and medication classes (including herbals - garlic, gingko, kava, st johns wort, etc.). Priority and delegation q's are common on NCLEX. Lastly, some q's are "obscure" on NCLEX - having strategies down will help you eliminate wrong answers guiding you to the correct answer!! Look for subtle clues in the q and answer choices to guide you. :)

Best of luck in choosing resources that work best for you. With hard work and elbow grease you can pull NCLEX off!