When to being studying for NCLEX?

I just completed my first year of nursing school and find that I have used my NCLEX review books quite a bit. The professors recommend doing 500-1000 questions before each of our exams. I'm pretty sure that everyone in my class has at least 1 book, I have like 5! Books like Saunders and Med-Surg success/Fundamentals success are broken down so that you can just do questions related to what you are studying. On ALL of the nursing exams I have taken to date, there have been at least 3 questions that I recognize from the questions I have done on my own.

I started after I graduated with review books and a review on CD's that was wonderful...pass nursing school first then worry about reviewing...much easier to review when you know what to study

I haven't taken the NCLEX yet (going into senior year of nursing school) but I think you might want to hold off on starting the review books for a little while. NCLEX style questions take some getting used to and it's really good to practice them, but I don't think it would be helpful to do practice questions in content you haven't covered yet. There will probably be NCLEX style review questions at the end of the chapters in your textbook-- these are a great resource as they are specific to whatever you're studying. And as you progress, if you can do questions from a book that are broken up by subject matter that would be really good. But yeah, I think it would be wise to prioritize learning the content right off the bat and ease into the NCLEX questions as you know more about patho, pharm, and nursing management. I say this because I tried to take practice NCLEX tests and things like that before I took Med-Surg and it just confused me

I personally consider doing NCLEX questions during nursing school as a win win...I don't consider it studying for the NCLEX exam BUT more like studying for my nursing exams which are made up of NCLEX style questions. It's win win because while doing this I am also preparing myself for the NCLEX.

You will soon see that nursing exams are different than any of the exams that you took in your pre-req classes. In A&P you could study the book and do well. In nursing, simply knowing the facts will only get you so far. You need to be able to critically think. NCLEX review questions will help you with that.

The general consenus seems to be study information in the NCLEX book that is relevent to what you are studying in class...

I did them everyday from a variety of CD's, books, or flashcards (different friends purchased different ones and we shared them). Took the NCLEX in less than 45 minutes with 75 questions and passed on the first time! As we studied Fundamentals we did questions, as we studied OB we did questions and then would toss in previous topics we had studied to keep it fresh in our minds.

Many of the CD's like NCLEX 3500 will allow you to set up practice quizzes/learning mode from the topics you select-- fundamentals, GI, Cardio. etc.

Personally, I liked the Straight A's series- in depth, easy to read, the Incredibly Easy was silly/comics- you may like that, the Reviews and Rationales- intense, Saunders has excellent PN and RN Comprehensive books for review once you have read your textbook and learned the material.

Amazon has some great deals on books/flashcards b/c everyone has pretty much passed their NCLEX by now.

Good Luck!!

It varies on your learning abilities. I started studying two weeks prior to taking my NCLEX, doing the better part of 300 pages in a study guide the day before I sat for the exam, and passed the first time and only got 75 questions. That is NOT THE NORM. Also keep in mind I have been in my ICU internship and get constantly exposed to relearning some advanced material in our classes, quizzes, and on the job. So I was semi-studying this entire summer.

I would say the people doing 100 questions a day for 3 months are insane. A more realistic goal would be to sit down once or twice a week and do 100 practice questions, pick up on your deficiency areas, and as you get closer to your testing date, focus intently on those areas. Relearning stuff you know over and over is pointless when you're that close to your boards.

I reviewed my NCLEX study book throughout school to help me understand the info. in class and prepare for the tests. I used my NCLEX book to conincide with my school studying. It helped.

I graduated in May and started studying for the actual NCLEX a week after I graduated. I did Hurst and Kaplan and passed first time! Yahoo! I am now a working RN! Hooray! GOOD LUCK TO YOU!