6 Year Break and Now Studying for NCLEX

caliotter3 · May 18, 2009

I would suggest you consider a live review to help get jump-started. It would instill confidence as you start to recall stuff you never thought you would remember. At any rate, you should be able to do it as long as you put forth hard effort and do not give up. Wishing you good luck.

Filerook · May 18, 2009

Hello! I was in a similar situation, perhaps.

I first took (and passed in 75 questions) the NCLEX ten years ago. Because my RN license was inactive for five years, I was required to retake the NCLEX in order to restore my license to active status.

It had been a while since I studied all this stuff -- I graduated from nursing school in 1998 -- so I was kind of nervous about it. But I used Saunders, and tried to do 100 questions a day, and found that it really did all come back.

I retook the NCLEX last Friday, and passed -- again with 75 questions. I am probably one of the few people out there who has taken and passed that test twice :) I do think it is harder than it was 10 years ago, but I think it can still be passed by anyone who can get through nursing school! Obviously, it is important to know the material, but I think it is also important to know the test -- exactly what the question is asking, how the possible answers are worded, and hints one can gain from the words that are used.

Best of luck to you!

pers · May 19, 2009

I graduated ten years ago and never took the NCLEX and am currently studying to take it in a couple of months. I'm using Saunders (4th edition), Kaplan Strategies 2010, and the Priority and Delegation book by LaCharity. I will most likely end up using Kaplans online course as well but not 100% decided yet.

I'm having a similar experience with things coming back. In some ways though, I think it's worse! Almost everything feels familiar but it's not quite there if you know what I mean. I was never much for studying so this is challenging to say the least.