My experience showed that to successfully pass the NCLEX-PN exam is to start
preparing for the exam as soon as you finish your practical nursing program. It is not a good decision to postpone taking the NCLEX, as the more you wait the more you forget.
Before preparing for the exam I looked for the best books that money can buy to improve my chances of excelling at the exam. Some of the online or should I say most of the online searches yielded Saunders as one of the highly recommended book for the preparation. Since most of my classmates had bought the book, I also went with the same. I also bought the Kaplan review as it was the second best in the category to have something additional.
Saunder covers all the topics briefly emphasizing on things to remember. It was good for reviewing all the things which I had covered during the program. Also it came with a CD which has about 3700 questions...a good practicing tool which came with rationales and strategies. It helped me in understanding the questions and sharpening my strategies to answer those questions.
Dont expect the questions to come directly from the book....that is not the purpose. I am sure NCLEX knows what is in the market and they would surely will not give questions from these books. I was overwhelmed by the number of pharmacology questions in the CD, and at times thought of postponing the exam due to my inability to answer those questions. After giving it a thought, I decided to concentrate on the drugs which I had dealt with during my clinicals and during my nursing program. Also, I memorized the drug endings like lol, pril, etc to identify its classification, and using the knowledge about the physiology of the human body to answer the questions accordingly.
It took me about a month to prepare for the exam...covering 3-4 chapters everyday and doing the questions. I struggled few days before the exam as I was trying to finish the chapters and the questions... so please try to start early, planning your days before the exam. Dont stress on the last day....thats a no no...you will be too stressed to take the exam and make more errors. Eat well and take breaks once in a while. Taking a nap was the best break for me..it was rejuvenating.
Every exam is different depending on how you answer the questions. Therefore some may get more of one particular topic than the other. I was very fortunate to get a mix of everything....emphasis on the nursing priorities and what a prudent nurse is supposed to do in a particular situation. I will have to say this, the nursing program covered the relevant material which I needed to pass my NCLEX exam. So remember this, you know it, you just need to apply it.
preparing for the exam as soon as you finish your practical nursing program. It is not a good decision to postpone taking the NCLEX, as the more you wait the more you forget.
Before preparing for the exam I looked for the best books that money can buy to improve my chances of excelling at the exam. Some of the online or should I say most of the online searches yielded Saunders as one of the highly recommended book for the preparation. Since most of my classmates had bought the book, I also went with the same. I also bought the Kaplan review as it was the second best in the category to have something additional.
Saunder covers all the topics briefly emphasizing on things to remember. It was good for reviewing all the things which I had covered during the program. Also it came with a CD which has about 3700 questions...a good practicing tool which came with rationales and strategies. It helped me in understanding the questions and sharpening my strategies to answer those questions.
Dont expect the questions to come directly from the book....that is not the purpose. I am sure NCLEX knows what is in the market and they would surely will not give questions from these books. I was overwhelmed by the number of pharmacology questions in the CD, and at times thought of postponing the exam due to my inability to answer those questions. After giving it a thought, I decided to concentrate on the drugs which I had dealt with during my clinicals and during my nursing program. Also, I memorized the drug endings like lol, pril, etc to identify its classification, and using the knowledge about the physiology of the human body to answer the questions accordingly.
It took me about a month to prepare for the exam...covering 3-4 chapters everyday and doing the questions. I struggled few days before the exam as I was trying to finish the chapters and the questions... so please try to start early, planning your days before the exam. Dont stress on the last day....thats a no no...you will be too stressed to take the exam and make more errors. Eat well and take breaks once in a while. Taking a nap was the best break for me..it was rejuvenating.
Every exam is different depending on how you answer the questions. Therefore some may get more of one particular topic than the other. I was very fortunate to get a mix of everything....emphasis on the nursing priorities and what a prudent nurse is supposed to do in a particular situation. I will have to say this, the nursing program covered the relevant material which I needed to pass my NCLEX exam. So remember this, you know it, you just need to apply it.
Nclex is one tough hurdle to get over with. I strongly agree with Sameer, he has been a good friend and a brother like figure to me. If I have any doubts, I do turn to Sameer for advice and suggestion. Guys do not wait too long for NCLEX because the anxiety will build up more, and you will doubt yourself more.
ReplyDeleteAs Sameer said, Saunders is the book of choice. Personally, why didn’t we get this book at the first day of our class? The information are really brief and to the point. I would recommend this book to people who are taking NCLEX. Kaplan is good with strategies and test taking skills, but beside it is not as comprehensive as Saunders. I have seen people taking review classes and paying extra money, it is good to take it, if you could afford it. But for those like me, who are running short with finance, study the book and do the questions after. Beside the medication that we are familiar with, there were 1000 of drugs to study and their therapeutic effect and side effect as well as adverse effects. So for this I used the same formula as Sameer, that is breaking into groups for example, Drug ends with “N(ASE)” are thrombolytic – Striptokinase, Reteplase. So it was helpful, but is not a full proof.
“The first choice is always right”, I do believe in it. The first thing I did as soon as I saw the questions were to think of what do I know about this disorder, or medication, or disease process and then check the answer. I picked the answer that was my first choice. Every time you start rationalizing further, then you are more likely to change the answer. So think critically within the limits.
Lastly, Congratualtion Sameer and YES...We know it; all we need to do is apply it.