Welcome back to TCBSN! I'm officially writing to you all as a licensed registered nurse now and I cannot believe we are finally here. A ton of you were requesting my detailed study plan and statistics when it came to preparing for the NCLEX-RN exam. This post is being made to give you an in depth view of my studying time, habits, methods and statistics. I really hope this post can help some of you find a structured study plan to help you crush the NCLEX-RN! Here is what I did to prep and ultimately pass the NCLEX in 60 Qs:
1. The resources I used: I know its an age old debate on which resources to use for your NCLEX-RN prep. Honestly, I was so overwhelmed figuring out which would be best for myself. I heard about Kaplan, Saunders, UWORLD, etc. the list just continued on. I didn't know if I should use one, two, three, or all of them. Ultimately, I ended up purchasing the 60 day UWORLD plan. This plan retails at $159 and contains a test bank of 2000+ questions as well as one Self Assessment. I originally was between purchasing the 30 day plan (which has no Self Assessment) however I would strongly recommend making sure to purchase the 60. Although it is expensive, this is the ONLY you heard me... ONLY resource I used during my NCLEX studying and having the Self Assessment made all the difference in the end. I would highly suggest using one resource to study for your NCLEX. UWORLD is in my eyes the best of the options. The questions allow you to note your trends and weaknesses and practice NCLEX style written questions while you review. 2. Starting studying with UWORLD: I studied/used UWORLD for a total of 5 weeks. I began the week after I graduated. I think its really important to note to not give yourself too long of a break in-between graduation and studying for NCLEX. I'm really glad I was strict on myself with this as I was already in study mode from the end of the semester. It wasn't hard to continue on versus trying to motivate myself to start after being off if that makes sense. Originally, I was doing a mixed amount of 60 question quizzes. However, I highly recommend breaking these questions up into groups by specialty. I would tackle a specialty every few days i.e. OB, Med Surg, Pediatrics, Critical Care until I ran out of those questions. This really helped me see where my weaknesses were in each specialty when it came to reoccurring trends on disease processes or medications. 3. How I used the UWORLD quiz bank: I averaged around 120-180 questions a day. I felt like this was the perfect amount of questions as it allowed me to do 2-3 tests (60 Q per test) and really review the content. Its important to make sure to retain the information. Doing more than this amount a day caused me to lose focus and ultimately waste questions as I wasn't in the right mindset to retain anymore info. All in all this left me studying for approximately 3-4 hours a day. 4. Rationales, rationales, rationales: UWORLD rationales are seriously the BEST thing I have ever seen. Not to be dramatic, but this is what made all the difference for me haha. The rationales are set up on each question in the quiz bank to really help you understand why the answer you chose was correct or incorrect. The rationales break down the background knowledge and pathophysiology you need to answer the question. They also break down the rights and wrongs of each answers. Every time I finished a quiz, I would go back through and read through the rationale of the questions I missed. I created a binder in which I would write the main concept and then condense the information I needed to remember underneath. For example when it came to disease questions I would miss, I would write down the diagnosis, patho, symptoms, causes, treatments. This was a condensed version that was written in my own words. Writing and condensing the rationales in your own words really help to make sense of them in your mind easier and make sure you're not writing meaningless information. I would continue to read through my binder everyday and add more pages every time I took new tests. This ultimately is what helped me retain the information the most and helped me get further questions on the topics correct in the future. 5. My UWORLD scores and percentiles: Now this is what everybody asks. I am honestly so happy to share this information with you all in hopes that it will help you all feel motivated in your studying! I want to note: UWORLD predicts a pass when you score around 60s and upwards on your quizzes. When I began UWORLD, my scores for the first two weeks were averaging in the 50s. I had a few high 40s and a couple low 60s if I got a really good batch of questions. But I found myself really stressing myself out about how low I was scoring. I continued to keep at my method and eventually within the third week, I saw an improvement of my scores. By the time I finished my entire quiz bank, I was scoring around 65s-75s. After this, I decided to retake the quiz bank again. I wanted to see if I had retained the information I had been studying in my binder and from writing out rationales. Once I completed my quiz bank for a second time, I was scoring in the 75s-85s. I started my quiz bank in the 42nd percentile. I ended my quiz bank after the second time being in the 80th percentile rank. 6. Self Assessment and my scoring: The self assessment I took one week before my test date. I made sure to sit this exam as if it were the REAL deal with full concentration and no distractions. Now this assessment contains 100 questions that are timed. Once the assessment is over, it predicts your likelihood of passing the NCLEX-RN. I scored a "High" chance on this assessment which gave me confidence in the hard work I had put in on the test bank. However, although I received a high chance I still made sure I remediated. I did the same method of going back through my questions and reading/writing out the rationales. I continued to review this binder until 3 days before my test. 7.Days leading up to taking the NCLEX: De-stress yourself. About 3 days prior to my test date I would skim my notes (and I mean skim) and then go and spend my day doing fun things or self-care related things. It allowed me to feel as refreshed as I possibly could. 8.Day of the NCLEX: Manifest, manifest, manifest lol. I made sure to get to my testing center early. I made sure to sit in my car and take some deep breaths. For me, I called my family members and had them give me a little pre-test pep talks and I literally spoke the words into existence: I will pass this test. Although I was SO nervous and knew how much was riding on this exam, I made sure to pump myself up and get myself into a positive mindset. Confidence is 50% of test taking so making sure to chill out my anxiety was key. Deep breaths got me through my test as well. As the questions got harder, I grew more frustrated. I would pause and breathe and then get my head back in the game (as Troy Bolton would say). 9. After the test: I literally felt like sh*t I'm not going to lie to you guys. I was certain I failed. The test felt impossible and I was certain I just hadn't done it. The next 48 hours were brutal. I stayed away from the Pearson VUE Trick because I had heard of it being not 100% reliable. I didn't want to rely on a trick that could have been misleading. I took my test Saturday morning and on Monday morning I woke up to my name on my states DOH licensure lookup. This was a guaranteed way of knowing I passed my test and I was so thrilled. Once my quick results were released that evening I made sure to double check and saw the "pass" as well. 10. Final thoughts: The anxiety behind this exam is so real. And I want you to all know that it's ok to feel all of the feels. I felt defeated, confident, doubtful, nervous, anxious, disappointment, failure ALL OF IT. But at the end of the day my hard work paid off and so will yours! Continue to keep studying hard and reviewing your weak points. This is officially the last obstacle you need to surpass in becoming an RN. I hope this post was helpful in explaining more in detail of how I managed to pass in 60! As always, feel free to drop a comment or shoot me a DM on insta with any further questions. You guys have got this!
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Let me tell y’all.... I wasn’t more petrified for anything in my life. This test was the real deal and I still can’t believe I managed to pass it. For those of you who don’t know, my school used a program called ATI and our exit exam is an exam called the “predictor”. This exam basically predicts your likelihood of passing the NCLEX. I ended up scoring a 97% and wanted to share my detailed study plan with you all in hopes it helps some of you!
My biggest tip to you all is PRACTICE QUESTIONS. I can’t tell you how many practice questions I did (approx 6000) and let me tell you this is where I saw the difference in myself. On the ATI site there is a section called Learning System 3.0 that contains approx 3000 questions as well as adaptive quizzes. What was cool about this section of ATI was that it gave me critical thinking questions and I was able to choose which categories of nursing I wanted to take. This helped me identify my weaker areas and from there I noted to myself to brush up on those. Seriously do as many questions as you can from wherever you can find them (stick to ATI only since information can contradict itself). I also did questions from the content review books after each chapter and a practice test in the pink NCLEX review book. READ RATIONALES. Even if you suck at ATI questions like I did when I started, read the rationales. They are so incredibly detailed and by doing this it helped me figure out where I was going wrong in the questions. I also made sure to note that if I got multiple questions wrong on a certain topic to write it down and review them. MEMORIZE THE LITTLE THINGS. Now I know ATI always loves to pull details. I made sure when it came to pharmacology and laboratory values to memorize those frequently asked over the years. I made sure to memorize the key things that differentiate the meds and memorize the lab value ranges so I could know if an answer was incorrect. Put them on flashcards and study them everyday. LEVELUPRN. If you guys are in nursing school and don’t know who Cathy Parkes is you are missing out! She’s an amazing nurse who gives great outlines and test taking tips and tricks. You can check out her summarized YouTube videos and they helped me a lot to review. I even used to listen to these walking to class, at the gym, or driving to school. DAY OF THE TEST. Breathe and do some serious heart math. Let me tell you I made sure to go in with a positive mindset. I was sick to my stomach but told myself this exam does not define me as a nurse. I knew my capabilities and I knew I was strong enough to be a good nurse. Have a good breakfast, a great night sleep, drink lots of water and focus in. YOY GUYS HAVE GOT THIS. Hi guys! Welcome back to the blog! I wanted to jump on here and share with you my current tips on balancing all of my classes this semester! Below are my top tips I’ve been using to plan!
1. Plan on Sundays: I love to start the next week by planning on Monday. By this I mean writing out every assignment, paper, test, etc for the week to come! 2. Color Coding: A new thing I’ve been doing is color coding! Now I know a lot of people do this by class, however for me I tend to highlight my most important assignments for the week. By most important I mean those that will take me the most time. For instance, this week I have a Literature paper due for my last elective class of undergrad (whoop whoop) and an exam in another class of mine. These types of assignments I’d highlight to make sure I remember to allow myself some extra time to focus on that. 3. Trick Yourself: You’re probably reading this point being like ??? But let me explain. Two of my classes tend to have all assignments due on the Monday or Sunday’s of weeks. What I do (only if my week is SUPER busy) is “trick” myself into thinking a certain assignment is due a couple days early that way I unintentionally let myself get ahead and don’t cram on Sundays. Some of you may have enough will power to get stuff done early but sometimes I push it off when I see blank boxes Thursday-Saturday. 4. Input in your phone: If you’re like me, sometimes assignments can slip your mind if they’re not online and are just mentioned randomly in class. I like to either make a note or make an event in my calendar app to remind me to either write it down in my planner or just remind me in case I forget to write it down...lol! It works though! These are my current tips ive been using for a while. It’s nothing fancy but it gets the job done and keeps me on track! What are your planning tips you have to live by? Sometimes my study sessions feel like they never end! There have been days I’m at the library from 10am-2am and comfort and efficiency is a total necessity to help me retain all of the crazy info we need to know as nurses. Here are some of my top tips and things I bring with me when I study to help me ace my exams! 1. Comfy clothes: Trust me the lib isn’t a place for a fashion show. I’ll wear sneaks with fuzzy socks, my comfiest leggings, a big sweatshirt and throw my hair in a bun. I find that comfort is KEY...especially if I’m going to be sitting there all day and night!
2. Caffeine: I either go for a tea or a coffee when I study but only keep it to one cup! This provides me with the alertness I need but takes away the potential of a caffeine crash! My go to Dunks order is an iced coffee with almond milk and caramel instead of sugar. 3. H2O: I can’t stress this enough! The more you drink the better you’ll study I swear. It helps my brain focus more when I’m super hydrated! I always go for a stainless steel swell or my fave Takeya USA bottle since it holds 32 ounces and keeps it ice cold for 12 hours! I highly recommend this especially if you’re drinking caffeine! 4. Snacks: I usually opt for healthy meals and reward myself with a special snack while studying! If you know me at all you know I have the biggest sweet tooth and love for any kind of gummy candy. I usually have something like this with me and I use it kind of like a reward system... read 10 pages, eat some gummies! It’s good incentive! 5. Index Cards/Quizlet: This is key for me when I have medical terminology, vocab, or important lab values to remember. Things that require straight memorization I tend to write on index cards or if I feel like using my laptop I’ll use Quizlet to make virtual ones! Quizlet is also great for sharing so a lot of my classmates and I will split these up and share the work of creating them! 6. Laptop: I use my laptop the most when I’m studying. I tend to use word documents quite a bit to type up study guides or take notes from my textbook. I’ll also use my laptop for my university’s Canvas website and any Ebooks I have! 7. Headphones: Tbh I study just as well with music than without but sometimes I like to block everything out. You ALWAYS get those annoyingly loud table of “studiers” that you need to block out so these are a major necessity for me! I use Apple Music and honestly it’s the best $4.99 a month (student deals) I spend I use it every single day. 8. ATI Review Books: Especially during exam season I seriously focus on these books. They’re the best things to study from (if your program uses ATI) and I have a feeling they’re going to be the best things to prepare me for clinical as well! 9. Chargers: This seems so simple and stupid to write but you wouldn’t believe the amount of times I’ve forgotten a charger and it is the WORST. I always pack my laptop charger since I constantly use it while studying and my phone charger! I never want my music to run out, my phone to die for safety reasons, or my laptop to die mid- research paper! First order of business is to plan! I like to map out when all of my quizzes, assignments, and most importantly exams are! I usually do this in my iPhone calendar, hand written planner, and canvas website! It may sound excessive but it ensures me that I’m highly unlikely to miss anything since it’s plastered everywhere. This way I can see if I have any exams falling on the same day and how many days/hours I have available to study!
Value understanding concepts over memorization. It is impossible to remember every drug, disease and symptom with how the body reacts. Instead, a lot of my friends and I came up with acronyms and shortcuts to help us. For example, in pharmacology we would note the prefixes and suffixes of the drugs and noticed that certain classes have the same ending. This helps group together things in your mind so you can actually understand them and recognize them come test time! In pre requisite classes like anatomy and pathophysiology, I try to focus on the etiology and what reactions are occurring in the body. It’s more beneficial to focus on the big picture but still remember the important details if they’re specific to the disease. Figure out what type of learner you are! For me, I’m a combined visual and auditory learner. I honestly recommend using any way of studying to help because it may come to a test question and you’ll be able to picture a graph or something your classmate said during a tutoring session. And finally I recommend using as many resources as you can throughout the semester such as:
These are my main tips I focus on when I study in order to cover as many areas as I can! It’s all about finding your groove and what works for you. Just remember everyone is different. What takes you one hour may take somebody else five hours and that’s totally okay. Just focus on succeeding and working as hard as you can and you’ll pass with flying colours! |