I'm not much into posting in forums but I figured I should share my studying strategies that could possibly help others too.

I took the NCLEX the second time last January 10, 2012 and just found out today that I PASSED (officially)!!!=) I did the Pearson Vue trick that same day (Jan 10) about 3-4 hours after my exam and I got the good pop up saying "Our records indicate that you have recently scheduled this exam. Please contact your Member Board for further assistance. Another registration cannot be made at this time." The trick works..the first time I took my exam and failed, it went straight to the credit card page and I was able to make another exam registration.

I graduated last May 2011 and took the Kaplan 2-week review class in June. I DID NOT have any study plan or whatsoever and just relied on doing questions on Kaplan's Qbank. I DID NOT review any course content and did not even bother opening my course book. In other words, I wasn't taking my review preparation seriously. I was working full time and preparing for a wedding at the same time. I was only doing about 50-100 questions a day from the Kaplan qbank. I got married on August and scheduled my exam for Sept 23. I can honestly say that I wasn't prepared when I took my exam the first time. The screen shut off after 75 questions, and I know right there and then I was a FAILURE. I was DEVASTATED, felt HOPELESS, and even planned to not sit down in that testing center EVER AGAIN. I got traumatized just by seeing the testing site.

With the help of my husband, family, and friends, prayer, encouragement, and support got me back on my feet again. I left NY to join my husband for a business project in DC. I started to look through my stash of reviewers and stumbled upon a brochure for NCBSN Learning Extension NCLEX review. I decided to sign up for a 3-week review course on November and started reading through the course syllabus. I remember I read through all of the Management of Care, Safety and Infection Control, Health Promotion and Maintenance, and Psychosocial Integrity. I spent the WHOLE day reading through the material and got so exhausted with so much information. I figured I gotta have a STUDY PLAN so I started talking to ToyaRN here in learning extension community. She gave me very helpful studying tips and even shared some study cards. With her help, I was finally able to devised a STUDY PLAN.

I decided to start from a fresh slate and used Saunders Comprehensive Review for the NCLEX-RN for my review by systems. I followed NCBSN's syllabus and started with cardiac system. I did one system each day then pharmacology for that specific system the next day, and spent about 6-8 hours of studying. I did EVERY single question for the chapter review in Saunders and I supplemented it with other review materials:

1) NCSBN Learning Extension NCLEX 3-week review - I had to sign up for another 3-week review course because I ran out of time. I did ALL practice tests, read EVERY rationale, and I made sure I repeated each set of test if I didn't get 75%. I was only averaging 55-75% on my first try. The questions are VERY VERY similar with the one on the actual NCLEX examination. The question format and choices are very close to what you will have in the NCLEX. The week before my exam, I did a retake in some of the practice exam sets just to review some of the information and rationales.

2) LaCharity's Prioritization, Delegation, and Assignment - I finished all 8 chapters for review. This one is specifically recommended for prioritization questions. Every time I finish a system in the Saunders book, I made sure to do the questions in La Charity's book for the specific system.

3) NCLEX RN Exam-Cram (3rd edition) - I did all the practice exams in the book and got an average of 65-79% on each set of practice exams. The format of the questions and the level of difficulty is also similar to what you will have in the NCLEX.

4) NCLEX 3500 - This one is online and FREE. I did a lot of the Select All That Apply questions from here and it really helped me in my exam. The format of their SATA questions was very similar to the ones I had on the exam.

It would really help if you have a study plan for the NCLEX review. Doing a lot of questions really helps too, even when you're on the train or even before you go to bed. The day before my exam, I reviewed some of the topics that I need to refresh on like some GI disorders, endocrine disorders, cardiac, etc. I made sure I know my lab values too. Most importantly, I PRAYED long and hard. I asked God for wisdom and trusted Him more than ever. I scheduled my test at a different testing location this time to avoid any anxiety attacks.

The day of, I went on the internet and God reassured me with this inspiring passage - "Prayer is the difference between the best YOU can do and the best GOD can do." I tried hard to calm myself and reassured myself that I will walk out of that testing center with the title RN on my name. I said a little prayer before I touched the computer. My very first question was about Hep C and what situation would need follow up. The other topics that showed up in my exam were end stage renal disease, Huntington's disease, breast cancer risk factors, pancreatitis - what is important to ask during assessment? does the client have a high fat diet?, Cogentin side effects - urinary retention and decreased sweating, "-triptans" - is used for relief of migraines, Hib vaccine common side effects for an infant, Hemorrhagic CVA common S&S, Dilantin (phenytoin) common nursing interventions and s&s, Hypothyroidism/hyperthyroidism - common s&s (these were both SATA questions for me), postmortem nursing care (I had no idea about this so I would make sure that I would read on this too), insulin administration and peak times (I had a drag and drop question for the insulin administration), physical assessment on abdomen (drag and drop question). These are some of the type of questions that I got. My exam stopped at 77 questions, 22 of it were SATA, 2 drag and drop questions, 1 illustration, and about 10-15 prioritizing questions. I started my exam at 8:30am and I got out 11:40am. I utilized a 5minute break after 2 hours through the exam. I made sure that I read through the questions carefully and thought hard about each question before I moved on to the next.

I hope these study tips/pointers would help others. It was indeed a long journey...with discipline and dedication, you will achieve the same success. You can also SLAY THAT NCLEX DRAGON! Study hard, trust GOD, and BELIEVE THAT YOU CAN! Do your best and God will take care of the rest! You got through nursing school, and NCLEX is just like those other exams you've had in nursing school. With the right attitude and preparation, you will get through it too! God bless!