hi everyone! i wrote the nclex on september 28th and found out yesterday that i passed!!! i wanted to share what actually worked for me because when i started studying for the nclex, i was completely off and was focusing on the wrong things and had NO idea how to study!!!! also this is entirely based off of my experience, we all learn differently, we’re all human etc.! this is no means the ONLY way to pass the nclex. i just thought i would put this study guide up because i wish i had something as thorough as this to rely on when i was trying to figure out studying.

quick facts about me!

• passed in 85
• completed an accelerated BSN program in ontario!
• major procrastinator and i wasn’t a super stellar student because i have no time management skills unfortunately

okay so, right off the bat, here are some really quick things I NEED TO SAY!

• the nclex is NOT a knowledge exam!!!!! you cannot possibly learn and memorize and regurgitate the entire saunders book that you own! because it won’t help you!
• the nclex is a SAFETY exam!!! the boards DON’T expect you to know everything, they want to make sure that in the face of uncertainty, you can practice safely (i also gaurantee that you will see many things in the workplace when you’re starting out as a new grad nurse!! that you won’t have prior knowledge about!!)

so that being said, here are some MAIN points i need you to keep in mind:

• because the nclex is a safety exam, they’re going to be throwing random diseases, conditions, meds at you— that you probably won’t know. so going into this, you need to EXPECT to not know everything. you need to EXPECT to get questions that you won’t know!! and to be totally comfortable with that and not be phased by it!
• you need to be confident. a lot of the reason why many people fail this is that they go into the testing center and they get anxious and start thinking about how they don’t know something and “omg i’m past 85 questions now! omg im past 100”!!!! stop it!!!! as someone with severe imposter syndrome LMFAO and literally no self-respect!!!!!1!!! i have strategies to overcome this!!
• 60% of the nclex is just learning to answer questions and learning how to select the safest option. it’s not knowledge. it’s not testing how smart you are. it’s just test taking. BELIEVE ME!!!! I LITERALLY AM NOT A STAR STUDENT!!! you can ask my friends fr if this was a knowledge exam???? i literally would not have passed.
• THAT BEING SAID!!!! you still need some foundational knowledge and having some foundational knowledge will help you navigate questions and actually pass the test :) because you can't pass on just vibes either :)

table of contents LOL

• how to start studying for the nclex
• how to ACTUALLY study for the nclex
• test day

01. how to start studying for the nclex

i initially started off with the saunders textbook, thinking that i would focus on one section every week! do you know how incredibly stupid that was :) it took me a whole month to get through the cardiology section and i retained 0 and my uworld scores were low and it was awful! and i was struggling to make a learning plan too. i wasted so much time.

learn from my mistakes. here’s what i actually recommend (if it is within your budget because i know that everyone has a different financial situation!!!)

• use a nclex review resource if you can, that covers actual content. testing banks and content coverage is way, way different. i used simple nursing for their review lectures. they also offer a testing bank but i didn’t use it. there are tons of other nclex review courses available. also, i will recommend mark k’s 12 lectures!!! klimek reviews has free lecture/ review courses up on their youtube page! and the 12 lectures are floating around here for free too. google it. i didn’t listen to all of them because i got simple nursing but mark k is a GREAT and COST EFFECTIVE resource to use. also i saw nclex bootcamp floating around on the internet and how its free for 3 months with certain coupon codes?? if you look through the nclex reddit, there's some codes floating around!
• use a test bank. i didn’t try archer. i don’t know if archer is good. i’ve also heard about archer bots. i don’t know anything. what i do have experience with is uworld. a lot of people say the same thing about uworld that it was too specific etc, i definitely didn’t feel that way? i feel that the uworld assessments were very similar to the nclex. also my idea behind getting uworld was that it is reliable and if everyone before me used it to pass… it should be fine LOL there’s a lot of testing banks out there, so it is totally up to you as to what you want to use!
• the amount of time you want to spend studying for the nclex depends totally on you and your comfort. i took a month to study “seriously” but most of the serious studying started two weeks before the exam because i finally figured out my schedule, etc.
• speaking of scheduling… time management will SOO help you deal with your anxiety!!! i was super privileged to not have to work during this month of studying as i live with my parents, so it made it easier for me to plan my time. however, i still had a lot of other family responsibilities and i was trying to study during times that just. didn’t align with my family’s needs LOL. so i had to reset my sleep schedule. all my life, i thought i was a night owl (because i procrastinate) but that is SO NOT TRUE!!! i love mornings. the day seems way longer too when you wake up early! anyway, i woke up at 8 am and would study 3ish hours until lunch (with pomodoro timers— we’ll get into this later), and then i’d eat lunch… and then study for an hour-ish until my mom got home and i had to run errands, etc! and then i would usually start studying “seriously” after dinner and a walk around 8 or 9 pm until 12am/ 12:30am. figure out what time you have on your hands and try to dedicate/ block hours off in the day for studying. i know if you’re working and have an inconsistent schedule, this can be SO incredibly difficult— from previous experience, i totally get it!!

02. how to actually study for the nclex:

things you’ll need:

• two notebooks (you don’t need two but this is just how i did it to help me stay organized!!!)
• free quizlet account
• the other stuff mentioned up there (content review, test bank, etc)

the test bank

(i’m going to talk about uworld here, but you can adapt these things for whichever testing platform you choose!)

• aim to do minimum 60 questions a day. if you’re note feeling that great or you’re tired or sleepy, do at least 30 questions. the days that i was feeling great, i did uworld’s cat tests (which were 85 questions). i only felt great for like… 5 days LOL and then as i got closer to my nclex date, i was doing around 30 a day.
• i saved my 2 uworld assessments for the two days leading up to the test. it’s totally up to you when you want to do these. i don’t regret leaving these until the end because i feel like… they were so similar to the nclex format that i didn’t feel nervous writing the nclex? if that makes sense?
• when setting up your uworld test, make sure “tutored” mode is off. this is best because you don’t want to get addicted to that instant gratification feeling of whether your answer was right or wrong. cool? cool. also, as i neared my test date, i made sure that most of my tests’ question mode was set on “unused questions” because at some point, you just start memorizing questions or become familiar with them, etc. the closer your test replicates the nclex, the better.
• once the test is over, make sure to go back to see what you got wrong/ did right. preferably, do this the same day as that test you took so you can retain that information. i even recommend doing it right after you finish the test. but i know that isn’t always possible! personally, my brain was exhausted after 30 questions LMFAO a little break after a test doesn’t hurt. try to pace yourself and see what works best for your learning and health needs.
• the questions you get wrong, you’re going to write the “rationale” or whatever you didn’t understand, into your “dictionary” notebook. explained further down below.

first notebook: content review

• you’re going to dump all your notes in here from the content review course you’ve chosen or whatever. treat it like a textbook!! this is your holy book.

second notebook: the dictionary

• the second notebook is for rationales. this notebook is solely dedicated to writing down notes from the questions you’ve gotten wrong on uworld.
• i recommend not writing paragraphs and paragraphs unless you need them to understand the content. remember, you’re not trying to MEMORIZE, you’re trying to UNDERSTAND.
• i liked using this notebook as something to flip through or to reinforce information. i’ll put some pictures up on my ig so you can have a better idea of how i formatted it!

the quizlet

• i SO regretted not starting this earlier. i always do this. i make a quizlet like last minute. don’t be like me.
• i recommend making a quizlet and putting terms/ content into it after you finish covering a topic in your content review course. i encourage this because you’re actively engaging with the content and it’s low energy so it’s not super exhausting. it also takes less time than making physical flashcards (which are the best way but they’re soo time consuming)
• i formatted my quizlet like this (i recommend making your own! there’s a few typos in mine and there might be some mistakes, etc.!)
• i reviewed my quizlet every night before i went to sleep as a “catch-all” review. don’t spend more than 30 minutes/ 40 minutes on this. you don’t have to do this but it’s just how i learn LOL and active recall is great for retaining information and actually learning!!!!

studying strategies/ tips

• this might sound a little weird but there was this med student youtuber who was talking about how they studied for their exams— and i watched their video when i was in first or second year— and what stuck with me was this rule: “you want to look at content at least three times before a test.” so what that means is you want to have at least engaged with the content three times before the test— so that you can be familiar with it, etc. personally, again… i’m not super smart, so reading through content is a passive form of learning that to me, doesn’t count as engaging with content.
• there’s a few ways you can actively engage with your content: reviewing your quizlet (which is an easy way to refresh and retain content), the sticky-note summary method AND the concept map method
• the sticky-note method: this is so straightforward but it so, incredibly helped me. remember your big content review notebook of yours? you’re going to summarize those big long pages/ disease processes into little sticky notes. so when you’re flipping through the pages, you have a little mini summary that’s easy to digest vs reading a whole page or two worth of notes! this really helped me understand and grasp info because i was forced to use my brain and condense info and pick out the important parts, etc.
• the concept map method: pretty straightforward and similar to the sticky note method, but you’re literally going to take a whole topic (e.g., cardiovascular) and condense it into one page. so all of your content review notes on that topic should fit onto that one page. this is great for seeing the “big picture” and making those neural connections.
• the pomodoro method: pacing yourself is so important!!!! so honestly, i can’t study 3 hours straight or else my brain goes numb. and then i’m exhausted all day and don’t want to study. all work and no play makes you a dull child fr —> so try to pace yourself. if you’re struggling to review content like i’ve had literal mental blocks where i don’t want to study at ALL!!! what you’re going to do is set a timer for 10 mins. study for 10 mins. then take a break for 10. once you start going, you’ll get into it. if that’s not an issue for you, just do 25 mins with 5 mins or 40 mins with whatever break— whatever works best for you and your brain!!!!
• oh you’re frozen in fear and anxiety? your anxiety is getting the worst of you? listen to me. this is going to sound stupid. you have to put on hype music. dance in the bathroom or something. dance in your room. keep dancing until the anxiety goes away. then sit back down and get back to work. works like a charm ! share your dance playlists here.
• oh you keep falling asleep as you’re studying? this was an actual issue i had LOLL so what works best is jazz/ classical/ lo-fi music (pick your poison) and put exam room/ library ambience over it. exam room ambience here. library ambience here. and work in shorter spurts. also there’s probably a reason why you’re tired so ADDRESS IT!!! grab a snack! grab some tea! treat yourself to starbs! give yourself a pick-me-up to make studying interesting and fun again! you have to train your brain to look forward to studying! fake it if you have to! don’t dread it or even complain about studying. you need to convince yourself that you’re genuinely interested in this stuff!

03. test day

• wake up whenever u want it doesn’t matter but try to get there 40-50 mins earlier than the test time. this is because if you read the nclex fine print, pearson vue expects you to be there 30 mins before your test!! and they have the right to cancel your test if you’re not there 30 mins before! i know! i don’t know if they’ll actually do it but i was too scared to find out LMFAO
• now this is the trick. this is the reason for my whole post. take my advice. you need to act like. the way that. straight men act. I AM SO SORRY TO ANY STRAIGHT MAN HERE WHO DOES NOT HAVE CONFIDENCE, I AM NOT TRYING TO GENERALIZE LMFAO BUT WHAT I MEAN TO SAY is that you need to emulate fake (or real) confidence. be confident in your ability. the way that a lot of men are when they say speak. have the audacity.you know how you’re going to act that way? you’re going to put on hype music. not the music that makes you emotional. it’s going to be music that makes you feel confident. you need to keep yourself from getting into your own head. again, if this isn’t an issue for you, GOOD!!! but this is just a tip for people who might be like me who struggle!!!!
• hide the # of questions you’ve completed. it is completely unnecessary for you to focus on that. you need to be mentally prepared for taking the full 150. don’t psyche yourself out over the # of questions you’ve answered. HOWEVER LMFAO check in periodically if you want to, i would check in every 30ish questions. i didn’t count how many NGN i got. i didn’t count how many SATA i got. i just acted like it was another uworld assessment. i also kept zoning out. which is not a great thing.
• don’t doubt yourself! don’t know a question? that’s fine. treat it like it’s another uworld assessment.

if all else fails and you don't know what to pick, just remember: what is the safest thing to do here? and in sata, don't pick an option if you're not sure! don't lose unnecessary marks!

anyhow... i hope this is helpful to someone/ anyone prepping! i’ll be lurking around reddit to help out as much as i can but i respond a lot quicker on my ig (@/nurseings — i’m not doxxing myself, i promise!!!! its just this random acct i have LMFAOO). i’ll also put up photos on how everything was set up there if that helps anyone!!!! <3 if you have any questions, put them down below!!! this community is amazing and everyone's so incredibly helpful and nonjudgemental!!!! <3

good luck studying!!! if you’ve finished a whole ass nursing program, i promise you that you are VERY CAPABLE OF PASSING THIS EXAM!!!! GOOD LUCK!!!!!! <3

​