Preparing to take your Nclex test for nursing is bound to be one of the more stressful times of your life. In reality though, you have already made it through the most stressful time in school by passing your nursing classes and getting to the point where you are finally able to sit for your Nclex test. If you have made it this far, you should have enough basic information to pass the Nclex test after you spend some quality time taking an Nclex practice test ( or several hundred). I have searched the internet seemingly endlessly for the perfect Nclex practice test and have only been able to find short tests that were not worth my search time. I do however have two great places to get the best Nclex practice test questions to help you pass your Nclex and other nursing tests. I am currently going into my final semester for my RN degree and will utilize these particular references along with a little brush up on my not so great subjects before I sit for my Nclex.
CD Practice Test
I bought the Lippincott Nclex RN review book and have used it throughout my entire Nursing education. The book is full of practice test questions and has hundreds of more practice test questions for every specialty along with 5 comprehensive practice tests. I have a hard time with the book questions because I prefer an answer with the click of a button and I do not enjoy flipping pages to find the answer. The CD works best for me because it has several hundred practice test questions per subject and you can choose a review which gives immediate feedback or a test with a review at the end. I recommend going through each and every Nclex practice test question (on the CD) and reading the rationale regardless if you got the question correct or not. The key is to not simply memorize the answer to every possible Nclex practice test question but to know the rationale for why you would and for why you would not choose a particular answer. Once you have practiced with the CD to the point that you have memorized the answers, it is time to find another Nclex practice test to work on. I would also use the book that comes with the CD (or is it the CD that came with the book?) at this point and at least do the comprehensive practice tests along with practice questions for any subjects you struggle with.
Nclex 3500
I found a site several months ago with the Nclex 3500 and was able to use it off of a link that I found but that link no longer works (I will tell you how to find it!). Nclex 3500 has a practice test for each specialty that you can break down even further into sub-specialties and beyond. I have found that if you do a Google search for Nclex 3500 you can sometimes find a site where you can use the program for free. I was able to use it for free but as I stated earlier the link that I used is not longer valid. I used the different practice test options from the Nclex 3500 when studying for my third semester HESI and passed the test with a 917. I feel that I would have gotten and even higher score but I had a family emergency during the time that I was studying for the test. You can buy the Nclex 3500 software on Amazon.com for under $10, and I noted the new version is Nclex 4000 and is about $40. The majority of the reviews that I have read on this product are excellent and many students say that their schools make them use these as practice questions (homework) as a part of their nursing course.
Whatever you do, I am sure that if you put in the time and use the above mentioned Nclex practice test questions Cd’s and study guides you will be able to pass your nursing exams and your Nclex. I do recommend at least 40 hours of questions before you take the Nclex and even more if your final grades are marginal.
