How long should I study for the NCLEX?
Cathy gave herself two months post-school to study for her NCLEX. But it's up to you to gauge your understanding and how well-prepared you are. It also depends on your schedule and the other demands in your life. Some people have full-time availability, some part-time, and some have to take the precious moments where they can.
As Cathy notes in the video, if you come out of nursing school feeling like, "I got this!" then a month or so might be fine. Take some practice tests.
If you feel like you're behind in certain subjects as far as key concepts, and you want to solidify your knowledge, then give yourself more time. Flashcards are an excellent way to commit nursing concepts to memory and the NCLEX pack has the knowledge you need to help you pass the NCLEX.
Here's what one student had to say:
"I passed the NCLEX. I don’t know how to thank you enough Level Up RN! Your flashcards saved me. I even asked for an extension before the NCLEX so that I could study them. They helped me a lot. In fact, the books did not make sense to me until I decided to buy the cards. I created a schedule and studied every day so that I could understand the material very well, and when I was ready I went in and nailed the exam. I am so glad I made this choice. Thank you so much."
The Ultimate Nursing School Survival Kit - Flashcards
Whenever you schedule your NCLEX, be aware that people often cancel their appointments 24-72 hours out from their exam. So if you feel prepared and you want to pick an earlier spot, you can usually pick one of those up.
Some students have noted that NCLEX spots in their area were booked solid and they didn't have a choice but to schedule several months out. Try to be familiar with the availability in your area, before the time when you think you might be ready.
1 comment
Hi Ms. Cathy, I would like to thank you to your videos which helps me a lot to understand some procedures that is not clear to me, specially I am on online school which most of time I am self-study. I bought all your flashcards while I was in the nursing program. I graduated last July 18, 2020. I am married with 4 children. During those time I am holding two jobs currently working as an LVN in the Veterans 12 hrs each shift and working in sub-acute 8hrs when I am off from Veterans. I only study when I get home from 8pm-1am in the morning. Woke-up at 5am to get ready to work. I wanted to take the NCLEX-RN as soon as possible. But due to pandemic the Pearson Vue was very full schedule. The soonest schedule that was available was October 15, 2020. I started studying full-time for one month before my exam, practice questions on Uworld and Nurse-achieve. NurseAchieve gave me confidence in taking the NCLEX which the question gives you an idea the level of the question from low, medium and high questions. I love NurseAchieve because you know when you are above passing score or below the line. I completed 30 Computer Adaptive Test (CAT) 75 questions and had “solid-pass and pass-pass.
October 15, 2020 @1pm my scheduled exam. Woke-up at 7am went out for jogging around the blocks in my house and had brunch. My husband drop me to Culver City Pearson Vue around 12:45pm and got inside the exam room. When I started my exam I was not nervous at all. The only thing I was focusing is writing how many select all the apply questions I am getting. I got 35 select all that apply questions, 1 calculation, 3 cardiac rhythm, 1 picture, 2 drag and drop, and lots of prioritization and delegations. I end-up to 75 questions. To me the questions are vague. So I went home and feel like empty. I can’t described how I feel that time. I could not sleep all night thinking the result of my exam. The next day I decided to check my results in the website. I saw “PASS” with the LICENSED Number in it. I cried out loud! I was very happy. I feel like I am the happiest person on earth. I DIDI it. Yes you can do it too. To you that are going to take the NCLEX you must watch Ms. Cathy Parkes videos first to enlighten your knowledge. Sorry for the very lengthy story.