Saunders NCLEX Review: The Best Book To Pass The NCLEX

    I, like many of you, have stumbled upon many books, crammed upon so many topics that existed in nursing. There is a flood of information to browse in the internet like free tutorials and some helpful literature. One could also buy different kinds of books as their primary resource material in reading.  There is a vast array of references out there to the point that it gets hard to pick the best one.  And my best bet as to what book to buy is indeed - Saunders Comprehensive Review for the NCLEX-RN® Examination. These are the top reasons why this should be your best pick:

1.  Comprehensive yet simple.

The book is comprised of discussions of basic topics that are brief, yet comprehensive enough for the reader to understand.  It tackles the most basics topics in nursing like cultural health practices, ethics, delegation and anatomy up to the more complex ones like your medical-surgical nursing. The good thing about this book is that it maintains its simplicity. You could read a chapter or two without having to deal with mind boggling medical terms.

2.  Short compared to others.

Well, if there is one reason why others dislike huge, thick books is that they are indeed long, and time consuming to read. That is the exact opposite of Saunder’s. It is again short when compared to most of your nursing books but still offers the core knowledge you need for the NCLEX. It will just take you a month or two when you read at least 3-5 chapters a day.

3. Practice Questions are extremely helpful.

While other books focus on the discussion per se on each chapter, this books is unique in a way that in every chapter there are practice questions for the reader to sharpen his retention.  In some other books, answers keys are located at the back or last pages of the material but in this one answers and rationales to the questions are just pages away from those particular questions. Meaning, you don’t have to flip your book every now and then just to know if your answers are right. And most of all, it has test taking strategies after each rationale, providing you with techniques in logic thus improving your reasoning in choosing the right answer.

4.  Core topics marked.

In every page of each chapter, you can see markings on the sides which the author refers to as “Pyramid Points”. These are core information that are emphasized because they are often asked in the exam.  If you are the cramming student type, then even just by reading the pyramid points will truly help you a lot.

5. Includes a CD with thousands of practice questions.

My friend I tell you, the practice questions in the CD are the book’s big guns.  Try to answer as much questions as you can. The practice questions are designed to train you and equip you with knowledge and reasoning. It is not the actual exam yet so never be discouraged whenever you commit mistakes. And remember, through mistakes you will learn more. I suggest you answer as many questions as you can and never fail to read the corresponding rationale and test taking tips.

Good luck on your exams. Happy studying...