Why You Shouldn't Use Saunders for Content Review for NCLEX

Just say NO. 

I get it, I get it. I know what you're thinking. Of course I wouldn't approve of using Saunders to study for NCLEX, because I only want you to use my book, right? I mean, sure. I do want you to use my book! It's my baby I created to make NCLEX studying easier and I truly believe that I have created something special.

But that doesn't mean that Saunders doesn't suck when you are trying to review for NCLEX.

I often recommend students supplement my book and method, NCLEX Simplified, with a solid question resource such as Lippincott or Uworld (neither of which were created by me). I would never, however, recommend Saunders for questions or content review. Why? Oh, do let me count the ways...

Problem #1: It's too long.

Way too freakin' long. If you're reviewing for NCLEX, we can assume you've graduated or that you're about to graduate nursing school. You don't need to now go back and re-study nursing school. What you need to do is a solid information refresh. That's it.

The Saunders Comprehensive Review for the NCLEX-RN Examination, 7th Edition, is 1,152 pages long. Even if you studied and fully memorized 10 pages per day, it would take you 115 days to do so. Even if you round down to 1,000 pages of information you truly think would be worthwhile and skip extra graphics, study tips, etc., that's 100 days worth of studying. It makes no sense.

In comparison, NCLEX Simplified is 136 pages. That's it. And if we take out all the topic quizzes with which you're meant to quiz yourself, we can say roughly 120 pages worth memorizing. At 10 pages per day... you're done in 12 days.

Problem #2: It's written in full sentences.

How can that be a problem, right? Full sentences are good!

Well, not for reviewing, and especially not when you're crunched for time. Outlines are the recommended format for organizing your thoughts to write an essay, and the same principle works for our studying purposes: outlines contain organized thoughts in a shorthand format that are easier to digest and understand.

And when you have as much information to study as you do for the NCLEX, that can be a huge time-saver.

Why yes, NCLEX Simplified is written completely in an outline format that's easy to understand. You're welcome.

Problem 3: It doesn't have the right information.

 Let's take a look at some of the super-duper-helpful information below from page 79 on the Amazon preview:

Guys, I'm not arguing that you shouldn't know what an atom is or the differences between intracellular vs extracellular fluid. What I am arguing is that you don't need to know it or review it to pass NCLEX!

It's some great information to have, especially to give context to the K+ phenomenon that occurs with fluid and potassium shifts into cells when a patient is on an insulin drip or why heart failure patients should be on fluid restriction because the water goes to extracellular spaces. But you're not going to re-study these concepts by themselves because they are simply not specific enough.

Why waste time when you don't have to? Study only the topics you need to for a focused review- it's that simple.

Problem 4: The questions included are not as tough as questions on the real NCLEX.

If anything, I would prefer the opposite problem! Wouldn't it be nice to study really hard and get yourself up to the question difficulty of your study resource, then go take your NCLEX and feel like it was easy? This might be a waste of time though, so I really prefer students study at the SAME difficulty as the real thing.

Saunders, however, has questions that are so. freaking. easy. They give you a false sense of confidence which means that on test day, with real questions in front of you and a $200 exam fee on the line... you will panic. And why wouldn't you?! I would freak out too if I felt unprepared for such an important test!

Two examples, from page 226 of this book, as can be seen in their Amazon book preview:

Screenshot of pg 226 from Saunders Review

1. The nurse assesses a client's surgical incision for signs of infection. Which finding by the nurse would be interpreted as a normal finding at the surgical site?

a. Red, hard skin.
b. Serous drainage.
c. Purulent drainage.
d. Warm, tender skin.

The answer is 'b', if you didn't know. But I'm really hoping you did, because this question would never be on the real NCLEX. It's too easy. All the other answers contain something commonly known to be associated with infection, like "tender", "hard", and "purulent". I would be way more intrigued with this question if they had mentioned a low-grade temperature, which is common after most surgeries for the first 24-48 hours, but frequently disturbs new nurses who believe it's a sign of infection. It's not.

2. The nurse receives a telephone call from the post-anesthesia care unit stating that a client is being transferred to the surgical unit. The nurse plans to take which action first on arrival of the client?

a. Assess the patency of the airway.
b. Check tubes or drains for patency.
c. Check the dressing to assess for bleeding.
d. Assess the vital signs to compare with preoperative measurements.

The answer is 'a'. Duh. Come on, people. Everyone knows to check airway first, and that's not what's going to be on the NCLEX unless it's a little more subtle!

Problem 5: It's expensive for what you get.

As of this moment, it costs $55 on Amazon and $53 direct from the publisher for a brand new copy. The $55 cost is just for the book and doesn't include the online access to the 5,000+ questions it brags about.

May I add here that you do not need 5,000 questions to pass your NCLEX. The examination is not creative and it's very common for nursing graduates to see the same question, looking for the same answer, phrased only slightly differently on their actual exam. Let's say that again: it's really likely you'll see the same question, phrased only slightly differently, a second time within the 75 question minimum and it's VERY likely you'll see similar questions if you keep going up through the max of 265 questions.

How many questions in a question bank do you need? Probably only 1500 to 2000 tops. 5,000+ questions will only stress you out because you feel you haven't completed all of them and therefore you're under-prepared. Really, though, Saunders is just wasting your time.

I'm also kind of disgusted by the fact that they don't give you a price discount for the Ebook. In fact, they charge more and force you to buy the bundled questions, upping the price to $63. I get that they have costs when they ship you a physical book (who doesn't? the post office and shipping materials cost money!), but when they're literally emailing you an electronic .pdf and an access code and they charge more? It makes my blood boil.

NCLEX Simplified is $20 for the ebook and $40 for a MAILED physical textbook. And your review will be a whole lot better. Just sayin'.

Conclusions

Don't waste your money on this resource. A more succinct and time-worthy review can be had almost anywhere. The resource you really need should be: worth the money, focused, of adequate difficulty, and in outline format. And that's the true reason I created NCLEX Simplified.