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Nursing.com NCLEX Review
Our detailed review and evaluation of the NCLEX prep course from Nursing.com (formerly NRSNG)
Nursing.com (formerly NRSNG) has been used by over 450,000 aspiring nurses to pass their nursing school classes, and the NCLEX (with an insane pass rate of 99%). Their prep course includes on demand video lessons, thousands of practice questions written by nurses, and a unique NCLEX simulator that is about as realistic as it gets. With the addition of an adaptive testing algorithm, their course sounds great on paper, but will it be enough to help you pass the NCLEX? We answer just that question and more in this detailed review.
Since this is a lengthy, comprehensive review, we’ve included a jump-to table of contents above for your convenience.
Video Review: Is Nursing.com NCLEX Prep Worth It?
In the video above, John from the Test Prep Insight team walks you through the major pros and cons of the Nursing.com NCLEX prep course. For more detail regarding this prep package, be sure to keep reading our full, written review below.
Nursing.com NCLEX Pricing & Options
Nursing.com has a pretty unique pricing structure as compared to other NCLEX prep providers. To start off, before you have to pay for a full prep package, you get three days of unlimited access to try out all their materials for free.
This is an awesome chance to kick the tires on their course risk free, and I love that they offer this trial period. If you’re not happy with what you see, you can cancel in about 30 seconds with no questions asked. I cancelled, then re-upped just to make sure it was easy, and it was.
Nursing.com’s online platform showing practice question review
After that three-day period, if you don’t cancel, the company essentially offers four different plans to choose from, depending on how many NCLEX practice exams (aka SIMCLEX opportunities) you want per month. These plans range in price from $29 per month up to $162 per month for unlimited SIMCLEX attempts.
Also, it’s worth mentioning that if you would rather pay upfront for an entire year, the company does offer some pretty steep discounts.
In terms of comparing these price points to other NCLEX prep providers, these plans are actually very reasonable for what you get (tied perhaps only with Nurse Plus Academy for value).
Considering you get full video lessons for nursing school and NCLEX prep, thousands of realistic practice questions, and more, this a very affordable option in my opinion. Plus, Nursing.com regularly offers coupon codes as well.
Pricing and course options current as of date of publication.
Evaluation Of The Nursing.com NCLEX Prep Materials
The NCLEX prep package from Nursing.com boasts a 99.86% pass rate among those who take the course. Personally, that pass rate was what first caught my attention about this prep course.
After all, everyone wants to pass on their first try, and these are eye popping numbers. But beyond the big claims about number of students passed and pass rates, I was generally impressed with Nursing.com’s study materials.
Not only do they have a comprehensive suite of video lessons, but also a series of practice questions that actually increase or decrease in difficulty based on performance, just like the real NCLEX.
This allowed me to allocate my time more on areas where I needed improvement, and less time on subjects where I felt I had a stronger grasp. Here is a more detailed breakdown of the features of Nursing.com’s NCLEX prep:
Video Lessons
At the heart and soul of this NCLEX review program, Nurisng.com offers over 2,000 video lessons, all taught by actual nurses. These videos are short and digestible, usually right around 10 minutes in length.
Each covers a narrow topic tested on the NCLEX and does a great job visualizing the concepts being taught (better than the lessons from Princeton Review or Hurst).
They take a sort of slideshow approach with slides showing graphics and notes, and as the instructor gives the lesson, they make notes onscreen with a stylus. I also love that these videos are on-demand, giving me the flexibility to stream them at times that were best for my schedule.
Nursing.com’s video lessons offer awesome visuals
Additionally, I found the quality of the videos to be excellent, with detailed explanations and superb graphics. Being a visual learner, the colorful diagrams and high production video content provided a nice boost for me during my studies. The videos are sharp and altogether really nice lessons.
If I have one complaint though, it’s that I would like to see the instructor on camera sometimes. The slides are great for visualization, but it would also be nice to see the teacher so you can pick up on their non-verbal communication cues and expressions. Sometimes it just helps to see your instructor, but all in all, I thought the video lessons are great.
Practice Questions
In addition to video tutorials, Nursing.com gives you a TON of practice material. They offer 6,500+ practice questions, all designed in the same style as the real NCLEX, including alternate format questions.
There is no better way to prepare for the NCLEX than by practicing with the same types of questions you’ll see on the exam, and I found their problems to be a dead ringer for the real thing.
A sample practice question with answer explanation
Their practice questions closely match the length, difficulty and content of real NCLEX exam questions. I honestly think you’ll feel familiar with the format of the NCLEX exam after using the practice questions in this prep plan. More on their SIMCLEX and practice problems below.
Review eBook
One cool bonus resource is the NCLEX Review eBook included with your subscription. It’s over 400 pages long and offers comprehensive content review in a bullet-point format to make it easier for you to digest. It includes additional practice questions to demonstrate concepts and help you understand how material is tested through NCLEX problems.
I would have preferred a real hard copy book over this eBook format, but the eBook gets the job done nonetheless. I found it to be a useful complement to the main study materials. I didn’t use it nearly as frequently as the video lessons or practice problems, but it was useful for refreshing on certain topics.
If, like me, you are the type who likes to study with printed books over digital material, be sure to check out our team’s list of Best NCLEX Review Books here.
Study Plans
The Nursing.com program also includes pre-generated study plans for the NCLEX that are designed and developed by the Nursing.com team. I really liked that there wasn’t just one generic study option, and that I had the ability to choose a study plan based on how much time I could dedicate to test prep.
The study plans come in two-, four-, six- and 12-week formats, so however long you have to prepare, you should be able to find a format that works for your needs and your schedule.
Finally, the entire program is available through a free mobile app that’s included with your subscription. This is super helpful to study on the go if you’re busy. You can watch videos, listen to lectures, read the eBook and even take practice exams right on your tablet or phone.
I didn’t find myself using the mobile app often, but I know it could come in handy if you need to squeeze in some quick studying when you have a few minutes to spare.
You can access all Nursing.com study materials on your phone
As you’ve probably noticed, with this prep package there is no live instruction or interaction with tutors or teachers. That can make it a bit more difficult to get comprehensive answers to specific questions.
I would have liked some kind of personal interaction with an instructor to help me with a few questions, but that’s just me. Still, the practice exams are thoroughly explained, and there’s so much material available that most students should still get good use of the program.
NCLEX Practice Exams (SIMCLEX)
Nursing.com bills its SIMCLEX as “the world’s most accurate NCLEX simulator.” They claim that 99.86% of all students who pass a SIMCLEX exam go on to pass the NCLEX on their first try.
This is because their SIMCLEX exam is custom-designed by software engineers to use the same adaptive algorithms used in the actual exam. The staff behind Nursing.com has apparently spent years developing these algorithms, which are proprietary to their exam program, and they actually have a patent on it (kind of crazy).
If you have one key takeaway from this article, just know that this is the biggest selling point of the Nursing.com prep package.
The practice exams use an adaptive algorithm that changes the difficulty of questions based on your performance throughout the test. As I mentioned before, I was really impressed with this feature. As I got stronger in certain areas, I was given more difficult questions, allowing me to master the material more effectively.
Pro tip: occasionally you will encounter questions in an alternate format, including image-based questions and SATA-based questions. Be sure to “select all that apply” to ensure that you don’t encounter any surprises on the real test.
The SIMCLEX is the clear highlight of the Nursing.com program
The system also provides a detailed breakdown and analysis of every question you answered, whether right or wrong. It tells you which question you got right, which you didn’t answer correctly, and exactly why you got the questions right or wrong.
I found these detailed answer explanations to be super helpful. And to be clear, you get these problem solutions for both SIMCLEX questions and normal practice questions in the program.
The exam’s questions are drawn from a database of over 6,500 possible questions that have been thoroughly vetted by thousands of practicing nurses, and the more people who take the practice tests, the smarter the algorithms get. So that’s pretty cool.
Finally, when you’re done, you’ll get a performance report showing how you did on each question and showing your overall pass/fail result. I really liked that I was able to track my progress on the overall test, and on each individual question as well.
Content Access Period
Your length of access is directly tied to which plan you sign up for — one of the shorter-term NCLEX-only packages, or the 1 Year Plan or 2 Year Plan. Those are pretty self-explanatory, so no real need to go into further detail.
For the 1 Year and 2 Year plans, this includes access to all of the test-taking strategy tools, video lessons, eBook, practice questions, SIMCLEX exams, and more. You can set your NCLEX exam date and track your progress as you go, and then time your studying to your schedule.
Nursing.com Refund Policy
Nursing.com’s refund policy is a bit different from other companies. There isn’t a time-limited 100% refund after you sign up. Instead, you get full access to everything the site has to offer for three days totally free — all of the practice exams, questions, the eBook and other resources, with no risk whatsoever.
If you’re not happy with what you see during the three days, you can cancel online with no questions asked. After the three days, their money-back program depends on whether you pass the NCLEX.
The biggest difference between Nursing.com and other companies is that they don’t just offer a 100% cash-back refund if you’re not satisfied. They are so confident you’ll pass that they offer a double money-back guarantee.
That means that if you fulfill their basic requirements and you still don’t pass the NCLEX, not only will they refund the purchase price, but they’ll also give you the cost again on top of that. That means you’ll make money back.
In order to qualify for this 200% pass guarantee, which they call their “Famous (and Semi-Crazy)” guarantee, you need to pass one of the company’s SIMCLEX tests.
If you complete the SIMCLEX with a passing grade and you still fail to pass the NCLEX, you’ll get the full refund plus the same amount on top. Honestly, this is a semi-crazy pass guarantee as I have never heard of anything like it. It’s really nice getting this sort of insurance policy.
Verdict: Nursing.com NCLEX Prep Review
In our team’s opinion, Nursing.com provides a rock solid NCLEX review program that should work well for most students. The clear highlight of this course is their proprietary SIMCLEX.
With over 6,500 practice questions to draw from that increase in difficulty as you master topics, and a detailed analysis for each question answered, we think this NCLEX simulator is highly effective in getting you ready for the real exam.
If there is one area of disappointment with this course, it’s the lack of personal guidance or instruction from a teacher. For me, I would have liked the option of discussing questions and bouncing around concerns with a real instructor.
However, with that said, this shouldn’t be a deal breaker, as they provide some really comprehensive study materials with robust explanations.
All in all, Nurisng.com’s NCLEX prep package is an affordable, well-rounded and comprehensive study resource to help most students pass the NCLEX. Our team liked their course so much, it took the editor’s choice pick on our list of the best NCLEX prep courses of the year.
In our team’s opinion, yes, Nursing.com’s NCLEX prep material is 100% worth it. Their prep package is affordable, well-rounded and robust.
Does Nursing.com NCLEX Review have a mobile app?
Yes. All of their NCLEX course content can be accessed from their mobile app.
What is the highlight of the Nursing.com NCLEX Review course?
The biggest selling point is their proprietary SIMCLEX, their NCLEX simulator, which imitates algorithms used on the actual NCLEX exam.
How much is Nursing.com?
Nursing.com offers four different plans to choose from ranging in price from $29 to $162 per month. The primary difference between these four plans boils down to how many NCLEX practice exams (SIMCLEX) you want.
