How I passed My NCLEX After 4 Failed attempts!!

[bradley1992]

Hey guys, I was in the same boat as a lot of you with this test. It's very hard and sometimes seems unfair. It's crazy to think how a "minimum competency" test can make you feel like you learned nothing from nursing school. However don't give up. As the title stated, I failed 4 times, before passing the 5th time. This is how my tests went, and what I did to finally pass.

My first attempt, I scoffed and thought it was over-hyped. On attempt number 2, I was way more prepared, but not quite there. Then on attempts 3-5, I racked my brain, going for all 265 questions on all 3. However, after 4 failed attempts, I got news that I passed on January 28th, 2016.

Now, on to how I actually passed this thing. The study materials I used included, The Hurst Online content review, The PDA book by LaCharity, and oddly enough the NCLEX mastery app on my iPhone. Now, all of these items themselves will cost you about $400 give or take, but they WILL help.

How I used them was a little bit of my own study plan. First, I completely read the PDA book and did all the questions in it. Then I would do questions any time I had a free minute on my phone with the NCLEX mastery app. Then I did the videos with the content course for Hurst, then I read through it twice the 2 weeks leading up to my test. And while reading, I would do some questions after I read a chapter or two.

Now, as I said I found out I passed and this is how I tested. I took everything that I learned from other resources like Kaplan's decision and threw it out the window. It was too much to remember. I have a 2 year old and am used to noise, so I studied with noise. During the test I put on my noise cancelling head phones and found myself lost in my own head, so I removed them and personally feel like I could concentrate better that way. Don't dwell on the last question, answer it and move on.

Lastly, please don't get discouraged or give up. You made it thru school and you can make it thru this test. Keep pushing and working hard, it will pay off. Don't let people saying that your chances of passing after the first attempt fall drastically bother you. That's a load of crap. You didn't learn how blood flow throughout the body and heart worked the first time you read it, but after 2 or 3 times you had the idea. This test is just a stepping stone to your career as a nurse. Keep studying and working hard. If your religious my motto may help you, "study hard, pray harder." It will help. IF you have questions please ask in this post or feel free to send me a message. If I passed the NCLEX, you can too. Good luck and all the best guys!!!

[enileg]

Hi thank you for sharing your story and for motivating us future test takers. I graduated Dec of 2014 however i have never taken the exam. I always just postpone it and reschedule at a later time. So i know i will need a review on the content. A friend gave me her Hurst notes, do you think that its sufficient enough as far as content just to read those notes or should i actually listen to the Hurst lectures or read saunders? I am also using other sources for question and answer like Uworld and Lippincott QA.

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

Hi thank you for sharing your story and for motivating us future test takers. I graduated Dec of 2014 however i have never taken the exam. I always just postpone it and reschedule at a later time. So i know i will need a review on the content. A friend gave me her Hurst notes, do you think that its sufficient enough as far as content just to read those notes or should i actually listen to the Hurst lectures or read saunders? I am also using other sources for question and answer like Uworld and Lippincott QA.

Im curious as to why you would do that? Do you realize you are no longer a new grad? I think you may need to just get it over with and take the test. The longer you wait, the more you will forget. And you spent a lot of money and time into nursing school. Don't waste that.

[bradley1992]

@enileg yea I mean if your friend took good Hurst notes they could be enough. I would suggest against waiting anymore to take the test. I would study the notes and hit the test hard!