3 attempts to pass NCLEX. All 265 questions each time. Finally passed!

NCLEX RN Question: A patient taking Lisinopril is given orange juice. What order should socks be placed?

1. Right Foot First
   
2. Left foot first
   
3. At the same time
   
4. Inside out
   

Disclaimer: Of course this is not an actual question on the NCLEX Rn. This question in no way shape or form was on any said test. With that being out of the way, before you close this while rolling your eyes at how insanely stupid I must be for posting it, there is a point coming. I had to take my NCLEX 3 times. (Note I did not say failed twice. It's a glass half full kind of thing.) Here is my story, tips, and journey. Hopefully, it will help someone.

1st, A little about me. I'm currently 47, went back to school in 2010 to follow my dreams of becoming a nurse. I became an LPN and went on to the RN program. I maintained good grade point average, was the honor society president, and very driven in school. It was the hardest thing I had ever done and I'm glad I made the choice. OK, So I take the exit exam and am given the green light with a 99% chance of passing NCLEX on the first attempt.

It just so happens that I DID NOT pass my test…. I was very sick and for some reason, thought that you couldn't change appointment date. (Yes, I now know you can't EXTEND past testing dates). I decide I'll take it anyway and at least have an idea of what to expect. STUPID. I was so sick, coughed and thought of nothing but how miserable the other people around me must be at listening to my annoying barks. I really don't remember anything else about that day except of course I took all 265 questions. Walked out, knew I failed. I wasn't too upset because I expected it.

Second time rolls around and I go in feeling like I did ok but one problem, I TOOK ALL 265 questions AGAIN…… I felt pretty good about the test though….. only to find out that I FAILED. For me, this was so disheartening. I had never failed at anything in my life. I pretty much isolated myself from friends and family, I gained around 30 lbs. Kept busy working and avoided anyone that might ask me anything about school.

When the stages of grief did their thing”, I decided that since God led me to nursing, He would never have let me get that far, just to fail so I knew there were things He felt like I needed to see/feel/know before the next step in my life could begin. I tried many things to help prepare and will be more than happy to share some study info later on with the who's and what's.

It is of my opinion that it isn't as much what you choose to study (uworld, ati, hurst, and so on) It is HOW YOU STUDY. The biggest problem with the NCLEX that you study all these questions and read all these facts in all the books and this is good. YOU MUST KNOW CONTENT… strategies don't mean a lot if you don't know the content. YOU MUST KNOW NURSING CARE/TEACHING There is not going to be a list of choices that they taught you in school. They assume you know that because you graduated. You do have to learn how to take what you were taught and make choices based on other options that you may not have been taught. DO NOT LOOSE SITE OF THE LITTLE THINGS…. That is so important for this test. If you do, your questions will look like the one I listed at the beginning of this post. They want you to know the facts, how to keep someone alive, how to make good choices but in order to think at the advanced level, you must be able to take it at its most basic level.

My biggest problem is that I overthink everything. I'm a corrections nurse so our assessment skills have to be spot on. You have to continually look at a bigger picture because it's not always what the patient says it is”. You must know how to spot problems. I carried this into the NCLEX with me and it did not help me. I would add too many of the questions changing my thought on the answer based on future possibilities. So don't overthink. Everything is in the question you need.

You will try to learn the strategies and some areas it will help but do not count on it helping with all of them. Acute VS Chronic works great when you have an acute pt listed within the options but what are you going to do when all the options are chronic patients with no changes? If you don't understand the disease process, you can't make an educated decision. Of course, there is no way to know each and every disease process that is asked of you. We can't remember them all…. BODY SYSTEMS… that is the key. Please do not just learn text book signs and symptoms. You must take those taught signs and symptoms , then be able to choose a symptom that could in fact be caused by a generally taught one.

Do not overlook nutrition when studying for this test. It is very important. If you don't know the basics, you can't make the right call.

Labs, everyone has lists of labs that you must memorize. That's all well and good but what if your question isn't one you can just spot an abnormal lab. What if more than one lab are abnormal? If you don't understand the disease process, you can't pick the right answer. Don't just know labs… KNOW WHAT THEY MEAN. hypo vs hyper… what's happening in the body and what the symptoms are. You will see in videos teaching you to choose like choices…. well, what if there are equal like choices?

School is hard and it can suck. When they are giving you too much info, they are really doing it because you really do need to have a basic understanding of it. I would have paid a lot more attention to the whole picture in school if I could do it again. I did good in school but doing good in school doesn't make trying to learn things you should have learned in school any easier to learn when you are stressed and trying to take this test.

NEVER EVER EVER EVER give up on yourself. When looking at the big picture and what you have learned from everything you have studied, ask yourself questions that are much simpler. The standard S&S are rarely the option. Someone very close to me made it so plain in two sentences. An LPN learns how to apply the bandaid but the RN want's to figure out how to make the bandaid go away.

I guess you figured out I passed my test finally. I can't give a list of perfect items to study for the test. I did what every one else does, tried several things. I can't say one specific thing that NAILED it for me. I did use Uworld and NCLEX mastery. I answered questions from anywhere I could find. Don't just use one question source of you are having a hard time. I could ace ATI questions simply because I learned what they were looking for and how their questions were laid out. When you are doing lots of questions from one source and begin to do great, try questions from another source, don't be bummed out if you don't do great on them but continue to work out questions from as many sources as you can.

What helped me the most was a set of videos that were free. You could purchase her NCLEX REVIEW for like 295.00 but I only found her 2 days prior to my test so I just watched her free videos. Numerous times during the test I was able to answer questions based on her videos. She made things much more simple, worded things more simply and it was very important for taking this test in my opinion.

Here is a link to one of the videos.

I subscribed and watched all of the free videos. I wish I had found her sooner. Her paid course would be awesome…. I also used Uworld and Nclex mastery. They are good also. I did well on them , my only complaint is that simple content that over thinkers like myself tend to overlook. I said with each test that it was the simple questions that I just didn't know the answers. At least watch her free videos if nothing else. I trued Hurst and I know it has great reviews but it just didn't help. When I sat for boards the 2nd time following a hurst review, I can honestly say I didn't answer anything that made me say… WOW , I learned that from Hurst..

With all that being said…. I feel like It isn't as much what program you use but how you use it and what works best for you. If you were hands on in school making poster boards, writing notes, highlighting and such… CONTINUE TO DO THAT. One thing I did that helped, while answering questions on whatever I was using that day; If I didn't know enough about the topic, Before even answering, I'd go to youtube and find a video about the body system, disease, procedure. I'd watch it and then go back to the question.

Basically the point of my story is when worrying about the hard higher level” questions, don't forget the use that thought process and understand the simple answers. Because it's much harder choosing between simple choices than you think.

Know / understand labs and what they mean.

Know / understand ABG gasses.

Know / understand nutrition/diets for health issues.

Know/ understand body systems and what they do to other body systems.

I know, I know, you want a list of stuff to study to help you ace the test. So did I.... It's really not that simple but still, study any of those lists you can get your hands on. Any question gotten right is one step closer. Just know not to "memorize facts". Always ask why....It will help.

God Bless and I sure to wish each and every one the best of luck!!!!! It's so easy to get so overwhelmed that it screws up your study time. Just know each thing you learn is one less question missed. That's the whole point of this test…. Just get more right than wrong… watch lots of u tube videos.. especially the ones listed above.

Keep your head up! Know if you made it through school.. you CAN PASS THIS TEST. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. Tell yourself that every day.