Failed NCLEX 2X

1. Talk to your school if they have remediation / NCLEX prep courses

2. Kaplan has a thorough course you need to pay for, but they guarentee passing.

3. Do as many practice questions as you can get your hands on.

That's what you need to do. As long as you have the drive, you can do this.

First off don't lose hope! I took my NCLEX a few times (I won't mention how many) and was devastated, borderline depressed every time I failed. If it makes you feel better 2 of the times i took it i went all the way to 265. Yea, I wanted to punch the computer lol. Keep moving forward though. I think you should most definitely take off from work for the full 45 days and remediate. Take it as soon as you can. What worked for me is definitely setting up a schedule everyday.

I did Kaplan the last time I took it and it helped me passed. I knew my content but was terrible at the high level questions where I had to think it through. The decision tree that Kaplan gave really helped. When you're introduced to it you might be like duh, that's obvious, or hello why wouldn't I do that. But step by step bare with it and you'll realize that wow it really does work.

I suggest taking the online class because it's easier in the sense that you won't be shy to ask questions, you type them and they come up on like a live forum with the people in the session. The class itself is live and the teachers are always great. They'll also address your questions out loud and will help you clarify them.

Before you do the class they suggest you read your content. You can download the book for free on amazon. I'm telling you doing the online classes won't help as much unless you read your content. The classes focus more on how to answer questions, so if you don't know your content well it won't be that helpful.

I suggest making a schedule:

Mon: start of chap3 pharm . do 50 general questions and read through rationales

Tues: finish chap3 pharm . do 50 questions...

Wed: start chap5 physiological . do 50 questions...

Thurs: finish chap5 physiological . do 50 questions...

Frid: start chap6 basic care and comfort . do 50 questions...

Sat: finish chap6 basic care and comfort . do 50 questions...

Sun: FREE DAY to catch up on anything you didn't finish . do 50 questions...

Mon: start chap7 safe and effective care . do 50 questions...

Tues: finish chap7 safe and effective care . do 50 questions...

Wed: start chap8 health promo . do 50 questions...

Thurs: finish chap9 health promo . do 50 questions...

For the rest of your time keep repeating and keep reading and listening to the content. If you can do one chapter a day and really focus on that then more power to you. After you do a week of classes (3rd week), that same week you should complete the question trainers, then the next few weeks just do all of the Kaplan qbank questions. You can definitely do 100-150 a day. But you need to really do them, focus and use the decision tree. Don't do questions just to do them because you'll find yourself just making the same mistakes. And really remediate not the questions and understand why. If you need to look up a topic in the Saunders book then go ahead, it can only help. I also found listening to the online content, included in Kaplan, was great before I read the chap content. Each video is about 3 hours long so you need to time manage really well.

Keep in mind you CANNOT study 12 hours in a day. You need to rest your brain. Study for a solid 3 hours take a break then 3-4 more hours, take little breaks in between. After studying everyday, do something relaxing - watch a movie, lay in bed, binge watch on netflix, go out to eat, walk in the park, etc. You may even find it good to go for a run or go to the gym to get your endorphins running. You'll slowly begin to feel more positive. You'll be doing questions and not feel as defeated.

I know its tough, I cried and had mental breakdowns all the time. I was embarrassed in front of my friends, family, boyfriend. I know it's easier said than done when people say be positive. What do they know right? But when you're down, think about it, nursing school was crazy hard, long nights studying, refreshing the window to see if your nursing grades were up, arguing with teachers about question, etc. But you pulled through that! You got that diploma! You just have one more huge hurdle to get through and then you can call yourself an RN. If I could do it after x amount of times (message me, sure i'll tell you lol), then you can definitely do it!! :)

Many people say not to study for hours and hours at a time every day but your study techniques are your own. All through nursing school I could easily study 12 hours a day. I got good grades in school and on my tests. For the NCLEX, I was told to only study 3-4 hours a day. I was not comfortable with that and did my normal 12 hour days. I studied every single day until an hour before my test. I studied all day the day before the test and woke up at 5 am to study until 12 pm. My test was at 1 pm. Don't let people tell you how you should study. Study the same as you did during school (however, if you didn't study much in school and barely got through, then you need to really get on the ball.)

With the regard to a review class, be careful which one you choose. Hurst and NLNAC are good from what I hear. Most people get through by only using Saunders and there is a great app -- NCLEX Mastery which I highly recommend. Passing the NCLEX isn't about having strategies on how to answer the questions, but more so KNOWING the content of everything from school. Know who that priority patient is and who you go to first, knowing all the components of any SATA they throw at you.

Strategies learned do not always work for every question. Courses that are strategy based, tailor their questions to be able to use those strategies. NCLEX isn't about strategies, it's knowing the material. You took the test before, so perhaps you just we're not properly prepared and that is why you thought you were being tricked. Take lots of breaks during your test. Bring healthy snacks and hydrate. Work hard all the way though, and definitely do not take any time off. Keep doing 50-100 questions or more every day. Make good use of your 45 days. The best of luck to you!

Hurst-content

Kaplan qbank- similar/somewhat harder than nclex which is good (read the rationales)

Saunders-I don't know about reading the whole thing. But just read on your weaknesses

Nclex mastery app- great app on the go instead of facebooking

Don't forget to take breaks, eat properly, think positive, and pray! :) goodluck! Don't lose hope! You can do this!!

Yes it definitely depends on how you study and what you're use to. But I disagree that the NCLEX is knowing the material rather than strategy. I know people, myself included, who could tell you verbatim what the content means, what the book says, but during the test you're stumped if the options are all correct in response to the topic. Therefore, you need to know exactly how to decipher which answer is the BEST answer and I personally feel that strategies help you do that. Of course you need to know the content before walking into the test, but both content and strategies will help you pick out that right answer.

I know you must feel defeated but remember to keep your head up! Keep working hard, you're almost at the finish line!

Hi auchiepie,

Your recent response is right on. Many of the q's on NCLEX are priority or types of questions that ask you "what is best" or "priority". All of the answers may be correct - though one stands out more than the others or there is one little word in the others that makes them wrong/not correct! I saw this several times on my NCLEX and I'm toggling between two answers myself. Then when, I carefully examined the question and answer choices many times I could figure out the correct one!

By chance, if you still have access to Kaplan? Besides there content videos, they also have question videos. They are like in sets of 10 and there are about 300 questions total (from various sections of the book). These questions are "the bomb" or golden. :) They show you how to break apart the the question (to the stem or simplified) and then show you how to evaluate the answers, look for clues and eliminate... This was a godsend for me, as while I went through a great BSN program, we had HESI tests and often I would be torn with "two answers" and I always wanted to know more tricks and things to find the right answer! These videos are it. Coupled, with their decision tree and strategy videos, I think Kaplan provides the strategic pieces you need for NCLEX.

By the way, I used Hurst and Saunders for content, NCSBN (mainly for questions) and La Charity for priority/delegation questions. I did study almost 2 months for NCLEX and ten hours a day (a few breaks in between). I wanted to know "a little bit about everything" going into NCLEX since it's so broad. While, I had no real clue how I did on NCLEX (I knew most questions though I didn't know if I answered more higher level questions correct than not).

So overall, know your content (bits of everything from fundamentals to core topics/diseases/treatments within in each system), infection control, procedures, med's/herbals, and strategy. You will be armed and ready to go next time around. Know you will whip NCLEX!