How I Passed the NCLEX

[MikeRN84, BSN, MSN, RN]

Well If you clicked this thread chances are you are freaking out because you either took the NCLEX and failed, or you have the NCLEX scheduled and are wondering what to expect. Enclosed is my tale of woe and eventual triumph...

Starting with a short history about myself, I was enlisted in the military at 18 years old back in 2003. I wanted to be a medic, however the Marine Corps doesn't have medics they have whats called a corpsman. This is a medically trained individual who happens to be in the Navy and is attached to a Marine unit. After eight years in the military I realized I wanted to be closer to friends and family, and eventually start raising some little monsters one day so I planned on getting out. I was going to go the paramedic route but my girlfriend at the time was a nurse and convinced me to go this route. After hearing about the benefits of working 3 days a week, the pay, and helping people I was sold. Fast forward to Pre-reqs at a local community college and then eventual acceptance to nursing school and graduation with an ADN. Yay! I survived the whole ordeal and graduated with honors!

Little did I know this would be where the real test of my dedication would come in...

The first time I took the NCLEX I was not scared in the least. I was the only male in my graduating class of 12 (we started with many more students but lost half to attrition). I was very confident in my abilities as a nurse and the foundation of knowledge I built my nursing skills on. Our school required us to do the Kaplan review which they say is the best review money can buy. I saw people in my class who were weaker students pass so why should I be worried? Boy was I wrong. Question after question of maternity situations, pediatric development, and AIDS medications hammered me and I left utterly defeated after 265 questions. What happened? How did this happen? I was already taking RN - BSN classes at University of Michigan and NEEDED my license to continue my education. I was the only person in my 12 person class who failed the NCLEX.

I'm not one to let this kind of thing stew. Trying not to dwell on it, I rescheduled the NCLEX and figured I just had rough questions. I thought "Maybe I'll try this Lippincott question thing." I continued to go to my classes and studied sporadically until it was test time. Fast forward to the future and... BAM! Failed again with 265 questions. On both tests I was near the passing limit for all categories so I was right on the border.

This is the point where I started questioning if this was for me. I was obviously not "getting it" and it seemed like I wasn't capable of critically thinking like a nurse. People told me don't worry, next time I'll get it but honestly their words were hollow because thats the same stuff they told me the first two times and I obviously I had plenty to worry about. At this point I'm thinking about a backup plan. Maybe I'll reenlist. Maybe I'll be a train conductor. Maybe I'll move east and join the NYPD.

This third and final time I decided to try Hurst review. A male at my school in the previous graduating class failed and highly recommended this as the reason he passed his second time. I had to pass this time otherwise I would have to drop out of school for the time being due to the fact you need a license for specific classes in the RN to BSN bridge program. The steep price tag of 300 bucks kinda scared me from Hurst, and I read and reread the reviews about them on this site over and over. Eventually I decided to sign up despite people saying they failed after taking it because I figured maybe that was a character flaw in them and not the programs fault. What did I have to lose?

After purchasing the Hurst review I was very intrigued with how the coursework was presented. There are about twenty or so videos varying in length, with each about an hour or under. The difference between this and Kaplan is Hurst tells you the exact order in which to watch the videos. Kaplan just had topics and you click it and a person in front of a blue or green screen rattles off facts. Hurst has very personable people who apparently all reside in Mississippi, present information in a very humorous and important way. They embrace their dialect and tell you that they probably sound different from you. In the videos they break down the core content in a way that stresses really important facts. Each video has an accompanying handout which is what you fill out while watching the video as a study guide. Watching these videos wasn't really a chore because they would stress certain facts and repeat them over and over in the video and the videos that follow. An example would be "Magnesium and calcium think...SEDATIVE"! Typing doesn't do it justice because when they'd yell it in their southern accent for some reason it stuck with me. After filling out the handouts, I would have my wonderful loving girlfriend at the time transcribe the packets onto notecards for me. She was my rock and really helped out.

At this point I'm going to say I'm not being paid by Hurst or anyone to say how awesome that program is and that's why I passed.

After watching the videos and studying the notecards, they also had a section called fifth day materials which has facts that they didn't have in the videos. The way I study I procrastinate like crazy and do a lot when something is due. I don't know why but I thrive on pressure. days before the NCLEX I would reschedule it for a week or two down the road. I did this 3 times so I eventually went from taking it Dec 23rd 2014, to Jan 26th 2015. I would quiz myself on the notecards on the Hurst material and if I got it wrong I typed it in a study guide I was creating, and if I knew it I just left it alone. I also found a study guide on here and incorporated some of the mnemonics from that into my study guide. Then after I focused on the stuff I didn't know, I made the final appointment for the test. After knowing the material from the notecards and printouts, as well as the study guide floating around here, I went into the test that was either going to kill me or forge me into a nurse.

75 questions later I became a nurse.

The way I can describe it after reading a lot of reviews on this site is you're either really going to benefit from the Kaplan, or you're going to benefit from Hurst. I just happened to be one who thrived with the way Hurst taught. This has been my personal journey becoming an RN and hopefully it helps you students who have somewhat lost hope in your abilities.

Mike Salinas, RN