I passed, my NCLEX-RN jouney has come to an end

I found out this morning that I passed the NCLEX-RN. I have been reading this forum for the past year and have read so many success stories. I am happy to finally share a success story of my own. :typing

History: The first time I took the exam was on December 23. My prep was mainly focused with Kaplan. I used qbank and question trainers. I studied M-F at the library for about 6-7 hours in a span of 2.5 months. My activity and diet was horrible. I did not exercise and my diet consist mostly of fast foods. When my exam date as getting closer, I told all my family and friends when I was taking the exam. I took the exam at 8AM dispite the fact that I am NOT a morning person. I took the exam with high anxiety all through 265 questions. A few weeks later found out I failed. After going throught the five stages of grief I was ready to begin studying again.

Pre-NCLEX-RN: I decided switch up my gameplan for studying. I threw out Kaplan because it didn't work for me. I decided to use Saunders Comprehensive review 4th Edition and Lacharity's Prioritization book. I did about 100 questions a day. After getting advice from others in this forum, I decided to cut my study time from 6-7 hours a day to 2-3 hours a day. I found more time to exercise and eat healthy after cutting down on my studying time. I was able to go to the gym and fix healthy meals for myself. I also snacked on a lot of brain food like peanuts and blueberries while studying in the library. My theme this time was, "A healthy body equals a healthy/strong mind."

NCLEX-RN: This time I didn't tell anybody I was taking the exam, not even my girlfriend. I have to admit, I was not as nervous this time. I took my time with each question and did not want to rush myself for the first 90 questions. I utilized my breaks everytime I felt frustrated, off track or out of my zone. There were moments when I knew I got the question wrong, but I kept telling myself, "Just get the next one, just get the next one." I think there was a guy typing an essay for his exam in the booth next to me. He mad a lot of noise and it distracted me so I asked for some headphones. I highly recommend using these. It zones everyone out and you can concentrate 10x better. I used my whiteboard all the time. Sometimes writing about the content triggers your brain to recall more. It worked for me. After 1 math, 5-6 SATA's, and a myriad of meds, prioritizations and delegations, the screen went gray after 76 questions. I hit myself on the head because I felt like I needed more questions to prove my competency. The exam proctor told me to relax and not worry because she saw that I was discouraged. Left the building not knowing how to feel.

Post-NCLEX-RN: I know your not suppose to be thinking about the exam during this time but that is impossible. I was on this website 6-8 times a day. I even got hooked on the "Pearsonvue Trick." It was Easter Sunday and my whole family was asking me when I was going take the exam again. I just kept telling them, "Ummmm, pretty soon I hope." They continued to show their support and told me I would do fine. Today, Tuesday morning I looked in the CA BRN website and found my name with a liscense number next to it. I immediately got down to my knees and thanked God for this moment.

My take/advice: It may sound a little wierd but, I'm happy I failed the first time. One cannot know success without experiencing failure. It pushed me to work harder. It was like the NCLEX-RN said, "C'mon I know you can do better than that. Come back next time giving you full potential." And I did. So if you are discouraged from failing once, twice or even three times, just know that everytime you get back on that saddle you're getting stronger and stronger than before.

As far as studying, WHAT you use to study is not as important as HOW you study. The first time I was basically beating my brain up for no reason for about 6-7 hours a day. I was not absorbing/retaining anything I learned. Try 2-3 hours and try to limit yourself to 100 questions a day with a lot of focus on the rationals. Now if you know for sure you are solid in the content departement, I would recommend Kaplan. But if you are not that confident, then try Saunders 4th edition. It's a great book!!! I cannot emphasize that enough. I found some of the quesitons on the exam vaguely familiar.

Well that's basically my NCLEX-RN journey in a nut-shell. I wanted to say a lot more but felt it was more important to share the juicy stuff. Feel free to ask any questions if you want more details about my experience. I'd be happy to share more if it will help reach your pursuit of RN status. Good luck to you all. It's time for me to celebrate RN style, but first let me start by getting something I haven't had in a very, very long time.... A Good Night Sleep!!!

GOOD NIGHT FUTURE NURSES OF AMERICA!!!!