My NCLEX Experience

Hello Guys,

How are you all doing? I made a promise to myself that I would post on allnurses after I PASS my NCLEX. Well, God so good, I found out that I passed today (August 4th 2016)

So I went to a 4 year university and graduated on May 1st. I wasn't an A+ student, as a matter of fact, I struggled a lot during my first semester of nursing school. I found the nursing content so difficult and impossible to grasp, but nonetheless, I never gave up! I pushed myself and with the support of my family and friends, I graduated nursing school with a 3.5 GPA.

After I graduated, I waited over 2 months for my ATT for some odd reason. During the waiting period, I studied a lot. I basically didn't have a life. I abandoned my health and secluded myself from the rest of the world. The worst part was telling my employer that I still hadn't received my ATT. I couldn't start orienting without it. All I could do was STUDY and PRAY. After waiting and waiting, my parents forced me to take action. We drove over an hour to the BON office, and on the same day (July 13), I was declared eligible and later on that day received my ATT. I scheduled my test date the day after and made it a priority to study even harder. I used only Kaplan. I did all the questions Kaplan offered on their site. I also downloaded the Kaplan Q Bank app on my phone which was about 182 questions. I did all the questions in the Kaplan NCLEX RN book. I watched plenty of videos Kaplan offered as well. I remediated for hours and looked up what I didn't know. I even retook tests I had taken months ago just to see if I understood the material. I made flashcards for the meds focusing on knowing the drug classifications. To be honest, I didn't really study medications as much as I should have.

Two days before the test, I wanted to reschedule the test so badly. I didn't feel ready at all even though I had done 5000ish questions. I just didn't think I could do it, I still wanted more time to study. The day before the test, I couldn't relax even though that's what everyone says to do. I reviewed labs, precautions, some delegation, and meds.

When I got to the testing center, I was a MESS. I was scared! I was nervous and couldn't even think straight. To make a very long story short, I had 265 questions and I would take short breaks just to cry and pray in the bathroom. TRUE STORY. I took two breaks while taking a 5 hour test. I walked out of that testing room feeling defeated!!!! No one could convince me that I had passed. I dreamt of passing the NCLEX the first time, every graduate nurse does. I'm here to tell you that the NCLEX is more than practicing plenty of questions. It's a mental game as well. BELIEVE in yourself. If I did it, you can TOO. I hope someone out there reading this gets the courage and motivation to pick themselves up. While studying for the NCLEX, I read a lot of forums on allnurses. I hope this story is a blessing to someone just as someone else's story was a motivation for me to persevere. God listens to prayer. Pray and most importantly believe that you too will be a Registered Nurse!