Passed nclex 2nd time in 75 qs!!

Today I decided to make this post because I have been lurking around AN for months before and after I graduated nursing school and have found helpful and wonderful posts all over! I just wanted to pay it forward and help any future NCLEX takers!

A little back story: I graduated nursing school in May 2016 with a BSN. I was an average student, making A's and B's in all nursing classes and worked part-time during school. It was very tough, to say the least. Our school used Kaplan all throughout nursing school, but I never really liked the questions for practice. Fast forward to final semester where I took the HESI Exit Exam and passed the first time with flying colors. I never thought the exam was very hard; tricky, but not difficult. This boosted up my confidence and I thought I was completely ready to take on the NCLEX exam and pass the first time. Our school also had us attend a live 4-day Kaplan review which I sincerely believe did not help much.

After graduation, I took a month off from school. No studying, no reviewing, no notes, nothing nursing related! I felt that I really needed a break from school mode and decided to just relax and spend time with family and friends. After my ATT came, I scheduled my exam, and couldn't get my mind back to study mode. I was very much enjoying my vacation time and being able to have a life again and I struggled a lot when it came to sitting down and focusing. Days kept going by and I realized my NCLEX is just around the corner and I should get down to studying soon. FINALLY, I gathered all my notes and books and sat down to study all I needed to know for NCLEX.

1st time I took NCLEX: I studied for 16 days straight, 12-14 hrs a day. No breaks and full of stress! I started with the Kaplan Q-Trainers because we had used it all through nursing school and always heard great reviews about it. I also used Lacharity Prioritization, Delegation, and Assignment, and Lippincott's NCLEX-RN Alternate Format Questions, the 35-pg study guide, and made flashcards for all my lab values.

I did close to 1700 questions in total throughout my study period, combining all books and Kaplan questions together. I had a notebook with notes and rationales from ALL questions whether I got them wrong or right and really focused on memorizing them instead of understanding them. I even studied the day before my exam which I really regretted because it only made my anxiety on test day even worse and I felt that by exam day my brain was totally fried!

Exam day: June 29 - I barely slept from how nervous I was and woke up scared and stressed out! I read over my lab values and skimmed the study guide for pertinent information then headed over to the testing center. As soon as I got there, a wave of anxiety set in and it was just a recipe for disaster. 265 questions later, I just knew that I failed. I cried in my car but I was just happy to be out of that testing center. I thought it was the toughest exam I've ever taken! Next day I checked my results through the board of nursing and sure enough: FAIL. I received my candidate report and was Near Passing on everything! I was devastated.

I took about 2 weeks off to relax and really deal with my failure and then got right back to creating a new plan for me and making sure that I was successful the next time around. I realized that I did not have a good enough content base and was not understanding HOW to answer the tough NCLEX style questions that require critical thinking. I also did not give myself enough time to really balance studying and relaxing.

2nd time I took NCLEX: I studied for almost 2 months and read Saunders Comprehensive Review 6th Edition COVER TO COVER. Yes, I realize this book is HUGE and it has A LOT of information but it is completely worth it! I read every page, every box, every tip in that book and made lots of highlights and had a notebook full of quick notes for me to remember common things. I paced myself and really tried to understand the content instead of trying to memorize everything. I would study 5 days in a row then take off 1 or 2 days at most, then get right back to studying. I didn't study for more than 8 hours a day and I also took frequent breaks. I also used UWorld, and NCLEX Mastery App. I did a little more than 2000 questions in total this time around, but I focused on QUALITY instead of QUANTITY - I really read each question and tried to understand the rationales whether right or wrong. After every subject I read in Saunders, I used UWorld and Mastery App to test myself using 5-10 question exams on the material to make sure I mastered it before I moved on. I believe this is what really helped the most because it really reinforced the material. After I finished the whole Saunders book, I completely focused on UWorld exclusively. I did 2 75-question exams per day up until exam day and this really made me feel 100% ready for the NCLEX. I did not finish the entire Q-bank; I only did around 1400 questions and had a 61% total average. 3 days before exam day, I was getting only 65% and above on my practice tests and continuously climbed up until my last exam was a 69%. I felt positive and ready.

The day before the exam I did not study or touch any notes whatsoever. I woke up as late as I wanted, and watched movies all day and relaxed, not thinking about anything related to nursing.

Exam day: September 1 - I woke up after 8 hrs of sleep, made myself a good breakfast and went over some common meds to refresh my memory and then finally put everything away. Headed over to the test center as confident as I've ever been and did not let my anxiety get the best of me. 1 1/2 hrs and 75 questions later, and the exam shut off. I just knew I passed! After studying with UWorld, the exam seemed like a piece of cake! Most of my exam was SATA and I had 2 exhibits, 1 drag and drop, and 1 EKG. I thought it was (dare I say) the EASIEST exam! There were even very similar topics that I remember seeing on UWorld! And sure enough, 48 hrs later with quick results: PASS!

So to anyone filled with doubt or fear about the NCLEX: DO NOT GIVE UP! Do not overwhelm yourself with too many resources; use 1 or 2 and STICK TO THEM! I believe the best NCLEX studying is using Saunders + UWorld! I SWEAR by UWorld and they are worth the money and wish I had known about it sooner; their rationales are incredibly detailed and you really do learn so much and you don't even notice!

You made it through nursing school and if I can do it, YOU CAN DO IT! :):)