I told myself that once I pass, I would share my story so that hopefully people who have failed the NCLEX won't feel bad about themselves.
I graduated in Dec 2013. I figured that I didn't necessarily need to study, considering I just graduated nursing school. lol. Nope. To "study" for the test, I was took Kaplan online. I thought, at the time, that I enjoyed the class. However, I think it was mostly because I was hearing how good it was, but not because how it was affecting me. I was also using Hurst. I took the NCLEX in February for the first time and failed after 80 questions. Of course, I assumed I passed just because of the low about of questions that I had. Well, I didn't. I ended up taking Kaplan again for free due to the fact that I failed. I studied how Kaplan wanted me to study and did everything that they wanted me to do. However, in May, I failed again with 76 questions. Unlike the first time, I knew walking out of there that I had failed. I had major anxiety during the test and I was getting all sorts of easy type questions. As you can imagine, I was heartbroken. I felt like I was a failure and even second guessed if Nursing was even for me. So I took about a month from studying to gather myself before I tried again. I was studying from some of the material that I had from Hurst that I printed out the past two times. However, I knew it was not enough and I needed practice questions. Well, I have to say, I did NOT want to use Kaplan again. Even though they have good reviews, Kaplan was not for me. I won't say its not a good program, cause it does work for some people. However, it did nothing for me. So I decided to go for NCSBN. LOVED IT, LOVED IT LOVED IT! If you find yourself not liking Kaplan, I would definitely go for NCSBN. To me, their type of questions were more like the NCLEX and I even found them harder than both the NCLEX and Kaplan. I really did love it. I ended up taking the 3 course 3 times lol. That's because I was too nervous too take the test, so I just kept ordering the course haha.
Well finally, on December 5th, I went to the testing center with NO anxiety at all. I spent the couple months prior to the test praying for God to take the anxiety away. I knew that If I had anxiety going into the test, I would never be able to pass. I thank God that I was able to take the exam free from nervousness. I took 3 hours to take the exam (I wanted to make sure I go slow and pick the right answer) and it stopped at 75 questions. I did not do the check on my phone to see if you would take me to the "credit card" page. After the exam, I wanted it all out of my head lol. I waited about 5 days, until they sent me a letter telling me I passed, and that's how I found out! It was much better that way!
So I repeat, NCSBN IS A GIFT FROM GOD!
To everyone who has failed, it does not mean you are a failure! You will be an amazing nurse! I really do believe that prayer changes everything!
