RESCHEDULE??

Nursing Students NCLEX

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My exam is on July 9. My anxiety level is through the roof. I failed my first attempt at NCLEX back in May with 265 questions. My study habit hasn't really been that great. I occasionally answer. My exam scores worry me. I was taking saunders questions to 100 and usually got around 50-70% although they seemed easy.

I only took Kaplan Trainers 2(60%), 3(55%) and 4(48%; I got frustrated and angry answering & lost focus). I rarely get below 50%. Then I took a 50 item exam in med surg and only got 44% :***:. I was shocked cause I though I was going to get around 80% cause I thought my answers were really correct. Should I just reschedule to the third week of July and review some more or would it not make a difference?

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

The first thing that comes out for me is that you state that in one of your tests you got frustrated, and it affected your percentage-a 48%

How are your reviewing? Are you reviewing what was below the passing standard? At LEAST 265 (or 205 if you are taking the PN NCLEX) and reviewing ALL questions AND rationales???

How do you handle test anxiety???

The most you can do is refocus your studying by changing your studying style, and find test anxiety techniques. If you think you can do that by the time you are ready for the exam, then keep the exam date. If not, reschedule no more than three weeks from the original test date, and keep IT. Stick to your study schedule. Good luck!

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I started doing questions from Hurst(too easy), saunders, kaplan, exam cram, etc. I've just been answering questions not so much on reading cause thats all I did my first take at NCLEX RN and not so much on answering.

I try to get a 100 questions a day which is kinda low. OMG writing it down makes me see what a bad study habit I have. I'm not good at handling anxiety at all. I bite the side of my fingers, I cry or become enraged. Thanks for the advice. I will definitely be thinking about what you said.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Women’s Health.

It sounds like managing your anxiety is going to be just as important as any amount of studying you can do. As a graduate nurse, I'm sure you know that your reaction to anxiety is neither normal nor healthy and it might be a good idea to seek some help with that prior to testing again (a little bit of medication can go a long way!).

Those issues aside, if you think you are confident with the actual content, I would try to review the strategies. Are you familiar with those? Such as using Maslow's hierarchy, ABCs, etc? If not, get familiar with them! I think it's a tempting section of review books to skip but it really helped me a lot.

Also, make sure you are utilizing your time well. You mentioned that 100 questions a day was low... I did nowhere near 100/day and I just passed with 75 Qs. That might work for some people but if your scores aren't improving it's time to try something new.

If you don't feel good about it, I would reschedule and give yourself a couple more weeks if you think you need it. The NCLEX is already super stressful, don't make it worse on yourself by rushing it! Good luck!

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Thinking about it, even on my first take anxiety was an issue. I did see a psychologist and she said it was like OCD except just a compulsion with the biting.

That's interesting you said you did less than 100Q a day cause everyone said they did 200 or more, etc. Thank you so much. I'll try going over some more strategies and congrats on passing!

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