A few things on my mind.......relate?

ManyRN2B · Jul 14, 2005

I can totally relate to how you feel. I get up and study every day and feel like ....geeez will this ever be over?????

I would keep studying. If you can remember when you did well on those practice exams it would help. I say that because I found out after 9pm, I answer a lot of questions wrong. I also found out if I don't study first thing in the morning, it doesn't get done. So now I get up everyday around 8-9am and study for 4-5 hrs straight. I do take 10min breaks every hour or my brain would fry. I'm willing to bet if you figure out the time of day you do best, you will see your score better during those times. I'm a morning person, so that explains that. They also recommend you pick your exam time based on what time of the day you do better.

I feel like I've negelected people too. It's frustrating and I don't think those people will ever truly understand unless they are nurses.

I'm still studying despite what people say. I'm tired of hearing people say studying didn't help. It had to help or else they wouldn't have passed. Maybe they didn't know the disease but they knew enough about A&P to figure it out. Sometimes there are hints in the questions that will help you go back to A&P.

Good luck I take my exam in August!

mrsmoo2 · Jul 14, 2005

I feel exactly the same way...I HAVE to pass...we cannot afford for me to be a "stay at home mom" for one more minute....I have a job waiting, pending passing this thing..I take it the 25th. There is no way we could survive 3 more months of one income...no facility around here uses graduate nurses, and they also won't hire one as a CNA. I am enrolled in NCSBN course, and I cannot get above an 80% on any of the tests...even gotten 58% on a couple, and I've never had anything below a B, ever.....I feel like there's no way I can learn enough, and if my test doesn't shut off at 85 (lpn boards), I will have a breakdown, I'm afraid. I use the Saunders book & CD & did the flashcards, probably have done close to 2000 ??'s so far, my goal is 3000. All my friends say they know I will pass, they don't have a doubt, but it's just SO important that I do, the alternative is unthinkable. I think I'll go vomit now!!!!!!

suzanne4, RN · Jul 14, 2005

How are you studying/preparing using Saunders? You should be trying to get at least 100 questions done per day, and also review the rationale behind each and evert answer, both the correct as well as incorrect. This is as important as doing the questions in my mind. Do not only look at the answers to the questions that you missed. They may be worded differently on the exam................

nursingyoursoul · Jul 15, 2005

Until I started nursing school, I never really thought much about nurses and their education and so forth. But, recently I told a friend, after telling him I couldn't go out because I had to study. I told hime, I have a new admiration for nurses, this is the hardest thing I've ever done. And so many before me have endured this long and lonely road. So, when I fell alone or tired or stressed or anything really, I just hop on this site and get to feeling better. Nurses should be much more respected than they are, but I guess until you've actually gone that road you don't realize what someone has been through to get to where they are. :uhoh3:

Nurse2B2005 · Jul 15, 2005

1. All of my friends who have already taken the exam tell me to not even bother continuing to study because it was useless to them.....everything they knew was not tested on and everything they didn't know was tested on a lot.

I felt the same way too - but in reality, you always want to be prepared for what they do ask you. I feel like I wasted a ton of time studying for things they never asked me, but the end result, I am hoping that it sticks in my brain and I can use it when I am orienting on the floor, or that it will come back to me in the future if I need it.

If my computer does not shut off at 75, I will panic. If it does shut off at 75 I think I will be certain I bombed it really bad. (???)

Don't think about the number of questions. Focus on each and every question. When mine shut off at 75, I wanted it to keep going. However, if that had been the case, I think I would have freaked out if it kept going, because that would mean that it hadn't deemed me competent yet. It's a double edge sword. Just answer every question to the best of your ability. Read all the posts on here - it's rare that one fails at 75. But everyone that passes at 75 can attest that they felt like they had failed. No sense in worrying about that until you come to it.

3. I have too much riding on this exam. (Leaving a really good job to start a nursing career) If I don't pass then I have to re-plan my immediate future.

A lot of us felt the same way. I had a job lined up that depended on me passing. No matter what, don't let that get the best of you. Focus on the here and now.

4. No matter how much I study I feel like I don't know ANYTHING.

You know a lot more than you think :)

5. My school has had 100% percent pass rate the last few years, thats a lot of pressure......

That's even MORE reason for you to feel like you are prepared!!

6. Sometimes I'll take a review exam and do really well, and other times I fail horribly. I feel like I don't know anything I just sporadically get lucky.

Read some posts from others. Everyone scores anywhere from 50-80% depending on if they are having a good day. Remember, you need to get 50% on the NCLEX and 50% wrong.

7. I am under so much stress, I am starting to sound like a maniac...( I thought once graduation was over it would be a piece of cake) DOES THIS FEELING EVER GO AWAY?

The feeling will go away once you find out you pass. Trust me, the feeling gets worse after you take the test until the day you find out.

8. Given the opportunity to do it all over again, I don't know if I would want to have put myself through this.

I said the SAME thing!!! But now that it's over - it's all worth it - and I would do it again!

Once I finished NS, I noticed all of the things I have missed out on.

I've been a terrible girlfriend, daughter, sister, friend, etc...and I feel so guilty if I missed out on so much only to fail a REALLY important test...and have nothing.

You haven't been a terrible anything. If anything, you are wonderful and dedicated because you reached for a dream that is about to come true. It's there for your taking. Prepare yourself well, take some deep breaths - and walk in there like you own the test!!!! Take comfort that you are not alone in all your feelings. We have all been there in one way or another. Best of luck - and keep your chin up!!!!

anita2812 · Jul 15, 2005

I feel exactly the same way...I HAVE to pass...we cannot afford for me to be a "stay at home mom" for one more minute....
I completely relate to you.Tomorrow my results for the NCLEX-PN will be in.MY family has sacrificed a lot for me to go through this.We have had to take a big cut in income.I am already working as aGVn making 18/h, so that would to put it in nice words SUCK to fail.The test shut off at 85 for me.Good luck you on your test.I used the Saunder and Lippincot review.I found the Suanders much more in depth and helpful.By the way, I also went through my moment of feeling like a bad wife and mother, because while I should ve been spending more time with them I was at clinicals or locked up in my room studying. BUt you know what, the rewards for my family will be so worth it.

merei · Jul 15, 2005

.I have a job waiting, pending passing this thing..I take it the 25th. I feel like there's no way I can learn enough, and if my test doesn't shut off at 85 (lpn boards), I will have a breakdown, I'm afraid. I use the Saunders book & CD & did the flashcards, probably have done close to 2000 ??'s so far, my goal is 3000. All my friends say they know I will pass, they don't have a doubt, but it's just SO important that I do, the alternative is unthinkable. I think I'll go vomit now!!!!!!

Just wanted to tell you that we're testing on the same day.... I'm also using the Saunders book and am trying to keep myself from being completely paranoid about the test and my results.... Some days I feel really good about it, and others I feel like I don't remember anything from school....

nursepotter05, RN · Jul 15, 2005

The way I understand the test it is set up where it expects you to get 50% of the questions right. So, if you are making in the 60's -70's on the reviews you should be allright. You will feel like you are the dumbest individual who ever lived while you are taking the test and up until the day you get the results saying you passed. It is set up that way. I got 75 questions and felt like I had failed, but I passed (found uot today!)