Advice for taking the NCLEX-RN again without failing

Editorial Team / Admin · Feb 13, 2021

Download the NCLEX Study Guide ebook here at allnurses, created by @Damion Jenkins. Damion is an NCLEX Prep Expert with a 100% pass rate. The NCLEX Study Guide is FREE for a limited time.

GOOD LUCK!

londonflo · Feb 13, 2021

15 hours ago, chocolateocean said:

I don't have much time to study because I work full time and I have a lot on my plate. I'm currently reading the Saunders review book and I'm considering other review books to read, but I don't want to get overwhelmed.

You should get a report on the area(s) you did or not do well on. Compare it with the Test Plan available here"

2019_RN_TestPlan-English.pdf (NCSBN.org)

Everybody is busy - we all suffer from the 'busyness disease' and there are no shortcuts

NCLEX Columnist · Feb 15, 2021

On 2/12/2021 at 10:44 PM, chocolateocean said:

I took the exam this week for the first time. I graduated from a BSN program in December and studied a little. I started out with easy/common sense questions that made me feel confident I was going to pass, then it started asking many SATA questions and I think on a lot of SATA questions I selected every option because I didn't see why not. I don't know if it's common for every option on a SATA to be correct. I also saw a lot of things I didn't know, but I had heard I can still pass with getting 50% correct or guessing a lot and I didn't worry about it too much. But of course I didn't pass and I'm worried I may not pass anytime soon. I saw posts on the NCLEX subreddit from people who didn't pass the NCLEX until their 10th attempt or 10 years after finishing school. I don't want to end up that way. I don't have much time to study because I work full time and I have a lot on my plate. I'm currently reading the Saunders review book and I'm considering other review books to read, but I don't want to get overwhelmed. I also don't want to do have to do UWorld or Kaplan subscriptions since they're expensive. I feel like there's just so much I don't know and I don't know how I'm supposed to prepare for an exam that asks such random questions.

Hi There!

First, I want to assure you that you are NOT alone in your struggle with the NCLEX. More than 20% of new graduates have a difficult time passing the boards, and for many - they have multiple attempts.

Second, I want you to know that its not your fault. As an experienced nurse educator and NCLEX Prep Expert, I have found that the problem is a lack of opportunity to APPLY what you've learned in school in order to appropriately answer NCLEX style questions - also known as mastering critical thinking skills necessary to make safe clinical decisions. You take that proficiency gap and put it up against the expectations of the NCLEX exam design - and you have yourself an unfortunate situation.

Third, I want to share some actionable tips that will immediately help you better prepare for your next attempt:

1) Always invest in yourself and get the tools you'll need to find success. I understand that you are hesitant to invest more money into your preparation - I fully understand! Nursing School was certainly expensive enough - but just remember that each unsuccessful attempt puts you back THOUSANDS of dollars - not just a couple hundred bucks to reapply. Investing in a program, or seeking the assistance of an expert is always a better option than choosing not to.

2) MAKE TIME to practice applying what you've learned in nursing school. You have to create a study schedule and work on challenging your understanding of what could be on the exam. I agree with the above recommendations of (check out the FREE NCLEX Study Guide that I wrote, review the NCSBN Test Plan - and really make sure you can speak to the topics in a way that is sufficient enough to teach it to someone else, and you need to practice answering high-quality NCLEX style questions). As you're waiting for retest, you need to dedicate 2 to 4 hours of studying each day leading up to your next attempt. That includes reviewing content, strategy and practicing questions.

3) Learn your areas of weakness ASAP and develop a plan to improve your abilities to speak to, or answer questions related to those topics. This is crucial! Since the NCLEX is a CAT test, it will choose questions based on your performance. Therefore if you're bombing OB questions - its going to play on your weakness and keep giving you those type of questions to give you a chance to improve your score. If you never improve on your ability to answer those questions - well, we wind up getting too many questions in a category incorrect and there is an unsuccessful attempt.

4) Get to know how the NCLEX is designed. You should know how questions are created, how they challenge you to think, and what rules apply to the different question types. For instance, SATA questions can have one or ALL answer choices be correct. The NCLEX does not follow a standard of 3 or 4 correct answers like nursing school did. It can be one or all, so knowing how to answer SATA questions is what you should focus on. Also knowing that SATA questions are typically low level questions also helps because we spend too much time trying to critically think about something we may or may not know. You see, SATA questions are simply asking you to identify information. They don't ask you to make decisions. They don't ask you to prioritize patient care. They certainly don't ask to you make sense of a bunch of data. They either ask you to identify correct or incorrect standards of care - stuff you should already know. This is where practicing NCLEX questions is so important because the more you see these questions, the easier it is for you to learn how they work, what they challenge, and how to answer them correctly.

5) The Best tip - You do not have to know everything in order to pass the NCLEX - BUT you have to know a minimum amount of normals, as well as the concepts, rules and principles that guide nursing practice. They say a "nurse is a nurse is a nurse" because there are fundamental concepts that all nurses practice by. So whether I'm caring for a Peds ER patient or an elder with CHF - there are principles that transcend the individual circumstance or scenario with each patient and my ability to practice safe care should not change if I understand these principles. Not all review programs do a great job of explaining this, but I can assure you that the NCLEX challenges this A LOT! You must be comfortable with the roles and responsibilities of the nurse in order to pass this exam.

6) Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or would like to learn more. You can visit my profile, and all of my contact information is there via my website.

I have spent many years helping individuals pass the NCLEX, and while each experience is different - the reasons why they fail are often the same. I hope you find this information valuable, and please do not hesitate to reach out should you need more assistance.

Best,

Damion