I finally passed it!!!!!!!! Geez, it's been a long time coming, but the moment that I had longed for so long has finally happened. Just wanted to thank all those @ allnurses.com who have wished me well, as well as those who have posted in the past their success stories. These stories not only inspired me, they gave me motivation and hope that I too can be among those who were able to pass the NCLEX exam. I truly believe that this site was instrumental in me passing. Thanks again, and for all those who have taken it several times and haven't passed, don't give up! Believe me, I know that its hard having not passed several times, but don't despair. If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask. I am more than willing to help anybody out. It's the least I can do to contribute to this site. Now, I can have more time to :onbch: and :vdgmg:
I will be taking the NCLEX again I am trying to study but still at a lost. How did you study for this exam Please help!
pinklady0294, I posted on the first page of this thread on how I went about preparing for each test that I took, so you might want to check up on it. In general though, what I feel helped me a lot was answering numerous questions and understanding the rationales behind each answer. Knowledge is always a factor when answering questions, but another key factor is identifying what the question is asking for. By knowing this, you'll be able to narrow answers down and give yourself a better chance of choosing the right one!
1st Attempt: I strictly used the Kaplan Q Bank and questions trainers. Being as it was my first time taking it, I was quite anxious and was overwhelmed with the amount of information that I could possibly be tested on. I did the full 265 questions but ended up failing. What possibly got me that far in the test was breaking down each question and eliminating wrong answers.
2nd Attempt: To be honest, I kind of took it a bit easy on the studying this time around. I was under the impression that I could only add on to the knowledge that I had gained during preparation of the first exam. Big mistake. I continued answering questions and did a bit more reading this time around, buying several NCLEX review books in the process. Mistake #2. I ended up doing just 75 questions when the computer shutoff. I ended up failing a second time, which was not only heart-breaking, it brought down my confidence and made me doubt my talents as a potential RN. What I noticed afterwards was that I wasn't quite as nervous as the first time, yet I was breezing through the questions. I finished at around an hour and a half, but I had a suspicious feeling that I didn't end up doing so well. The questions were too "simple" and I was getting alot of them. It would be 6 months and probably around 10 reschedules before I would take it again.
3rd Attempt: This time around, I still stuck with answering questions, but instead of just doing each question and moving on to the next, I read each rationale (whether I got it right/wrong) and tried to get a feeling of what the question was asking for ( A Kaplan strategy). For all the wrong questions I got, I wrote a short note on it, and later read up on it. My rationale for doing this was to better utilize my time and focus on my weak areas, rather than going over whole sections of reading (i.e. cardiovascular, endocrine, GI, etc). Then I got the book "Prioritization, Delegation, Assignment" by LaCharity. Get your hands on this book!!! I highly recommend it. I thought that I had a fair grasp on prioritizing and delegation, but after doing some questions from it, I realized that I needed a bit more reviewing. A week before the test, I did about 175-200 each day, but by the 5th day I couldn't force myself to do anymore questions. For the 2 days prior, I did some lite reading by looking over all the notes I wrote up during answering questions, as well as reviewing lab values. On the day of the test, I said a prayer in my car before I went inside the test-taking building. I told myself that I would take my time with each question and not rush like I had during the second time. I read somewhere on these forums that someone posted that Priority questions were considered high level questions, so each time I encountered these kind of questions, my confidence rose. I finishing at about an hour and 45 minutes, 77 questions, and ended up not taking my time as I intended. I was a bit scared because yet again, I breezed through the test. I only had one SATA and no math medications. What perplexed me this time around was that the questions seemed a bit "simple" and weren't as complexed as I was anticipating. Its kinda hard to describe, but I'll be honest by saying that it felt "easier" than what I was expecting.
Hope this helps. If you have any more questions to ask, please feel free to!
I will be taking the NCLEX again I am trying to study but still at a lost. How did you study for this exam Please help!
I agree with Jswift. Answer questions, questions, & more questions. Try to do 100 a day and read the rationals even if you get it correct. One thing I did, if I was unsure about a drug, I looked it up and studied the suffixes of the drugs, like "prils" are aces, "olol" is beta blockers, that way I can at least know SOMETHING about the drug when I get a question. I also made flash cards for the labs. I also focused on prioritizing and infection control, and test strategies in the Saunders book. All the questions I answered were in Saunders 4th edition. Stick with one book, don't use different ones. If I came across a disease I wasn't sure about, I looked it up before answering the question. Have you checked out Suzannes plan? It's in the sticky's at the top of this forum. Good luck and answer questions until you're sick of it!
god is good!!!!i wish you all the best for your career and a future full of hope and love for nursing.
congratulations j-swift808 !!!:yeah:
thanks so much for the support hugmebaby_72 . it's good to know that despite having already passed the nclex, you still continue to support others on this site. i'll do the same, as i also want to help out others who have been in our shoes. be sure to keep in touch!
What did you do to prepare the third time, and did you change testing sites. Thanks,
April
April, I posted on the first page of this thread the things I did when I prepared for the 3rd time I took it. I can't stress enough how important it is to do as much practice questions as you can. Doing this not only empowers you with more knowledge (DO NOT just "memorize" Q&A's), but it'll help build endurance when taking the test. Start off with 50-75 questions per day. If you become feel comfortable doing these amount of questions, gradually start to increasing it. Do no more than 265-300 questions per day because you have to give your mind time to digest the information it's receiving. As you do these questions, take notes on the ones that you get wrong or are unsure of. This will help you focus on your weak areas. Oh, and I went to the same test site each time because their is only one site where I'm at
J-Swift08....my 2nd attempt was the same exact thing as your 3rd attempt...studied the same way that you did too....it is hard to explain isn't it...I thought the samething that the questions seem to easy and not at the level of nursing they were looking for...mine shut off at 75..in which I feel that they did not give me enough questions...to justify myself...I personally think that I failed...my first attempt I went all the way to 265 and the questions seemed alot harder...but I knew that I didn't pass before I even finished...I think that I will probably be going back for attempt number 3...I'm still waiting for my results.
GOOD LUCK TO YOU IN YOUR NEW CAREER!!! CONGRATS ON PASSING!
J-Swift08....my 2nd attempt was the same exact thing as your 3rd attempt...studied the same way that you did too....it is hard to explain isn't it...I thought the samething that the questions seem to easy and not at the level of nursing they were looking for...mine shut off at 75..in which I feel that they did not give me enough questions...to justify myself...I personally think that I failed...my first attempt I went all the way to 265 and the questions seemed alot harder...but I knew that I didn't pass before I even finished...I think that I will probably be going back for attempt number 3...I'm still waiting for my results.
GOOD LUCK TO YOU IN YOUR NEW CAREER!!! CONGRATS ON PASSING!
NYRN08, don't give in just yet. Your results haven't come in yet, so there is still a chance that you may have passed. I have never met a person who said that they had a good feeling that they passed the NCLEX. All have felt that they didn't pass, yet most did in fact end up passing. I'd be lying if I were to say that the questions I ended getting on my 3rd exam was what I was expecting. I was expecting to get more SATA's, pharm, priority,and case-scenerio questions, as these were the norms (maybe not the case-scenerio type) that people who were passing were getting. Especially the SATA's. What I ended up getting mostly were priority/delegation type questions, which was quite a blessing. As I have mentioned, I saw someone post a while back (I believe one of the moderators) saying that these were the high-level type questions. So, as I started getting more and more of these questions on the exam, I thought to myself that "maybe I'm doing better than I thought". I'm not sure what type of questions you were getting throughout your test, but if its similar to what I've experienced, you have a good chance of passing!
:yeah:
SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN
10,263 Posts
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