I recent graduated nursing school In January and I have taken the NCLEX once in February and again in April. I failed both at 75 questions. I studied with ATI that my school swore by.
I have a nursing job waiting for me to get my license but ever since I failed in April.... I haven’t studied consistently and have lost all motivation.
I do want to be a nurse but XX this is hard! Idk what I’m doing wrong with the NCLEX or even how to build up the courage to take the NCLEX again. Any advice?
I used uworld to study and only had a month to review. I answered 100-200 questions a day (it took me the whole day to review, only resting when I had to eat). It made me feel more stressed out and on the last week, I was only doing 10-20qs... so I don’t recommend cramming the content review that same way that I did.
Oh but prior to using uworld, I made a list of areas I know that I’m bad at and reread my lecture notes. Once I refreshed my mind, I just went ahead and drowned myself with uworld questions each day. READ THE RATIONALES EVEN THE ONES YOU GOT RIGHT.
Once you answer the questions regularly, you just fall into the same pattern that uworld does to break down the problem.
But I wouldn’t say that the NCLEX is easier than uworld. It really depends on the questions you get. I started with questions I somehow knew but then progressed to a series of never ending SATA. I remember counting almost 40 SATA out of 82 questions and I was crying.
Goodluck! Take care of yourself while you study. Your mindset affects your performance so get into the habit of thinking about success. You’ve already been through a lot of things during nursing school and passed! ?
I have to also agree here. I was not a strong student through nursing school simply because I couldn't grasp HOW to take the tests. I understood the content to a point but would get too hung up on the facts and not what it was actually asking for. OVERTHINKING. When I was preparing for the NCLEX, I felt overwhelmed with the scores I kept getting back and would put myself down for not picking what should have been the obvious answer. When I realized that the problem wasn't mainly with my core knowledge, I 100% put my focus on testing strategies instead that allowed me to break down each and every question. It helped me learn what to listen for and what to throw out completely regardless of whatever med or disease it was asking about. I then started doing 75 questions a day for 2 weeks. I would take them in study mode at first so I could read the rationales immediately. Then after a few days, I switched to test mode so that it would be more realistic for me and help with my anxiety. If I didn't know the answer with 200% confidence, I stopped what I was doing and immediately went through the strategies of breaking the questions down. My scores on UWorld jumped from the 40s to the high 60s. I started really grasping what the NCLEX was looking for and because of the strategies and how I practiced, my anxiety was under control and I went into the test with a clear head.
Hi cabre,
I read your post about how you were able to focus on your test taking strategies. I am having the same problem, I know the content but I am yet to learn a good test taking strategy and I’m freaking out. Please if you can reach back to me to help or let me know on how or what you did to finally get a grasp on your strategy. Thank you.
Ninachii, BSN, RN
3 Posts
I used uworld to study and only had a month to review. I answered 100-200 questions a day (it took me the whole day to review, only resting when I had to eat). It made me feel more stressed out and on the last week, I was only doing 10-20qs... so I don’t recommend cramming the content review that same way that I did.
Oh but prior to using uworld, I made a list of areas I know that I’m bad at and reread my lecture notes. Once I refreshed my mind, I just went ahead and drowned myself with uworld questions each day. READ THE RATIONALES EVEN THE ONES YOU GOT RIGHT.
Once you answer the questions regularly, you just fall into the same pattern that uworld does to break down the problem.
But I wouldn’t say that the NCLEX is easier than uworld. It really depends on the questions you get. I started with questions I somehow knew but then progressed to a series of never ending SATA. I remember counting almost 40 SATA out of 82 questions and I was crying.
Goodluck! Take care of yourself while you study. Your mindset affects your performance so get into the habit of thinking about success. You’ve already been through a lot of things during nursing school and passed! ?