Hello everyone, I took the nclex for the second time on Wednesday 07/24/2019 at 8am. For preparations this time around I used Uworld. I loved it esp. the rationales. Uworld gave me a high chance of passing the NCLEX (76%). I went into the exam room and this time around I was more confident and calm. I was given a private room I was soo happy. At 137 questions the computer shut off. I was giving two breaks and trust me I took them this time around. I then went to the restroom and I prayed both times and even throughout the test. Praying helped calm my nerves.
This time around I did not do the PVT trick. I just waited for the 48hrs to get my quick results. Of course I couldn’t check for myself so I had my husband check while at work (1st time too). That’s how bad my nerves are...I was like, good news call and bad news text me. When I saw that sad face ? I almost died y’all. I was sooo hurt! But I didn’t cry ?. I just said to myself! “Girl you know you always have to go through that battle to get to where you want to be, so just Thank God even in the bad times and keep pressing on!” Even though the news wasn’t what I expected I still managed to pray. You only fail when you give up and that’s not me or else I wouldn’t have been where I am today!
Anyways, the test started of pretty smooth. The test threw at me sooo many SATA ?; OB; I had about 3 dosage; 1 EKG; Delagation; Prioritization; Click and drag for certain techniques; I had a lot of Infection control questions; about 3/4 meds; Um some safety ; what should the nurse document; and the list goes on. Also, had about 6/7 diseases on there that I’d never seen before ?.
I came out of the exam in mixed feelings. Not sure what to expect but at the same time remaining positive. Since it was my second time retesting it was just a different set of emotions to that off my first time.
I am indeed a bad test taker! Ask me to explain something to you and I will but give me a question and I’ll be freaking the hell out!
Daily i’ve done 2/3 sets of 75 questions on Uworld. Went to the library everyday. I created a binder and separated the pages based on systems. So when Remediating I’d write rationales for cardiac in the cardiac section in my binder rather than having all the systems all over the place. A more organized structure is sorta what I did. I’m visual so colored pens/ markers helps me remember also while writing.
I didn’t get to remediate all the rationales for the questions I did daily on that very same day. But I finished them before starting a new set of questions. Coming closer to the test 2-3 days. I started doing just strictly questions and looking over what I really didn’t know.
Now I am sort of lost because I don’t know what else to do. My friend told me about Remar. She’s going to send me the CD ? so that’s good I don’t have to spend extra money. And there’s a book for it which is about $16 at barnes and nobles. So I’d try those.
I forgot to mention I did use Mark K a lil bit this time around but more on my first time. I also read through that 35 nclex packet about 3 times. So I really don’t know what it is I’m doing wrong. Id wait for my report.
Anyone else on here passed On the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th time it don’t matter please send me some tips.
I know what works for others may not work for me but it’s only one way to find out.
To know about my first experience it’s on my profile. I apologize for this long message.
Just passed my NCLEX after the 2nd attempt! Went from failing at 265 Q (4.5 hrs) to passing in 75 Q within 1.5 hours!
I know how it must feel to fail after studying so hard, it really makes you feel so defeated. I vegged out for a few days after I failed the first time. I was so devastated. But I had a lot of support from my friends and family. It felt like I could never pass no matter how hard I tried. Eventually, I mustered up enough energy and told myself “you got this” and set off to conquer the test the next time.
Resources I used:
Kaplan (mostly QBanks & videos on how to answer questions using decision tree)
for me, the decision tree was confusing at first but then as I watched more of their videos, I slowly understood it
I only borrowed my friend’s Kaplan account cause she passed already and hers wasn’t expiring till Sept so why not? I had ATI from my school but I felt that it wasn’t right for me, my virtualATI instructor wasn’t clicking with me and the questions were too hard. I needed the “basics of the basics”
Cliffnotes NCLEX-RN Cram Book
THIS WAS THE BEST DECISION I EVER MADE. This book made all the difference the 2nd time around. I always felt very overwhelmed with my ATI book and needed something like a book “for dummies” type of resource
found this gem at Barnes & Noble while looking for another recource. It’s not too big, dums down everything, and I mean EVERYTHING (lab values, vocab, pharm)
it’s not totally comprehensive like the ATI book but it WILL GIVE YOU A STRONG FOUNDATION. I don’t know if I could’ve passed without this book
best part was that I got it for $13
Prioritization, Delegation, & Assignment (4th Ed.) by LaCharity
Book I was looking for when I found the cliffnotes book
this was highly recommended by a lot of people and also it comes with an online resource. It’s mostly practice questions so the online portion was basically putting those in an easier format to study/time yourself and look at rationales without having to flip through the book all the time
I found that this really helped with the priority questions and also understanding which patient was the most critical
this books helped me decide on which patient to see first. If you could only do one thing for your patient and then basically die....WHAT WOULD YOU DO? type of thought process.
I also watched a lot of youtube videos of people who failed and what they had to say to just let the feeling of failure set within myself. I couldn’t go on studying again without first validating my feelings, ya know? I had to pick myself back up.
I also think a big part of making a literal 360° was my confidence and anxiety. Listened/watched a lot of therapy videos on how to improve on how I did mentally on exams. I’m not a very good test taker to begin with. There’s this thing I learned called the Law of Attraction where what you think subconsciously is what you attract. So I thought to myself every second of studying “You will pass. You will pass and be a damn great nurse.”
I passed my NCLEX-PN after the 11th attempt and I just found this out today. Write out the rationales and don’t put too much effort on the question itself. Writing out the rationales is time consuming but I found that writing things out helped me get through my classes as well my boards. At first, I resisted the thought of writing anything out for my boards but I realized after failing so many times that I needed to stop trying to take shortcuts and to stop fighting off on how I normally learn and absorb information.
You will get this girl! Just keep Confessing it out of your mouth and believe it as you say it.
The biggest piece of advice I can give you is to limit your resources. You have already went to nursing school so don't keep trying to re-teach yourself with several different sources.
Once you narrow down your sources, take questions, over and over and read the rationales! Be sure to take practice multiple choice, drag/drop, put in order, prioritization, delegation, and select all that apply. You got this! Best wishes!
You will get this girl! Just keep Confessing it out of your mouth and believe it as you say it.
The biggest piece of advice I can give you is to limit your resources. You have already went to nursing school so don't keep trying to re-teach yourself with several different sources.
Once you narrow down your sources, take questions, over and over and read the rationales! Be sure to take practice multiple choice, drag/drop, put in order, prioritization, delegation, and select all that apply. You got this! Best wishes!
Jumper RN BSN
1 Post
Just passed my NCLEX after the 2nd attempt! Went from failing at 265 Q (4.5 hrs) to passing in 75 Q within 1.5 hours!
I know how it must feel to fail after studying so hard, it really makes you feel so defeated. I vegged out for a few days after I failed the first time. I was so devastated. But I had a lot of support from my friends and family. It felt like I could never pass no matter how hard I tried. Eventually, I mustered up enough energy and told myself “you got this” and set off to conquer the test the next time.
Resources I used:
Kaplan (mostly QBanks & videos on how to answer questions using decision tree)
Cliffnotes NCLEX-RN Cram Book
Prioritization, Delegation, & Assignment (4th Ed.) by LaCharity
I also watched a lot of youtube videos of people who failed and what they had to say to just let the feeling of failure set within myself. I couldn’t go on studying again without first validating my feelings, ya know? I had to pick myself back up.
I also think a big part of making a literal 360° was my confidence and anxiety. Listened/watched a lot of therapy videos on how to improve on how I did mentally on exams. I’m not a very good test taker to begin with. There’s this thing I learned called the Law of Attraction where what you think subconsciously is what you attract. So I thought to myself every second of studying “You will pass. You will pass and be a damn great nurse.”
I hope this helped! Good luck to you!