Failed the nclex on the first try

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Specializes in CCRN, Geriatrics.

I recently took the nclex on march 12th and just found out i failed on the first try. I brought uworld February 28th and only studied for about 2 weeks. My exam shut off at 89 questions i had a good amount of sata questions. I felt confident until i attempted to do the pvt trick and recieved the bad pop up. That pvt trick is something i dont even want to do again. I honestly wish i had of waited to test at a later date. Please if you have any advice comment down below!

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I’m sorry to hear this. Did you do quick results to verify PVT? Sometimes pvt can be wrong.

Also, did you use other study materials besides UWorld? UW is good but I feel like some other prep materials in addition to UW can be helpful to build strong foundation in every system.

My school used ATI and I used ATI books to go over many different body systems in adult med/surg, maternity, fundamental, pharm, pedi, etc by focusing on my weakness. Maybe you could use Saunders book? I heard good thigs about it. And I did roughly 1660 questions on UW and used their flash card& highlighter function heavily to review again after doing all those questions to reinforce.

i hope you hear good news soon!

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Specializes in CCRN, Geriatrics.

Hi yes i did do the quick results to verify. I also have saunders but did not want to overwhelm myself initally.

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I got the bad pop up too but later on found out I actually passed.

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Specializes in CCRN, Geriatrics.
5 hours ago, Seeing Myself Out said:

I got the bad pop up too but later on found out I actually passed.

What resources did you use? I prayed that it would turn out the same way fot me but sadly it did not. I used uworld did about 900 questions with an average of 61%

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So sorry to hear you didn't pass the first time. I would suggest if you know where your weakness areas are try and focus on those. For me, I have a big weakness in pediatrics/maternity nursing for some reason the material just doesn't stick with me that good. Every test I took in school that covers it was a d or c grade but I got thru it. I know it's discouraging but you got this just regroup do your best and retake the exam.

Btw, I always eat peppermint and broccoli before I test, for some reason it helps with concentration and memory. Good luck!

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Specializes in CCRN, Geriatrics.
On 3/18/2019 at 10:01 AM, Dy-no-mite Nurse1 said:

So sorry to hear you didn't pass the first time. I would suggest if you know where your weakness areas are try and focus on those. For me, I have a big weakness in pediatrics/maternity nursing for some reason the material just doesn't stick with me that good. Every test I took in school that covers it was a d or c grade but I got thru it. I know it's discouraging but you got this just regroup do your best and retake the exam.

Btw, I always eat peppermint and broccoli before I test, for some reason it helps with concentration and memory. Good luck!

Thank you. Pediatrics and maternity are my weak areas also. I never thought about eating broccoli before and exam i will give it a try. I sure from astigmatism after 10 mins on a computer my head is usually spinning, and i have diplopia even with glasses. I am currently practicing a computer to prepare myself

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Specializes in Critical care.

Hello. I am so sorry to hear that you did not pass the first time. You must not lose hope. The first step would be to try to relax (it may be difficult) initially. High levels of stress would make it difficult to concentrate.

I used Kaplan to study and practiced questions on a daily basis for at least 2-3 weeks. Some people may need more time than this but go over the rationales as to why an answer was incorrect. If you have not mastered the content you can go over the rationale as to why it was correct as well. This helps to put things into perspective. Perhaps try to practice 50 questions per day in areas you do not quite understand.

I am a visual learner as well. I looked at youtube videos and explanations of pathophysiology in areas I did not fully comprehend.

I recall using HURST review for a bit but I mostly focused on Kaplan questions. Attempt to practice more in your areas of weakness. You can use the elimination trick to get rid of some answers so you stand a better chance.

I am starting a blog to try to help nursing students and newer nurses etc. Feel free to ask me about NCLEX questions there and I will try my best to help/answer.

https://keepingitrealnursing.blogspot.com/

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Specializes in CCRN, Geriatrics.
On 3/20/2019 at 3:00 PM, keepingitrealnursing said:

Hello. I am so sorry to hear that you did not pass the first time. You must not lose hope. The first step would be to try to relax (it may be difficult) initially. High levels of stress would make it difficult to concentrate.

I used Kaplan to study and practiced questions on a daily basis for at least 2-3 weeks. Some people may need more time than this but go over the rationales as to why an answer was incorrect. If you have not mastered the content you can go over the rationale as to why it was correct as well. This helps to put things into perspective. Perhaps try to practice 50 questions per day in areas you do not quite understand.

I am a visual learner as well. I looked at youtube videos and explanations of pathophysiology in areas I did not fully comprehend.

I recall using HURST review for a bit but I mostly focused on Kaplan questions. Attempt to practice more in your areas of weakness. You can use the elimination trick to get rid of some answers so you stand a better chance.

I am starting a blog to try to help nursing students and newer nurses etc. Feel free to ask me about NCLEX questions there and I will try my best to help/answer.

https://keepingitrealnursing.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the advice i am using uworld, ncsbn and la charity currently

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Am sorry to hear that you were not successful on the first try but keep your head up and try and switch around the way you study. I had to work and study for 10 months, yes I know I waited too long but I had to deal with a lot of personal stuff before sitting for this exam. Take a little break and go right back to studying. Since I was out of school so long I had to do a content review and I used https://applern.com/ which was very helpful because Anila Simon breaks down the content for NCLEX. It was super helpful and I studied for 2-4 a day. I also had uworld and mark klimek audios as supplemental material. I highly recommend Applern because it really helped me prepare. I have shared the link check it out. Hope this helps someone ?? and good luck future nurses.

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Specializes in NCLEX Prep/Nursing Student Advisor.

Hello,

I'm so sorry you did not pass. I really don't recommend programs, however if you to esssentialsfornclex on instagram. The page has great free posts.

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Specializes in CCRN, Geriatrics.

UPDATE!!!!!!! I took the nclex on 4/30 at 11 am computer shut off at 75 questions with about 25 sata questions that i thought were fairly easy. And 3 ekg questions no math and 2 put in order questions. Today may 1st at 8:46 am my license # was posted to the BON website! Glory to God.

I wanted to share my story with everyone so i can be of inspirarion to others who have taken the nclex or who are playing to take the nclex.

I’ll start off by saying i give all the glory to god !!! I prayed daily and listened to various motivational speakers on youtube daily. Some of the scriptures i recited daily romans 8:28, proverbs 3:5-6, john 15:7-8, ephesians 3:20.

After failing the first time i look a few days off from studying. I was extremely depressed and could not believe my first attempt was unsuccessful. After all, all my friends had passed on the first attempt. So here i was the one that did not pass on the first attempt.

My advice STUDY !!! I purchased uworld on march 1st and schedule my exam the 12th BAD idea! 12 days was not enough time despite having done 600+ questions and have a 60% on uworld.

I forgot to mention i finished school in december and took 2 months off from studying. Another BAD idea. And i did not have the money for uworld thats why i didnt get it sooner. If you are in a situation like me use saunders or any other resource until you can buy uworld it will still you current on all the information you learned.

What i used to pass the second time:

Uworld same subscription i just payed $30 for a renewal. I did the questions by system focusing on my weaker areas first. 75 question a day taking noting of anything i got wrong or something i thought i needed to remember. The nclex is the same set up as uworld

La charity i purchased the evolve online resources and got through most of their questions

ncsbn learning ext i was so afraid of failing again i went ahead and paid $50 for 3 weeks. I went through about 3 slides and thought they were very time consuming. I went through about 800 questions. Questions were very similar to the nclex and you get familiar with wording of the ncsbn questions. I honestly though their questions were easy.

35 page nclex study guide has excellent mneumonics and tips and trick to help you rememeber informations.

Good luck to all the future nurse !!!!!

Feel free to respond to this post for any questions or study guides i am more than happy to email them.

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