I took my NCLEX for the first time a few days ago and found out yesterday that I had failed. I got 75 questions and I walked out of there numb. I stayed positive though because I did well in nursing school and I prayed for this ever since last winter.
I am so heartbroken right now. I've never faced such "failure" before. I got accepted into one of the most competitive nursing schools in New York and graduated with honors. I am discouraged and hurt. I don't even know if this is the path that God wants me to walk on anymore. I don't understand how this all happened. I can't stop crying...
I guess I did not study hard enough for this exam. I took the KAPLAN course and actually just depended on it. I did not use other sources. I have a MOSBY's review book at home that I used while I was in nursing school and looked through it once in a while. I thought KAPLAN alone was enough because many of my colleagues told me that the Q-Bank questions were good enough.
I am trying very hard at this moment to be optimistic and put myself back together and start studying again but it is indeed difficult after looking at NSCBN's passing rate for repeat test-takers.
I would really appreciate some words of wisdom or success story after a storm, etc. from other students and nurses. Advice on what I should do now. How I can start all over. Where to start. How to figure out what was it that I did wrong.
Chin UP!!!:loveya:... I am a second time test taker and I passed. It was hard on me when I failed the first time too but believe me YOU CAN DO IT . It may be hard to see now but you have a slight advantage-- at least now you know what to expect the second time around !!!!
Like everyone has already been saying take a breather and do something lighthearted and fun, a mini weekend somewhere, movies the zoo whatever and then close out the world and dive into it. I worked only on weekends (just to get my mind off of it) and I studied monday through friday in the am and the late evenings.
I also took Kaplan the first time and for some reason it wasnt enough I needed help with content, which is why I took another course called "Hurst Review" someone told me about it and it was EXCELLENT! Alot of my friends were taking this course and they were all passing on the 1st try.
In fact, my reccomendation for a sure fire way of passing is reviewing the Kaplan strategies and "MASTER" them (b/c they really do help if you use them correctly) and then taking Hurst Review in addition so that you could go over content as well. I am willing to bet that you would pass the second time around !!!!
So to reitorate, I took Hurst Review and actually "MASTERED" the material, I mean I knew it verbatim before taking the test the 2nd time, then I used Kaplan strategies along with their q bank questions to practice and I read the rationales until I clearly understood why I was missing the question....
All in all, by using a course like "Hurst Review" for content and "Kaplan" for test taking strategies your in a win win situation !!!! Its alot of hard work and money but believe me when you start making
. It may be hard to see now but you have a slight advantage-- at least now you know what to expect the second time around 
!!!!
Sabby_NC
983 Posts