Failed NCLEX...after miserable 265 q. English second language... Can someone help?

anonymurse · Aug 9, 2007

1) "When a horse throws you, get back and ride it." Re-take as soon as possible. And needless to say, stay immersed in studying your content until then.

2) You almost passed! The reason it went 265 Q is because it couldn't classify you. You were "riding the line" all the way, and I was told that when you go 265, the only thing that decides whether you pass is whether you got the very last Q right. That's how close you were, so take heart!

3) You mentioned Kaplan. If that was only the book, and not the course, I highly recommend the Kaplan Complete. The purpose of the course is not really to review the content, which it does marvelously, but to teach the correct way to study. It teaches how correct NCLEX answers differ from what you'd do in real life. And it teaches the nature of questions, which is to prioritize among more than one right answer.

4) Do all the practice questions you want from anyone you want, but DO NOT work more than one study strategy, nor more than one test-taking strategy. Otherwise, say if you are trying to remember 3 test taking strategies, it will be the equivalent of having 3 different coaches shouting different advice in your ear for each shot of a tennis match.

Good luck, you're almost there!

leslie :-D · Aug 9, 2007

i'm very sorry you failed.

but quite honestly, it sounds like you may need to brush up on your english skills.

if you don't fully understand what the question is asking, then all the studying in the world will not help you.

weak communication skills can be a matter of life and death, in nursing.

wishing you the best of everything.

leslie

BGmedsestra · Aug 9, 2007

i'm very sorry you failed.
but quite honestly, it sounds like you may need to brush up on your english skills.
if you don't fully understand what the question is asking, then all the studying in the world will not help you.
weak communication skills can be a matter of life and death, in nursing.
wishing you the best of everything.
leslie

Thank you for responding. The fact is that many people who speak only English FAIL NCLEX. I have to blame everything in me for my failure. It is natural after an NCLEX slap on the face to blame yourself for everything you are.

Don't forget that in nursing, people like me could be beneficial when the hospital gets a patient who needs a translator and HIS/HER life or death are the matter.I dont think need to brush up on my English skills. Communication skills, however I agree I need and improvement on. What I really need is to pass NCLEX and I need some helpful tips.

anonymurse · Aug 9, 2007

English is my second language and NCLEX kicked my butt just as I expected! Can someone give me an advise how should I study? I think I misinterpreted the meaning of a lot of questions.

Maybe you misinterpreted questions, but maybe not in the way you think. Maybe you understood the words just fine, but maybe you thought they were asking something they weren't. For instance, say you have a question involving the ABCs. If your interpretation of all questions involving ABCs is to re-state it as "Do you know the ABCs?" you might be wrong, because airway isn't always the priority. Circulation could be a greater priority. Remember if circulation isn't happening, insufficient CO or fluid volume or whatever, then oxygen isn't getting to tissues, meds aren't getting transported where they need to go, wastes aren't getting thrown out, and so on. So it would be an interpretational mistake to look for rules to apply before you have used critical thinking to examine everything that's going on in the situation described in the question. Yes you will find straight knowledge and rules-based questions, but I think critical thinking questions far outnumber them.

suzanne4, RN · Aug 9, 2007

85% of American nurses pass the NCLEX the first time. For foreign trained nurses, the pass rate is about 44% or so for the first time.

Please take the time to recover from this jolt to your system. And take time for yourself. Did you train in the US, or overseas?

Doing questions alone does not guarantee that you will pass. You have to understand what NCLEX is looking for in an answer. And how long did you prepare for the exam? Was it a period of months, or cramming close to the exam?

I have taught overseas, and all of my students have passed the first time, and English was not their first language, I even had to teach English to some of them as well. If you want my help, you will need to follow my instructions exactly as written. I have a 100% pass rate and that does not matter if foreign or not. It is your choice and it only uses one book.

I am moving this thread to the NCLEX Forum, and at the top of that is a sticky called First Tip. Please have a look at that and then get back to me via pm.

You can do it.:balloons:

Ms.RN · Aug 10, 2007

i found out today that i failed nclex with 265 q.. i am sick!!! i just dont know what to do, really to pass. i studied, did close to 5000 practice questions, kaplan, mosby, exam cram, ati, and still it was not good enough! english is my second language and nclex kicked my butt just as i expected! can someone give me an advise how should i study? i think i misinterpreted the meaning of a lot of questions. am i ever going to make it>?????anyone who is international nurse? please help!

i have the same problem and sometimes i have to read questions two times to really understand what they are asking. i think what helped me was to keep safety in my mind when answering question. i think nclex wants to know that we can provide safe care to our patients. if an elderly patient had a hip surgery, its important to do cough and deep breathing, but if patient is confused we better make sure that she doesnt fall out of bed. other things i can think of is

- always place infectious patient with noninfectious patient

- never restraint, restrict fluid or put hot pad

- when choosing which patient to see first, patient who is confused is almost always the answer.

anyone else have other tips?

BGmedsestra · Aug 11, 2007

i have the same problem and sometimes i have to read questions two times to really understand what they are asking. i think what helped me was to keep safety in my mind when answering question. i think nclex wants to know that we can provide safe care to our patients. if an elderly patient had a hip surgery, its important to do cough and deep breathing, but if patient is confused we better make sure that she doesnt fall out of bed. other things i can think of is
- always place infectious patient with noninfectious patient
- never restraint, restrict fluid or put hot pad
- when choosing which patient to see first, patient who is confused is almost always the answer.
anyone else have other tips?

thank you for the helpful tips. i think i can and will pass it the next time. i suffered from anxiety more than anything else ...but next time i wont be so afraid. i plan on improving my nursing knowledge and weak areas by studying hesi. really, the exam was not sooooo hard maybe because i was at the middle level of difficulty, yet not enough "competent" to have passed. i heard question 264, not 265 was very important to pass. my boss is going to keep me in the internship...funny thing she told me when i told her about my difficulties with english... for example not knowing some simple words...like nagging? .. she recomended me studying all the words in the dictionary! :idea:what a great idea dont you think?.....on top of all nursing stuff..lol.

best wishes to you!

BGmedsestra · Aug 11, 2007

85% of American nurses pass the NCLEX the first time. For foreign trained nurses, the pass rate is about 44% or so for the first time.
Please take the time to recover from this jolt to your system. And take time for yourself. Did you train in the US, or overseas?
Doing questions alone does not guarantee that you will pass. You have to understand what NCLEX is looking for in an answer. And how long did you prepare for the exam? Was it a period of months, or cramming close to the exam?
I have taught overseas, and all of my students have passed the first time, and English was not their first language, I even had to teach English to some of them as well. If you want my help, you will need to follow my instructions exactly as written. I have a 100% pass rate and that does not matter if foreign or not. It is your choice and it only uses one book.
I am moving this thread to the NCLEX Forum, and at the top of that is a sticky called First Tip. Please have a look at that and then get back to me via pm.
You can do it.:balloons:

Thank you,

I plan on improving my nursing knowledge by using HESI this time. I got Saunders too and I will do the quizzes. I like that book and CD a lot....I graduated from an american college of nursing..all my classmates have passed except 5...I talked to one of my instructors and she said that as soon as we get my results we will develop a new study plan and they wont let me test until they feel I am prepared to pass I think after about 45 days. After all, I was almost there with 265..passing or not depended on question 264 according to Kaplan..anyway I will do better next time I think I can identify some of my weak areas already.Psych questions are the worst kind because I have to read the question 3 times before I select an answer. Foreign people I think have some problems with therapeutic communication in USA because of some culture differences.

Ms.RN · Aug 11, 2007

she recomended me studying all the words in the dictionary! :idea:what a great idea dont you think?.....on top of all nursing stuff..lol.

best wishes to you!

hmm.. yeah what a jenius (oops better look that up :clown: ) idea. i f we graduated from nursing school, we certainly can pass the nclex. have you used lippincotti book? i thought questions are pretty hard and they are good for practice.