FAILED NCLEX, Need some advice!!

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Hi All,

So today has probably been one of the worst days I've had. I woke up to a message regarding my NCLEX exam I took 2 days ago. My heart sank immediately into my stomach the moment I read the message. I got my report for the NCLEX which ended at 79 questions and it broke down the different areas I was "right below the line", "above the line", and "far below the line".

So as for preparation, I graduated in May and took the exam July 14th. I really thought I was prepared after using KAPLAN for the past 2 months. I was scoring in the 50s and got 60s a few times along with a few 40s in the beginning. These were lower than the goal but I was continuously told the scores dont really matter as long as I remediated which is exactly what I did. I filled up maybe 2 full notebooks in preparation for this.

Now on test day, I dont know why but I felt really unprepared and I was guilty of studying the day before and early the day of the exam. I just lost my confidence and I feel as though I blanked out on all the questions during the exam. Well it took me 2 hours to get through 75 questions and when it turned off at 79, I really thought I failed. Of course all my friends explained to me and reassured to me the low chances of failing around 75 which did make me feel better. But even at that, I those 2 days were the longest 48 hours of my life. I avoided the PVT trick just because I thought it would stress me out more than I needed.

Well now today, I got the message and I really just broke down. I thought about my future and my job which I had lined up. I immediately called my hiring manager and we spoke about it. No my start date has been pushed 2 months back which I am still grateful she did not take away the offer. Next, I talked to kaplan to get the refund back and plan on signing up on pearsonvue for the next nclex date which has to be 45 days from now. I have access to kaplan still along with access to UWORLD. I plan on using UWORLD because I really enjoyed the rationales on that more than KAPLAN but I thought because I paid the $400 for it, I was obligated to use it and I heard all the great stories about it. This is in no way of bashing on KAPLAN or anything but I just felt like it was not right for me.

I apologize for the length of the post, I ended up just venting but my question to all you is if you have any advice on what I should do now? I want to start right back up but 45 days is a long time and I feel as though I'm lost and in a limbo. I feel like I am lost and I dont know how to restart myself. I feel overwhelmed and I know many others have been in the situation as me. SO is there anything specific you guys think I should do to change this outcome again? All advice/criticisms are welcome!

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Sorry you are going through this. The good news is that your job is willing to work with you - so you do not have that additional worry.

I would suggest a thorough evaluation of your weaknesses - content related and question style related. I really like Hurst's book for core content - it is simple and straight forward. I love Uworld for everything else. It has great rationales and helps to set your mind to the right approach (IMO). I preferred Uworld tutor mode as right away I could ascertain whether I was thinking about the material in the right way. Try not to over think the rationales. Give in to the process and understand the NCLEX way of thinking - safety. Re-do the incorrect questions. Have faith in yourself. You can pass this next time. Take care of yourself. :)

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I feel you.. wrote the exam on the 13th and just learned that I failed via quick result. My exam stopped at 75, got a little too confident because I was getting a lot of SATA's, well I thought I did. Other questions include Prioriitization and Delegation plus a lot of computations which I thought was easy. Paid $1200 just to go to a review center and I still failed.

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@anneaw Thank you for the advice. I believe content is something I am weak on and I have the Saunders book along with my ATI book which both have been advised for content. I really think answering questions with critical thinking is what really got me. I remember second guessing every question I got. How long do you recommend I wait until I take it again? I want to take it as soon as my 45 days are over, do you think that is too quick? I plan on using all of UWORLD, I got it from my friend because he had subscribed to it until September and I was able to reset his questions. I also plan on picking up a part time job for the time in between because I need to start making money again now...do you think that should influence when I take it again?

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Hey @Marcuspio , Im sorry to hear that. I know its one of the worst feelings in the world. I remember when it stopped at 75, I was super stressed out because I felt as though my last answer seemed a little too easy. All of my friends said not to worry and that very few fail at 75. Now I feel horrible and a little embarrassed but everyones been very supportive. Just gotta keep out heads up and move on! Feel free to PM me if you need help through this journey. I really enjoy coming on here because everyone gives great advice and is always very supportive

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@anneaw Thank you for the advice. I believe content is something I am weak on and I have the Saunders book along with my ATI book which both have been advised for content. I really think answering questions with critical thinking is what really got me. I remember second guessing every question I got. How long do you recommend I wait until I take it again? I want to take it as soon as my 45 days are over, do you think that is too quick? I plan on using all of UWORLD, I got it from my friend because he had subscribed to it until September and I was able to reset his questions. I also plan on picking up a part time job for the time in between because I need to start making money again now...do you think that should influence when I take it again?

I think only you can know when is the right time to take the test. I would think if you evaluate your weaknesses and work to improve on them in a meaningful manner then 45 days should be fine. I think confidence is important. Personally, I think it is better not to prolong the test once you are prepared.

I was not a big fan of ATI, but it is important you find the materials that "speak to you." I believe Uworld is very adept at teaching critical thinking skills.

PS- please do not feel embarrassed. We all have had setbacks. It is important that you feel good and confident going forward. It is also important that you seek out any information or help (without hesitation) that you feel will contribute to your future success. :)

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Hi! I don't know what to say but if you'll give me your email I can send you Mark Klimek's audio lectures. I learned a lot from them. Also I have Lacharity Prioritization and Delegation book in electronic version, I did all the questions from it. Rationales not very expanded but you can understand the strategy itself. If you will study consistently, 45 days will be enough for brushing up your knowledge and strengths your weak areas.

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I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this difficult and frustrating time! On the other hand, it's awesome that your job has given you an extension to get back on track. As far as review goes, I second the suggestions of Hurst for content, UWorld for practice questions, and PDA by LaCharity for delegation/management. My program offered a 3-day in person Hurst review and I found the workbook we went through extremely helpful in terms of reviewing core content. They also offer an online only program, so you can choose which one works best for you. UWorld is like an NCLEX bible, there were some items on my own exam that I recognized from UWorld practice questions. The LaCharity book is awesome for reviewing delegation and management, I did about 3/4 of the book before testing. Try focusing on content first, and then reinforce yourself with practice questions. You can either do a randomized test or do focused body systems tests based on what you are reviewing. Only you will know when you are ready, hang in there! You will get through this rough patch

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Hi! I don't know what to say but if you'll give me your email I can send you Mark Klimek's audio lectures. I learned a lot from them. Also I have Lacharity Prioritization and Delegation book in electronic version, I did all the questions from it. Rationales not very expanded but you can understand the strategy itself. If you will study consistently, 45 days will be enough for brushing up your knowledge and strengths your weak areas.

Hi! Thank you so much for the kind words, I really appreciate it :) I would love to get a copy of those resources from you if that's okay! I'm pretty new to the site but if you could send me a PM so I could give you me email? Please let me know what you think!

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I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this difficult and frustrating time! On the other hand, it's awesome that your job has given you an extension to get back on track. As far as review goes, I second the suggestions of Hurst for content, UWorld for practice questions, and PDA by LaCharity for delegation/management. My program offered a 3-day in person Hurst review and I found the workbook we went through extremely helpful in terms of reviewing core content. They also offer an online only program, so you can choose which one works best for you. UWorld is like an NCLEX bible, there were some items on my own exam that I recognized from UWorld practice questions. The LaCharity book is awesome for reviewing delegation and management, I did about 3/4 of the book before testing. Try focusing on content first, and then reinforce yourself with practice questions. You can either do a randomized test or do focused body systems tests based on what you are reviewing. Only you will know when you are ready, hang in there! You will get through this rough patch

@Priori-Incantatem so I plan on using UWOLRD as my main study source. How would you develop a study plan with it? I was thinking of doing 75-150 questions per day minimum along with remediating the rationales. Do you think that is sufficient enough in developing critical thinking skills for the nclex?

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Hi!

So sorry to hear that you didn't pass your NCLEX. As for me I used UWORLD exclusively and in my opinion it prepared me very well for my exam. I made a point to REALLY try to understand the questions and each of the choices. Whenever I got something wrong it was usually because I read the question or answers too fast causing me to miss something. My problem was carelessness during exams because I was so anxious. I finished at 120 questions and thought I bombed it but I was completely at peace because I knew the worst thing that could happen would be me having to retake it and that's not the end of my world. BTW I'm one of those the cup is half full kinda people ;)

Stay positive, practice what you can and try your best :happy:

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@Priori-Incantatem so I plan on using UWOLRD as my main study source. How would you develop a study plan with it? I was thinking of doing 75-150 questions per day minimum along with remediating the rationales. Do you think that is sufficient enough in developing critical thinking skills for the nclex?

So I prepared for about 5 weeks using UWorld and did anywhere from 100-200 questions per day depending on how much energy I had. When you're going through practice questions, make sure you read each question CAREFULLY, and read ALL of the answer choices before picking one. The rationales are the most important part of UWorld, read through each one and really try to understand why the answer is what it is, and why the other options are wrong. If there's content you don't understand in the explanation, go back and review it. I kept a Word document full of notes of rationales that I didn't understand or that I felt were important which I copied (CTRL+C) and pasted (CTRL+V) from UWorld. You can't click and copy unless you're going to use their flash card section. I finished the entire 2100 question bank about two weeks before my test date and went back through almost all of the incorrect questions.

I found that I worked best at 25-40 question chunks, but you can decide how many questions you want to sit for at one time. I would recommend doing a few 75 question tests just to get into the feel of NCLEX again. You can choose to do tutor mode and get the correct answers right away or timed mode, it's all about your preference. Just remember that the point of UWorld isn't to memorize all the rationales and answers, but to develop critical thinking skills in addition to a good content knowledge base to help you break down the question and eliminate answer choices.

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