Failed NCLEX-RN the first time & it's hard to find motivation & to focus... HELP!

KAYBDT6, BSN, RN · Sep 23, 2009

Question we all need to ask our self:

1- what is CAT? It's tailored to match our individual competences level. We all have different level of competences.

2- what are the minimum and maximum question? All candidate are required to answer @ least 60/70 question correctly and 15 question are sample question which are outscored.

What's Test Anxiety and how to deal with it?

1-feeling insecure about our performance

2-worry over something you've no control over

3-thinking about what people might feel if you failed

4- unpreparedness

5- worry about time allotted to finish the test

5 Bad habit of anxiety

1- smoking or drinking more frequently

2- biting nails, fidgeting with hairs etc

3- trouble falling asleep

4- daydreaming

5- eat more/less food

All these factors contribute to inability to perform effectively while preparing for an exam. I know is not possible to eliminate all these, but always keep them under control. Always have it in mind the exam is given in other to test your ability but not to punish you. Look at the exam as not being forced on you, but as a requirement to move up in your career.

How is your study environment? Try to study in a quite zone with less distraction and external noise because they will interfere with the ability to concentrate and learn. Study in a comfortable and relaxed environment.

How long did you study? Don't study for long hours! You might end up not understanding but cramming!!

Do you have study mate? Study with others who you think have the same ability or know more than you. If you're an average student, do not study with student who always made A's because they will always skip material that's necessary for you to review. Neither study with student who made C's because they will end up having to study material is of any importance.

Keep sufficient time available for yourself to study on your own and never study too long with your study group. Keep your study group serious.

Keep the study group small, because if the study groups are large, there is a greater tendency to become distracted.

Do not come for study review unprepared!!

Used prepared test question in the review book as a guide to help out.

Take the comprehensive test at the back of the test.

Always test in a test mode i other to keep track of your performance

Develop used of flash cards

Pause after reading and jot down the important point for reference

Take a practice test that you think will be included in the test

Review the area of weakness first in other to have time to review again before the exam

After a month of studying practice the pretest/comprehensive test at the back of the study guide to see how you're doing. Have you improved?

Relax a day before the exam and get sufficient sleep. You need to be physically and mentally alert!!

dreamingRN · Sep 23, 2009

Kudos to KayBDT6. That was surely amazing advice! :up: I would like to add that I was also in the same boat and I took about a week to get through what I thought was "utter devastation." :banghead: I know that probably doesn't help, but I'm emphathizing with you. I'm a pretty pessimistic person so I think that is what hindered me on the first exam among other things. Here is what I changed so that I was able to pass:

1. I focused more on the Kaplan stategy book (which I know that you said you did, but perhaps, you should focus on studying with less study materials, ex. 1 for content and 1 for strategies)

2. Repeated to myself everyday at least 5 times a day- "I will pass. I graduated nursing school and I will pass."

3. Found a quiet place to study without the tv.

4. I also studied about 8 hours a day, but I took breaks once I felt like I couldn't take in anymore information (Ask yourself, "Is what I'm studying really sticking?")

5. Practiced NCLEX style questions everyday for 3 weeks until 2 days before the exam.

6. Knew my weaknesses (i.e. infection control & pharmacology).

7. Listened to the supportive and encouraging advice from people around you (positive reinforcement) :heartbeat

8. Had plenty of rest the night before the exam and danced to "I've got a feeling" by Black Eyed Peas to relax myself.

9. When I got to the test, I would write important info on the white erase board (like testing strategies) the testing site provided me. (I also wrote "I will pass" for more encouragement)

10. I breathed (during the exam and after).

I hope this helps you and I wish you the best of luck! YOU CAN DO THIS!

booziemgm2 · Sep 23, 2009

Remember, the questons are guided to a new nurse. Go back to Hurst review and listen to the pointers on how to read the test question and find out what they are asking. You know the stuff that is what school was for, you just have to understand the question and what it is asking. YOU CAN DO IT!!!!! Relax and it will all work out.

Angel love · Sep 23, 2009

kudos to all the comment above, dont worry, u will pass nclex rn, not shall but will because is a most that u pass...forget the past and continue to move forward, be optimistic. will continue to pray for u too ok.

kharrie122807 · Sep 27, 2009

i failed the nclex-rn on my first try and will be able to retake it the first week of october. yet i feel so unmotivated and feel like i'm not as focused as i was the first time.
the first time i took nclex-rn i felt i did everything right to prepare and studying for the exam... i studied the kaplan strategy book, did practice problems (3,000-4,000+), reviewed content (hurst review & saunders), prayed, and tried to fit in activities here and there.
i would study 3-4 hours even sometimes 8 hours a day. i don't know where i went wrong. i just don't feel the same motivation and strong drive to study as i did the first time.
i don't know if it was because i didn't study enough (which i doubt because i studied content for a long time, 2-3 wks) and did practice problems to test what i learned) or if it was my nerves (which i have always done bad on standard test). also, it may be b/c i had received bad news a couple hours before my test.
it just sucks because i stopped looking at what question i was on after 150 (most of my friends passed at 75 or 85 & one at 150). i think i ended at 230's but ran out of time. so they only took the last 60 questions i answered. so i thought if only i could've gotten to 265.
i just feel real down, because it seemed like everyone in my nursing program passed, even those who slacked in school. and here i was a person who studied hard and i did so well in nursing school who didn't pass.
i don't know what i'm doing wrong and i don't want to make the same mistakes again. i tried to take a break for a week and started studying again. this is affecting me physically and mentally. what should i do? any advice of how to study? how have others motivated or stayed focused?
this time so far i read the saunder's strategy book, have done kaplan trainers i found online, linda lacharity delegation and prioritization, and thinking of buying exam cram.

i feel the same way as yours. i dunno how will i start again. i did everything i can to pass the exam but still receving negative results. good luck to all of us......

givingup2009 · Sep 28, 2009

i know how it feels to graduate as one of the top student in class and fail your exam..... :banghead: i was depressed for a month after i failed on my first attempt, the people i taught in class all passed and i was the only top smartest girl in school that failed the nclex. i was so ashamed of myself and fell into depression because i had never failed before. but God helped me, the only person in this world that would not fail you is God, i found peace again and the motivation to study again. this time i did saunders book and alternating it with exam cram for 3 weeks, prioritization book by La charity for last wk before the exam. i passed the second time but not my effort alone because i really wasnt studying like that, i knew the content and have studied the same book so it was kind of a repeat for me. pray without season and trust God, let him be your guidance and strength.....i only did 200 questions before the time went off, in the last hour i remember that the last 60 questions is what matters so instead of hurrying to get to 265, i just took my time to answer the last 60 questions..... in all trust in yourself and trust in God, pull yourslef back together and know that you can do this, as per the nerves...when you wake up every morning tell yourself that you are smart and very soon going to be an RN. have faith in your words.... stop thinking about what other people will say and know that you can do this! go in there with self confidence and i wish you all the best of luck.... in my heart i will keep you in prayers:tinkbll:

pmjm94 · Sep 28, 2009

Thank you all for your advice and encouragement. It's been pretty tough trying to feel as motivated and have that same drive I did like when I first studied for the exam. But I'm trying, I answered all the questions from LaCharity, reviewed my Hurst Review content, read both Saunder's & Kaplan's strategy book, have done about 100 questions per day and now I begin exam cram questions.

I will continue to pray in hopes for God's guidance and to hopefully pass this second time around.

I was wondering does anyone know of a good NCLEX type of calculation books for meds. I found when I did problems from saunder's they were pretty easy compared how they asked it on nclex. Any suggestions would be great!

missresearch · Oct 29, 2009

I'm not sure if you have retaken the test but I used exam cram for about two weeks and passed; memorized the info on the exam cram card in the front of the book. Good LUCK:)

sweetmya · Oct 29, 2009

i failed the nclex-rn on my first try and will be able to retake it the first week of october. yet i feel so unmotivated and feel like i’m not as focused as i was the first time.
the first time i took nclex-rn i felt i did everything right to prepare and studying for the exam… i studied the kaplan strategy book, did practice problems (3,000-4,000+), reviewed content (hurst review & saunders), prayed, and tried to fit in activities here and there.
i would study 3-4 hours even sometimes 8 hours a day. i don’t know where i went wrong. i just don’t feel the same motivation and strong drive to study as i did the first time.
i don’t know if it was because i didn’t study enough (which i doubt because i studied content for a long time, 2-3 wks) and did practice problems to test what i learned) or if it was my nerves (which i have always done bad on standard test). also, it may be b/c i had received bad news a couple hours before my test.
it just sucks because i stopped looking at what question i was on after 150 (most of my friends passed at 75 or 85 & one at 150). i think i ended at 230’s but ran out of time. so they only took the last 60 questions i answered. so i thought if only i could’ve gotten to 265.
i just feel real down, because it seemed like everyone in my nursing program passed, even those who slacked in school. and here i was a person who studied hard and i did so well in nursing school who didn’t pass.
i don't know what i'm doing wrong and i don't want to make the same mistakes again. i tried to take a break for a week and started studying again. this is affecting me physically and mentally. what should i do? any advice of how to study? how have others motivated or stayed focused?
this time so far i read the saunder’s strategy book, have done kaplan trainers i found online, linda lacharity delegation and prioritization, and thinking of buying exam cram.

i feel exactly the way u described above!!

goodluck to you hun and i hope u pass and i pass also hehe.

i almost did what u did the first time n second time around n failed. i think it was cuz i was focusing mainly on reading books instead of practicing questions!! i'm not sure if my advice would be of any help as i haven't passed the exam myself but many have said on this site to practice questions per questions until ur eyes dry out. so, basically that's what i'm doing hun. try not to mix up 2 many different sources either. stick to just 1-2 the most.

* i recently just started on exam cram 2nd editon (lpn) cd only..i practice atleast 100 questions per day for about 5-7 hours for 5 days a week. ( i'm a slow learner i guess u can say n it takes me a long time to answer just 1 question which takes up to 5-7 hours to do 100 questions lol or maybe cuz i'm taking my precious time to actually comprehend the q's instead of rushing.)

* my second source is going to be nclex 3000 cd questions which i will start after i'm done with exam cram cd. oh, i'm going to do exam cram cd twice just to see when i go back to the questions n see if i recall the content etc. or not. hopefully, these 2 cds will be sufficient this time to pass the beast. goodluck to you and remember to keep preying and don't forget, ur not the only one in this mess.the sun will shine tomorrow, even if it's raining 2day!!!!!!!! never loose hope, & if u made it out of nursing school..u sure as hell can beat nclex too. goodluck

LuckyM · Oct 29, 2009

...remember if you fail next time, take it again in 45 days, so you dont lose all the things youve studied..so gud luck

missresearch · Oct 31, 2009

Hello again:) I got your post/email and yes I only focused on Exam cram RN questions and rationales; studied about six hours every day fourteen days exactly then took the test; it looks like you have the PN version which is cool; I went to the library and made myself stay there for that whole time without checking emails or my cell phone and just focused on testing and reading the rationales even writing them down. Look there are ton of programd to study as you well know but it really comes down to how you feel about content knowledge; if you think you have a good grasp of content then just focus on questions and rationales. Exam cram does have a pretty decent content book also which I would recommend. ANd memorize that exam cram study card in the fron of the book; I swear by it. Good luck girl you can and will pass. Third time is a charm:) God Bless.