Failed Nclex RN at 265

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Took the exam this past Tuesday the 21st went all the way to 265 and found out this morning by paying the quick results on Pearson Vue I Failed. I came into the exam feeling a little confident because I reviewed with PDA book, SATA book, Saunders 5th edition along with the 4000+ cd, Kaplan qbank and NCSBN 8 week course. On the 7 exam tests from Kaplan I scored between 61-69% and with NCSBN is was scoring under 75% range. I think Kaplans level of questions were more difficult than NCSBN. So on the exam I want to debunk everyone's story about answering the last question correctly to put it out there and tell you, regardless if you do know or do not know the last question doesn't mean you will pass or fail. I knew the last question on the exam 100% and I still failed. As far as the level of degree of the question I wouldn't know about that but what I can tell you it was a teaching question or patient education whatever you want to call it. I had at least 21 SATA, tons of priority and delegation, 4 ekgs pictures, 2 drag and drop, 2 pictures, and lots of "follow up" questions, and no math calculations. While reviewing with Kaplan and NCSBN there were NO "follow up" questions you can prepare for. The words "follow up" can be expressed in 3 different ways which can be confusing when your brain is numb by the 170th question. The "follow up" can be used without telling you a question from nclex would be most of all in Priority. For example, for nurse received 4 messages, which would you follow up? Another would be patient made a statement, which would you follow up? A doctor prescribed 4 meds with lab values, which would you follow up? And so on.. I can tell you I took my sweet time for the first 75, I probably took about 1.5hrs and the exam just kept going and going. Finally about 125 into it, I realized I think I may be going all the way and prepared myself mentally to endure the pain. By 160 I had about 1.5 hours left and thought to myself I need to finish so I just answered questions at a faster pace. In my mind while taking the exam I noticed I was getting bold words like "first, immediately, most, priority" and was thinking these must be high level questions which could be true or not. So during the exam if I saw bold letters I would take more time and answering the question. I've also noticed if I got 2-3 bold questions a "follow up" question would come up. And that's what the whole test was about. So, in a nutshell that was my experience. I don't know what to think or how to start reviewing again. I did make a list to myself about everything I seen on the exam and will probably review that material. All I can say is that this exam is pure critical thinking, they will give you the signs and symptoms of a disease and you have to identify what it is. Or looking at lab values which are all equally off the wall and you need to identify the most critical lab value to address first. I might just take 2 weeks off and come back to reviewing again. If anyone has any advice I could do differently this next time around would be appreciated. I might consider doing Hurst this time around because it's the only reviewer I haven't used yet. Other than that your input is important to me. Thanks for taking time to read this all if you made it this far.

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You seemed very well prepared. I think you are at a passing level already. You probably hit a bad patch of questions that decided your fail but I don't think its by much. I know people that passed by simply studying either kaplan, saunders or ncsbn. I think the trick is to stick with the one study material. My 2 cents. I didn't pass the first time and getting ready to take it again.

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Hi thanks for your comment. A little background about myself, I graduated December 2012, took a year off to take care of some financial obligations I had so that's why I did so many different reviewers. I started reviewing last September 2014 and got my ATT in February. I felt I needed to get back into the loop of things and needed to cover all bases. But yes I agree with you 1 or 2 materials is good enough. You're probably right about being so close to passing and is why I'm not going to give up. I looked up Hurst and they are having a live review in my area so I probably will attend that which starts on the last week of May. Since we have to wait the 45 days to retest, I think it's perfect timing. So maybe I want to shoot for a date late July or early August. When do you plan on taking it again? Best of luck to you, I'm sure we'll get it this next time around..í ½í¸€

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At the end of may I rescheduled right away. I couldn't sleep and cramed the night before so when I got to the testing center I crashed after 20 questions. I did Hurst review online first and its great for content but still not enough though. I am going through the ncsbn 5 week course probably skip the pharma section and then practice tons of questions. Those priority and delegation questions, that's where its at. Different people swear by different study material but you'll have to find what works for you. I had tons of study materials and did not help me at all. I am about to start doing content 4 hours in the morning and 75 question and review in the afternoon. I will start focusing on one area at the time. At this point I can score well over 50% on kaplan qbank.

Another thing about the NCLEX is that for some it can be a blessing or a curse. People can get questions on familiar topics, they are good at unlocking what the question is asking and get through the test. Others can get questions on unfamiliar topics and there goes that exam.

I know a friend who failed the first time with 75 questions and 45 days later passed with 75 questions. What gives? lol

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It just takes time, hard work and discipline. I've seen foreign doctors with the thickest accent ever which it tells me they probably studied so much harder than a lot of other people that where born here to get where they are at.

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Not good to cram the night before. I took 3 days off without looking at anything. The week of the exam I went to the gym, walked every morning, and ate foods that are good for the brain(Google it). I have a calendar that I set up to be doing something everyday. Having those last 3 days off helped because it just cleared up my mind and mentally prepared myself to expect the worst. I pretty much kept myself busy like clean my room, do some yard work that I've been putting off for a long time, and even cleaned the bathroom. I knew if I did all those chores I could just relax after the exam. I suggest setting up a calendar and plan your days and most of all give yourself breaks, especially a couple days off before the exam.

Yeah you're right.. I prayed everyday up to the day of the exam to hope to get questions I'm familiar with. I actually saw at least 5 questions from Kaplan word for word. I think my weakness is still content. There's just so much information to absorb it's easy to forget one section because you try to focus on a weak section that I lack. I think because I've been out for a year I need to be in a live class with a lecture and pick up new strategies to relearn a subject or sharpen an area where I excel in. I did both Kaplan and NCSBN and I think Kaplan had harder questions, but that's just me. As for NCSBN I did pharm first bcz that's my biggest weakness. I recommend you pick up the Priority, Delegation, Assignments book by LaCharity it's really good.

I kinda had the same reviewing habits but I would do q's in the morning and read Saunders at night to fall asleep. I liked NCSBN technique to give you 10q's at a time. It's much more of a relaxed approach instead of doing 100 q's and get overwhelmed and too exhausted to look over the rational. With doing 10 at a time your mind is still fresh and able to realize why you got something wrong and look it up. I actually tried that technique on the exam and focused on every 10q to 75. After every 10q, I would take a couple of deep breaths with my eyes closed to refocus my mind.

This is the most exhausting exam ever, I feel so mentally and emotionally drained. I'm currently listening to Tony Robbins, Les Brown, and Dr Wayne Dyer for motivation. It's helpful for times when you just want to give up but when I look at my friends who already passed I keep saying to myself, we are no different, if you can do it, so can I. And yes I agree with what you're saying about the foreigners with English as a second language, I have so much respect for them.

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Hey, it sounded like you were well prepared. I have high hopes that you'll pass the next time you take it :)

I find it hard to work and study at the same time.

I took my local nursing board in the Philippines without any distraction like facebook, instagram, and all social media & games.

I made a calendar and had a goal each day to study. Maybe you could print a calendar and write down a goal

Im currently studying for my nclex right now. I take mine early May

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Hey, it sounded like you were well prepared. I have high hopes that you'll pass the next time you take it :)

I find it hard to work and study at the same time.

I took my local nursing board in the Philippines without any distraction like facebook, instagram, and all social media & games.

I made a calendar and had a goal each day to study. Maybe you could print a calendar and write down a goal

Im currently studying for my nclex right now. I take mine early May

Thanks for your advice and encouragement. I too deactivated fb and laid out a calendar for a full month. I was doing the Kaplans 7 exams as part of my last 3 weeks of preparation. I broke them apart into doing 75q's every other day. I was doing it every other day so that I can be able to have a clear mind going into reviewing and go back to see what i missed. I also made it important to not review 3 days before the exam. I didn't look at one single piece of material. I just thought everything was already inside of me and it will show up on exam day. It's been 3 days now and I've been dwelling on what can I do differently to review because all I did was questions after questions.. I can honestly say that I know more now than I did when I first started reviewing. And I agree with you that I may have been really close to passing and hopefully have better luck the next time around.

I too graduated from Pinas from the Pangasinan region in 2012. What school and location did you go to? After graduating I enrolled in a Dialysis Nurse training in a clinic located in the hospital where I did my clinical rotation. Luckily they are affiliated with Davita here in the states and was the reason why I got a job right away as soon as I got back from Pinas. My plan was to work, wait for cgfns approval, the att, and at the same time review. Then as soon as I pass the rn exam, I could lateral over to the rn position if there was an opening. It was a good plan at the time until i realize, I can't work 12-16 hr shifts cause I was just too exhausted to review. So I ended up quitting after a year of experience as a dialysis. tech. I figured if i was going to sacrifice my health and body for 12-16hrs a day, why not put that effort on passing the exam.

My best advice is to keep doing what your doing. My Kaplan scores never passed 68%. And most of all give yourself breaks because you don't want to be mentally drained on the day of the exam. What state are you testing for? Your exam is coming up soon! Good luck to you and update me on the results =) God Bless

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