Failed, nclex rn 5 times! Help?!?!

[lystacy]

EVERYONE I need all the advice, suggestion, and help as much as possible! So I am completely bum-out and am starting to feel maybe I'm just not meant for a RN (as I am told by some people). I have just taken the NCLEX-RN and it's been more than 24 hours and am pretty confident that I FAILED it. I am trying to gather all my strength but it is so tough to get all that courage again. Starting to feel really discouraged! Has anyone taken their NCLEX-RN recently that FAILED 5 TIMES LIKE ME? Or, am I the only one?! I will tell you that I have taken the NCSBN 15 week course (didn't exactly finish all the practice questions), but reviewed all the contents in there as well as questions in both the Saunder and Lipprocotts booklet that relate to those contents reviewed both right and wrong rationales and even jotted down notes to review before the exam. With a part-time job, mother, and wife I put about 3 months into this whole reviewing/studying contents etc. to make sure I went in with confident to pass this exam but in the end, I still didn't. I feel like I'm running out of choices here. The exam I took had about 3 SATA, no math, 2-3 really long paragraph (about 3-4 sentences long, which I thought I was in the passing level, perhaps?) and the rest was just about 1-2 sentence long. I didn't even make it pass 75 questions. That's terrible!!!! For those that have passed the nclex rn did you rec'd a lot of questions in paragraph form like 3-4 sentences long? Or perhaps 2-3? I'm sure 1-2 was just below or near the passing level. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE... I need the help all I can get what I can do differently, review differently etc. Anything will be GREATLY appreciated! Sounds really desperate but I am determine to pass this next time and if I don't I have no idea how to move on...

[ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP]

Hey there,

I am sorry you did not pass the NCLEX. That must be devastating.

Have you tried Hurst? It was a great review. I took the online one. You can watch the review sessions as many times as you want for ninety days and there is a money back guarantee if you don't pass.

I credit Hurst for helping me pass the nclex the first time with 75 questions. I also used Kaplan for more review questions and it gave great tips on how to read nclex questions.

If you live out in the Midwest, I know of other wonderful nclex review courses one can take.

Best of luck!

[Treu]

[starting to feel really discouraged! Has anyone taken their NCLEX-RN recently that FAILED 5 TIMES LIKE ME? Or, am I the only one?!

Thought you were only allowed two or three attempts and then must wait a year before retaking NCLEX. In Georgia, You're allowed limited attempts and can't retake for a year.

[susanne.miller]

This is not true! I didn't need a Tudor and I passed! Is it cause you needed a Tudor? This is a bit condescending, don't you think?!

[susanne.miller]

Here here!! Well said!!

[42pines]

Lystacy, I really hope that your native language is something other than English.

While this may sound like a put-down, it is not meant that way.

You have made it this far and have progressed through High School and have passed at least the ADN program. Therefore you are intelligent and you've proven that you are capable enough to pass the course. I suspect that if I were to take the test questions and ask you verbally to answer them, as long as we could have some back and forth talk so that you understood the question, you'd have the answers.

So where is your problem? If your native language is another language—there it is.

You ask: Has anyone else taken the NCLEX 5 times? My answer is: Yes, and generally the reason is that the test takers know their stuff but simply cannot pass the NCLEX. The reason that they cannot pass the NCLEX so many times, from what I have seen is that their ability to comprehend what is being asked is weak, and in every case that I have seen, the person was an immigrant or a person where the language in the family was the the old mother-tongue.” NCLEX does not make any effort at all to make it easy to understand the question, in fact I believe that the NCLEX intentionally throws punches here and there to make what is really being asked,” difficult to perceive.

Therefore, if you grew up with a mother language different from English, there is your entire problem.

Your English is excellent and you have a good vocabulary, but here and there I see English problems such as:

…just had this mind-sent that the longer the length of the question given meant I was in the passing level, and a sentence long question meant I was in the below level.

…and to prove it through passing the NCLEX-RN examination speaks itself

…that itself already speaks a lot for myself,

So, from the feedback I am hearing a lot of stuff and believes these are what I will try next time...

…perhaps I have focus too much on content and not go about answering the question...?

Because I didn't finish all the NCSBN questions that was provided...

Right now I feel the contents are still fresh so I will review them tremendously...

We see a lot of new English” here on Allnurses, by which I mean text-talk, with i's and run-on sentences but what I see in the above seems indicative not of text-talk but of what I have seen with immigrants who talk with their family and/or friends in the non-English tongue on a day to day basis. Why? Because the structure of your sentences along with tense issues says that you don't really understand grammatical structure. This is not a problem in everyday speaking but is a huge problem when trying to comprehend complex questions. If you have difficulty figuring out exactly what is being asked you cannot answer.

Now let me back up a bit and explain a bit more. In fact you may understand and even do well with English grammar-----but-----If you speak another language on a day to day basis (other than English) a person's mind often reverts to the grammatical rules of the mother tongue. This in and of itself is not a problem because all of us can bypass minor tense or English issues--we can see past them in verbal conversation, but when trying to understand a complex written question, bang, the mind becomes confused.

So I am guessing and wondering if you were brought up with a language other than English. I hope that this rings true for it may be that you know your stuff, and do well one-on-one speaking, but get lost in what it is that the question asks.

I hope you let us know if my guess is correct and/or if the problem of exactly "what is being asked" is the big issue for you.

[Red Kryptonite]

42pines, I thought the same thing, but couldn't have said it as well as you did. Thanks for your post!

[Red Kryptonite]

This is not true! I didn't need a Tudor and I passed! Is it cause you needed a Tudor? This is a bit condescending, don't you think?!

What do 16th century English monarchs have to do with any of this?

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

Tutor. The word is TUTOR...

This is not true! I didn't need a Tudor and I passed! Is it cause you needed a Tudor? This is a bit condescending, don't you think?!

[Red Kryptonite]

Tutor. The word is TUTOR...

My dad posted this to my Facebook the other day:

[strawberryluv, BSN, RN]

Why does it matter if the question length is long? It really doesn't matter.

What matters is how you're studying for the exam. If you're buying material but not finishing it, that's a problem.

If you're studying questions, how are you doing when you're studying? Try to sit down and study straight 75 questions then count

the number you got wrong. Are you getting more than 60% of the questions, right? If not, you need to probably brush up on

the content area.

How are you breaking down the question? Do you recognize key words?

Maybe you need test-taking strategies help in which I recommend "Strategies for Test Success" by Linda Silvestri

But since you took it 5 times, I think you really need a refresh course like Hurst Review. It will at least give you some core nursing content knowledge you may have lost...

[cayenne06, MSN, CNM]

Does your school offer a refresher program? How do you do on practice exams? I agree that it sounds like you need some remediation in order to develop competency with this entry -level information. Not everyone is a good test taker, and I *do* believe you can fail multiple times and still become a competent, even excellent, nurse. But it's going to take self reflection and dedication. And lots and lots of practice questions.

[Adele_Michal7, ASN, RN]

This is not true! I didn't need a Tudor and I passed! Is it cause you needed a Tudor? This is a bit condescending, don't you think?!

I need a Tudor, but they're too expensive out in the Bay Area... And Victorians are more popular here anyway.