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...
Huh. I've been a RN for six years and I'm still waiting to meet these mythical only book smart nurses who are inferior to these nurses who are so much more "real life" smart.
Terrifying is knowing that your a number to a nurse not an actual patient. In my case I'm a great floor nurse and unfortunately for me I second guess myself in exams always but at the end of the day there are "RN's that will look for me to help. R sure I have the floor experience they lack so I'm always glad to help and I would never say it's terrifying that they cannot do what I can. They passed their boards but freeze on the floor. And little me LVN always help anyway I can! Sad to even think that nurses as such are commenting this way when the only thing we should fear is how we will be judged one day. I will give my life to save a life and for nurses like you I would still save your tears in the floor even if I dislike your untasteful remarks. Sad so sad!!
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Huh. I've been a RN for six years and I'm still waiting to meet these mythical only book smart nurses who are inferior to these nurses who are so much more "real life" smart.
OMG, I was JUST going to type this same response! Seriously, who are all these multitudes of "book smart" nurses who get their butts wiped on the floor by the "real life smart" nurses?!
It's absolutely true that one can have excellent grades, do very well on exams, and yet have a poor bedside manner. She might be lazy, but then so could be the one who didn't have good grades, and didn't do well on exams.
It is NOT true that the nurse with excellent grades, does well on exams is going to somehow MISS what the "non-book smart" nurse miraculously picks up on effortlessly. Sounds like a sitcom, not reality. You aren't going to find nurses who have barely passed their courses "saving lives" that the nurse who got an A in everything would let die.
If you want to say that to make yourself feel good (that is, kicking the butts of book-smart nurses onto the floor), that's one thing. But don't mistake it for the truth.
I would never say you must be a bad LVN because you haven't been able to pass the NCLEX-RN. I WOULD say that you are missing something, doing something wrong in order to not pass, if you otherwise know the material and how to apply it. But to launch into attack mode at those who are tired of hearing "book smart nurses get wiped on the floor by real life smart nurses" is just absurd, and you should expect to be called on it.
Hi everyone :) I just want to give some tips of how to pass the Nclex.. I did Kaplan and Lippincott Review Book. What I can say that helped me the most was the Lippincott book. When I took the exam many questions were VERY VERY VERY similar to Lippincott. Kaplan is good for practicing "who to see first" and infection control. Overall I focused mostly on Lippincott. Do all the practice exams at the end of the book which was a very similar the Nclex format. Good Luck and always think positive :)
I just took my nclex yesterday. Got good pop up using pearson vue trick..I'm doubful. I graduated in April and just took test. .It took me a while to pay 5000. Dollar balance at my school. When I read about youngsters who prep like crazy. I'm assuming they don't have kids or at least have babysitter. ..I have 2 kids. No babysitter, no time and grown folk problems. I reviewed you tube videos by Michael Linares, and a whole bunch of other 2,3 min videos.I practiced ati questions at night or early am.I had free phone app.during grocery check out used it. I looked for mock tests like nursing labs. Writing everything I had doubts about with a huge sharpie. I tried to find as many mnemonics w pictures. .I studied for maybe a week 1/2 . I would write notes. Throw em away daily and rewrite them, until I had few doubts.
I chose things to neglect like laundry. Dishes, my kids.j/k... I hope to get results tomorrow. Exam stopped at 75 questions. I'm hoping for best expecting worse..
This is true!! My Doctor that I worked for said he graduated Medical School with a "C" to continue at the bottom of his class but he graduated nonetheless!!!! And he's the smartest Doctor I know!! Love positive responses, some Nurses are rude and obnoxious and forget that we're suppose to pick each other up not being each other down.
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
This test shouldn't be this difficult and peoples careers shouldn't depend on one after taking years of testing from an accredited college.
There's a reason for a test to determine minimum competency has been met- we deal with people's lives, and the BON that requires the licensure is charged with protecting patients.
Just wanna share that i took the dreaded exam Thurs, 10/22, and I passed with 76 questions. I've gone through enough comments here stating 75 or whatever is a good sign. False reassurance†remember that in not what to tell your clients? Don't tell that to yourself then lol. Preparation, knowing content and strategies are the best tools to give you indication of how well you did. Remember that there are people who failed at 75, 76, 85, or at 265.
Other questions like "what's your review materials?" "which review center did you do?" and "how long did you study?" The best answer is all of it. All the review books you have will help, the review center, and the length of study will help IF you dedicate to studying HARD and SMART. I didn't go to review center. I had a year to...well, a year of napping and agonizing how much $#!t I have to memorize. To be honest I don't know how i passed. This, I believe and recommend, what definitely helped: La Charity Prioritization (must have for mastery of Stable vs Unstable), Delegation, Assignment -- get online version instead since it's cheaper and the same with book word-for-word. NCLEX3500/4000 practice questions, Kaplan strategies Maslow, Nursing Process, ABCs (i had someone lend me Kaplan strat). I urge anyone to get NCLEX Mastery app (apple/android). I bought it 4 days before exam and wished I had it a year ago. It is content is centered on what's important for the hated Select All That Apply. The $29 was worth it.
If you're first time taker or repeat, DO NOT agonize. STUDY SMART! There's plenty of help. Use youtube for difficult topics to conceptualize (there's animation and easier explanation of diseases). Use the review material that you have. If you have to spend money, what i mentioned above are essentials. Get those. Otherwise use what you have. Don't lose hope. STUDY SMART instead. I have saunders and yes, it made me nap for a year. I bought 3300 Nsg Bullets it's collecting dust. Why? Too much to memorize.
I probably did close to 5k question NCLEX 35/4k plus NCSBN test bank. Didn't study smart coz I was trying to memorize every single answer instead of understanding why it's the right answer. Learning what the disease does is an easier approach to answering the question. It applies for diagnostic procedures too! So STUDY SMART! Focus on understanding what the disease does so S/S are easier to remember, Risk factors, familiarize with the less common dx procedures and nsg interventions. Pharma: know what med is for, when to take (am/pm, with/without meals), common S/E and adverse rxn, common drug interaction, pregnancy contraindication, nsg consideration -- NCLEX Mastery app is the app for convenience. OR: pre and post op interventions (safety! Positioning – know the location of your organs). Don't focus on every single detail. Most of what I've said are previous advices from everyone here and even youtubers, and am just reinforcing them; of course also from my own experience. This is an easier breakdown of what to focus on then keep adding more info that you feel you is important to know.
To finish, I wanna relate what my exam was like: went in with anxiety -> came out with Guillain Barre Syndrome and shaking even 15-20mins later. Yeah that's the result of napping for a year. Pls do not be like me. STUDY SMART and go in knowing that you're well prepared. There's no worse feeling sitting 2hrs in and only at 36 questions yet still second-guessing your current and previous answers. I got lucky. Luck is good but preparation will not leave you with a sense of impending projectile diarrhea at the lip of your sphincter during the exam. I was inspired and learned a lot from all who posted here. So thank you everyone. Hope what I said made sense and will help those preparing for the exam. Best preparation guys. Add luck later
dinah77, ADN
530 Posts
Huh. I've been a RN for six years and I'm still waiting to meet these mythical only book smart nurses who are inferior to these nurses who are so much more "real life" smart.