Failed NCLEX-RN 3 Times...

Mtitus123 · Mar 16, 2019

Hi Robyn,

I’m not really familiar with allnurses forum. First time responding. I just recently passed my nclex. I also failed three times prior to passing. I honestly felt like I wasn’t preparing properly. I graduated from nursing school in 2014. I just passed in 2019. Took the test in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Failed all three attempts. My agency I was working in closed. I took the opportunity to stay home and focus on studying. I used UWorld and ATI. I studied most of the time. What I did differently was I wrote down about 80% of the rationales on paper. First, I would write down gastro rationals. I would re-read the rationales then I would do gastro questions in ATI. I found myself doing better on ATI than UWorld which boosted my confidence. I did that with each group, endocrine, immune, cardiac, etc. Afterword, instead of doing one group set of 75 questions, I would use all of the questions pharm, mental health, peds, etc. I didn’t write these down but I payed close attention to the rationals. Two days before my exam I re-read all the things I wrote down. I studied from Oct 2018 to February 2019. During my down time I would watch a movie or play a game on my phone. I went out to parties and had fun. Even when I was a little tipsy I would still do questions. I took my time understanding the rationales. Going into the test I had a different mind set. I planned on staying for 265 questions and I planned on going back to take the test again. I was more relaxed with that mind set. I definitely helped. I payed close attention to each question as if I was doing questions at home. I passed at 80 questions. Got home, got the good pop up. (Very surprised, but excited). Waited two days. Quick Results said I passed. I hope this helps. Good Luck. Remember I graduated in 2014 and passed in 2019.

Robyn1019, ADN, ASN · Mar 18, 2019

On 3/16/2019 at 2:19 PM, Mtitus123 said:
Hi Robyn,
I’m not really familiar with allnurses forum. First time responding. I just recently passed my nclex. I also failed three times prior to passing. I honestly felt like I wasn’t preparing properly. I graduated from nursing school in 2014. I just passed in 2019. Took the test in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Failed all three attempts. My agency I was working in closed. I took the opportunity to stay home and focus on studying. I used UWorld and ATI. I studied most of the time. What I did differently was I wrote down about 80% of the rationales on paper. First, I would write down gastro rationals. I would re-read the rationales then I would do gastro questions in ATI. I found myself doing better on ATI than UWorld which boosted my confidence. I did that with each group, endocrine, immune, cardiac, etc. Afterword, instead of doing one group set of 75 questions, I would use all of the questions pharm, mental health, peds, etc. I didn’t write these down but I payed close attention to the rationals. Two days before my exam I re-read all the things I wrote down. I studied from Oct 2018 to February 2019. During my down time I would watch a movie or play a game on my phone. I went out to parties and had fun. Even when I was a little tipsy I would still do questions. I took my time understanding the rationales. Going into the test I had a different mind set. I planned on staying for 265 questions and I planned on going back to take the test again. I was more relaxed with that mind set. I definitely helped. I payed close attention to each question as if I was doing questions at home. I passed at 80 questions. Got home, got the good pop up. (Very surprised, but excited). Waited two days. Quick Results said I passed. I hope this helps. Good Luck. Remember I graduated in 2014 and passed in 2019.

Thank you so much for responding. I recently graduated this past May of 2018. I think a major problem for me is that maybe I am rushing into taking my next test. I am going to focus on writing down the rationales because many people have mentioned this. I will also spend more time studying. HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to you!!!! Hopefully, I will join the RN club soon!

PCapri · Apr 17, 2019

Hi Robyn Sorry hear that you failed your exam , please do not give up, keep trying , keep pushing you can do this. If you need advice, nclex tips , advice on where to go from here etc you can search for me on Instagram my insta name is Phelcapri

Anumariamjose · Apr 22, 2019

Hi Robyn,

I just recently passed my NCLEX RN exam. I also failed one time before this attempt. I did an online course through Apple RN online comprehensive course, It's really helped me to pass the exam. I hope this will help you.( https://applern.com/)

FrustratedFutureNurse · Jun 8, 2019

Hi I recently failed the NCLEX twice...

I have three kids and I really was depending on passing..

I studied my *** off...

1st time I did uworld/remar failed with 85questions

2nd time I did NCSBN failed with 75 questions

I really don't know what to do I can take the test again in August for the third time and if I don't pass I have to take a refresher course and try another three times I just want to pass.

Robyn1019, ADN, ASN · Jun 8, 2019

25 minutes ago, FrustratedFutureNurse said:
Hi I recently failed the NCLEX twice...
I have three kids and I really was depending on passing..
I studied my *** off...
1st time I did uworld/remar failed with 85questions
2nd time I did NCSBN failed with 75 questions
I really don't know what to do I can take the test again in August for the third time and if I don't pass I have to take a refresher course and try another three times I just want to pass.

I don't have any kids, but believe me I understand the NEED to pass. It is so frustrating!!!! Since I took the test 3 times now I have to find a refresher course. I can't even find one the NJ BON will accept, and they were on their recommended list!! I am so tired of all of this, I just want to be an RN!

I think you should go for it in August. I think I am going to take mine then too if I can get this whole refresher figured out. Life is tough sometimes!

I wish you all the best ?

Tkozy · Jul 11, 2019

I also failed 3 times but I did the “hurst Now review” it’s all online and I passed with 82 questions!! I’m a very bad test taker but it made me understand the material so well that the test felt easy

seraphimid · Jul 28, 2019

Congratulations!!! I have a similar story and your post inspired me to share here....

I failed my NCLEX 3x and finally passed the 4th time in June. I did an accelerated BSN at a high ranking university where I felt lost the entire time. I graduated with a 3.5 and I’m sure I could have done much better but I just felt very disengaged and overwhelmed the entire time. It’s not the programs fault, many people excelled and passed the first time and got good jobs within months of graduating. The program just wasn’t for me. I need one on one time, mentorship, etc. there were 200 people in a lecture and many of my preceptors would abandon us at clinical. Some of the RNs who I was matched with in the hospital would actually spend the day complaining to me about how they weren’t being paid to teach me, rather than teaching me anything. This was very discouraging and I’m really a hands on learner so I never got to practice what I was learning in the class room at clinical and I unfortunately wasn’t engaged enough with my program at the time to seek out help when I needed it.

Anyway back to NCLEX: my school provided Kaplan with the program. I graduated January 2018. I kept putting off scheduling my NCLEX because two weeks after graduating i came down with a 103 fever and my labs showed high EBV values. I thought I had chronic fatigue syndrome or some sort of burn out from nursing school. I was still working throughout this entire period and trying to study for the NCLEX. Finally scheduled it for May 2018. I did Kaplan but kept scoring around 55% on the exams but I figured I should give it a shot. Failed at 75Q so I guess I completely bombed it.

I immediately applied for another ATT, scheduled my 2nd exam in September 2018. I studied over the summer using Kaplan again and Uworld but still could not seem to break through ~50-55%. I took the NCLEX the second time and got around 120Q, kind of blocked the entire thing out of my memory honestly so I don’t even remember how the exam itself was. I found out I failed 2 days later and again immediately applied for another ATT.

3rd attempt was scheduled for January 2019, 1 year after graduating. I was so motivated because it was the 1 year mark and also I was becoming very nervous because although I was working in nursing related jobs I really needed to pass this time for personal reasons. I was getting so much anxiety around ever becoming a nurse and my ability to even find a job once I finally passed. The pressure was on. I did Hurst exactly how they outline it in the program and studied everyday for 6 weeks. Again got ~120Q. This was the first time I took the NCLEX that I actually felt confident while taking it. In fact I thought I was passing, I felt so victorious taking the exam for the first hour or so, but once I got past 75Q I felt like my vision got blurry. I was totally crushed. Looking back I know I should have remained strong and given it my all but by the end of this exam I was literally choosing random answers and pressing next because I felt so defeated.

I decided to take a few months off of studying and go at it hard again in the spring. I scheduled my 4th exam for June. I purchased the $50 NcBSN program which I would HIGHLY recommend. I thought the questions were really helpful even if they were not exactly like NCLEX style questions, they really helped me learn more than Kaplan, Uworld or Hurst had. I also had the Mosby app on my phone where I did practice questions. I began studying in May to give myself 6 weeks to study. By week 3 I just felt like the anxiety was mounting and I wasn’t making progress because I still could not seem to consistently do well on practice exams. I decided to get a tutor through wyzant and it is the BEST decision I ever made and I wish I would have done it the day I started studying for my NCLEX the first time because I have a feeling I would have passed on the first attempt had I had the help of my tutor. It was expensive and I had to put it all on a CC because by this point I had gone broke trying to pass the NCLEX but I still believe it was the best decision I ever made. My tutor basically encouraged me so much and pointed out to me that I was far above the threshold in terms of knowledge and what I knew. She told me I knew things 3rd year residents are not expected to know. Maybe she was being super nice ? but I know I am the type of person who feels like they need to know and learn things deeply to understand them and that is NOT what the NCLEX is looking for. I was getting lost every time I took the Nclex because I was reading way too much into the question and not remembering and sticking to what I knew. I had so much anxiety and loss of confidence around the entire experience it was getting in the way of applying the things I actually did know. She helped me break down information so I could apply it to NCLEX questions. We did practice exams together and I started scoring above 65 but we were pressed for time and she said she like when he students got to 75%. She asked me if I could push back my exam date and I had already pushed it back before finding her so it was scheduled for the very last date that I could possibly take the test. She said not to worry and reassured me I would pass this time.

I ended up with76 questions. I felt confident taking the exam but once I got to 76 it felt like my blood froze and my entire body went cold. But then the exam shut off. I cried as soon as I got out because one part of me felt like I had to have passed, I worked so hard those weeks before the exam and knew so much and felt confident taking the test. But then another part of me felt the doubt and the defeat and omg what if I did not pass? The next 48 hours were a hellish existence of doing the PVT and constantly checking my phone...

Luckily i did pass and I am finally going to interviews as an RN after this 1.5 year journey after graduating nursing school. In retrospect I wish I would have gotten a tutor immediately because I need encouragement and support from an actual person, not from a program or a book, and this is something I learned about myself through this process. I am so so so so grateful to my tutor, she is absolutely amazing and I would recommend her to anyone. My only regret is not getting help sooner. Although I am an Independent person in so many other ways, I really learned something about myself through this journey. I’m hoping my sharing here will encourage anyone struggling to pass to not give up and to know that your determination will get you there. It’s up to you to decide the kind of help you need, but once you figure that out I am positive you will pass.

It’s a completely doable test, and as someone who went from dreading and having neurotic reactions to even seeing an NCLEX question to a person who actually thought practice tests were fun and challenging in a weird way (funny how things can be become more pleasurable when you’re actually getting better at doing them!)...I promise you you will pass. Do not give up!

oh and I will say, the final time I took the NCLEX I had 6 filled pages of whiteboard. My level of anxiety was so high that I figured out a method of breaking down the question stem by rewriting keywords and then listing phrases from the answer choices. This really helped me stay grounded and not get lost in the question. I practiced taking questions this way and it helped me so much that by the time I refined the technique it was like the correct answer choice was just coming up off the page at me. As much as the NCLEX is an exam to become a nurse I believe it is a LANGUAGE exam. The wording can be so tricky if you’re not reading slowly and intentionally and it really helped me to break down questions and make sure I was answering exactly what they were asking, rather than putting in my own interpretation of the questions into the answer choice.

erkelsh · Aug 8, 2019

On 7/28/2019 at 12:13 PM, seraphimid said:
Congratulations!!! I have a similar story and your post inspired me to share here....
I failed my NCLEX 3x and finally passed the 4th time in June. I did an accelerated BSN at a high ranking university where I felt lost the entire time. I graduated with a 3.5 and I’m sure I could have done much better but I just felt very disengaged and overwhelmed the entire time. It’s not the programs fault, many people excelled and passed the first time and got good jobs within months of graduating. The program just wasn’t for me. I need one on one time, mentorship, etc. there were 200 people in a lecture and many of my preceptors would abandon us at clinical. Some of the RNs who I was matched with in the hospital would actually spend the day complaining to me about how they weren’t being paid to teach me, rather than teaching me anything. This was very discouraging and I’m really a hands on learner so I never got to practice what I was learning in the class room at clinical and I unfortunately wasn’t engaged enough with my program at the time to seek out help when I needed it.
Anyway back to NCLEX: my school provided Kaplan with the program. I graduated January 2018. I kept putting off scheduling my NCLEX because two weeks after graduating i came down with a 103 fever and my labs showed high EBV values. I thought I had chronic fatigue syndrome or some sort of burn out from nursing school. I was still working throughout this entire period and trying to study for the NCLEX. Finally scheduled it for May 2018. I did Kaplan but kept scoring around 55% on the exams but I figured I should give it a shot. Failed at 75Q so I guess I completely bombed it.
I immediately applied for another ATT, scheduled my 2nd exam in September 2018. I studied over the summer using Kaplan again and Uworld but still could not seem to break through ~50-55%. I took the NCLEX the second time and got around 120Q, kind of blocked the entire thing out of my memory honestly so I don’t even remember how the exam itself was. I found out I failed 2 days later and again immediately applied for another ATT.
3rd attempt was scheduled for January 2019, 1 year after graduating. I was so motivated because it was the 1 year mark and also I was becoming very nervous because although I was working in nursing related jobs I really needed to pass this time for personal reasons. I was getting so much anxiety around ever becoming a nurse and my ability to even find a job once I finally passed. The pressure was on. I did Hurst exactly how they outline it in the program and studied everyday for 6 weeks. Again got ~120Q. This was the first time I took the NCLEX that I actually felt confident while taking it. In fact I thought I was passing, I felt so victorious taking the exam for the first hour or so, but once I got past 75Q I felt like my vision got blurry. I was totally crushed. Looking back I know I should have remained strong and given it my all but by the end of this exam I was literally choosing random answers and pressing next because I felt so defeated.
I decided to take a few months off of studying and go at it hard again in the spring. I scheduled my 4th exam for June. I purchased the $50 NcBSN program which I would HIGHLY recommend. I thought the questions were really helpful even if they were not exactly like NCLEX style questions, they really helped me learn more than Kaplan, Uworld or Hurst had. I also had the Mosby app on my phone where I did practice questions. I began studying in May to give myself 6 weeks to study. By week 3 I just felt like the anxiety was mounting and I wasn’t making progress because I still could not seem to consistently do well on practice exams. I decided to get a tutor through wyzant and it is the BEST decision I ever made and I wish I would have done it the day I started studying for my NCLEX the first time because I have a feeling I would have passed on the first attempt had I had the help of my tutor. It was expensive and I had to put it all on a CC because by this point I had gone broke trying to pass the NCLEX but I still believe it was the best decision I ever made. My tutor basically encouraged me so much and pointed out to me that I was far above the threshold in terms of knowledge and what I knew. She told me I knew things 3rd year residents are not expected to know. Maybe she was being super nice ? but I know I am the type of person who feels like they need to know and learn things deeply to understand them and that is NOT what the NCLEX is looking for. I was getting lost every time I took the Nclex because I was reading way too much into the question and not remembering and sticking to what I knew. I had so much anxiety and loss of confidence around the entire experience it was getting in the way of applying the things I actually did know. She helped me break down information so I could apply it to NCLEX questions. We did practice exams together and I started scoring above 65 but we were pressed for time and she said she like when he students got to 75%. She asked me if I could push back my exam date and I had already pushed it back before finding her so it was scheduled for the very last date that I could possibly take the test. She said not to worry and reassured me I would pass this time.
I ended up with76 questions. I felt confident taking the exam but once I got to 76 it felt like my blood froze and my entire body went cold. But then the exam shut off. I cried as soon as I got out because one part of me felt like I had to have passed, I worked so hard those weeks before the exam and knew so much and felt confident taking the test. But then another part of me felt the doubt and the defeat and omg what if I did not pass? The next 48 hours were a hellish existence of doing the PVT and constantly checking my phone...
Luckily i did pass and I am finally going to interviews as an RN after this 1.5 year journey after graduating nursing school. In retrospect I wish I would have gotten a tutor immediately because I need encouragement and support from an actual person, not from a program or a book, and this is something I learned about myself through this process. I am so so so so grateful to my tutor, she is absolutely amazing and I would recommend her to anyone. My only regret is not getting help sooner. Although I am an Independent person in so many other ways, I really learned something about myself through this journey. I’m hoping my sharing here will encourage anyone struggling to pass to not give up and to know that your determination will get you there. It’s up to you to decide the kind of help you need, but once you figure that out I am positive you will pass.
It’s a completely doable test, and as someone who went from dreading and having neurotic reactions to even seeing an NCLEX question to a person who actually thought practice tests were fun and challenging in a weird way (funny how things can be become more pleasurable when you’re actually getting better at doing them!)...I promise you you will pass. Do not give up!
oh and I will say, the final time I took the NCLEX I had 6 filled pages of whiteboard. My level of anxiety was so high that I figured out a method of breaking down the question stem by rewriting keywords and then listing phrases from the answer choices. This really helped me stay grounded and not get lost in the question. I practiced taking questions this way and it helped me so much that by the time I refined the technique it was like the correct answer choice was just coming up off the page at me. As much as the NCLEX is an exam to become a nurse I believe it is a LANGUAGE exam. The wording can be so tricky if you’re not reading slowly and intentionally and it really helped me to break down questions and make sure I was answering exactly what they were asking, rather than putting in my own interpretation of the questions into the answer choice.

Hi seraphimid,

I was wondering who your tutor was...? Online or in-person? I am looking for a tutor myself that can help me break down questions and fill my knowledge gaps of the material.