Failed NCLEX 5 Times! Am I The Only One Who . . .

[Ruby Vee]

Am I the only one who is concerned about someone who has failed multiple times, finally passes and then wants to share their experience with everyone else? Am I the only one who is concerned about working with nurses who finally pass on their eighth try? Granted, I'm so experienced that I took my licensing exam on paper eons ago when it was offered only twice a year, everyone answered all the questions over a two day period and it took six weeks to get the results. In those days, you only got two tries. That was it. So I could be someone biased and/or out of touch. I just wonder, though, about the knowledge base and learning capacity of a nurse that took the exam eight times to pass. Although perserverence is a virtue, and those folks obviously have plenty of that. Is nursing so different now that it's OK to take eight tries to get your license? Or is this a development of the "everyone gets a trophy" mentality? Keep trying and everyone gets a license?

[NewGrad RN BSN]

Perhaps the student forums or the NCLEX forums were constructed to be places where you can go to get unlimited support without unpalatable doses of reality. I don't frequent them, so that could be the case. The general discussion forum, as far as I know, is a place where real nurses can participate in disucssions relevent to the profession. We are not, as far as I know, constrained by the necessity of providing unlimited support to those who really do not yet understand how much they do not yet understand. Nor is this particular discussion about "having an older nurse put them even lower" if they haven't been fortunate enough to pass the NCLEX their first time out. I fail to understand how anyone could offer a blanket message of "support" to countless strangers on the internet about whom you know nothing except that they frequent this forum. Yet you believe in them. It boggles the mind.

Umm ya, I do! I have tutored many students and a few of them didnt pass their test the first time and I did believe in them! Showed support because i am a good mentor, not a rude... Well i shouldnt go that far:)And guess what, they passed the second time! And nothing in my mind tells me that they don't deserve to be nurses! They are such bright kids, one actually has an offer in an ICU preceptorship in washington d.c! Picked from hundredsss of others and her "secondtimesittingstatus" didn't mean quite anything:)

[NewGrad RN BSN]

You are free to not participate in this thread if you feel it is of such little consequence. Others think it goes to core issues in nursing and want to continue to discuss it. Just scroll past it if it bothers you.

Oh nothing bothers me:). No need to scroll when I'm havin a bad day I can come back when I need a good laugh!

[nursel56]

Umm ya, I do! I have tutored many students and a few of them didnt pass their test the first time and I did believe in them! Showed support because i am a good mentor, not a rude... Well i shouldnt go that far:)And guess what, they passed the second time! And nothing in my mind tells me that they don't deserve to be nurses! They are such bright kids, one actually has an offer in an ICU preceptorship in washington d.c! Picked from hundredsss of others and her "secondtimesittingstatus" didn't mean quite anything:) Let it boggle your mind hunny:)

Haha well --- what crucial bit of information is contained in your most recent offerings that isn't in the one Ruby was responding to? It's shocking how much disrespect you show towards the experienced nurses here who are not tee hee you know (I better not say it)

ed to add: if you were addressing your remarks to those people you "mentored" why not just tell them in person that you believe in them? They're not likely to just happen by this thread and see your message.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

well, i guess i was thinking about him when i responded,lol... however, that doesn't change the fact that ruby's comment was rude!!!! that is one of the huge down falls of nursing....nurses can be very rude and mean toward each other. maybe one day that will change...

since you keep on about how rude my comment was -- and i honestly cannot find a comment that i thought was rude, although i may concede lack of grammar if i knew what you were referring to -- would you please quote the comment you're dissing?

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

so according to ruby, ms nightingale was not a nurse. she did not take the nclex. and i can name a few nurses that never took the nclex and was pioneers of nursing.

ms. nightingale was called a lot of things during her time, but "nurse" was probably the least colorful of them. in this time, and in most states of the united states, a person must have passed a licensing exam and actually have a nursing license to be called a nurse. so if you haven't passed the nclex, you're not a nurse.

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

I think some people confuse straightforwardness with rudeness.

It is also often confused with "eating your young", it seems.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

in many internet circles, there's what's called godwin's law, godwin's law - wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

godwin's law (also known as godwin's rule of nazi analogies or godwin's law of nazi analogies^[1][2]) is a humorous observation made by mike godwin in 1990^[2] that has become an internet adage. it states: "as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving nazis or hitler approaches 1."^[2][3] in other words, godwin observed that, given enough time, in any online discussion—regardless of topic or scope—someone inevitably criticizes some point made in the discussion by comparing it to beliefs held by hitler and the nazis.

godwin's law is often cited in online discussions as a deterrent against the use of arguments in the widespread reductio ad hitlerum form.^[4] the rule does not make any statement about whether any particular reference or comparison to adolf hitler or the nazis might be appropriate, but only asserts that the likelihood of such a reference or comparison arising increases as the discussion progresses. precisely because such a comparison or reference may sometimes be appropriate, godwin has argued that overuse of nazi and hitler comparisons should be avoided, because it robs the valid comparisons of their impact.^[5]

^{the usual netiquette is that the first person to invoke hitler in any argument automatically concedes that s/he has lost that argument, as evidenced by the fact that s/he has nothing better or more useful to contribute.}

^{i think it's about time to promulgate what i would call the nety law, which states that in every heated discussion about nursing, someone will eventually cite the "nurses eat their young" dodge, thus robbing further valid discourse of its impact. i further move that the person who uses it defaults to the losing position of the argument, whatever it is. i think this would take some time to filter out into the blogosphere and all the threads here, but what an effect that would have on the quality of discourse!}

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

Ok, I admit to not reading the last 18 pages of this, but I do think it is reason for a concern if someone does not pass after several attempts and it would not be unreasonable to require additional education before taking it again.

[NewGrad RN BSN]

What does it matter to you who I believe in? It doesn't have anything to do with you.I will do as I please. And I am sure that many of these people in these forums are feeling just the same as my students who didn't pass their first time so it's my decision to show support. Don't need to justify why I support people on this site, it's absurd.

[NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN]

Ok, I admit to not reading the last 18 pages of this, but I do think it is reason for a concern if someone does not pass after several attempts and it would not be unreasonable to require additional education before taking it again.

I agree. The majority of the people that do take it multiple times do get extra education either via kaplan or a refresher.

[NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN]

Best suggestion yet. If the board thinks it is important to publically announce disciplinary actions against a nurse's license, then why not also post, and thereby warn everyone that it took SusieQ 5 attempts to pass.

Umm because it does not matter. Not every employer passed NCLEX on their first attempt.

Whats the difference between a nurse that takes their boards 5 times or one time? Nothing. They are BOTH nurses.

Ruby you may have worked with amazing nurse throughout your years that have taken it more than once.

[danarooo, BSN, RN]

I took the NCLEX last April. My information on it is up to date, at least for my state. It is computer adaptive, meaning that how you answered the previous question determines the level of difficulty for the next one. There are also a couple million questions in the test bank. When you fail, you get a letter and have to start the process all over again, in my state you do have to go through the state board of nursing who can make you wait up to 90 days to re-test, if they can determine you need to wait 90 days it stands to reason they can eventually flesh out if you should be allowed to re-test if it's turned into multiple attempts.

Also, some people do have severe test anxiety. I am one of the lucky ones, I got through nursing school without a lot of issue and I made it on my first try. I have friends who failed their NCLEX due to test anxiety, all of them knew their stuff and rocked clinicals. Failing doesn't mean you can't absorb what your school has taught or you don't know your stuff. Lets be real, every single person including myself that I have talked to didn't recognize the content on more than 80% of the questions. I recognized 5 out of 75 questions, which is about where most of my friends were. I graduated with honors. Most of what is on the NCLEX was content that I remember thinking "what the h#$l is this??? The NCLEX gauges your ability to pick the most correct answer using nursing process and various NCLEX strategies taught in the prep books.

While I do understand where you are coming from, I also know some nurses who are just bad test takers but great nurses. I also know a few nurses who are exceptionally intelligent but horrible with people (and I do mean horrible). I think that yes maybe there should be a limit to the amount of re-takes, but that nursing schools should do a better job at NCLEX prep and helping students undertand test anxiety and ways around it (I.E. getting a beta blocker as my friend had to do, or counseling etc...).