Failed NCLEX 11 times.

jdtong2013 · Apr 21, 2019

On 3/1/2017 at 4:53 AM, fustudent610 said:
I don't get the mentality of never give up. It's actually pretty thoughtless to the candidate. The candidate tried ten times, what in god's name makes you think the 11th time would work?? Suggesting uworld is honestly ridiculous at this point. Oh well he or she took 10 times but just doing uworld will fix everything!! And also pray!!
No. This is getting ridiculous. Praying won't help pass and neither will one single review. 5 different reviews won't help. You can't review what you are lacking. If you're on a plane would you want a pilot who failed his exam 10 times? If you were getting brain surgery would you want a surgeon who failed her exam 10 times? Even if you were using an uber would you want a driver who took 10 times? So why is nursing any different?
I'm sorry for sounding so harsh but nursing is not easy. It's not an entitlement just because we want it; it's earned. And not grasping the basic concepts of safety is why the nclex weeds people out. I just want the profession to stay safe.

Uworld is one of the best study aids. The reason is the rationales actually makes you think like a nurse does. ATI is not good because it simply tell you "that answer is incorrect, that's why it's incorrect." I did not use Kaplan, but I tried Saunders, and some other mobile apps, but so far I found Uworld is the best. and many of other nursing students have the similar experiences. There is a very good reason why Uworld is more expensive. For what I remembered, I got one of the NCLEX questions that was exactly the same right out of Uworld. I remember that question and answer, just not sure if I should post it here.

All in all. I would not discredit NCLEX or give it too much credits. It is the universal standard for the employer to follow to hire someone so that a farmer without a nursing degree would not go apply for a nursing job, saying that he has been taking care of animals for years and had years of experience.

when failed 11 times, you would have to at least have some ideas, or even remember some of those questions, as to what area you are weak for. I think it could be very much a test taker's psychological problem(some people feel very anxious, light-headed, and all the common sense fly out of their head) instead of knowledge-base deficit. Ask yourself, when you look at a nursing scenario, do you think critically? You are not going to give some diuretics without looking at labs and other conditions, to those patients who have crackles in lungs and peripheral edema. You will not remain in the room and take your time to figure out what is going on with this patient when the patient is literally sitting there in a tripod position, sweaty and hard time breathing. NCLEX is not very much about knowledge base(if you look at the nursing school curriculum designs and the difficulty level of test questions, knowledge-based questions are very few.), it is how you will keep your patients safe, alive. Sure thing, you would have to have some basic knowledge like a K+ 2.2 or 6.5, you have to see the red flag. The analysis of a patient situation is based on some knowledge, facts, but it is how you critically think and analyze the patient as a whole.

Since you already tried 11 times or 14 times, do not rush into the next time. One question is that how long between the repeated tests did you wait? If you take it once and failed, then try another time within one month or 6 weeks, you may not succeed. The more frequent tests you take with too short intervals, the less likely you will pass. Study the basic, have strong knowledge base, analyze critically, and when you go in the test center, tell yourself" you will pass. the computer will shut down at 75!"

good luck

jdtong2013 · Apr 21, 2019

On 4/17/2019 at 7:47 PM, NICU Guy said:
From someone who has taken the NCLEX, after spending $2200 in Pearson Vue fees plus another $1000-1500 in BON application fees, I would question their ability to pass NCLEX. It is not strictly test anxiety or series of tough questions. They are missing crucial critical thinking skills or content knowledge to determine the correct answer which should have been resolved after 2-3 attempts.
What is the number of times a person can fail the NCLEX and you would advise them to find another career, after they have spent $5000, $10000, $20000 in fees and spent 5-10 yrs trying to pass or is your advice to continue spending your spare cash for the rest of your life on NCLEX fees and never give up on your dream of becoming a nurse?

It is not fair to say that. We all know how the computer designed NCLEX. If all those 75 questions or 265 questions are written on paper and we do them not by sequence but by however we feel the difficulty level is, test takers would have higher chance to pass it. In old days, before the computer test was implemented, we were told to answer those questions you feel comfortable and sure of first, then go back look at those questions that are difficult or unsure of. So the way NCLEX test people really isn't too much relevant to real world practice. People who failed 100 times of medical school exam still could be a good doctor because that's how in old days the doctors were trained. They didn't have to go to expensive medical school, but they certainly had enough real practice experience from day one they were taught by the teacher.

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Apr 21, 2019

The OP graduated in 2011 and had failed 11 times as of Feb 2017. She had spent 6 yrs trying to pass NCLEX. Graduates are encouraged to take the NCLEX as soon as possible after graduation while the content is fresh in their memory. For her, the information she was taught in nursing school was at a minimum 6 yrs old. The OP only had the one post so there is no background information as to the type of school she went to. 2011 was at the height of the for-profit schools which many had a very low NCLEX pass rate. If she had gone to one of those schools, she would not only have the disadvantage of 6 yrs since graduation, but the fact that the education she did receive was poor.

After 6 yrs, her best chance for being a nurse would have been to go through nursing school again at a college with a high NCLEX pass rate.

studentnurseASN · Apr 21, 2019

Ditto. I will also retake NCLEX. I plan on using UWorld again, and Kaplan. I haven't decided if I wanted to do the Mark Klimek lectures. I noticed that the content changed this month April 2019. I should have focused my studying towards that.

On the NCLEX exam, I got a lot of management of care questions. I also got a lot of safety questions. Both are a majority of the exam. I plan to focus on those first in order to bank most of my questions.

lharberRNbsn · Apr 21, 2019

58 minutes ago, studentnurseASN said:
Ditto. I will also retake NCLEX. I plan on using UWorld again, and Kaplan. I haven't decided if I wanted to do the Mark Klimek lectures. I noticed that the content changed this month April 2019. I should have focused my studying towards that.
On the NCLEX exam, I got a lot of management of care questions. I also got a lot of safety questions. Both are a majority of the exam. I plan to focus on those first in order to bank most of my questions.

DO THE KLIMEK LECTURES. I credit attending his actual lectures in person with being one of the reasons I passed the NCLEX. I also give a lot of credit to Lippincott because they literally have the exact same set up at the NCLEX. I did use uworld, but I thought Lippincott was much better.

PN2RN2019 · Apr 22, 2019

On 4/18/2019 at 11:00 PM, NICU Guy said:
You are absolutely right. Who are we to advise people on how to live their lives. "Billy, if your passion is to be Superman, here is your cape. Make sure to jump from a tall building because you need some time to figure out how to fly. Don't let anyone tell you you can't fly. Who are they to tell you to give up on your dream?"

So now to make your point relevant to some extend, you compare becoming a fictional superhero character to somebody passing an NCLEX. Wow. Do you tell you patients with chronic illnesses to “just give it up!” ??? You are pointless and I hope you are a much better nurse than your rationales here. Best wishes!!

RNNPICU, BSN, RN · Apr 22, 2019

31 minutes ago, PN2RN2019 said:
So now to make your point relevant to some extend, you compare becoming a fictional superhero character to somebody passing an NCLEX. Wow. Do you tell you patients with chronic illnesses to “just give it up!” ??? You are pointless and I hope you are a much better nurse than your rationales here. Best wishes!!

Unfortunately for some patients that is the tough conversation. Those end of life decisions and conversations are the toughest ones. Sometimes you have to face those hard realities. Some will choose to try untilt the end, others look into ways they can make those last days the best.

Same could be said for 11, 12, 15, + times of the NCLEX. By some true miracle one could pass the test, but maybe having a kind conversation on other ways to success in life would also be beneficial

chuk82 · Apr 23, 2019

On 4/19/2019 at 7:14 PM, TriciaJ said:
But some people would look for another profession. Everyone can tell you what they would do, and you can decide whether their course of action has any merit for you. On a public forum, you're going to get all manner of responses. Sometimes the ones you least want to hear give you the best information.
If you really don't find a response helpful, don't waste time castigating the responder. It's a better use of you energy to just move on.

I made my point. not here to argue

donisbac1 · Apr 23, 2019

On 2/15/2017 at 4:10 PM, Mtng said:
Hi all.
Just want to share my experince. I graduated in 2011 and have taken nclex for 11 times since then and still failed. I've tried saunders, hogan, and also took Kaplan course but still failed. I feel like a failure. This is all I want to do is to become a nurse that's why I keep trying. I want to retake it again but then this time application process required school transcript and the school want me to take another Kaplan course. I'm devastated. I can't afford the money for another course and the exam. I don't know what to do. I got all the resources from books to cd from previous courses. I'm tired of lying to people that I work in the hospital and feel ashamed of myself of where I am today. Still struggling to pass the nclex.

For those who cant passed nclex, i highly recommend you to stick with 3 study source only buy EXam-Cram and Saunders Comprehensive books and subscribe in Kaplan video to supplement your study. To study, i would suggest to study one topic at a time and then do nclex style questions on that topic only. Repeat repeat repear until you familiarized its question format... do this method on the rest of topics.. again, one topic at a time...then do nclex question on that... and then repeat and repeat...

Don9020 · Jun 10, 2019

I feel like a failure as well I've failed 3 times in Fl did Uworld with 90s on all tests graduated rasmussen with honors passed my exit ati with a 96 oh and took kaplan. so what the hell am I doing wrong!!

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Jun 12, 2019

On 4/17/2019 at 4:46 PM, PN2RN2019 said:
Ruby Vee has apparently 40yrs of experience as a BSN, which means she’s way too old and never had to take the NCLEX! So don’t listen to people who became nurses by just going to a vocational school of some sort over 4 DECADES AGO!!
Do you! I know these elderly nurses feel entitled and thinks they are better but bet you 1000% that she can’t pass NCLEX if she had to take it.

You do realize that prior to the multiple guess test with a maximum of what, 250 questions?.... the licensure exam was TWO DAYS of a WRITTEN exam??

Your advice not to listen to RubyVee would be hilarious if it wasn’t so ignorant and poor advice.

Paul Jman, ADN · Jun 12, 2019

What REALLY alarms me is the fact that you're lying to people about working in a hospital. I absolutely would not want a nurse who's a liar. You may want to re-evaluate your desire enter this profession if you feel you need to mislead people to make yourself look better.