FAILED ONCE, passed the second time

Published Dec 19, 2013

38 Posts

I walked into my NCLEX exam somewhat confident and feeling ready the first time... I was devastated when I hit 265 and failed. Had to wait so long to retake and couldnt make myself study because O felt that I had killed myself studying the first time and that it was hopeless. Let me tell u what I did, 1st time vs. Second.

FIRST TIME

I bought the Hurst review because faculty had been soooo gun ho about it. I studied it day and night 10 hrs a day. My ATI comprhensive review that was given at end of semester gave me 97% probability to pass and Hurst grades were very good and I felt ready! Knew all my labs... All ny abg's... Knew the hirst lectures and the manual. Failed.

SECOND TIME.

Felt hopeless. Bought every book. Saunders review woth practice CD. La'Charity's management delegation and assessment. Nursing made insanely easy (which i actually loved, the memory aids are very useful)... Re-reviewed Ati and hurst... And became ANGRY. I didnt know what i had done wrong. So i watched tv for weeks. Until I realized how lame I was being an decided to go half with a friend on kaplan as a last stitch effort.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

All lectures were very good. Hurst was good for CORE content. Like, I wish I had it in my last advanced med surg class... It taught everything in an understandable way.

But kaplan taught STRATEGY. And nclex is alllll about strategy. The "decision tree" video literally tells u HOW TO ELIMINATE THE ANSWERS THEY DONT WANT. Even if they are right, they tell u how to get to the most correct.... The videos teach nursing process and application more so than core, but core is def there. Honestly. Hurst and kaplan are good if u can afford both. Which no one can. So choose kaplan, even if its more expensive, its welllll wlrth it. My friend and i split cost... And the exams are retakable, so we both had access. We could create our own tests, more flexibility.... The rationales were outstanding... So i learned all that along with memory book...

Learn infection control. Down to the T! What PPE. u wear for what precaution and also which diseases/ conditions go to which precaution. Learn all lab values and what they mean

Learn priority... Seriously. Which pt will u see first and which can be roomed together....

Learn delegation of room assignements. Very inportant to know which pt the RN takes and who the lvn gets. They can seem so critical bc of the condition they give, but really, look for stability and remember, dont delegate what u can eat. E- evaluate a- assess T-teach

Hope this was somewhat helpful:) good luck and dont give up. I left my exam the second time actually confident that I had passed. You will too.