Failed, 265 questions, and not sure what went wrong

[MEARUBY]

Hello everyone,

So i failed my Nclex RN yesterday around 2 pm with 265 questions...how do i know this? because i took the exam at 8, and 6 hours later i was allowed to sign up to retake the exam. I hate knowing I failed something that i know i could have passed. I did a Kaplan review course, I answered 100% of all the q-bank questions, and did all the question trainers. The 6th and 7th one i got a 60% and a 55% which i hear puts you in pretty good shape. Maybe i should have concentrated more on content and knowing how to prioritize my patients, but i honestly felt like i was ready and did nothing but answer those questions for 2 weeks straight. This is the last time i am letting myself dwell on this, and i am looking forward to moving on and surprisingly excited about taking the exam again, weird? i know...So here's the thing, i want a new study strategy and tips on how i can prepare well for this devil of an exam. I keep hearing about Suzanne's plan and how helpful it has been for many people...anyone know how i can access this study guide? any tips/ suggestions would be most appreciated! by the way, this site is amazing, i love how supportive everyone is of each other, its truly inspiring :)

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

you are not alone..moved to our nclex discussion forum ---see the advice offered by our members posted here. suzanne is no longer an active member + plan retired. plentiful advice in this section that has helped hunreds to retake and pass exam. focus on delegation, prioritization, emergency prepareness along with assessment and diseae processes.

saunders review book highly recommended.

[mstacyi]

here is what I did (they are not in this order but a list of all the things i did and my friends did to pass NCLEX).

1. Study Hurst (took 2 of their review course cause its free once you pay for it. I took one review class while in school and another one when I was out of school) and read it front to back like 3 times. I reviewed it with my friends, read it to myself, and again with my friends a total of 3X.

2. bought the Saunders strategies book and read only the strategies portion of it.

3. did a bunch of Saunders questions on Q/A iphone app (book if you have it, I have both and mostly used the app) to apply the strategies ( did 2000 questions).

4. bought online learning extension by NCSBN (the writers of NCLEX) and did most of their questions during the last 2 weeks. I didnt read any of their content because i felt it was too long and not to the point. So all my content came from HURST.

It took me about 1 month to do all of that. I did 50-150/day cause I work so I study in between breaks and while I am walking down the hall. Everything listed here were very helpful to me because I learn how to prioritizes and how to break down the questions. HURST helped me recall what is important instead of trying to relearn all of nursing school for the test. Learning extension helped me see and experience NCLEX style questions that would appear on NCLEX.

I passed with 75 questions. The questions layout and screen looked similar to NCSBN so it decreased alot of anxiety. I also focus more on subjects that I was unfamiliar with which i think helped me alot (meds, endocrine, math (which i didnt get any).

I hope this helps and best of luck to you. let us no how you do the next time you take it again.

[ablnrp]

55% on a test puts you in good shape? That sounds awfully low if you ask me. At least average in the 60's somewhere is what most refresher courses recommend.

[kcdunlap]

55% on a test puts you in good shape? That sounds awfully low if you ask me. At least average in the 60's somewhere is what most refresher courses recommend.

The way that it is explained that on all these NCLEX type trainers that you should aim for a 65% because the questions are at lots of different levels and you aren't expected to know everything. it's not like a school exam.