Failed rn nclex passed on second attempt

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I relied on this forum heavily after I failed my nclex on July 3rd. I want to give those of you who are currently in the same situation I was in some hope! For the first exam, I made to awful and ignorant mistake of thinking, I just passed nursing school so I don't need to study. I BOMBED in 75 questions. The day I got my results I was devastated. Cried. Had to tell 3 job opportunities that I failed. The very next day, I picked myself up off the floor, vowed to give it my all and make my second attempt a success. I was so fortunate to have friends that shared their online study tools with me. This is what I did:

I did Kaplan trainer. about 800 questions, reading EVERY SINGLE RATIONALE

I did all 7 Kaplan tests, scoring on average 57-60.

I then moved on to Saunders and did about another 400 questions and again, reading every single rationale. I used the study mode and focused on the content area. This was key in how they gave information in the rationale. I learned so much here.

I also used Kaplan Nclex RN Strategies, Practice and Review. VERY useful in helping me pick correct answer when I have NO idea what the topic was. INVALUABLE strategies.

In all I did about 2000 questions. I saw many questions on my NCLEX from the Saunders book.

I hope this helps!!

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Congrats on passing!!!!! I will be taking my exam for the second time next wednesday. I am using kaplan and saunders as well and hope i can produce the same results as you!

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Specializes in Med Surg, PCU, Travel.

Congrats and thanks for the tips. Saunders is due to release updated 6th edition based on the new nclex in October. I plan to get it. It good to know the 5th edition is still a good resource.

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Congrats to you!!! I too took the nclex today, stopped at 75...I know I didn't pass the test because there were a lot of low level questions in the first 20 questions or so. Once I get some priority questions, I feel so glad...but then when I did the pvt trick, it went to the credit card, so I know for sure I failed. The only thing I did to study is to use Kaplan. I did ALL their qbanks and qtrainers. But I think this time, will focus more on content with Saunders. I thought that doing Kaplan questions alone is sufice, so I guess not. I had a lot of pharm questions in most of them I really haven't seen before. There were also some diseases that I know for sure we haven't studied on my school. I was so devastated because now I know I have to wait 45 more days...but on the brighter side, I can study more on content.

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Congratulations! I failed the first time. I also felt that Kaplan's decision tree (strategy) helped me :)

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Which Saunders book?

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Specializes in LTC, Agency, HHC.
Congrats to you!!! I too took the nclex today, stopped at 75...I know I didn't pass the test because there were a lot of low level questions in the first 20 questions or so. Once I get some priority questions, I feel so glad...but then when I did the pvt trick, it went to the credit card, so I know for sure I failed. The only thing I did to study is to use Kaplan. I did ALL their qbanks and qtrainers. But I think this time, will focus more on content with Saunders. I thought that doing Kaplan questions alone is sufice, so I guess not. I had a lot of pharm questions in most of them I really haven't seen before. There were also some diseases that I know for sure we haven't studied on my school. I was so devastated because now I know I have to wait 45 more days...but on the brighter side, I can study more on content.

How do you know what are low level compared to high level questions?

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In all I did about 2000 questions. I saw many questions on my NCLEX from the Saunders book.

I hope this helps!!

The Saunder's 5th edition yellow book? The Qs at the end of the chapters, or the online Qs from that book?

And Congratulations!! :up:

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Yes, I used the yellow book. I used the cd. Study mode and content area were the settings I chose. I read the rationales after every question, even if I got the question right.

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5th edition. I used the CD and put my settings at Study Mode and Content Area. I read the rationale to every question, even if I got it right.

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I also got a lot of questions on priority (which patient you would see first) and delegation. I would give a lot of attention to studying how you would answer these questions. The Decision Tree was not helpful for EVERY question, but in questions with priority, it was very helpful!

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