Failed 1st Attempt

Published

I took my NCLEX on Monday and purchased the quick results today and the results were, "fail." I will be honest, I walked out knowing I failed. I received all 265 questions, I had a lot of prioritization, SATA, and quite a bit of medications. A note on the medications there were a lot I was not familiar with.

My school offered Kaplan that we paid for in our tuition and my scores were consistently 55-67%, I finished ALL the Qbanks and Qtrainers and my RN readiness score was a 74%. I was honestly never impressed with Kaplan in regards to their tests or their classes. The decision tree often didn't apply to questions outside of Kaplan and my class found several errors in their questions and answers and the rep agreed with us and made several notes to have them addressed. I recall asking the instructor what to do if I receive a question on a drug that I am unfamiliar with and have no honest clue what answer would be appropriate, his response, "use the tree." -.-

In addition to Kaplan I also did 2 months of UWORLD and honestly felt I got more out of it, I was only able to finish about 1000 questions by the time my subscription ran out. But now I am not so sure what I should do to study.

Here is some background on me:

I graduated with B's and C's and I struggled through school to get those grades. I graduated in June and took my NCLEX in July. The school had our kaplan course scheduled in May for 2 weeks and we were expected to continue using it, but as stated above myself and several others didn't like it nor felt it was helpful. I also normally take adderall for my ADD but I have been unable to due to being pregnant which I am sure had a hand in my failing. I set a goal of doing 200 questions a day, and I had to do them in increments of 30 because I was honestly looking focus after 30 and then I built myself up to doing 50 at a time and then finally 75 at a time. I would then read rationales on why a question was correct or incorrect and made notes.

The questions I received on NCLEX were nothing like Kaplan, I felt entirely stupid and unprepared during the exam despite doing all of the questions in the qbank and question trainers with scores that the rep told me were indication of passing the first time around. I did see some questions that were similar to UWORLD but now I am not sure if I should get another subscription of UWORLD or try something else? Anyone have any suggestions? I also heard of the RN mastery app as being very good to study on the go, would anyone recommend that? I have also debated on getting Lippincott's NCLEX question review book to help me as well. Sucks because I started as a graduate nurse already and now have to go back down to tech for 45 days, but it could be worse. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading my lengthy post.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I used Hurst and the NCSBN review (the NCSBN I used mostly for questions I just skimmed the content). In my opinion, the Hurst review was completely worth the money and helped tremendously. The way they word things in the videos gives you triggers to remember when testing and they break things down really easily. I took the live class and filled out the book in the class, then I watched all the videos and wrote extra notes or circled/starred things I thought were important or didn't remember. Then I done all but one of the q-reviews. I then done all the quizzes on the NCSBN review and part of the first question bank. The day before the nclex I done the last q-review on Hurst. After each test I went through and read the rationales to all the questions I got wrong and the ones that I got correct but just guessed it wasn't really sure why it was the right answer.

If I had to pick just one thing I would recommend doing the hurst. I don't think I would've passed without it.

I I passed with 75 questions.

Don't get discouraged. Take a breather, study the stuff that NCLEX tells you that you didn't do well on, and retake your test. You'll get it!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU.

Your scores with Kaplan sound good. I'm going to explain something to you though. No study aid is like NCLEX questions. Kaplan, Uworld, Saunders, they all focus on content. NCLEX is about how safe are you. You need to read the questions carefully and actually see what it is asking you.

I had some crazy questions on NCLEX. I was sitting there thinking, what in the world?? I had a couple disease process where I was immediately looking for a certain intervention that had been pounded into my brain in school. That answer was not a choice. I would have to go back and read the question again. Because what I was thinking the answer was, was not what the question was asking. Does that make sense?

Some questions I reread 10-15 times. I really had to look at it. It was like a puzzle almost.

I will tell you I passed in 75 questions. I didn't feel that way when I left. I thought I failed. I thought what in the H*** just happened? But looking back, I can see that I just needed to read the question and answer being the safest nurse I could be in each situation.

I hope this helps a little. You know the content. Keep doing questions. It will keep you in the right frame of mind. But no study aid is that magic, I'm going to pass by doing this!! I don't feel one is better than another. Except ATI. I hated ATI. After finding over 5 discrepancies in their material, I stopped doing it. Many of their rationales are just plain wrong. I used lippencott, Kaplan, Uworld, and Saunders. Some just have crazy hard content questions. NCLEX is not really about content. It's about safety. Who will you treat first? What PPE is appropriate for safety?

You can do it. Just regroup and try again.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

The Hurst questions are a lot like the NCLEX. It is about safety. Always remember that when you're answering a question. NCLEX wants to make sure your safe

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion