Finally passed RN nclex on the third attempt

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I promised myself that I would write on allnurses when I passed my nclex. Well it finally happened on Saturday May 24th. My journey has been a very long one!

I graduated in December of 2013 from a great 2 year nursing program in my town. I picked my test date for February 4th 2014. I took a few weeks off after graduation because of the holidays. The first week of January I attended Kaplan. I have to say I was not really impressed and it did not work for me. I did not understand the decision tree and it made things more confusing for me. Our first day was cancelled because we had freezing temperatures. Our instructor was really sick and we could barely understand her and there was no one else to fill in for her. We had to rush to get through everything because instead of having 4 days we only had 3 days. I did well on my Q trainers getting in the 60% range. I did 90% of the Qbank and was getting in the 60% range again. I thought I was ready so on Feb 4th I took boards at 8:00am and finished with 82 questions. I tried the trick when I got home and it took me straight to the CC page. I was devastated. I could not understand what went wrong. I called Kaplan and asked for my money back because I needed that money to pay for my next round of boards.

The second attempt I decided to take boards 45 days after I failed the first one. Since I no longer had Kaplan I decided to sign up for the 5 weeks of NCSBN site. I was below passing in 3 areas so I decided I would review content in those 3 areas. I also did all the questions and would get between 68% and 75%. I thought I was ready to take boards again. I took boards on March 31st at 8:00am. I entered the parking lot of pearson vue and had a huge breakdown. I called my mom and she gave me a pep talk and said I could do this she believed in me. I walked in got all signed up and sat down to take my test. One of the mistakes that I made was looking at the question number I was on. I really was hoping to shut down at question number 75 and that did not happen. I finally took a break at question 100. I went to the bathroom splashed water on my face and got some water to drink. I sat back down and the question numbers just kept adding up. I finally took another break at question 200. I figured I was in it for the long haul. I got asked if I wanted another break around question 250 and I declined that one because I knew I was almost done with only 15 more questions. I reached question 265 and I knew this one mattered if it was a passing level question. I sat there and I thought long and hard about it. Unfortunately it was a SATA question. I was never good at those in school. I picked my answers and I was pretty sure as soon as the screen went blank I failed. I raised my hand got up and I started to cry as soon as I left the building. I tried the trick when I got home and I got the "results on hold" screen. I thought maybe I had a fighting chance. I got that screen for a entire day and then it went to the cc page. I was heartbroken. I cried for days after finding out that I failed. My parents and husband all tried to cheer me up but there was no way that was happening. I told everyone I was done I was not taking this test again. I could not have a third heartbreak. I got the letter in the mail saying I failed and in all areas I was at or near the passing level. I finally was able to regroup and decided I was going to take it one more time and that I was it. I made it through nursing school and I was going to beat this test.

My third attempt was a little different I decided I was not going to take it 45 days after my last fail. I wanted to wait until I felt I was ready. I signed up for Hurst. I watched all the videos and I truly took time to understand what the videos were saying. I did all 6 of the 125 point questions. My scores were ranging from 86-94 points. I read every rational to why I was getting a question right or wrong. I also bought the LaCharity delegation and prioritization book and did all the chapters in the book. I did not study at home because I knew I would be distracted there so I went to the library and studied for 6-8 hours a day about 4-5 days a week. I finally felt ready to take on the nclex again so I set up my appointment. The only day that was available was Saturday May 24th. I was really unsure about testing that day because I wanted that weekend to review but I also did not want to wait until the middle of June when there were spots available so I signed up for Saturday. I did not study the day before my test I just relaxed. I went to bed early ensuring I got 8 hours of sleep. I woke up on Saturday morning I went to have breakfast with my mom and got to the testing center at 7:30 am. I sat down for the exam at 7:40 am. I told myself I can do this. I started to panic because I was not getting all the SATA that I heard you would get if you are doing well. I was getting a lot of priority questions and other alternative format questions. I took a break at question 60. I mentally needed it because I wanted to stay strong. I remember looking at the timer and it was question 75 I really did not want the computer to go blue because I felt like I was not doing well at all. I thought long and hard before on this question before I pushed the next button and the computer went blue. I was so sick to my stomach I thought for sure I failed it. I came home and I could not do the trick because it said delivery ready. It took 3 hours before it finally said successful delivery. I tried the trick once again and I did not go to the credit card page or get results on hold. Instead I got the good pop up. I had a hard time believing I passed because I really felt that I had failed. I waited the long holiday weekend before I could check the BON website to see if I had passed. And for those of you thinking why didn't you check your quick results after 48 hours well my husband would not let me he told me I could wait until Tuesday and because I was getting the good pop up there was no need to spend the $8. Well this morning my BON said I had passed!!!!! I could not be more happy. I am finally a RN!

I hope this helps others who are preparing to take boards and those who have been in situations like me. I also want to thank the all nurses website I read this everyday to give me the hopes that one day I will be posting my success story on here as well.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Congrats! That is so awesome! Your hard work paid off!

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Specializes in ICU,Critical Care.

Congratulations!!:up::up:

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CONGRATS! Did you find HURST really helpful? or Can you say Hurst was a main factor that helped you pass the exams.

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Congrats RN!! Did you use the 5th day materials as well??

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Specializes in Psychiatri.

Congrats! What an amazing story! It's also nice to know you had success using Hurst as well! I'm on my third attempt and I sit for my exam tomorrow. I pray that I will pass and finally become an LPN!

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Thank you!!!!!

I really found Hurst to be the best for me. I can read things all day long and it would not stick in my mind. So I found by listening to the lectures I got the concepts much better. I really feel that is the only reason why I passed. I did use the 5th day materials as well. I know another classmate of mine was struggling as well she failed nclex twice at 265. She used Hurst for her third attempt and passed with 75 questions. If you need review on content then Hurst is the way to go if it is just questions that you want to practice then probably not the best way to go.

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Best of luck to you charnsuka!!!! I have faith that you will pass! Keep me posted!

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awesome!!!congrats

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Specializes in Psychiatri.
Thank you!!!!!

I really found Hurst to be the best for me. I can read things all day long and it would not stick in my mind. So I found by listening to the lectures I got the concepts much better. I really feel that is the only reason why I passed. I did use the 5th day materials as well. I know another classmate of mine was struggling as well she failed nclex twice at 265. She used Hurst for her third attempt and passed with 75 questions. If you need review on content then Hurst is the way to go if it is just questions that you want to practice then probably not the best way to go.

Best of luck to you charnsuka!!!! I have faith that you will pass! Keep me posted!

Thank you so much! I appreciate it. And yes, Hurst is definitely the way to go. It really connected the dots for me. I had went through so many different review programs, and this one happened to be the review that stuck with me and made me feel much more confident in my abilities. I recommend this review program to anyone! I feel like I have the knowledge to pass this exam! Again, congrats and God bless!

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Tree, congrats to you. I am so proud of you. One day I will also post my success NCLEX story. Now go out there and SHINE.

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Wow!! Congrats!!

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