Failed NCLEX 5 Times! Am I The Only One Who . . .

[Ruby Vee]

Am I the only one who is concerned about someone who has failed multiple times, finally passes and then wants to share their experience with everyone else? Am I the only one who is concerned about working with nurses who finally pass on their eighth try? Granted, I'm so experienced that I took my licensing exam on paper eons ago when it was offered only twice a year, everyone answered all the questions over a two day period and it took six weeks to get the results. In those days, you only got two tries. That was it. So I could be someone biased and/or out of touch. I just wonder, though, about the knowledge base and learning capacity of a nurse that took the exam eight times to pass. Although perserverence is a virtue, and those folks obviously have plenty of that. Is nursing so different now that it's OK to take eight tries to get your license? Or is this a development of the "everyone gets a trophy" mentality? Keep trying and everyone gets a license?

[nurseaig, ASN, BSN, MSN, NP]

So that No one including yourself(Seas)knows that I am not bias.

[mazy]

I agree. Some people may say here are some older nurses that will probably fail the nclex today, because they may not know how to work the computer. I wouldn't say something like this though because it would be sterotyping and we just don't do that on AN.

[kids]

I think that mentality exists primarily on message boards.

Allnurses in general is a very supportive community. A (mostly) unintended result of that is that people can come here and get a lot of support for things, ideas, and actions that would get an "Are you kidding me?!!?" response in real life.

As the parent of a few twenty-somethings I can tell you that it is NOT a mentality that exists primarily on message boards. It's rampant among my kids' friends and is something I fought with starting in elementary school. Some of the rewards and awards that were handed out amounted to 'good job for breathing'.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

My husband (who went to law school) was telling me about a friend who finally passed the bar exam on the 3rd try. He told me that generally if you don't pass on the 3rd try then you are basically out. Not sure if there are determined people that will keep trying but he seemed to indicate that people don't.

In one state, they double the price of the bar exam each time you take it.

One of my classmates fell asleep taking the NCLEX, and still passed. :)

There is some truth to test anxiety. But I have to agree with above, learning to control your anxiety is important to being a nurse.

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

Some people may say here are some older nurses that will probably fail the nclex today, because they may not know how to work the computer.

I would venture that most nurses would fail NCLEX today, unless they took an NCLEX course and retrained their minds to answer test questions. One of the CNAs at work was going over questions from ATI, which is the same preparation program I took in school and passed with Level 3s. I was doing very badly on the questions that popped up, even though I recognized some of them. And, I've been out of school for less than a year, but working as a nurse for about six months!

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

This is whats wrong with the nursing profession, nurses want to or looking for things to brag about. Who cares how much times one takes the NCLEX. Passing the NCLEX does not make you a good nurse. And does older nurses always think they know it all. Well, I have news for older nurses, simple things like computer charting pose a challenge. For the OP, there are better things you can do with your time. And yes,I did pass NCLEX on my first try.

Passing the NCLEX is what makes you a NURSE.

[nurseaig, ASN, BSN, MSN, NP]

So according to Ruby, Ms Nightingale was not a nurse. She did not take the NCLEX. And I can name a few nurses that never took the NCLEX and was pioneers of nursing.

[leslie :-D]

sorry, i'm not buying the excuse about not being good test taker.

if your nsg education/school didn't give you enough opportunity to confront one's weaknesses/shortcomings, then nclex isn't the time to start.

once you reach nclex level, you should have had more than enough time and opportunity to improve on test-taking.

i do agree about mandating remedial education, if you flunk nclex more than twice.

nursing IS the type of profession where one shouldn't have sev'l chances to pass by the skin of their teeth.

and yes, it's true that passing nclex doesn't automatically make you a good nurse...

but that's not the question or contention of this thread.

and it's not being prejudice against those who have difficulty passing.

but even if it was - big deal.

nursing should aspire to the highest of standards, where only the very best need apply.

unfortunately, that's not the case.

it just wouldn't be a bad thing, if it was.

leslie

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

"now days we have to listen to heart sounds, read ekgs, locate organs and things like the macula lens on diagrams."

(umm, i had to "read ekgs, identify heart sounds and what they meant, and locate organs (!!!) when i took the boards the year after florence. just whom do you think you are addressing?)

good luck with that last one, though. no such thing as a "macula lens."

i recently had occasion to do a little remedial tutoring with a senior studen who was having a very hard time passing nclex-type exams. the fact of the matter was that the exams were not "tricky" or "unrealistically hard." she was not able to answer the questions because she just didn't get them. she misread them completely, didn't know basic concepts, got them exactly backwards, or answered them very much like a lay person would but not at the higher level expected of a nurse. i have serious doubts as to whether she would pass the nclex and if she took three or six tries to do it i would not want her caring for my loved ones. nice girl, really, a nice girl, but she really doesn't have what it takes to be an rn. i hear a lot of that in this thread.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

What a bizarre and silly red herring.

[bagladyrn, RN]

I agree. Some people may say here are some older nurses that will probably fail the nclex today, because they may not know how to work the computer. I wouldn't say something like this though because it would be sterotyping and we just don't do that on AN.

You also might want not to say this because it's untrue. Consider first that all of us (including us old farts) are communicating (gasp!) on a computer! As for charting systems I still manage to learn a new system approximately every 3 months with minimal instruction, using it independently within 1-2 shifts - despite being a creaky 57. This despite having started in the era of paper and pen charting (with different color ink for each shift. Anyone remember that?)

[nurseaig, ASN, BSN, MSN, NP]

No one want to remember the old days. And I bet you never use gloves either.