Getting the last question wrong doesn't mean you failed...

Nursing Students NCLEX

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Hey everyone! I just wanna share my NCLEX story just because after I took mine, I looked up whether getting the last question wrong on that dreadful exam meant you failed or not.

Studying Tools: I heard about UWORLD from a neighbor in my apartment that went to a different nursing school but passed on her first try and was already working. She told me she completely attributed her success to studying UWORLD for 2 months before her exam. I had initially signed up for the Kaplan course. I used the free trial on UWORLD to get an idea of how it was and I was sold once I saw those rationales. The week before my Kaplan course, I called for a (partial) refund and used that money to pay for the much more affordable UWORLD. Best decision I ever made! I didn't get my ATT until later so this gave me about 2 months and week to study before my exam. I did ~100 questions a day and wrote down EVERY SINGLE RATIONALE if I wasn't confident in the material, even for the questions I answered correct. I have a HUGE binder of handwritten notes to prove it too! I had about 60 questions left on UWORLD before my subscription ended and my percentage was probably a 48% or 49%.

Day before my exam: They say not to study. I did and also freaked out and cried on the phone with my boyfriend because I was SO nervous! I reviewed all the material I had taken notes on. I also did some practice questions on my friend's Kaplan account since she had already taken her NCLEX and passed. I figured the more practice questions I took, the better.

Day of my exam: I took my exam August 4th at 8am. I wanted to take it in the afternoon as I am definitely not a morning person (waking up for clinicals were the worst) but what sucked even more was the fact that I could not fall asleep for the life of me! I literally did not get 1 minute of shut-eye due to my nerves and the feeling of my heart beating out my chest. I got there 20 minutes before my exam and started at 8:05 or so.

Before and during the exam, I was hoping to finish at 75 questions. At 30 questions, I took a break. I came back and continued. At 75, I prayed that I would get that blue screen and finally be done (contrary to popular wishes haha). I clicked next and was devastated to see 76. Then 77...All the way to 100. I took another bathroom break and wanted to cry but I prayed to my God that He brought me this far and He would not fail me now. I went back into the exam room and finished my exam at ~188 questions. I left the exam room at 11am.

After my exam: The last question I got was a PPE question. Easy right? I thought so. So much to the extent that I barely reviewed it -- my mistake. I was down to two options and chose the most obvious one. On my Uber home, I called my boyfriend and told him about it and said I'd Google the answer when I got home. My mom was home so we talked about it, she's also an RN and was unsure if my answer was correct. I Googled it and to my dismay, I realized I was wrong! OH MAN, I felt like COMPLETE CRAP! Panic washed over me as I frantically Googled people who got their last question wrong and still passed. However, no one stated whether the last question they got was relatively "easy" or not. In my head I'm thinking, "Was that a passing level question? If it wasn't and I got it wrong, that means I had to have definitely failed. They probably decided if I wasn't competent enough to get a PPE question right, then why should we give her more?"

In addition, out of those ~188 questions, I only had 16 SATA, about 6-10 ordered, 3 EKG, no exhibits, 1 math conversion, and a TON of priority questions. I think the priority questions are what saved me and I attribute my preparedness for those 100% to UWORLD's practice questions. Anyway, that day I stayed in bed from 12pm-10pm, crying before and after waking up. However, I also prayed after crying each time. I knew God wouldn't let me down. I had my family and friends who I did not want to disappoint but most importantly, I didn't want to let myself down because I know the time I spent to study and the social life I completely severed just to pass this exam. I wanted to share my testimony with those who were trusting in their faith for their breakthrough as well.

Day after exam: I did NOT want to try the Pearson VUE trick AT ALL. But my nerves were so wracked and I knew I couldn't continue feeling the way I felt. My mom held my hand and told me to have faith and so I dreadfully went ahead. I used an old gift card with no money and put in all the correct info on it. Got the good pop-up, ran to the hallway to tell my mom, and dropped to my knees sobbing tears of joy! So dramatic hahaha but it felt SO good to see that! Still, I wasn't convinced I passed until my quick results were available. However, I was able to breathe for the first time since I took my exam.

Quick Results: I paid to see my results and, sure enough, saw the word "Pass." I was SO relieved!

SO, my moral of the story is that everyone's story is different and the NCLEX is not an easy feat. It doesn't matter whether you get your last question right or wrong -- all that matters is that you are above that passing line that NCLEX looks at to determine they are sure you will be a safe nurse. Do not feel completely discouraged or completely confident just because your situation may be similar to someone else's. I know girls in my program who passed with all 265 questions and I know someone who failed in 75 questions. I was convinced that because I didn't get a ton of SATA, I had failed because they just decided I was terrible answering those. That may or may not have been the case but I was above that passing line and I thank God that was my case! Congratulations to those who have passed and GOOD LUCK to those who are preparing to take theirs!

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Congratulations í ½í²í ¼í¿½âœ¨í ¾í´“ . I too hope to feel the same comfort you are feeling í ½í¸©, I test next week . Currently redoing Uworld questions and listening to hurst . Did you redo your questions on Uworld ?! Thanks

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Thank you! Unfortunately, I did not have time to redo my UWorld questions because I spent a lot of time writing down every single word under each rationale for questions I felt like I needed to know. Doing that plus the questions would take me about 10 hours each day. Since I had all my rationales written, some were committed to memory and I decided to just take more practice questions to see what I needed to review. Remember: most important question to remember during NCLEX is "If I could do only one thing and then leave, what would I do?"

You got this!

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Thanks so much !!! & yes writing the rationales take like forever !! Ughh ,i just want this over with ,I'm going crazy lol . God bless you and you will be a great nurse ! Thanks again

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I took my NCLEX-RN yesterday. shut down at 115, but I know my last question I gave wrong answer. I am very nervous.

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