when to give up trying to pass

[avidhunter3]

So. My husband and I are both LVNs here in texas. My husband did the transition program and passed gaining an associates degree in may 2014. He has yet to pass his NCLEX despite repeated attempts. I dont even know how many times its been but I think like 6 or so. Please dont judge! He has SEVERE test anxiety and for whatever reason this is just conquering him. We have tried numerous testing strategies and books and classes. Every time he gets all 265 questions and his score report reads ABOVE PASSING AND NEAR PASSING in every area. I feel its the select all that apply. Here in Texas you have unlimited attempts at nclex for 3 years after graduation. We have spent so much money trying anything to help him pass.

I am just so over it. Its so frustrating and humiliating for him. I haye seeing him so dissapointed after studying so hard. I know a lot of people say "its just not meant to be". Maybe thats true. But why pass nursing school for RN then? And hes a nurse on a busy med surg tele floor so its not like hes never had experience. I myself went thru excelsior so he could go to the traditional program. I am scheduled to take my CPNE in December but I just feel so terrible about him not passing that I cant even study. If it were you, what would you do? Would you keep trying to pass the NCLEX until the 3 yr mark hits or just move on? I am truly asking opinions. Its just so disheartening.

[LPNtoRNin2016OH, LPN]

If Xanax has proven to not help, I would start looking towards holistic options and therapy as described above. He needs to figure out why he is so stressing so hard when he sits down to that particular test. He passed the LPN to RN bridge, I am in it now so I know how hard it is, it seems to me he failed once, then it hurt his confidence. So every times he sits to test all he can thing is "what if i fail, what if i fail, what if i fail" that he cannot reasonably think! He needs to do some talk therapy, maybe some acupuncture, essential oil therapy, and perhaps on his next attempt he should tell NO ONE that he is taking, not even you. Not a soul. It will take some of there pressure off. In the mean time, you need to get prepared for you exam as well, two of you failing will make matters worse.

Is he passing the practice NCLEX tests at home?

[ILUVFLRN]

I, too, suffer from test anxiety. Went to therapy for a few years which helped me gain my confidence back and improve my test taking strategies but after failing NCLEX (received the entire 265 questions), I was distraught and went to see a hypnotist who specialized in anxiety disorders. After a few sessions, I rescheduled the exam, continued to study 3-4 hours per day, attended a Kaplan classroom-based course and passed NCLEX on the 2nd attempt with 76 questions. I felt much more relaxed, didn't have "butterflies" in my stomach and was able to focus better the second time around - hypnosis worked for me. Tell your husband not to give up. Good luck.

[_LittleMsRN]

As cliche as it sounds...never give up!!! He can do it!!!

[BirkieGirl]

i too have SEVERE text anxiety. so much so, that i'm not quite making grade in my current NP program just due to testing alone...that said:

I took my NCLEX twice, took the ACLS test twice, dysrhythmia management test twice, and took the CCRN twice, and took the gold-standard testing for my specialty twice, and so on. i am a terrible test taker.

i too would recommend a couple sessions with therapist to conquer the text anxiety, AND find an in-person practice workshop he can go to. Kaplans worked for me.

hang in there. some really great nurses are the worst testers in the world. but the best care givers!

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Is there a reason for the drop in percentage of passers? Is it just forgetting things or does the test get harder each attempt?

The father away from graduation it's been, the harder it is to pass NCLEX. People do not realize how much they forget after a year of being out of school.

I assume a person who is on the fourth, fifth or sixth attempt has graduated more than a year ago. Hence, the material and nursing content is not as fresh as it was in the month or two after graduation.

[Alex_RN, BSN]

I really feel for you and your husband. Don't give up! If the problem is anxiety, then work on the anxiety. I luckily knew of a well-regarded hypnotherapist who helped me with my test anxiety. It was expensive and the preparation took several sessions.

It is easy to become a licensed hypnotherapist, so be careful who you choose. I was lucky because I knew someone who knew my therapist and he is very prominent in the community.

As for the question if you should keep trying: You have nothing to lose. Plus, look at your age and the benefits of passing. You will enjoy those benefits for the rest of your working life.

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

I really feel for you and your husband. Don't give up! If the problem is anxiety, then work on the anxiety. I luckily knew of a well-regarded hypnotherapist who helped me with my test anxiety. It was expensive and the preparation took several sessions.

It is easy to become a licensed hypnotherapist, so be careful who you choose. I was lucky because I knew someone who knew my therapist and he is very prominent in the community.

As for the question if you should keep trying: You have nothing to lose. Plus, look at your age and the benefits of passing. You will enjoy those benefits for the rest of your working life.

At $200 per test and the states that charge retest fees of $50-200, if you keep testing without remediation, testing every 45 days is over $1000 just in testing fees

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

If he has passed LVN school, NCLEX-PN, and RN school, I don't think the issue is text anxiety here. He's doing a Charlie Brown continually trying to kick that football and never changing what he is doing. He needs to step back and evaluate where he is going wrong. Test anxiety is a little bit of a cop-out. I agree with the PP that said he can pass this if he passed the PN test. There is not a huge difference there. Just some difference in scope of practice but the basic premise is the same.

I think therapy would do wonders for him here. He can talk to somebody who is a neutral, third-party and they can explore what is going wrong. Something is holding him back. He's proved he's smart enough to do it. But you guys are wasting time and money by not finding out what the issue is here.

He may balk at the therapy idea at first. Just give him your love and support and let him know that no matter what, you are there. Your love does not change whether he is an LVN or RN. He may be putting too much pressure on himself to succeed. He may think his worth as a human being ties into this. Assure him this is not true, that he is the same man either way.

He doesn't need though to take the test again until he gets to the bottom of the issue.

[LilstrideRN]

I get awful test anxiety too! I truly feel for your husband. I like the hypnotherapy idea, I wish I had thought of that!!

Money doesn't grow on trees, so every program you try and ever test he takes must be financially draining...

I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on programs like Kaplen, which I thought was out dated. I ended up paying $30 to NCSBN for a 3 week refresher course and worked on every single question. Without doing the review. While I did find it helpful, I supplemented with a one week free trial of UWorld.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have paid for UWorld instead (Super inexpensive), and just used them. The reason I am going to suggest them to him is because you can alter the exams so you can take only the topics you are weak on and the screen looks EXACTLY like the NCLEX screen. Obviously the questions are not going to be the same, but reading the rationales, even if you get the question correct, is going to be a huge help.

Don't give up!

[caliotter3]

By successfully completing nursing school, he earned the right to take the NCLEX as many times as possible to reach his goal. He knows he needs to concentrate on his goal, rather than wasting time and mental energy on the past, other than to correct any perceived errors in study methods. Remind him of this. And you. You have a CPNE in December. Concentrate on that! That is the best way you can help your husband!

[teacher91, BSN, RN]

One thing our Kaplan review course emphasized was that the NCLEX world is an ideal world. There are plenty of nurses, supplies, etc. Perhaps the real world experience is clouding what the right answer would be in the NCLEX world. Kaplan might be helpful as well if he hasn't tried it yet.

[avidhunter3]

He has not tried Uworld but I will certainly mention it to him!! Thanks