Have now failed twice ...

pricklypear · May 20, 2005

Sounds to me like test anxiety. You have done well on reviews and practice tests, so it's not a knowledge problem. I don't know what NCSBN is, but have you taken one of the prep courses? They are expensive, but the one I took spent a lot of time analyzing questions and answers to figure out how THEY want you to answer. The most realistic or common sense answer is not always the correct one according to the NCLEX people. I've known several people who had the take the test 3 times, and they are excellent nurses. Keep you chin up.

suzanne4, RN · May 20, 2005

There must be something wrong that you are doing when you are preparing. Are you looking at the correct answers and why they are correct, as well as the reasoning behind the incorrect answers? This is just as important.

How many questions are you doing per night? You should be doing 100 every day with a goal of 3000 to 4000 completed before you take the exam.

I like only the Saunders reivew books. They give the best reasoning behind their answers. Much better than any of the others. I work primarily with nurisng graduates from other countries, where English is not their primary language, and I have thme passing the first time by using this as a review.

txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN · May 20, 2005

Oh my, I feel sorry for you. Could this be test anxiety? You know your whole future as a RN rides on this test.. and since you have failed once you question your knowledge every time you sit for the exam. Do you feel confident before you go in then; when you are taking the test you temporarily forget the info you are being tested on... I am a LVN and have this trouble with just regular classes; I am so shook up over passing I forget what I am doing. So, I started wearing scrubs to take my test. It made me feel and think like a nurse. I also had one glass of wine before taking my test ,it helped me to calm down ( I am not telling the OP to get drunk, this just helped me to relax and not before every test either just the more difficult ones). I am also a bit compulsive with having everything I need when testing, like I need at least 20 pieces of scratch paper (for math) instead of the 2 they give you. My point get what ever you need to test. I know these are computerized test and you are just told to sit and take it. I realize some of you may think this is silly but it has saved my hinny pinny more than once. I wish you luck ... YOU CAN DO IT!!!!:) :) :) :)

I'm really starting to question my abilities. Here I am, a graduate of RN school with a degree and the State says I'm not yet competent to practice nursing. I'm getting a little frustrated. I took the NCLEX in March, failed, signed up for NCSBN and the MOSBY CAT on line, did well on both, ordered the Kaplan review book, did well with that, took the NCLEX again this past week and just learned I again did not pass! I just don't get it!! I got all 265 questions both times, so must be I'm getting close but no cigar. I just signed up for the test again, though, darnnit before my current ATT runs out in August. I just need to get this off my frustrated chest for a bit ... thanks for listening. I know I will eventually do this, but it's just getting frustrating (and expensive!!)

FNimuaeMae · May 23, 2005

I barely did any prep when I took my boards in 1999, but every question I looked at I thought of safety, prioitizing and the ABC's. I passed with 117 questions. And I was by no means an A student...and believe me, some of the questions I had, I was completely clueless about. You just gotta keep pluggin away. You can do it!

Missy

TexasCCRN · May 27, 2005

So it's time to sign up for Hurst Review! www.hurstreview.com

Good Luck