"Courage is endurance for one moment more." - Unknown 2nd Lt. Marine in the Vietnam War
This post primarily goes out to all NCLEX takers who are having second doubts and panic attacks before taking the Exam. I made a promise that if I passed the NCLEX-RN I would post my story here to aid any colleague in distress. My anxiety peaked a few days before the exam and reading some posts here made me feel a little better.
Let me start by giving my background and an introduction. I am 26 years old, I graduated in a foreign nursing school in the year 2011 (yes it was long ago) and passed the local licensing exam of that country shortly after graduation. After that I was stuck in limbo for a few years and finally got approved to take the NCLEX-RN in New York in 2014. I, not being the most studious student out there did not prepare for it as I should have. The fact that I was a Registered Nurse in another jurisdiction and my performance in that exam was great was enough confidence for me to take it easy. I did enroll in KAPLAN but I did not really immerse myself into the program. Yes I took the practice tests and the question bank (up to 60%) but my mind was not really in it. KAPLAN was my only tool in reviewing and I did not take it seriously. If I remember correctly my Diagnostic exam was like 53%, Readiness exam was like 54% and I did not finish the Qbank even though my scores were like 60-70%. Unsurprisingly, I FAILED MY FIRST ATTEMPT on the NCLEX-RN EXAMINATION (August 2014) with a performance evaluation of: SLIGHTLY BELOW PASSING LEVEL. I took the whole 265 questions for like 5 hours. It was agonizing, specially if your were just going to fail.
Yep, it was depressing, but I had no right to be angry at the world because I knew I did not give my best shot. I decided it was best to get back into the fight. I took a break for a couple of weeks just to trash out everything. I decided I was going to go monk and live a solitary and monastery like lifestyle. I'm going to have to shut myself from the outside world and just wholeheartedly focus on my preparation. I had to prepare for it like how I did when I took my first Nursing exam back in the old country and also when I used to compete in MMA. That is, give up all social activities and just devote and maximize your time on learning.
I scheduled my second exam on December. I decided to get more resources. I know now that taking practice tests alone was not enough (considering I graduated long ago, my foundation was really rusty and shaky.) So my program would be to take practice tests almost everyday (I started small, with 50 items a day then a 100 and so on) so that it becomes "muscle memory" and also digest as much content as I could as to "increase the muscle." Someone has called it a two pronged attack or a pincer attack which are: PRACTICE TESTS & CONTENT.
My tools for the job were:
1. Saunders Comprehensive NCLEX-RN review 6th ed by Linda Silvestri: This book and it's online practice tests are amazing. On the difficulty level, the practice tests here are moderate compared to KAPLAN and there are a lot of SATA questions. The content in this book was enjoyable. Compared to the KAPLAN books, this book was a complete bible and the KAPLAN books were just brochures. This book made me look forward to reading and studying. It gives you what you need to know, no more no less. I read at least 900 pages of this book (I would have finished the whole thing if I had the time) and at least 1000 questons (there was a bug so I was not able to take more.) I like that it was easier because it gave me confidence (WHICH IS VERY IMPORTANT) to tackle the mind raping questions of KAPLAN.
2. I downloaded and bought the NCLEX MASTERY APP for my phone. Let me tell you, if I could pay twice for this, I would. It's content and questions are pretty much the same with Saunders so it really solidifies your foundation. And the best part about it that, it's on the go. It says on this app that "Distracted learning is still learning," and I took that to heart. I would use this app when I am doing my laundry, waiting for the bus, waiting on the train platform, waiting for my food and sitting down at a cafe. There is no gap in my preparation because of this app. Wanna take 10-20 questions before you sleep? Go ahead! And also the part that I love so much about this app is that it also has resources, it has abundant mnemonics that made my learning and retention a lot easier and fun.
3. KAPLAN - this is the big boss. This will make you or break you. This one was the cause of my doubts and anxiety. Make sure you are ready when you take this, and I suggest you finish the majority of the NCLEX MASTERY APP & SAUNDERS before taking this. The reason is that it is much more difficult than the earlier two and it does not care haha, it does give you enough rationale to make your mind at peace. My memory for the results of the practice tests are very vague now and my account has now expired but I will show you what I think my results were:
Diagnostic Exam - 63%
Practice Test 1 - 67%
Practice Test 2 - 69%
Practice Test 3 - 57%
Practice Test 4 - 59%
Readiness Exam - 64%
Practice Test 5 6 7 - 57-62%
I did not watch the KAPLAN videos for my second exam, the content of Saunders was sufficient for me. ALSO, I was not able to finish the Qbank again, maybe just 50%. And they say that if you were doing at least 60% correct on Kaplan...they say you are doing well. I guess that is true plus I find the questions in Kaplan really difficult (Like all passing level questions.)
What I can conclude is that my results in Kaplan were steadily decreasing. Which was not supposed to happen! I think your grades are suppose to increase as you ingest more knowledge not the other way around. So to be honest I moved my exam twice. Eventually I had to take it on January 9th of 2015 instead of early December of 2014. I felt I was not ready. I was so anxious. I feel like I was going to war but not to victory. It was like I'm walking towards my execution - for the second time. I was studying from late October until the first few days of January. No Thanksgiving, No Birthday celebration, No Christmas, No New Years Eve celebration and I even had a Killer flu for a week before Thanksgiving. I had to cut my hours short at my job because I really need more time for my studies. I live alone and life was pretty much as that, solitary with no direct support system. I just had to suck it up and man up for months. After all this, I felt so frustrated because I felt was still not ready.
Prayer was a huge help. I would go to church during my free time. Of course I asked God to help me pass the exam...but just by being in the church gave me some peace and solace from the craziness that is my preparation.
I took the Exam in New York City, I was hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. I readied myself into taking the whole 265 questions again and for 5 hours. But I finished in less than an hour and a half and in just 75 questions. I was in disbelief. I knew I was doing well but I did not think it was THAT WELL. I stepped out of the building confused. I did not know if I should celebrate or grieve HAHA. Deep inside I knew I passed but I did not want to jinx it. I just walked to St. Patrick's Cathedral which was just a few way blocks away. I sat inside and I was just relieved it was over. A few days later, I received my nurse serial number and my certificate. I am now a Registered Nurse in the State of New York.
PS: I did not have a Nursing Drug book. But with all the test taking and content I took, my Nursing Pharma was sufficient. I did not have a pharma question during the actual exam in which I did not know the answer.
Sorry for the long post. I just wanted to be as complete and detailed as I could!
TWithersBSN/RN
2 Posts
Awesome! So happy for you!!!!! Thanks for sharing!