I hate the NCLEX-RN Exam

ImStillStanding · May 25, 2008

Atleast you got a chance to take the test. Just focus and possibly take a RN referesher course and the Kaplan. Im almost 58 years old, and Im lucky to be an LVN, our school was shut down by CA Board after we graduated and the board refuse to let us take the NECLEX-PN. 1989. I passed it only after I petition to take it in another state. Now I still believe I can pass the Neclex-RN by petition. (HOWEVER WHAT TOOK place in the Fall 1989 will be repeated FALL 2008, for me to take the NECLEX-RN.)

LuvaBSNRN, BSN, RN · May 27, 2008

Hello there:

Which Kaplan book are you referring to...I have the blue course book which came along with the class and the strategies book....are you referring to either of these???

Thanks!

Katkot · Jun 21, 2008

The **** NCLEX RN exam does not depend on what you study or how you study, and I advice everyone who wants to pass not to study at all. it does not even deserve the time you dedicate for it. just apply and go write it. I failed the first time after I studied really hard and I'm nursing PhD student . after that I just spent my time playing video games on my PS3 and inviting my friends over and have parties, and passed with 75 questions the second time. they just make it impossible to pass, IT'S A MATTER OF LUCK.

suzy253, RN · Jun 21, 2008

luck? I think it takes a bit more than luck alone to answer the questions correctly.

Katkot · Jun 21, 2008

Listen to me everybody, I dont believe in this exam and nobody should, they just made it to harvest money from us, smart or stupid, does not matter, if you fail, then you did not answer what THEY think is right, it does not have to be right, but if they they it's right then it is, and that does not mean that you are a bad nurse or a bad student, you might know more than they do.

megananne7 · Jun 22, 2008

In defense of the NCLEX, I can definitely tell you that the other students I went to nursing school with I would definitely perfer NOT to have as my nurse if I was a patient often were that ones that didnt pass!

RN1989 · Jun 22, 2008

There has to be some standard to hold people with professional licensure to. The NCLEX is the current nursing guideline for initial competency.

I don't believe that the current exam adequately assesses what it should. I know of new grads who told me that their test consisted of nothing but how to be a leader. It didn't go into a&p, diagnosis, treatments, patient care issues. That to me is scary. But since this is all we have for now.......it's better than nothing.

suzy253, RN · Jun 22, 2008

Listen to me everybody, I dont believe in this exam and nobody should, they just made it to harvest money from us, smart or stupid, does not matter, if you fail, then you did not answer what THEY think is right, it does not have to be right, but if they they it's right then it is, and that does not mean that you are a bad nurse or a bad student, you might know more than they do.

:uhoh3:

hart29 · Nov 12, 2009

It's a very hard a exam like they said Q and A will help.. Good luck I am with you and you are not alone I failed it twice and will not give up!

Dcamer · Jun 24, 2010

keep trying as long as God is working in different ways..You will make it.. he has a reason for everyhting

Leonardo Del Toro, RN · Jun 24, 2010

Sorry to hear that. It will pass...know that you did improve! Going all the way to 265 is the best indication will were right there at the passing level but for some reason didn't make it. Read my post it might help you:

I wrote this thinking of those who are struggling and have taken the test more than twice but it could be useful for first time takers too. This post reflects my experience with the NCLEX and the changes I did in order to pass. The NCLEX is a passable test and perhaps not even as hard as most people think. I like to point out aspects which are not well explained or easy to miss for some of us. We all hear stories about students who are so smart and have failed, so there must be something these students are missing and it might have something in common, so read on carefully and you might find the key to set yourself free.

In the NCLEX world there are a few important components: knowledge and how you apply that knowledge quickly are the two main ones. Another major component is how to take the test. I think that for those who are struggling is very important to start re-thinking the test in a brand new way; to understand what is being asked of you and realize that what you have been trained to do during your school years with traditional tests is now basically useless. There are a few points I like to go in detail and it might be helpful to understand them well. It might set you free from the deceptions and traps of the NCLEX which ultimately reflect the nursing practice. If you are trying really hard and still not passing, it's time to do a whole evaluation and change the way you think about the test, so read on and have fun.

1)TIMING: as they say, timing is everything. This might be one of the most misunderstood components of the NCLEX. The bottom line is: you must walk in the test room and even if you are completely clueless DON'T TAKE MORE THAN ONE MINUTE FOR EACH QUESTION, I cannot stress this enough. The NCLEX is testing your knowledge but most of all is testing how well and how quick you can think through difficult situations you don't know much about. So if you study a lot and still not passing you MUST improve in this area. All the knowledge you have acquire is useless unless you can answer the questions fast and (hopefully) correctly; and remember that the NCLEX will not punish you for getting wrong answers, you only need to be at the knowledge level they are looking for. I am not sure about this but I now believe there is an algorithm which measures the time you use for each question crediting or discrediting you. The NCLEX really likes when you go fast. And that makes sense for nursing where emergency situations come up and you know little about them and only have a minute or so to make a decision. So when they say "don't over think", is more like you don't have the time to - "over think". Have you ever noticed how some questions keep coming back? Even though you might have answered them correctly, but because you took too long, they (the NCLEX computer program) is not sure that you really know it well or just guessed. So if the questions keep coming back two things can happen: you get too tired which is not good because your performance suffers or, run out of time which is another problem that can cause you to fail. They want you to look at the questions, read it carefully, make a decision select the best one, and move on. You must have the ability to answer the questions like you playing ping-pong game and be able to play a long game and not get tired. So there is not much to figure out at the moment of the test; you either are there or not. I know it sound a little fuzzy and fluffy but you have nothing to lose at this point; do you? Another timing issue is how long you delay to re take the test. Don't. You are never ready for it; put that in your mind. If you take too long between the tests you get cold, so use your failure as a practicing match and go take it again while you still hot. So go to PearsonVue website and schedule that test right now and go face the beast! Smile at fear.

2)YOUR KNOWLEDGE: of course the more you know about nursing the better, but not really. All you have to have is "NCLEX type knowledge" and that you can get by using the so many books available and listed by other posts in this site, Kaplan book/course, is a good source of that as well. Here's an example of NCLEX type knowledge: when they ask about chest tube, they might want to know a, b, or c (about chest tubes) and usually it does not stray too far from a certain number of options: know these options by heart. These are the building blocks NCLEX is made of and you must know it well enough to retrieve it from you mind on a heart-beat. The more you have these building blocks in your mind the better because it will help you to answer fast and correctly without thinking too much and getting tired (which is a very important point). So the way to look at knowledge is not in the traditional way of really knowing it but using your NCLEX knowledge to play the NCLEX game.

3)STUDY TIME: don't drive yourself crazy. I would practice 60 questions per day in one hour. Buy a timer and keep the pace, don't ever take more than one hour. If you are getting above 65% in one hour you looking good but try to get higher. One day per week go all the way to 265 (ouch!) because most likely this is what your test will be like! So in essence you are building up endurance with that kind of knowledge rather than becoming a nursing genius. Have fun with it, if you drive yourself to pain you will also learn pain so when you get to the test that's what you will remember.

4)THE TEST: it's important to know about this test and its components. One fact I think is interesting is that the NCLEX will test everyone differently. The NCLEX has two ways to make a decision about you: (1) you will pass or fail with an "X" number of questions, so if you are really good you can pass as little as 75 questions and if you are doing really bad you will fail with 75 questions. (2) but at a certain the computer makes a decision, it can't figure you out, you have missed a bunch of questions but you've also hit some important ones, so it decides that you need to be tested in the whole gamut of questions, so you are going all the way to 265 baby (ouch again). However remember, if you are not consistent and begin to do poorly because you are tired you can fail too and not go all the way, or go all the way and fail too. So you must stay in the game and perform consistently. If you are struggling forget about that magical "oh a passed with 75 questions", be prepared to go all the way and most importantly be consistent throughout the entire range and that's why is so important to train yourself to endure long periods of time answering these type questions. The NCLEX will be really impressed with your consistency and you will be credited for that. Remember, the NCLEX is not about getting questions right and building up points like in regular tests, the NCLEX is testing how you perform under stressful situations and in certain ways your ability to improvise. I believe the algorithm of the computer program is very sophisticated and can measure everything you do.

5)TAKING THE TEST: you must understand what is critical thinking. Some people are there already, but if you are not for whatever reason you should begin to pay close attention to "what is to critically think". You must focus on that question in a way you never did before, you must zero in to that question only and not stray one bit from it. I developed this way of thinking in which I would imagine myself there, at the hospital with a real situation at hand and then think "what would I do here...for real" and make that decision in terms of what would I do in order to be the safest. When you take the test you must be confident in your intuition. Another way to interpret when people say: "don't over-think" is that your mind goes into this overdrive mode where decisions are made quickly and without thinking but they are the correct ones. It's like playing a video game where you only have a split second to make decisions but as the rhythm speeds up your mind speeds up and you actually make better decisions than if you think it over. This is the kind of mind set you have to have when you take this test. In my opinion this is exactly what they are trying to test: your ability to quickly decide emergency situations. How many of those did you get right?

6)GUESSING: there is nothing wrong with guessing. You and everybody will guess about 10-20% of the test. The test is designed that way, otherwise you would know what to study for the test as you did in your nursing classes. So learn how to guess right, and in order to do it right you must be completely random and not go on a hunch. It is an irresistible impulse to guess following a hunch, that you know something about the answer which makes you feel safe. The problem with that is that you might fall in the trap set up the writers. So first eliminate as many as wrong answers you can than guess RANDOMLY. One safe way to do that is to always pick the first one bellow the last question you have eliminated, if you have not eliminated any of them pick up C or any other but randomly.

7)PLAY TETRIS: and here's why, Tetris is one of the first video games made for computers and in my opinion it simulates several of the brain functions required in for the NCLEX. It will help you with the brain stamina you need to endure all the 265 questions without lowering your performance. You have to make quick decisions in shorter and shorter amounts of time. It forces your brain to critically think faster and faster as the geometrical shapes fall down and you have to figure out where they fit. I was amazed to find out how much I improved as I started to play. If you don't believe this is helpful, just play for fun and it will your mind from the study.

8)PRAY FOR ST. JUDE THE PATRON OF THE IMPOSSIBLE CAUSES AND THE BEST LUCK TO YOU.

Rednights · Jun 24, 2010

You use Kaplan for questions, Saunders for content review. DO NOT even look at the Kaplan book they give you for their review course. It's absolutely worthless. Why? When the Q-bank question has a topic/medical condition/medication NOT IN THE BOOK, you know you're not studying everything you can from their book.

Even their rep told us not to read the book LOL. I see why he did.