Just took nclex today and I feel cheated

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So I took the nclex today. A little background on myself, I went to school at an adn program in Texas and I was an ok student. I made some a's a lot b's and some c's. I graduated in may and I got a graduate nurse position at a large hospital in the dfw area a month after I graduated. So I had a lot riding on this test and I was stressed like all of you here. I took Kaplan's class and used the q trainers and qbanks as my primary study aide. I studied for about 3 weeks doing 50 to 100 questions daily and reviewed the rationales. I didn't go over much content, and I averaged in the high 50's to low 60's on the qbanks and qtrainers. So after worrying for 3 weeks, today came and I took nclex. It was funny cause I wasnt really anxious or nervous this morning I went in and took the test and got 75 question with maybe 10 sata and that was it. I was over in about an hour and it was one of the most anti climatic experiences in my life. After basically 2 years of this test looming over me it was all over. I left feeling clueless, if you told me I missed every question I would believe you. Right after it was over I couldnt tell if it was hard, easy, or if I passed or failed. All of the time I spent studying felt like wasted time. The questions on the exam things I've never even heard of before and when there was a topic I knew the answers were things I wouldn't have ever thought of. Frankly I felt cheated. How can this possibly be a test of minimum competency, when the questions were no.........unique? I don't even know how to phrase it. There was a topic on here about how the test was a joke. I agree!Oh yeah I did the pvt trick and I got the good pop up much to my amazement. So it looks as if I may have passed. It the trick works which it see,s as if it does seeing from this site, I can only thank the hand of god for letting me pass cause I had no clue what I was doing on that test.I know that was long but I had to vent. I wish everyone well in there studies and nclex.

Specializes in NICU.

Well, if you're getting mostly difficult and obscure questions, you might just doing well on the exam. The NCLEX is computer guided and designed to determine minimum competency in the least amount of time and questions, so it's really when you start getting a lot of easy questions that you should be worried. ;) Maybe some of the obscure questions were experimental and didn't count? Good luck to anyone who is about to take it - you'll do great!

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Hmmm, I didn't really find NCLEX to be obscure at all. I had one medication I'd never heard of and that's it. All the rest was stuff I either learned in nursing school or I knew from all the practice questions I did.

I got 75 questions with a couple of drag and drop, a bunch of SATA, and one picture.

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Specializes in ICU.

Wow. Our experience and feelings about the test seem a lot alike. I received similar scores on Kaplan, turned off at 75, and even felt somewhat "cheated." I was so used to answering questions that 75q went by in a blink of an eye. In the end, I am 100% okay with feeling "cheated" because I do tend to tire around 100-150 questions. As a previous poster said, you do know more than you think!

I feel like every 3rd question was a SATA for me. Maybe longer gaps at some points. I actually don't mind SATA. I received a lot of practice with them. Though, many times I do go back and forth on one item.

And wow, to the person who said they felt like the same 3 topics were popping up.. I felt the same way, too. And lucky for me, 2/3 of those topics are my strong areas.

I only had 1 math problem and I am not sure if I got that right or not. I had about 3-4 meds. Luckily I was familiar with all the meds so I think I did well with them. I didn't get any obscure ones.

I sort of knew I passed coming out of there. I don't feel like I did awesome by any means. But, I felt like I got enough right that I either passed or they would have went on to 76 questions. I knew I didn't totally bomb it.

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This is EXACTLY how I felt about the test! I was like really? 4 years of hard work, months of intense Kaplan studying and 75 questions later that's it??? Well congratulations on your job and passing!

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I'm not sure what to feel. I just finished the NCLEX at 75 questions, and I feel uneasy about it. It's an ambiguous feeling really. I know getting 75 questions is not an automatic pass. I either passed with flying colors or failed miserably.

Sent from my iPad using allnurses.com

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I took it last week and felt the same way. After all the Kaplan preparation my program required us to do throughout our program (at least one Kaplan exam per course, the Q bank, trainers, and videos) and all the studying I did with outside sources as well, I still felt completely lost! Fortunately, I passed, but I left feeling as if I knew nothing, despite all the studying I've been doing.

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I believe that the NCLEX does a good job of what it is supposed to test for, Minimum Competency. Yes, a lot of the questions on the test you may not have seen before, but that is exactly the situation you are going to be thrust into with your first nursing job. Your nursing knowledge should guide you in the right direction even if you dont know the "EXACT" answer. The test gives subtle clues in every question. They may give you an extremely obscure medication, but I'm sure that the suffix will put it into a class of medications you should know. Just my thoughts. . . FA

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Congradulations I took my test on July the 2nd, I felt okay after taking the exam I had 75 ??s and it was over in 44 minutes. I remember calling my husband to pick me up and he said there is no way you are finished. Well I had spent over a month everyday preparing for this test. God is good ...

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i took the nclexrn exam last june 23, i spent 330 mins on 265 questions, 20 or more questions in SATA. i feel numbed and dizzy after the last question.i went home thinking i screwed up the exam. it took me 2 week to gather up the courage to go online for a quick result. i passed. i guess answering at least 150 question a day on my laptop really helped.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Just a reminder not to post about questions you received on the NCLEX exam, remember you signed a confidentially clause not to discuss and action can be taken by the BON if caught.

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Well I caved in and got the quick results and I passed. I'm just happy it's over now I have to wait for my Bon to post my license

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