My Nclex Journey 4th attempt!!

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I used this site and discussion board throughout my Nclex journey for insight, motivation, and inspiration to keep pushing towards conquering the NCLEX and I wanted to share my journey with you all.

1st attempt: I graduated in May 2014 and was eager like many to take the NCLEX and start working. I took the Kaplan course in June and signed up for the NCLEX in July. Unfortunately, I did not focus, prioritize, and study as much as I should have. I did not utilize Kaplan as much as I truly should have and found myself underestimating the difficulty of the test. I took the exam and failed after 88 questions. I truly was not ready and should have waited.

2nd attempt: I realized that I needed more content review, so I decided to buy the Saunders book, which I found to be extremely helpful and a great resource to review content that I was not very comfortable with. I focused a lot of my energy on content and again did not pay too much attention to Kaplan. I thought that I had mastered strategy and just needed content. I again failed after 265 ques.

3rd attempt: This time around I paid close attention to what my weaknesses were and realized that I needed to blend the content I was reviewing with the strategy from Kaplan to properly answer questions correctly. I felt very confident going in this time, but believe my anxiety definitely got the best of me and I failed at 160 questions.

4th attempt: I took a complete month off from studying because at this point, I had been studying for the NCLEX for about 7 or 8 months and was completely drained. When I got back into it, I decided to get the LaCharity book(EXTREMELY HELPFUL) because I did not have access to Kaplan anymore. This time around I practiced 150-300 questions a day 5 days a week for about a month. I used LaCharity, Saunders for content review, the 97 pg study guide, and joined a Facebook group called "NCLEX" where people only post practice questions which was extremely helpful especially because like many I was on Facebook a lot. I ate very well, worked out everyday, and stress free because I knew that this was my goal and I needed to stay FOCUSED. The day before my exam I got a massage and just tried to stay calm. I did a light review of labs and meds that I was still not 100% about. During my test I took moments to pray, breathe, and just remind myself that I was in it to win it. During the breaks I took, I would look in the mirror, stand in "superwoman" pose, and say out loud "I am a safe, competent nurse". This helped me to stay calm! I wont say how many questions I took because it truly doesn't matter, but I found out today that I PASSED!!!

I just want to tell anyone that reads this, whether it is your first time taking the NCLEX or 10th time, please remember that you made it through nursing school and God would never bring you this far to let you down. Everything happens in due time and your time will come. Tell yourself that you are a safe and competent nurse! Speak it into existence! Please feel free to reach out to me if you need any advice or words of encouragement! You can do it! I'll be praying for you all!!!

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Congrats on a job well done.

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Blessings to you. :up: I really enjoyed reading your post and your perseverance is inspiring. I wanted to ask you a question, mind if I message you?

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Well since I'm new I can't message just yet on this site. I wanted to ask how effective was the 97 page study guide?

I have been reading it and like it, but since I'll be going for my NCLEX second try soon I wanted to know how you'd personally rate it from 0 to 10. Thank you!

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I used this site and discussion board throughout my Nclex journey for insight, motivation, and inspiration to keep pushing towards conquering the NCLEX and I wanted to share my journey with you all.

1st attempt: I graduated in May 2014 and was eager like many to take the NCLEX and start working. I took the Kaplan course in June and signed up for the NCLEX in July. Unfortunately, I did not focus, prioritize, and study as much as I should have. I did not utilize Kaplan as much as I truly should have and found myself underestimating the difficulty of the test. I took the exam and failed after 88 questions. I truly was not ready and should have waited.

2nd attempt: I realized that I needed more content review, so I decided to buy the Saunders book, which I found to be extremely helpful and a great resource to review content that I was not very comfortable with. I focused a lot of my energy on content and again did not pay too much attention to Kaplan. I thought that I had mastered strategy and just needed content. I again failed after 265 ques.

3rd attempt: This time around I paid close attention to what my weaknesses were and realized that I needed to blend the content I was reviewing with the strategy from Kaplan to properly answer questions correctly. I felt very confident going in this time, but believe my anxiety definitely got the best of me and I failed at 160 questions.

4th attempt: I took a complete month off from studying because at this point, I had been studying for the NCLEX for about 7 or 8 months and was completely drained. When I got back into it, I decided to get the LaCharity book(EXTREMELY HELPFUL) because I did not have access to Kaplan anymore. This time around I practiced 150-300 questions a day 5 days a week for about a month. I used LaCharity, Saunders for content review, the 97 pg study guide, and joined a Facebook group called "NCLEX" where people only post practice questions which was extremely helpful especially because like many I was on Facebook a lot. I ate very well, worked out everyday, and stress free because I knew that this was my goal and I needed to stay FOCUSED. The day before my exam I got a massage and just tried to stay calm. I did a light review of labs and meds that I was still not 100% about. During my test I took moments to pray, breathe, and just remind myself that I was in it to win it. During the breaks I took, I would look in the mirror, stand in "superwoman" pose, and say out loud "I am a safe, competent nurse". This helped me to stay calm! I wont say how many questions I took because it truly doesn't matter, but I found out today that I PASSED!!!

I just want to tell anyone that reads this, whether it is your first time taking the NCLEX or 10th time, please remember that you made it through nursing school and God would never bring you this far to let you down. Everything happens in due time and your time will come. Tell yourself that you are a safe and competent nurse! Speak it into existence! Please feel free to reach out to me if you need any advice or words of encouragement! You can do it! I'll be praying for you all!!!

Can you please email me the 97 page study guide? I would greatly appreciate it. [email protected]

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