My NCLEX-RN Experience

ncllntn, BSN, RN

I would come here before my NCLEX to read about others' experiences when writing the exam; so, I wanted to share my experiences as well! So here goes...

I graduated from nursing school in December of 2016. I did all my holiday activities and then in the last week of December I started to buckle down and got down to business. I took the Hurst Live Review earlier in December but didn't do much studying till later. Since I started studying in the last week of December, I decided that I should probably watch the Hurst videos again and fill in the blanks in the student workbook. Once I was done with filling in the blanks and rewatching videos, I started to review the workbook. I tried to make sure I understood each topic before moving on to the next. Hurst also had Q-Reviews, which were tests that gave you NCLEX style questions. You could only do these exams 6 times, and Hurst recommends that you get 84/125 in order to pass NCLEX on your first try. However, my scores on the Q-Reviews were nowhere near 84! The highest I ever got on my Q-Reviews was a score of 75 out of 125! I also purchased a month of the UWorld Q-Bank; I did all the questions and ended up with a 57% average. Honestly, do not let your marks discourage you! Don't worry about the percentages you get. Just make sure that you look at each of the rationales -- even for the ones you got right! UWorld's rationales were so detailed and easy to understand, so that really helped. What I also did was write down notes. Also, I looked at which subjects I was doing poorly on (less that 50% answered correctly), and made sure that I reviewed the subject until I answered at least 50% of the questions right.

The day before my exam I tried not to study too hard. I mostly read up on lab values on the NCLEX cram sheet and some medications. The morning of I continued to look at lab values, just to give my brain a kick start before the exam. I decided to write my exam on January 31st at 800 in the morning because in all honesty I just wanted to get it over with. Three of my friends and I wrote the exam together. I was surprisingly calm when writing my exam. It was probably because of how UWorld and the Hurst Q-Reviews had the blue and white screen just like it did on the actual NCLEX. When I was taking the exam, I was honestly hoping it would stop at 75, but it didn't and it kept going and going until it shut off at 180/190 (I really can't remember). My friends waited till I finished and later I found out that their computers all turned blue at 75. I was for sure I had failed the exam. Honestly, we all felt like we failed. The exam really messes with you. I've heard many times that you will feel like you knew absolutely nothing and you walk out of that exam thinking you failed. This was true. I have never felt that upset in my life. I came home and I bawled my eyes out because I was so worried about failing. That night I couldn't even sleep because all I wanted was my result. The next morning my result was sent to me by CRNBC, and guess what?! I PASSED!! My friends and I all passed!

If you're looking for motivation... YOU CAN DO IT! Trust me. I'm here to tell you that you can do this! Believe in yourself and work hard! You've passed nursing school, you just need to get through this last stretch! YOU GOT THIS!! I wish you all the best!

My NCLEX-RN Experience

About ncllntn, BSN, RN

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