NCLEX & Few SATA

[Newnurse2067]

Hi guys! I'm writing this today as words of encouragement for those studying/cramming for the NCLEX, or those taking it today or tomorrow! I took my NCLEX yesterday. I read up on everyones experience with it on this site a couple of days ago. There were lots of failed posts, or passing w/ 30+ SATA posts. It honestly heightened my anxiety, so I want to share my experience and tell everyone it'll all be okay!!

About 45 days ago, I took my first NCLEX RN exam and failed at 75 questions. Was I surprised? No because I didn't really study. Was I devastated? Oh yes. It was quite embarrassing having to tell my family, friends, and co-workers that I failed. What did I do then? I realized I'm not a failure. I just didn't put in the effort and I could change that for next time. I still had a degree and my health so I was no failure.

First thing I did was make notes on everything major. I pulled it from my HURST review book (provided by my school), and from my Saunders book. From there I went through Saunders online question bank as well as NCLEX Mastery App. Did I finish every question on each program? Heck no! I just tried my best every day for three weeks. I feel like I TRULY started to study about a week before my exam. It finally came time to taking my test and major anxiety set in because I had failed previously. What happens if I fail again? What happens if I don't get that many SATA? What will I do?

I walked into my exam 45 minutes early. And yes, I was that person still on her phone doing questions. I was cramming questions in the day before as well (despite what people say). I started the test and really took my time reading this time. I was always able to come down to two good answers, but it's always about choosing the BEST answer. I started to tally how many SATA I got. After 75 questions, my exam didn't shut off and I was thankful. That meant I had a chance. At 80 questions my exam shut off. I looked down at my tally marks and counted 12 SATA questions. 12!!! My heart sank. I walked out and immediately texted everyone that I'm pretty sure I failed. As soon as I got home I did the PVT and got the good pop up. I waited another four hours to get my confirmation email that I indeed passed!

Moral of the story is, don't count. Don't worry about what kind of questions you get. Answer every question to the best of your ability whether it's priority, meds, order list, etc. You can do it. You got through nursing school and although you don't remember everything (because who could), you know enough NOT to kill someone. It's in that noggin of yours somewhere! And if you do fail, it's not the end of the world!!