Failed NCLEX 1st time in 75 questions, passed on 3rd attempt with 265 questions

Hello everyone! :)

Just wanted to share my story of this whirlwind of a life has been with this monster that is the nclex.

I'll try to keep this short and sweet but I bet that won't happen. I get word diarrhea when I tell a story hope this helps anyone out there that is starting to lose hope or morale. The title says it all, I failed miserably the first time i took nclex with 75 questions, whats funny is that I thought I rocked it. (BTW: I had like 15 SATAS, 2 calculations, 2 cardiac strips, 3 Drag and drop, few pharm, few prioritizing and delegation so I thought I was doing good). Tried to the pearson vue trick=fail. But waited until I got my official results before freaking out.. 2nd time I failed with 81 questions, (again around 15 SATA, 1 cardiac strip, 0 calculations, lots of prioritization and delegation). I was just happy when the computer spat out more than 75 questions this time to give me a fighting chance. My 3rd attempt: I went the duration with 265 hundo questions (6 drag and drop, 2 cardiac strips, 2 calcualtions (1 with a fl oz intake so I thought I was digging myself a hole), about 44 SATAs (yes i kept tally), the most I got were 2 in a row consecutively, lol. no hot spots, no audio, about 10 pharm questions) Boy... Was it a workout! I took 2 breaks in between to go to the bathroom and remind myself "Im still in this!", I took around 5 hours and 30 minutes. no snacks.........

After the 1st time I took the nclex I stopped checking the pearson vue trick and just spent those days trying to relax as much as possible. But after a week of waiting for my results for the 3rd time, I mustered up some courage to check my DOH provider credential search, and when I typed my name there it was my name with an RN number and the words ACTIVE. I didn't believe it, so I tried to the pearson vue trick to solidify my confirmation a bit more. I still don't believe it to a degree but enough that I want to jump up and down and pinch myself that this isn't a dream. I still won't officially tell anyone I know until I get the physical evidence.

For anyone that was curious:

First time nclex: Used Saunders (completed and wrote notes for all chapters), and about 500 nclex 3500 questions, as well as the 30 page guide floating around allnurses.

Second time: Used PDA (la charity book) as well as reviewed my notes from saunders, and did about 100 questions a day until I reached about 3000 questions, as well as reviewed the 30 pg guide.

Third time: I purchased the 5wk NCSBN review course, got throough all the content, and wrote notes on all the chapters, but only got through about 200 of the q bank questions before my subscription ended. Also, I purchased that 97pg guide on youtube from passnclex2013, I only got through page 25, but it seemed helpful, it was 50 bucks... (Don't judge me I was getting desperate... lol) Also: watch the 8 essential concepts of nursing on youtube, the video is like an hr and i watched it twice and took notes on it, very helpful. :)

I hope this truly inspires or helps anyone in a similar situation, I found only a handful of forums with people failing at 75 questions, I felt really low after that but still took my test 2 months after for the 2nd and third time. I think its important to not dwell on it for so long, life truly goes on... You will pass... just don't give up and keep taking it. Pray like your life depends on it. On test day I called my boyfriend and he made me laugh, don't go in there freaking out (easier said than done I know), but on my third time, I really didn't expect to pass, let alone get all the questions. But if you get past the 100 mark, breathe, go to bathroom, have a sip of water and remind yourself your still in this. and if you fail again, try something different. For me I was really lacking content, everyone is different, they say to do 3000 questions but if you dont know the content I feel like your just memorizing an answer to the question.

Please message me if you want to know any other helpful tips or just need a buddy to talk to. I've been there and when you pass, you'll have a cool story to tell instead of those boring people that say they just passed the first time with 75 questions... No hate, love for all!