Finally passed NCLEX-RN on 4th attempt! Here's my journey and tips! :)

[FNPStudentLife, BSN, RN]

1st Attempt at the NCLEX

I graduated from nursing school with a BSN in December '15. My school has a very high passing rate on the first attempt, so I had no doubt I would pass, after all, I was B+/A student in nursing school, how bad could NCLEX really be. I didn't take NCLEX seriously. I scheduled my exam for February, was getting 50s-60s on Kaplan Q bank, got 58% of Readiness test. I did 50 NCLEX questions per day, read the rationales for every wrong answer, and that's it, I figured that all of the knowledge I had from nursing school was good enough, plus it's impossible to re-read everything. When I took the exam, the computer shut off at 114 questions and I got a big FAIL 2 days later. The only thing I used was Kaplan Q bank.

2nd Attempt at the NCLEX

Okay, this is not as easy as I thought. I underestimated the exam and it was my fault. I took me about a month before I started studying again due to family problems (BIG mistake to wait that long). I decided that I didn't use Kaplan right, so I wanted to give it a try one more time. This time I watched every single video in Kaplan, did every question trainer and took notes on anything that was new to me or felt was important, as I continued using the Q bank questions that were left. I reviewed every right and every wrong answer to make sure I understood why they were wrong. I also bought NCSBN, finished the course while taking notes, and did half of their questions (scored around 70-75% on them). In addition, I used Saunders Q&A review. I studied for about 4-5 hours a day every day except weekends for about 2 months before I felt like I was ready to try again. Went to take the test, got to 240 questions and ran out of time. I was devastated. I used Kaplan fully, Saunders Q&A review and NCSBN course.

3rd Attempt at the NCLEX

I cried, I cried, I cried. After all, I really tried last time, and it didn't work. Watching my classmates getting jobs while I still couldn't pass the exam made me feel so dumb. It was getting closer to summer, all of my friends were making plans to go out, and all I thought about was NCLEX. I knew I had to finish this before I can finally relax. I downloaded the NCLEX Mastery app and bought Lippincott's Q&A. I also watched lots of Youtube videos on tips, downloaded a study guide for all nurses and other study aids and tricks that I found online, and I reviewed them every once in a while. I used NCLEX mastery everywhere I went. Even when I went to a birthday party, I couldn't allow myself to have fun so I was on my phone doing NCLEX questions from the app. I did around 200 NCLEX questions daily for around 2 months before I tried again. I went in August, got all 265 questions and a big FAIL 2 days later. I used NCLEX Mastery app, Lippincott's Q&A and notes/tips that I found online

4th Attempt at the NCLEX

At this point, NCLEX became my life. I cut everyone off from my life. My friends, my family. I saw no future ahead of me, the only thing I saw was NCLEX. Everyday. Every night. I even had dreams where I was studying, then I woke up and went to the library to study, fell asleep at night and got more dreams where I study (can I say I was studying 24/7? lol). I was falling into a depression because if I'm already doing everything that's in my power and can't pass....then how am I supposed to pass? What if I'm not meant to be an RN? What am I missing? Do I really have to re-read every single thing? But that's over 1000s pages, how am I supposed to memorize that? Even if I'll know every single symptom and intervention for every disease, that still doesn't guarantee that I'll pass, because the exam is all about prioritizing and critical thinking.

I drove to the library and studied every single day (1 day off a week) from the time I wake up (10am-11am) until late evening (10pm-11pm). I purchased the UWorld. I did 75 questions in untimed tutor mode and took notes on every single question (yes on every single question, unless you know the topic in your sleep). I had around 7-8 pages of handwritten notes after finishing the 75 questions. I continued using the NCLEX Mastery app everywhere I went and before sleep. I also made drugs notecards, I wrote down every single med that I saw and didn't know. In the end, I had around 400-500 notecards that I reviewed DAILY until the day of my exam. I also created isolation precaution note cards that I reviewed daily. I created a huge binder so I could keep everything organized, put all of the online notes/tips and my handwritten notes there. I reviewed that binder DAILY before doing the 75 Uworld questions and every day I added more drug cards and handwritten notes to the binder to study. I kept doing that since the beginning of September until a week before my exam date on October 24th. When I had a week left, the only thing I changed was I started doing Uworld in timed non-tutor mode instead of the untimed tutor (still reviewed and took notes on every question). 1 day before the exam I didn't do any more questions, I just reviewed my notes and my note cards. The next day I had the exam at 8 am, I woke up at 5 am (I went to sleep early so I guess it worked! haha), ate healthy breakfast, drove to the testing center and reviewed my binder and notecards before going in. I said the prayer. My computer shut off at 140 questions, and I freaked out. I was sure I failed because near the end I wasn't getting any of those "bolded" or priority questions. 2 days later I found out I PASSED! It felt so surreal. I used Uworld, NCLEX Mastery app, LaCharity Prioritization, Delegation & Assessment book and notes/tips I found online.

Here are some NCLEX study tips that I wish someone would have told me:

• Keep a consistent schedule what you're going to study and when (might not seem like it's important, but it is)
• Don't take too many "days off" between studying, or else you'll start to forget and will have to do everything all over again. You have to study every single day or at least every other day if you want to retain information. Studying for a week and taking 3-4 days break will not lead to anything good.
• While taking NCLEX, treat it just like any other practice test, it will ease your anxiety
• Treat all of your timed practice tests just like actual NCLEX
• Before clicking 'next', tell yourself "okay, so if I won't help this person, they will die. The rest will not die and can wait". If it makes sense to you, click 'next'
• On SATA, not every option relates to your questions. The answer might seem good and look like it won't do any harm, but if it has nothing to do with what the question is asking, then it's the most likely wrong answer
• Note cards are probably the best way to memorize drugs
• Embrace it, become a nurse on an emotional level (start thinking like a nurse even in everyday life)
• You can do it! ? Don't give up and don't stop believing!

NCLEX resources that worked for me:

• UWorld!!!! It truly prepared me for SATA. The questions seemed harder than the actual exam.
• LaCharity. The questions seemed harder than the exam, and I feel like it really trained my critical thinking.
• NCLEX Mastery app. The questions are also tough + you can use this app everywhere you go
• Lippincott's Q&A. It was alright, it also had alot of challenging questions, and it trained my critical thinking, but not as good as LaCharity.

NCLEX resources that did not work for me:

• Kaplan. Fully finished the course and didn't work.
• NCSBN. I felt like their course wasn't detailed enough, and the questions didn't give good rationales.
• Saunders Q&A. I feel like the questions were too easy, I was getting 80s-90s on it and still failed

Feel free to message me if anyone wants any of my notes or needs any help! ?