I just took the NCLEX - PN, my thoughts.

Nursing Students NCLEX

Published

I feel like burning most the LVN review books I bought as they did me no good what-so-ever on the NCLEX. The questions I got came out of left field. Stuff that wasn't taught in school like post mordum care for jewish men and questions about the Buhdist faith. I couldn't believe the questions I got. It felt like I guessed at half the questions. What a terrible feeling I have now. I have went threw the ENTIRE Saunders LNV review book and cd TWICE, that's 6,000 questions, as well as the kaplan review book, "lvn made easy", and the mosby cd. Total review questions and rationales done exceeded 8,000. Yet it didn't help me at all. Yes I read the rationales for ALL the questions/ answers. The NCSBN.ORG review was the only thing that helped me as the questions were similar to the NCLEX.

The VAST majority of question were priority questions. I had learned all the tricks to answer these in the Kaplan book. Only one big problem....the priority questions in kaplan are a complete joke (very easy) compared to the actual NCLEX ones which were brutal.

My computer shut off at 85 and I am positive I got the 85th question wrong because I looked it up when I got home. I hear if the computer stops at 85 and you miss the last question ...you most likely failed if you weren't doing so hot. I wanted to throw up when I left the testing center.

So hear I sit and have to wait 3 weeks to get result in CA. I will start checking the LVN board website next week, but I have a bad feeling my name won't be up there and I will have to take the NCLEX again.

Specializes in Knuckle Dragging Nurse aka MTA.
Dont beat yourself up yet. EVERYONE swears they have failed after they took it. That feeling is normal. Dont go borrowing trouble just yet, take a deep breath and keep yourself busy until you know otherwise. Good luck to you.

Yes, I swore I failed for sure. The 3 and a half week wait made me think failed I failed the most.

I am in nursing school now, and we were taught all about cultures. We actually got taught the Post mortem care for a jewish pt, it was a question on our exam? Did you go to a college or a vocational school?

Melissa,

I learned nothing about culture in school, yet I think if you know a little bit about various cultures, the questions will be obvious, i.e. which group doesn't eat which food, etc. I have heard that some people got a lot of culture questions on the NCLEX - I get the feeling each person gets an entirely different test.

Diahni

I thought I failed too but I passed. The less questions you get, the better your chances. So far its been consistent, but its not guaranteed. I know only one person who failed after stopping the computer at 85 and she was really bad. You cant really study for test like this because anything can come out. You just have to trust yourself. I expected to take it again but good thing I dont. Just be ready, its not the end of the world. It would suck more if you dont try again....

Thanks for all your advice!.. I just hope I didnt fail. I'm still studying just in case.

i took mine on tuesday 10/9 and i know i failed. it stopped at 100. i had alot of meds and select all that applies. i'm soo depressed. i dont know if i should start studying or just take a break. when i get my results in the mail and it shows that i fail, will i recieve a big envelop? and do they provide directions on how to retake the nclex agian?. i hope theres still hope for me. please pray for me. i live in ca so i get my results in like 3-4 weeks. i was the first one to take the exam in my class so it would be soo devastating if i failed. im just preparing for the worst. thank you!:uhoh3::uhoh3: please pray for me :o

arniko,

how did you do?

diahni

hi! thats so nice of you to follow up with me... i dont have my results yet.. its been exaclty 3 weeks.. i'm scared. i've been praying... i think its taking a long time because i failed.. its printing out my report. do you know if i will recieve a big envelope or a small envelope if i pass?.. i'm soo scared. i will let you know if i passed. thanks agian for all your support. take care and god bless! ;)

hi! thats so nice of you to follow up with me... i dont have my results yet.. its been exaclty 3 weeks.. i'm scared. i've been praying... i think its taking a long time because i failed.. its printing out my report. do you know if i will recieve a big envelope or a small envelope if i pass?.. i'm soo scared. i will let you know if i passed. thanks agian for all your support. take care and god bless! ;)

arniko - it's so unfair that you can get instant results in several states - i think about forty of them, and not all of them. just try to not think about it, and good luck!

diahni

I felt the same way that you did! Surprisingly though I was very relaxed taking the test and flew through the questions. I got tons of priority, select all that apply, and the correct order ones. Sucked because I am really crappy at those ones. I studied my butt off three weeks before the test and honestly it was a WASTE OF MY TIME. Absolutely nothing that I studied was on the test. Not even one lab value. I busted my butt for no reason. I don't really think the nclex is all its cracked up to be. Its just our nerves that get a hold of us. I was happy when it shut off so early but on my drive home I started remembering questions and then I freaked. So I am patiently waiting my results. About 3 more weeks left. Hopefully I passed. I'm much more relaxed and looking more on the positive side. Whatever happens happens. I did my part. I probably have bought every book at Barnes n nobles on nursing. NO JOKE! I found that while studying it really helps to be consistent with the books that you are studying. STICK WITH ONE BOOK. I bounced back and forth. It only hurt me in the end. I too got a lot of religion and culture. I didn't study that because I didn't think it would be on the test but....... STUDY THAT!! I think Saunders was the best. There are priority questions on the saunders cd. Its in the area with the systems.

I felt the same way that you did! Surprisingly though I was very relaxed taking the test and flew through the questions. I got tons of priority, select all that apply, and the correct order ones. Sucked because I am really crappy at those ones. I studied my butt off three weeks before the test and honestly it was a WASTE OF MY TIME. Absolutely nothing that I studied was on the test. Not even one lab value. I busted my butt for no reason. I don't really think the nclex is all its cracked up to be. Its just our nerves that get a hold of us. I was happy when it shut off so early but on my drive home I started remembering questions and then I freaked. So I am patiently waiting my results. About 3 more weeks left. Hopefully I passed. I'm much more relaxed and looking more on the positive side. Whatever happens happens. I did my part. I probably have bought every book at Barnes n nobles on nursing. NO JOKE! I found that while studying it really helps to be consistent with the books that you are studying. STICK WITH ONE BOOK. I bounced back and forth. It only hurt me in the end. I too got a lot of religion and culture. I didn't study that because I didn't think it would be on the test but....... STUDY THAT!! I think Saunders was the best. There are priority questions on the saunders cd. Its in the area with the systems.

Kaydrian: Don't drive yourself crazy thinking about it until you find out. Culture questions? Yes, I hear that this is a big one these days. I imagine the rationale for no lab questions is the test makers know you're going to have these down. You're getting me nervous, though! People say all the time "the NCLEX was nothing like I thought" - Priority question are probably reasonable - I heard something in the Kaplan lecture that said "if you could do one thing then had to leave, what would you do?" Easier said than done, huh? I found Saunders to be overwhelming but will definitely do the questions. I have all of the books and cds, too! Now I'm getting nervous. One thing I like about listening to the Kaplan mp3s on my ipod is that from time to time they say, "this is a very important subject," but who knows for sure. Please tell me, doesn't the "nursing process" help you with the priorities, ie. assess first, etc.? As well, calling the md is rarely the right thing until you at least assess. Another thing - I would think common illnesses would take precedence, after all, that's what nurses mostly deal with. The only generalization I can make from talking to others is that each test is very different. More than a few people say, "I got lucky" and then others say what you did, "I didn't study that." Hmmm, I thought I had a good grasp of culture, but I think I'm going to go over it. Okay, it is true that it's hard to be sensitive to culture differences when you don't have a clue, but were not supposed to be anthropologists either. Hang in there!

Diahni

I felt the same way. As soon as i came home from the test, I was looking at some of the questions, and i got some wrong. I got one or two religion questions and i got those wrong too. I got alot of meds i have never heard of and a bunch of select all that applys and i'm not good at those. I felt that i got most of the questions wrong... Its been 3 weeks and one day... no results yet.. i really think i failed. I'm soo depressed.:o:o

Ya know, I was so anxious going into the test and then felt so much emotion coming out of the test that it really was a big blurr for me. I can honestly say I remember about 5 questions exactly. Other than that I know I got a lot on diet. LIke with common dz, what type of food selections would you choose for the patient. Diet and culture I would say was a big deal, at least in my test. I did get a lot of select all that apply, priority, and the correct order ones. I think as far as the priority goes, if you remember the ABC'S of nursing you should really have no problem. On the Saunder's pn practice CD there is about 85 priority questions. Its in the content area with all the systems..ie integ, endo, cardio, resp. You can choose to just take the priority portion of the test. Another thing I would recommend too is to study your diagnostics. Like prep, during, and post procedure. Like I said before, its really not all its cracked up to be. I thought it was going to be this impossible test. Its reallly not. Try to relax and READ the questions and understand what its asking you. On a couple of questions I got gun ho and as soon as I pressed next I was like SHOOT!! So hopefully I passed! I have a long time before my results. If I didn't then I'll just study and pass it the next time. Good luck to all!

In response to Diahni. Yes the nursing process, maslow's, and the ABC's. LIVE THOSE LOL. Your patient always comes first in any questions. For example... pt is complaining of SOB, what do you do first? Fowlers, check o2 sat, or auscultate. You stabilize your pt first.

+ Add a Comment