I'm so ANGRY!!!

As for referring to classmates as Imbeciles - I support the OP - we had the three most likely to lose a license pegged long before graduation. Guess what? ALL of them lost their licenses within 4 years of passing the NCLEX.

I also know very good nurses who had to retake the NCLEX and have never had so much as a brush with the board...

Don't take offense if you aren't in his shoes - it's nothing personal and there is no reason to take it that way - unless of course you are SURE he is talking about you!!!!

My standard answer whenever I read a post like this is to recommend that your girlfriend go back to her school of nursing and request their help in preparing for and passing the NCLEX.

She undoubetdly spent a young fortune on tuition and fees in nursing school, passed her courses, performed satisfactorily in her clinicals, has done everything under the sun to prepare for her examinations, and yet still has come up short. It is my opinion that her school shares some responsibility for seeing her thru this. After all, they gladly accepted her money all those years. I imagine that they are concerned with their NCLEX pass rates, and having a student repeatedly fail doesn't help them any.

Encourage her to contact the director of her nursing program and request an appointment. Someone there should be willing and able to tutor her (at no additional expense!)

Best of luck!

As for referring to classmates as Imbeciles - I support the OP - we had the three most likely to lose a license pegged long before graduation. Guess what? ALL of them lost their licenses within 4 years of passing the NCLEX.

I also know very good nurses who had to retake the NCLEX and have never had so much as a brush with the board...

Don't take offense if you aren't in his shoes - it's nothing personal and there is no reason to take it that way - unless of course you are SURE he is talking about you!!!!

Your experiences are purely anectdotal, therefore unverifiable, therefore prove nothing.

Getting angry and frustrated is understandable, displacing your anger by referring to your fellow classmates as imbeciles is not. His classmates were not imbeciles. That kind of attitude will only lead to more anger and frustration, a vicious cycle.

Taking things personally is what leads to more anger and frustration. :)

Unfortunately, I don't think you have to be particularly bright to pass NCLEX. You just have to know how to answer the question. Most of the nurses I know who had trouble passing were extremely smart, maybe too smart. That's why they read too much into the questions. They were analyzing from the intellectual/logical direction.

Excellent point. Sometimes over analyzing or reading more into the question can be a problem, I've seen that as a student. In choosing an answer, some will look at other possible things going on that are not mentioned in the question. They will then choose an answer based on different possibilities not mentioned in the question. Basically it's looking at things that aren't part of the question.

Well, there's always Suzanne's method on the NCLEX board. I'm not sure what all it entails, but apparently there's been success.

I've heard excellent things about this. If I had known about allnurses prior to taking the NCLEX I probably would have looked into this. It would have made studying easier. Alot of other good suggestions here too.

I would still consider anxiety an issue, how could it not be. This has no doubt shaken her confidence in her abilities. It's wonderful that you are so supportive. She can and will pass. All the best to both of you.

Kev,

Tell Her Not To Give Up....number 1 Take A Break...don't Go Right Back Into Studying Which Is Hard To Do. Take A Week Or 2 Off. She Needs Some Time Out Of The Books. I Too Didn't Pass The First Time....when I Found Out I Was Devestated....i Took A Review Class...not Kaplan. I Studied From 3 Or 4 Books And At The Same Time I Was Doing My Orientation At My New Job As A Gn, Not Making Excuses But Life Is Stressful Enough Without Pressures To Pass. She Shouldn't Focus On Passing...just Learning What She Maybe Forgot And Focus On How To Read Questions. The 2nd Time I Started To Study...i Bought A Book By Kaplan 2005-2006 That Came With A Cd....it Was Veryhelpful And My Friends Lent Me Their Kaplan Course Book With The Tests....which Was Good...tell Her Not To Try To Relearn Everything....unless She Just Completely Forgot It...but To Do Questions...questions...questions And Look Up Things As She Does The Questions-especially Meds, That Helped Me-anyways. And Yes I Know What You Mean...some Of The Most Completely Idiotic People Pass On The First Time...not Because They Are Better Nurses Or Smarter. Don't Despair, She Got Thru Nursing School And Pre-reqs.....so She Can Do This And She Needs All The Support. I Know I Was No Peach N Sometimes Crabby Just Because I Knew I Was Smart Enough To Pass N Now I Had To Sit At The Tele Desk Until I Could Re-test. So Stay Positive...and Be There For Her. Lots Of Luck

Shanna

I had the same problem the first time, I was so anxious... You should see my pic that I had taken, it looked like I was anxious. I did the Kaplan thing and that just made it worse. Too much information in a short period of time for me. Anyway, thankfully for this site I learned to try to control my anxiety and not worry so much. I took Suzanne's advice of using Saunders cd and studying 100 questions a day. The day before Thanksgiving I took my test, it stopped at 230 something questions, hopefully because I got the max right. I don't know, I did get anxious when I was on question 67 and then looked again and I was on 81. But, I feel positive that I did well. Tell her not to give up. :)

Even though you're upset that your fiance is having a hard time with the NCLEX, it really isn't fair to refer to some of your classmates who passed as "imbeciles."

If they were *that* stupid they would not have made it through school and passed the NCLEX.

Don't displace your anger on them.

I think he was referring to those nursing students in class who appear to have nothing but a vacumn between their ears!

BTW LPNtoRN are you a psych nurse?? :rotfl: "Displaced anger???"

can't we all just get along :::sings kumbaya:::

Just don't give up!!!

I understand your anger! But, this is totaly inappropriate to call your classmates IMBESILS. :angryfire I'm sure you're still lerning how to apply splint in the ER and nobody calls you IMBESIL. Maybe your classmates will be better nurses than you and your fiance. Stay down to earth buddy, you'll fall on your nose many times, especially in NY ER. BTW, congartulations on your nursing licence. Hopefully, after you learn how to apply splint and than push your first Atropine, you want be as tough on new grads as you are on your classmates.:)

Please, tell your fiance, she'll pass as soon as she stops thinking of other IMBESILS passing boards. She needs to admit her failure in order to find out real weaknesses, focus on them and fix 'em. At this point she is not safe to practice nursing. She failed test 3 times that will kill nobody if she makes mistake. Face it! It'll make her a better nurse. Sorry! :)

Passing NCLEX is just the beginning of real tests that you'll pass or fail. If you admit your mistakes than you'll learn out of your mistakes and save life or two next time. Got it? :)

Psst, maybe they are laughing behind your back in the ER, who knows? :rotfl:

New grad, Mr. KnowItAll...

Have a litle respect, at least to people you know, classmates. You've spend two years of your life with them. Don't call them IMBESILS. This is a shame for you and your school.

I hope you understand my point...

We are here to address the concerns of the underlying message from the OP....not cast stones. I'm sure at one point or another you have called someone something awful that was unjustified out of simple frustration. Let's look past HOW he said it and try and UNDERSTAND why he is posting so that we may offer our advice and support for the REAL problem.

None should be offended unless one considers oneself an imbecile.

I used to teach so I'm here to tell you that some folks just aren't test takers. It has absolutely nothing in the world with not knowing the information, they do. They just start to stress over a test and the more important the test, the more stress they feel. Often times they don't have the slightest idea how stressed they are. They really believe they feel fine but they aren't. Stress causes anxiety, anxiety causes people to read the questions different from what they are. They miss subtle things, plurals, they read something as saying one thing when it says quite another.

I'd have a student that could answer every bloody question I had and did beautifully. Call it a test and the same person can't do it.

My heart really goes out to you both. Please tell her to hang in there, she darn sure isn't the only one. It will happen, it's just going to take another shot.

You are so right. I read your post & it was like reading about myself. When we would get our test back to review...I would think to myself how did I misread that so badly!!!Thank the good Lord for instructors like you! My instructor pointed this out to me & suggested a visit to my Dr. I was put on anti-anxiety meds & it has worked like a charm! Maybe your fiance is the same way...I really did not have a clue. If she knows the material...it sure seems like anxiety. A trip to the Dr. might be in order. Good luck :)