Need Help Passing the NCLEX!

Shavonne! I don't have advice, but can tell you that you're not alone!! I graduated with my BSN in 2006, and still have not passed. one thing I know I should not have done is to wait a year apart to study and re-test...Good luck, you're not alone. I would like to see the advice that is given to you, I am sure it will help me, too!:)

No problem...if you find out other advice please share it with me. i also came across a review: www.sylviarayfield.com people have said this one is really good i haven't purchased it but it is on the top of my list. Good Luck and keep me updated. :)

Hello Blessed, I haven't taken the nclex yet, but will be taking it shortly. I agree with the post that said not for you to give up. Remember Phil. 4:13 You can do all things through Christ which strengthens you. You can do it. Remember that if you were able to survive nursing school, you can conquer this test. When you receive a printout, it gives you areas of weakness. Look over those and begin there. I failed my nclex-pn in dec. 2001 and never tested again until 2004 and passed. I used saunders book and cd. Read the book from cover to cover. I believe in you, don't be hard on yourself. This is your year to become the rn you desire to become.

Thanks so much I truly needed to hear that. I believe strongly in the Lord and I know that things happen for a reason. I know that I am going through to help others when they go through, but this year I feel like it's my turn. It's my turn to move in the next season that God has for me! =) Thanks so much. Currently i am reviewing the Saunders 4th edition reading chapters and doing questions everyday. i am not rushing and I am not scheduling my test until i feel ready. but like you said I claim the VICTORY that the next time i take it I WILL PASS! Because I have the help of the Lord and he is guiding me through. May God continue to Bless you! =) :redbeathe

Read this:

I wrote this thinking of those who are struggling and have taken the test more than twice but it could be useful for first time takers too. This post reflects my experience with the NCLEX and the changes I did in order to pass. The NCLEX is a passable test and perhaps not even as hard as most people think. I like to point out aspects which are not well explained or easy to miss for some of us. We all hear stories about students who are so smart and have failed, so there must be something these students are missing and it might have something in common, so read on carefully and you might find the key to set yourself free.

In the NCLEX world there are a few important components: knowledge and how you apply that knowledge quickly are the two main ones. Another major component is how to take the test. I think that for those who are struggling is very important to start re-thinking the test in a brand new way; to understand what is being asked of you and realize that what you have been trained to do during your school years with traditional tests is now basically useless. There are a few points I like to go in detail and it might be helpful to understand them well. It might set you free from the deceptions and traps of the NCLEX which ultimately reflect the nursing practice. If you are trying really hard and still not passing, it's time to do a whole evaluation and change the way you think about the test, so read on and have fun.

1) TIMING: as they say, timing is everything. This might be one of the most misunderstood components of the NCLEX. The bottom line is: you must walk in the test room and even if you are completely clueless DON'T TAKE MORE THAN ONE MINUTE FOR EACH QUESTION, I cannot stress this enough. All the knowledge you have acquire is useless unless you can answer the questions fast and (hopefully) correctly; and remember that the NCLEX will not punish you for getting wrong answers, you only need to be at the knowledge level they are looking for. I am not sure about this but I now believe there is an algorithm which measures the time you use for each question crediting or discrediting you. The NCLEX really likes when you go fast. And that makes sense for nursing where emergency situations come up and you know little about them and only have a minute or so to make a decision. So when they say "don't over think", is more like you don't have the time to - "over think". Have you ever noticed how some questions keep coming back? Even though you might have answered them correctly, but because you took too long, they (the NCLEX computer program) is not sure that you really know it well or just guessed. So if the questions keep coming back two things can happen: you get too tired which is not good because your performance suffers or, run out of time which is another problem that can cause you to fail. They want you to look at the questions, read it carefully, make a decision select the best one, and move on. You must have the ability to answer the questions like you playing ping-pong game and be able to play a long game and not get tired. So there is not much to figure out at the moment of the test; you either are there or not. I know it sound a little fuzzy and fluffy but you have nothing to lose at this point; do you? Another timing issue is how long you delay to re take the test. Don't. You are never ready for it; put that in your mind. If you take too long between the tests you get cold, so use your failure as a practicing match and go take it again while you still hot. So go to PearsonVue website and schedule that test right now and go face the beast! Smile at fear.

2) YOUR KNOWLEDGE: of course the more you know about nursing the better, but not really. All you have to have is "NCLEX type knowledge" and that you can get by using the so many books available and listed by other posts in this site, Kaplan book/course, is a good source of that as well. Here's an example of NCLEX type knowledge: when they ask about chest tube, they might want to know a, b, or c (about chest tubes) and usually it does not stray too far from a certain number of options: know these options by heart. These are the building blocks NCLEX is made of and you must know it well enough to retrieve it from you mind on a heart-beat. The more you have these building blocks in your mind the better because it will help you to answer fast and correctly without thinking too much and getting tired (which is a very important point). So the way to look at knowledge is not in the traditional way of really knowing it but using your NCLEX knowledge to play the NCLEX game.

3) STUDY TIME: don't drive yourself crazy. I would practice 60 questions per day in one hour. Buy a timer and keep the pace, don't ever take more than one hour. If you are getting above 65% in one hour you looking good but try to get higher. One day per week go all the way to 265 (ouch!) because most likely this is what your test will be like! So in essence you are building up endurance with that kind of knowledge rather than becoming a nursing genius. Have fun with it, if you drive yourself to pain you will also learn pain so when you get to the test that's what you will remember.

4) THE TEST: it's important to know about this test and its components. One fact I think is interesting is that the NCLEX will test everyone differently. The NCLEX has two ways to make a decision about you: (1) you will pass or fail with an "X" number of questions, so if you are really good you can pass as little as 75 questions and if you are doing really bad you will fail with 75 questions. (2) but at a certain the computer makes a decision, it can't figure you out, you have missed a bunch of questions but you've also hit some important ones, so it decides that you need to be tested in the whole gamut of questions, so you are going all the way to 265 baby (ouch again). However remember, if you are not consistent and begin to do poorly because you are tired you can fail too and not go all the way, or go all the way and fail too. So you must stay in the game and perform consistently. If you are struggling forget about that magical "oh a passed with 75 questions", be prepared to go all the way and most importantly be consistent throughout the entire range and that's why is so important to train yourself to endure long periods of time answering these type questions. The NCLEX will be really impressed with your consistency and you will be credited for that. Remember, the NCLEX is not about getting questions right and building up points like in regular tests, the NCLEX is testing how you perform under stressful situations and in certain ways your ability to improvise. I believe the algorithm of the computer program is very sophisticated and can measure everything you do.

5) TAKING THE TEST: you must understand what is critical thinking. Some people are there already, but if you are not for whatever reason you should begin to pay close attention to "what is to critically think". You must focus on that question in a way you never did before, you must zero in to that question only and not stray one bit from it. I developed this way of thinking in which I would imagine myself there, at the hospital with a real situation at hand and then think "what would I do here...for real" and make that decision in terms of what would I do in order to be the safest. When you take the test you must be confident in your intuition. Another way to interpret when people say: "don't over-think" is that your mind goes into this overdrive mode where decisions are made quickly and without thinking but they are the correct ones. It's like playing a video game where you only have a split second to make decisions but as the rhythm speeds up your mind speeds up and you actually make better decisions than if you think it over. This is the kind of mind set you have to have when you take this test. In my opinion this is exactly what they are trying to test: your ability to quickly decide emergency situations. How many of those did you get right?

6) GUESSING: there is nothing wrong with guessing. You and everybody will guess about 10-20% of the test. The test is designed that way, otherwise you would know what to study for the test as you did in your nursing classes. So learn how to guess right, and in order to do it right you must be completely random and not go on a hunch. It is an irresistible impulse to guess following a hunch that you know something about the answer which makes you feel safe. The problem with that is that you might fall in the trap set up the writers. So first eliminate as many as wrong answers you can than guess RANDOMLY. One safe way to do that is to always pick the first one bellow the last question you have eliminated, if you have not eliminated any of them pick up C or any other but randomly.

7) PLAY TETRIS: and here's why, Tetris is one of the first video games made for computers and in my opinion it simulates several of the brain functions required in for the NCLEX. It will help you with the brain stamina you need to endure all the 265 questions without lowering your performance. You have to make quick decisions in shorter and shorter amounts of time. It forces your brain to critically think faster and faster as the geometrical shapes fall down and you have to figure out where they fit. I was amazed to find out how much I improved as I started to play. If you don't believe this is helpful, just play for fun and it will your mind from the study.

8) PRAY FOR ST. JUDE THE PATRON OF THE IMPOSSIBLE CAUSES AND THE BEST LUCK TO YOU.

I actually read this on another thread the other day and I am going to print it out and use it for pointers for my studying. Thanks for sharing =)

how did you do? I am going to sit mine for the 6th time on May 20th and I am really nervous too. What did you do to prepare for this time? I need all the help I can get. This is my last time taking it.

Hi I was wondering if you passed? If so please share what you did this time around.... Thanks =)

don't give up guys, you can do it. my own philosophy on this is that if you made it through nursing school then you probably know the content. i think its the test taking part that you are falling down on. i would suggest getting different cds, not just kaplan, also saunders, lippincott. do as many questions as you can, do them on the computer, look for patterns. there are only a finite number of questions that can show up on a test. good luck, and most importantly believe in your self and your abilities, be confident.

thanks so much i am not giving up...i can't.....i have god on my side, i have a husband and family rooting for me and i want to move into the next season of my life (becoming a nurse, purchasing a home, and having children). thanks so much for your advice! =)

Try ATI. They promise a 98% passing guarantee. If you do not pass, they will stick with you until you do! Check it out at ATITesting.com. Good luck!

Hi I wanted to ask you if you know anyone has used ATI and if they liked it and if they passed?

Please don't give up.

How about using Saunder's Comprehensive 2nd ed? This is the book I relied on for contents for my 2nd attempt, and I finally passed.On the last month, I read the Prioritization,Delegation, Assignment by LaCharity. Practicing 50 to 100 questions a day until my exam week.I graduated 2003, and took my first exam 2007, then retake this May. Give more time , and I noticed that a constant practice,making notes in your own comprehension,can best retain the points you want to know.Also,i see to it, to read other members notes here like the random facts, because there are some topics that I missed on my notes. I memorized the lab values,immunization table,ECG's,just understanding the causes , signs and symptoms of the diseases because this is where the SATA revolved.My technique, i correlate every dis. to a person that I know.For example myself,I am taking BP med like lisinopril, then i pictured out what did I feel? what are symptoms that I had? this way it is easier for me to understand.I know every person has different style of remembering.the mnemonics in Infection Control,highly recommended to know.I found it also, easy to recall where the disease belongs.

Practice calculations.

I make a plan for my 3 months study like how many months to focus on this book, then schedule your study time.

5 hours for me everyday, split in half,for good energy to comprehend.

I have to quit my job,not nursing job,but for other reason, it also give me much time to practice in the computer.

I prayed so hard to pass the 2nd time so I can find a nursing job soon.

Now, it is time for job hunting,having without any experience, is another problem for me to tackle.

Anyway,those things I said, are the only one that helped me passed.By the way, if possible, after reading every chapters,if you still cannot understand the topic, give yourself another reading.Be honest to yourself whether you know already the contents or not,otherwise, you need to reread it, and answer the practice questions, then you will find out if you already have the knowledge base.

Good luck to your study.

Thanks so much for your advice! I am not going to give up I can't! I have to keep going! =)