Passing NCLEX after failing!!!

I graduated May 2018 and took the whole month of May and June off from studying. BIG mistake! I finally bought UWORLD because this is what all of my classmates were studying from. I finally scheduled my exam for July 23, 2018. All of my friends just used UWORLD and studied for 2-3 weeks and had passed, so that gave me false reassurance that I would pass too.

Studying:

I started studying 3 weeks before my exam. There are about 2000+ questions in UWORLD and I would answer questions every single day. I would answer between 75-125 questions a day. When I got closer to the date, I was cramming and I would try to answer 125-200 questions or more and read the rationales and just move on. I wasn't really absorbing the rationales and taking my time. I was just such in a hurry to get through all of my questions. Another BIG mistake.

I went to the testing site with my parents the night before and we stayed in a hotel. The night before I was still doing questions on my phone and I did not sleep at all the night before the exam.

Day of NCLEX:

I walked into the testing center with my anxiety very high. I started the exam and the questions I was getting were so hard. I literally do not think I answered 1 question right. I felt like I did not even study at all for this exam. I got to 75 questions, 100, 150, 200, and the questions kept going. The exam finally ended at 265 and I finished it in 2 and a half hours.

Walking out of that exam, I just thought to myself, "What just happened!" I walked outside to the parking lot and sat on the curb and cried. I was so embarrassed to even call my parents to pick me up. I knew I had failed. It was the worst day of my life. I think I rather someone punch me in the stomach than take that exam again. It was the hardest exam of my life. I cried the whole way home and went straight to my room. I didn't want to talk to anyone at all.

After failing NCLEX:

I cried in my room for about 2 days and did not come out. I found out that I had failed and it was so awful. I felt like a failure, not smart enough to be a nurse and just felt worthless. I felt like I let myself down and most importantly my parents down.

I needed to get out of town so I left town for about 5 days to clear my head and to enjoy nature. I told myself that when I came home I would have a clear head and make a new study plan. When I got back home, I was so depressed because I was facing reality. I did not know what to do or who to talk to. I just cried and cried. I thought I was the only one to ever go through this. I started watching youtube videos on people who did not pass nclex first time around and would listen to their advice and read blogs on this website. This really helped me.

Study Plan for Tackling the NCLEX:

First things first, I wrote down on a whiteboard everything that I did when I was studying for the nclex first time around and why it did not work and what I would want to change. I felt like on the NCLEX there were so many disease processes I did not know and so many things they were asking me that I did not know. Prioritization was so big on that exam. I definitely needed help. When I got my results back, I was near passing on all the categories, so I guess I did better than expected, but not good enough to pass. I bought the LaCharity Prioritization and delegation book. I also renewed my UWORLD because these questions were very tough and the rationales were amazing. I listened to Mark Klimek's lectures also. I treated studying for nclex as a full-time job because I knew I needed to get through the beast of this exam.

Schedule:

Go to the gym in the morning for about an hour to 2 hours.

Go to the library and make 75 question exam on uworld on test mode timed. I would take my time and really understand what the questions were asking. After the exam was done, I would go through each and every question even if I got it right and read the rationales and wrote it down in a notebook. This would take about 3 hours. I would take a break and have a snack to refuel my brain. I would then listen to 1 of Mark Klimek's lectures and take notes. He is absolutely amazing and changed my life. I truly believe I passed because of his lectures. After I was done, I would do 1-2 chapters in my Lacharity book and go over the rationales. I would be at the library for about 5-7 hours at the beginning of studying. After listening to Mark Klimek's lectures, my scores would stay consistently between 60-90%. First time using uworld I was getting 40-50% occasional 60% here and there. studying for this exam was like night and day compared to when I was first studying for this exam. In CA you have to wait 45 days and I studied for about 45 days. Saturday and Sundays were my lighter study days. I would at least do a 30 question exam because I felt bad when I did not do anything at all. The last 2 weeks of my studying I would not spend more than about 4 hours in the library studying because I was getting pretty exhausted from studying. I prayed and prayed for God to give me strength to go through this because it takes a lot of strength and courage to be able to study again after failing. During this time, I stayed off of social media, was so depressed that I did not see much of my friends. It was just such a hard time. I finally got my ATT and I knew I was ready to take this exam. I just wanted this to be over. The day before the exam I did not study at all and did some light cleaning at my house. I tried to relax, but that was so hard. I did not tell anyone that I was taking this exam because that would put more stress on me. I got to the testing center an hour before the exam and just sat in my car and prayed. I put it all in God's hands. I once again got to 265 questions. Leaving the exam I did not know what to think. I didn't feel awful about the exam, but I do not feel like I aced it. It was just a mix of motions. I went to a restaurant and ate by myself. I prayed and prayed and prayed on the 2-hour drive home from the exam. I was too scared to do the Pearson trick. I took the exam on Friday, but Sunday finally came and I could not take it anymore. I had to know. I asked my friend to do it for me and she did. I was shaking. I GOT THE GOOD POPUP. Tuesday at 12 am. my results were posted. I am finally an RN.

This is the most life-changing event in my life I have ever gone through. I know you guys can do this. Good luck to anyone that is going to take NCLEX for the first time or a repeat test taker. You will be Registered Nurses! If you have any questions you can message me privately or comment on this post. I would love to help. This journey is better when people are supporting you.