NCLEX: How many times is enough?

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I was thinking about posting this question earlier, but decided not to post until I read a thread dealing with the topic. So what do y'all think? If a person hasn't passed the test by the nth time (you change the "n"), should they give it up because they obviously (in your opinion) haven't learned what they need to learn, therefore, would not be a safe practicing nurse?

I think an interesting question (and the makings of a nice bit of research if it hasn't already been done) would be to investigate the correlation between number of attempts to pass and the "quality" of nursing provided upon passing.

Specializes in SCI Rehab Liver Disease Home Health.

I have met alot of nurses in my 28 years who are great test takers but their clinical nursing skills are not great and nurses who have difficulty with tests but clinically are great. I agree with it would be difficult to guess and pass.

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Gee, this is the most decent thought I ever heard!

I am the same...so anxious just regarding the last big exam of my life..and I am in my 3rd(from the 4) year in Québec (Canada) and beleave-me I am allready dead of fear!

Cheers:up:

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Hello :nurse:,

Some comments of this site are quiet interesting. I think a person should be able to give the exam as many time as they want to. Power to them for all their efforts. We are on this site to encourage nurses to get to their full potential :up:.

I am a Canadian nurse who passed her NCLEX . Some of the questions on the exams are confusing. May be it is time instead of analyzing the test taker , they must analyze the questions.

Good luck to everyone you are taking the exams, keep trying dont give up :yeah:.

Sweety

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Sorry...but I agree there needs to be a limit (3?) failures before you have to take Nursing school over again. The test anxiety argument can only get you so far. What happens when your "axiety" flares up when caring for a patient?

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Specializes in C-EFM, L&D/Postpartum/AP/PACU.

Whew! I finally made it through the entire thread after dinner, errands, studying, phone calls, and a lot of back and forth reading.

Anyway, there are some really great points on here about the variation in the types of individuals taking and passing the exam. The thing I think many forget is that the NCLEX is designed to test the skills that any RN will need in the first six months of practice. Six months!

So, a person can be an outstanding student, say with a 3.97 GPA. A person can pass the NCLEX on the first try, say in 75 questions. A person can even train, study, and pass three (or four) certification exams. But, some people are also worthless when it comes to translating their knowledge into practical situations. Some are profoundly uncomfortable in situations where they don't have an instructor covering their asses and giving them continuous feedback.

What happens to those nurses? I'd hope they fall on their faces and can't find work. Unfortunately, I don't think that is the case given the nursing shortage. Particularly if those nurses have forceful personalities, they will be able to continue working and convincing people that they are motivated, smart, and ready for new challenges, while their old units/specialties are glad to give them a swell sendoff party as they transition to a new specialty because it means they won't have to deal with the person anymore.

Again, not everyone who had a 3.97, 75-question first time pass on the NCLEX, three (or four) certifications, and a forceful personality is an incompetent *******, but sometimes the shoe fits.

I'd advocate for not discussing exceptions quite so much and talk about averages. That is what the NCLEX comes down to. It is not a perfect tool, but it is a standardization tool that I think most of us would agree is valuable in ensuring that we have a strong profession. the NCLEX is the NCLEX is the NCLEX no matter where you take it. RN is RN is RN whether from a BSN, ADN, or certificate program. This is essential to our credibility as a profession. We all meet the same standards.

Hopefully, we all continue to remember some of the more valuable lessons from nursing school that will remain long after we have surpassed the clinical knowledge by leaps and bounds. Those lessons could include communication, sensitivity, treatment of the whole person rather than a disease or condition. I think that nurses who are exceptional work on those things as much or more than they work on earning more paper to "prove" how fantastic they are. Their patients feel respected and valued and often come back to say thank you. Those exceptional nurses have that caring so ingrained in their personalties that it permeates their lives, rather than being a job requirement.

I'm sure some will read my (not so subtle) post and think I'm starry-eyed, naive, young, and so on and that's okay. While I have a deep appreciation for education, a respect for continuing education, a desire to have additional letters after my name beyond RN, I still feel like the focus is on caring for the patient, not just as a clinician, but as a compassionate person. The NCLEX doesn't measure that. No test can. Passing a test may indicate competency. Earning certifications may indicate competency. Continuing education may indicate competency. But competency can't hold a candle to exceptional and I know those nurses are out there. Some of them have cared for me and held my hand. They are the ones who have inspired me to do what I'm doing.

While clinical knowledge is essential, it isn't everything. A straight-line clinical nurse will be unlikely to harm me medically because she is competent to a fault, but won't make me feel good about my experience and is unlikely to have the ability to use intuition. Intuition is that sixth sense gained from a true passion for the profession, not from letters after your name. Intuition is what separates the competent from the exceptional. Rarely is there a time when the exceptional comes in a package without caring and sensitivity. So yeah, I'm a little judgmental myself. I will be an OB nurse in the not too distant future and eventually a CNM. I have no doubts in my mind about that. It is a matter of when, not if. But, ultimately, I know that my satisfaction will be in those thank you's from clients much more than an employee of the month parking space.

To bring it back around, I'll reiterate that I think the NCLEX is the best tool we have for maintaining the standardization within our profession. In that sense it is invaluable and for reasons already stated, if a person needs to take it more times than they can in a single year or more than three depending on the state, then they need continuing education to bring them back to that level of performance they had at graduation from nursing school. Nonetheless, immediately upon passing the exam, that nurse will be let loose. Her success thereafter will be much more subjective and I think that is a good thing and a reason why, while essential, the NCLEX itself is not the end-all be-all of nursing...IMHO.

I'll zip up my flame-retardant suit and prep for the onslaught. I probably shouldn't stoop to the nastiness that others have already displayed on this thread, but there it is in all its honest glory. So, let loose if you must. I'm a tough cookie and this isn't my first time around the forum block.

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Gee.......where do I begin? It upset me and enraged me all at the same time. Well.....I am an RN and I work in long term care. The places that I work at might make me want to quit THAT place in particular....but never nursing. I love what a do. I am a nurse. But....I am not one of them smart test takers that passed on the first try. Sorry. Some of you people that replied? Well.......What category would you put me in? Would you wnat me taking care of you and/or your loved ones? I have MAJOR test anxiety. Someone would even MENTION the NCLEX and m heart would race, I would feel nauseated, etc. I took refresher courses, I went through hypnosis, used the review books and did tests on the computer. The last thing that I did was go to my dr and tell him how anxious I was getting about the test. RETAKING it...that is. He put me on Buspar, and I could remain calm and study....the first step in comprehending everything. IT helped!!! Trust me!! I also had family and friends that would NOT let me gie up, despite wanting to do so on my own. I graduated from nursing school in 1990. I took it for the 5th time....and passed....in 2000. 10 years, people!!!! Some of you, I read, agree to a " three strikes and you're out" rule. I guess I would be out. I wanted it BAD!!! I wanted to be a nurse since I was a little girl I know....I was a little girl. But that dream never changed. I volunteered at the hospital and local nursing home, and I knew going into junior high school that I needed good grades and what classes that I wanted to take.

So....10 years inbetween. What did I do? I kept subscriptons to nursing magazines, I learned on the job as an aide. I worked in fast food. I read, I learned, and I didnt give up. Even IF I had wanted to...Like I said...I had friends and family that did /not allow that. This is what I really WANTED. I worked really really hard to achieve this. And I never forgot what it took to get me to this point in my career. I still dont forget it. I am good at what I do. I put my heart into my work. It is not a job. Its a career. Its a calling. I knwo that God meant for me to be a nurse. HE wanted to see and convince me how BADLY that I wanted it and how BADLY I would work towards it.

Bottom line......I am good at what I do. We never EVER stop learning as a nurse....no matter what field we work in.

It is NOT written on our forheads what our GPA was in hs or what it was in nursing school. Nobody knows our class rankings. When we work on our patients/residents....we are all nurses. I had good grades in hs and in nursing school. I got nervous. BIG TIME!!!! But now..I AM a nurse!!! Just like all of you that responded here. I dont tell my residens or their families how many times that it took me to pass. I take care of them as I do all of them, everyday that I go to work.

I AM A NURSE AND i AM PROUD OF IT!!!

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There is no such a thing as this many times I take the NCLEX is enough, and I'll give up if I do not pass it this time...the attitude should be: as long as it takes to pass it for each time you take it and fail it, you learn something important about yourself and your test taking strategies. There are some people who are really good at taking tests besides they have a good grasp of critical thinking skills, etc....there are so many factors involved! The bottom line is the NCLEX is testing primarily your nursing judgment and discretion, your ability to think critically and solve problems for as a nurse you are expected to make safe and competent decisions about patient care. How many times you take the NCLEX is not definitely a predictor of what kind of nurse you'll be whether it takes you 100 times to pass it or it takes you once to pass it. That is like talking about limes and lemons they are both citrus, but there are many differences between both fruits. That faulty reasoning is similar to believing that taking the NCLEX so many times and not passing it you should give up because not passing for the first time is a predictor of your skills as a nurse. feliz3

I have this article which I found interesting: Does the NCLEX Pass the Test of Cultural Sensitivity? Please, follow the link below.

http://www.minoritynurse.com/features/undergraduate/06-02-03.html

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It does not matter how many times you have tested! As long as you finally become an RN.

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Gee.......where do I begin? It upset me and enraged me all at the same time. Well.....I am an RN and I work in long term care. The places that I work at might make me want to quit THAT place in particular....but never nursing. I love what a do. I am a nurse. But....I am not one of them smart test takers that passed on the first try. Sorry. Some of you people that replied? Well.......What category would you put me in? Would you wnat me taking care of you and/or your loved ones? I have MAJOR test anxiety. Someone would even MENTION the NCLEX and m heart would race, I would feel nauseated, etc. I took refresher courses, I went through hypnosis, used the review books and did tests on the computer. The last thing that I did was go to my dr and tell him how anxious I was getting about the test. RETAKING it...that is. He put me on Buspar, and I could remain calm and study....the first step in comprehending everything. IT helped!!! Trust me!! I also had family and friends that would NOT let me gie up, despite wanting to do so on my own. I graduated from nursing school in 1990. I took it for the 5th time....and passed....in 2000. 10 years, people!!!! Some of you, I read, agree to a " three strikes and you're out" rule. I guess I would be out. I wanted it BAD!!! I wanted to be a nurse since I was a little girl I know....I was a little girl. But that dream never changed. I volunteered at the hospital and local nursing home, and I knew going into junior high school that I needed good grades and what classes that I wanted to take.

So....10 years inbetween. What did I do? I kept subscriptons to nursing magazines, I learned on the job as an aide. I worked in fast food. I read, I learned, and I didnt give up. Even IF I had wanted to...Like I said...I had friends and family that did /not allow that. This is what I really WANTED. I worked really really hard to achieve this. And I never forgot what it took to get me to this point in my career. I still dont forget it. I am good at what I do. I put my heart into my work. It is not a job. Its a career. Its a calling. I knwo that God meant for me to be a nurse. HE wanted to see and convince me how BADLY that I wanted it and how BADLY I would work towards it.

Bottom line......I am good at what I do. We never EVER stop learning as a nurse....no matter what field we work in.

It is NOT written on our forheads what our GPA was in hs or what it was in nursing school. Nobody knows our class rankings. When we work on our patients/residents....we are all nurses. I had good grades in hs and in nursing school. I got nervous. BIG TIME!!!! But now..I AM a nurse!!! Just like all of you that responded here. I dont tell my residens or their families how many times that it took me to pass. I take care of them as I do all of them, everyday that I go to work.

I AM A NURSE AND i AM PROUD OF IT!!!

This is damn encouraging!!!! I lyk

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I have three personal experiences that I would like to share regarding taking/passing/failing the NCLEX-RN.

I'm sure everyone has had a least one of these types of people in their class. The know-it-all, booksmart student. I have a friend who was that student. Really nice, cool person.Top of the class and she had so much confidence in herself. She took the exam 4 times and still to this day has not passed. It's a sad story because she gave up and is pursuing another career.

I got another friend whose character mirrors that of Stifler from American Pie. This guy is a party animal. How he got into nursing, I will never know. This guy used Kaplan and Saunders and passed the first time. He's a good guy but personally I would not want any of my family members under his care.

During my last week of nursing school, my clinical instructor opened the floor to any questions regarding our nursing career. Now my clinical instructor has been around for a long time. Her resume stretches far as the Mississippi River and she has seen the evolution of nursing unfold right before her eyes. As new grads, of course one of our concerns was the NCLEX-RN exam. And I will never forget what she said about it. She said the NCLEX-RN will never determine whether you are going to be a good nurse or not. The only think that test can determine is how well you can memorize/retain information.

I'm sure there are a lot of other strories surrounding the NCLEX exam. These are mine and I found them very interesting. Just thought I'd share.

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Thank you for the encouraging thoughts and congratulation on your own success story. feliz3

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You are amazing! Congratulations. feliz3

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