NCLEX - It must be all a myth.

[RnRnurse]

Hello. I am a recent BSN graduate who also took the NCLEX-RN last week. I currently have an EMT job working for peanuts doing 50-60 hours a week trying to find time for studying and the family. I was incredibly anxious waiting to take the NCLEX as I knew two people who both did five hours with 265 questions. One passed and the other failed.

I longingly waited for my ATT and had been studying from about 20 minutes a day to three hours a day depending upon my work schedule. I used Hesi, made flash cards, wrote notes, did the NCLEX RN mastery app, and a friend gave me their log in to Kaplan as I didn't have the money for it.

I began studying hard since graduation in May and where as several of my comrades received their ATT, tested, passed, and started work as early as June and July, I was still waiting for the ATT. I was anxious knowing that the longer you wait the worse your chances at passing are. I even researched what higher level and lower level questions were and the myth of "if your last NCLEX question isn't higher level then you failed" and also "if you get a lot of SATA questions you're doing good".

I finally got my ATT the second week of August and figured the only way I knew I was going to be ready was to just take it. Maybe it was a smart idea, maybe not. I had plateaued my practice test scores in the mid-fifties and felt I couldn't do any better. How am I going to know everything? I felt if I had a good grasp of strategy then I would be okay.

Test day came. I went in and after #75, #76 came up. And it just kept coming. #100, then #150, then #200, then #250, then #265, then blue screen. I had maybe 25 SATA and maybe 40 priority questions. I had a lot of scenario/outcome and a lot of general knowledge/recall questions.

I was devastated. My last question was a general knowledge/recall question. I knew I failed. I also had a lot of repeat/reworded contact precaution questions. I felt I didn't know a damn thing on that test and I did a lot of guessing. I was sure I failed. I knew it in my heart. I prepared for looking for another job, putting in as many hours as I could for my current and how was I going to pay rent let alone pay for the NCLEX again?

I found out I passed. Don't know how I did it, but I passed. I guess what I'm trying to say is is that maybe all the NCLEX myths are just myths. Study the best you can, do your best and you will succeed. If you do not, don't give up. Keep going.

[BloggerNurse]

Oh I see. I'll wait for the CPR then. I guess they will mail it to me in a week or two. Thank you! :)

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

BloggerNurse said:

Oh I see. I'll wait for the CPR then. I guess they will mail it to me in a week or two. Thank you! ?

No problem. Philippines....yah, kinda what I suspected. LOW passing rate for NCLEX. Someone else here was posting about being a US citizen who chose a cheaper nursing education (in the Philippines) but now he's paying for it big time because he hasn't been able to pass the exam

From what I can gather, it seems the content of the nursing curriculum itself is considerably lacking. Some States require additional coursework before being allowed to get a license in those States; California requires at least two, and sometimes it's faster/cheaper to repeat a nursing program entirely than to jump through the hoops required to patch in the missing pieces bit by bit for each State.

If that's the situation you're in, I'd have to suggest starting (once you have your CPR and have a direction!) with Hurst, or another content-heavy program (I hear LaCharity is popular too). You need to learn what it is you didn't learn in nursing school. After that, make sure you apply the knowledge well; the NCLEX doesn't permit you to simply memorize facts and spit them back out onto the test to pass. You have to demonstrate the ability to know what to DO with the content you've learned.....and that's a weakness of the foreign programs primarily.

[angrykitten]

You can't really tell for sure how your first 75 are going based on questions that seem easy or difficult. Remember that fifteen of those questions do not contribute to your pass/fail. They are unscored questions the NCLEX is testing on you.

[rnICU303, BSN, CNA, RN]

RnRnurse said:

Hello. I am a recent BSN graduate who also took the NCLEX-RN last week. I currently have an EMT job working for peanuts doing 50-60 hours a week trying to find time for studying and the family. I was incredibly anxious waiting to take the NCLEX as I knew two people who both did five hours with 265 questions. One passed and the other failed.

I longingly waited for my ATT and had been studying from about 20 minutes a day to three hours a day depending upon my work schedule. I used Hesi, made flash cards, wrote notes, did the NCLEX RN mastery app, and a friend gave me their log in to Kaplan as I didn't have the money for it.

I began studying hard since graduation in May and where as several of my comrades received their ATT, tested, passed, and started work as early as June and July, I was still waiting for the ATT. I was anxious knowing that the longer you wait the worse your chances at passing are. I even researched what higher level and lower level questions were and the myth of "if your last NCLEX question isn't higher level then you failed" and also "if you get a lot of SATA questions you're doing good".

I finally got my ATT the second week of August and figured the only way I knew I was going to be ready was to just take it. Maybe it was a smart idea, maybe not. I had plateaued my practice test scores in the mid-fifties and felt I couldn't do any better. How am I going to know everything? I felt if I had a good grasp of strategy then I would be okay.

Test day came. I went in and after #75, #76 came up. And it just kept coming. #100, then #150, then #200, then #250, then #265, then blue screen. I had maybe 25 SATA and maybe 40 priority questions. I had a lot of scenario/outcome and a lot of general knowledge/recall questions.

I was devastated. My last question was a general knowledge/recall question. I knew I failed. I also had a lot of repeat/reworded contact precaution questions. I felt I didn't know a damn thing on that test and I did a lot of guessing. I was sure I failed. I knew it in my heart. I prepared for looking for another job, putting in as many hours as I could for my current and how was I going to pay rent let alone pay for the NCLEX again?

I found out I passed. Don't know how I did it, but I passed. I guess what I'm trying to say is is that maybe all the NCLEX myths are just myths. Study the best you can, do your best and you will succeed. If you do not, don't give up. Keep going.

Congrats to you for passing! May you continue with the determination and fortitude to soldier through in your nursing career. 😊

[Phieruwa]

I failed the first time at 75 questions. I was so sure I had passed after reading a lot of stories about computer shutting at 75 and tons of people passing. I took the NCLEX again yesterday and this time I wanted more questions but it shut of again at 75 now I am so scared. I am waiting to see what happened. So scared. Fingers crossed.