Nclex 2015-2016 (read this if you need encouragement)

[jherd]

I just wanted to tell briefly tell my nclex story and hopefully it can inspire some confidence in others taking the nclex.

My backstory is that I am a 39 year old male that got laid off from a very good job and went back to school with my Veterans benefits to study nursing.

I was able to enter a nursing program immediately and I took the prerequisite courses at the same time as the core nursing program courses. And to add to that, I had basically zero medical background.

So my life was hell for two years, even in the summer. Honestly, I was introduced to medical subjects in my pre-reqs and tested on them in an advanced critical thinking exams in my core nursing courses in the same week. I crammed so much, so fast.

We used Kaplan prep tools and I NEVER passed the nclex predictor exams. I took two official test and tried hard and failed them both. So much so that our instructors pulled us aside and

I graduated in May and my son and daughter had birthdays, so I didn't have the $200 to schedule the nclex. Also, I didn't have the $350 for the Hurst review that was conducted at our school either.

I had to get a summer job. So I was working full time. So I took a month off from studying, actually it was 7 weeks. I scheduled and took the nclex in late July. Truthfully, I tried to study for the nclex the first week after I graduated and I literally could not do it. I couldn't take another test. I couldn't read anymore technical medical information. It felt so good to be out of nursing school and I was working 50 hours a week with 2 days off.

So I quit my job a week before the nclex and studied about 2 hours a day. The Kaplan recommends getting a 60% on their tests as a predictor of nclex success. I usually scored from 40-50% on their tests.

Which leads me to the encouragement. So nclex day, I had little confidence, but I paid 200 so I showed up. I took the test. I had 150 questions. I had only about 10 select all. I had plenty of questions I wasn't sure about. AND IPASSED!!!!

The moral to this story is not to do what I did, do the opposite. Do what they tell you and take 10,000 practice questions and be fully prepared for the nclex.

The moral to my story is I was physically and mentally drained, dead broke / falling apart financially and burnt out so bad I cringed at the thought of reading nursing material. I had very low confidence I would pass and I did.

So to those that experience adversity as nursing students don't give up, don't doubt yourself and you WILL do it!

[missmollie, ADN, BSN, RN]

Congrats on passing the NCLEX! Regardless of how you studied or what you studied, you did it. I think the actual moral to your story is about perseverance in the face of adversity. Rather than blaming society or yourself, you assessed your situation and came up with the alternative of nursing school. I think you'll do just fine with patient care.

[jherd]

Thank you for being nice to me. I haven't had much of that lately.