NCLEX RN - failed three times in Canada.

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Hello everyone,

I am from Canada where this year was the first year the NCLEX RN exam has been administered as our licensing exam. I am a student who graduated the program with distinction. I worked my butt off for four years, and now I'm stuck trying to pass this exam. I have taken it three times, wrote the full 265 questions each time and ended up right under the mark. I'm devastated. I love nursing, and I'm determined to not give up. I have used different study materials, but I'm just lost on where I should go from here. Any advice from multiple test takers?

Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
We can only attempt the test three times, but you can apply for a fourth rewrite, if the board feels that it was circumstances such as anxiety, death in the family, etc that caused you to have problems with passing the test. I am strong student academically and I know my material. I think it is the format of the test and the questions that really get me. On practice tests I was scoring anywhere from high 50's to mid 70's.

It's rare to get a 4th attempt. What extenuating circumstances are you using considering you graduated with distinction.

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Yes I did have test anxiety in school. My program like many others across the country, prepared us for the CRNE which was the previous exam used for entry to practice for RNs. Many of my fellow nursing peers are struggling with this exam as well. I am debating on just coming down to the States for another rewrite. I refuse to give up my dream of being a Registered Nurse.

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I haven't taken the NCLEX yet however most of my classmates have and passed first try, most with 75-100 questions. However we are all RPNs also, im not sure if that's why many have passed....I heard UWorld and Hurst were what helped them. I also understand it is rare for someone to get a 4th attempt. from what I have read Texas allows Canadian educated nursing grads to attempt the NCLEX...good luck.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
Yes I did have test anxiety in school. My program like many others across the country, prepared us for the CRNE which was the previous exam used for entry to practice for RNs. Many of my fellow nursing peers are struggling with this exam as well. I am debating on just coming down to the States for another rewrite. I refuse to give up my dream of being a Registered Nurse.

I didn't know you could just pop on down to another country, take their nursing licensing exam, then go back to your home country and get your license. Will a license obtained in, say, Vermont, have reciprocity in Ontario (or wherever you're from)?

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I am unsure. All I know is that many of the states offer more than three writes. The Ontario Union has asked for the Ontario board to consider unlimited rewrites as many students are struggling to pass the exam in Canada. When I started the nursing program I was interested in coming down and nursing in the states.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.

You might want to nail that down before you do it. If you've failed three times in your country, then go to another country and somehow pass, you may find out that your country of origin will still deny you a license because you still didn't pass it within their allotted number of tries. It's similar to what some people have tried here. They failed too many times to retake the test in their home state, so they took the test in another state and passed. When they tried to go back home and get a license, they were still turned down because they didn't meet the requirements for licensure.

You may also get turned down to take it in the US, if you've exceeded the amount of tries the state allows. Some have limits, others do not.

Make sure you do your due diligence before spending that kind of money.

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Thank you for the advice. I have done some research already, and I intend to do more before making any decisions.

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Hi OP

Hmm interesting, I didn't know it was at all possible to re-take NCLEX in Ontario a fourth time!

What I can suggest is Hurst Reviews, really excellent review of core content and they teach NCLEX strategies that I think can really benefit you... i think it's totally worth the money. The problem may be that you don't know how to answer questions strategically, using NCLEX methods.

I think you may not know your core content as well as you say you do, and i'm also basing this on fact that you said you were scoring 50s to 70s for practice tests, you should be testing pretty consistently, it should be a consistent number, not one that leaps from low to high and back again... this is just from personal experience. I used UWorld and Hurst Reviews, and some Kaplan qs. was testing consistently at 67% with UWorld, no matter how many questions i did.

With regards to testing in US, call the Board of nursing for the state you're interested in, and ask them about pre-reqs for NCLEX testing after 3 attempts in ON.

Good luck!

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Hello,

I used Hurst for mine and it really helped me grasp core content better, but if you really think that you know your content well, as in nothing can change your mind about it then just do lots and lots of practice questions. Do many uworld questions as much as you can and review each rationale. How are you doing with the questions? And yeah don't overthink esp. with SATA do not change the ones you have already picked the first time you did because chances are you are already right.

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Hey, isn't the limit on test taking in Canada, 3? I'm just wondering how you're able to test take more than that?

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