NCLEX-RN tomorrow at 8am

JRich · Jun 6, 2012

I think Hurst helped. I only used the Kaplan book. I studied for 2 weeks.

JRich · Jun 6, 2012

I took the exam on 6-4, already passed.

olliesmommy1005 · Jun 6, 2012

Ha! I was freaking out over not having my Chapstick too!! I was happy they didn't give me a problem about my Pandora bracelet with my kids initials on it.....was my good luck charm all through school!!

JRich · Jun 6, 2012

I even asked if I could put a glob of chapstick on the top of my hand. THey said no. I was so bumbed. At question 16 I started freaking out about my chapstick and started looking around for my chapstick.

OhioITNurse · Jun 6, 2012

Congratulations!

I'm surprised they wouldn't let you put the chapstick on your hand, but I guess they need to have strict rules.

makiko8 · Jun 7, 2012

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to take this time to share my NCLEX-RN (Cali) experience with you because this site was the only reason that has kept me sane since my boards taken on June 4, 2012. Also, it appears that there weren't any posts that talks about taking the exam and the time running out.

On monday morning (8am), I took my exam with a splitting headache, huge knot in my stomach and heart pounding for the entire 6 hours. Fortunately, the nausea stopped but returned after the exam.

My questions went to 218 with 5 seconds left. I didn't want to answer it as #217 was a question I answered correctly. Unfortunately, I had to answer #218 in order to proceed to the survey. According to Kaplan (I took the review course), when time runs out, the last sixty questions are counted. So the count should start at #158, which is pretty scary cuz I don't recall any easy questions (well maybe 20 questions I knew off the bat).

Anyway, I left the facility feeling like a failure...defeated. Like majority of you, I wanted to crawl under a rock in a fetal position and just rot. But I couldn't bc I have a toddler child that has been a trooper thru-out nursing school and during the 3 weeks I studied for this hard*** exam. So i owed it to her that she shouldn't be subjected to a incoherent half-hearted mom.

That following evening, I did the PVT (thanks to this site ) and read all your testimonials (thank you for those that did not pass and had the courage to post and give us your insights). I did get the "good" pop up which alleviated some of the anxiety. However, there's always this uncertainty that perhaps you are the exception to the rule and this trick doesn't work for you cuz you've had such a hard knock life and you're going to have to face, yet, another challenge to overcome...failing the exam.

This morning, with the good graces of God, I passed. What an emotional roller coaster ride.

For those who have passed: Congrats!

For those that are waiting to PASS: Keep your head up and don't give up. The toughest part was going thru the nursing program with those crazy*** militant instructors that made sure you folded those damn sheets wrinkle-free hospital bed in less than 10 minutes. We had to deal with the worst power-trip instructors on a daily basis for years. They broke us down emotionally and physically but we graduated.

Anyway, very quickly, I took 3 weeks off work. I studied 4-6 hors a day. I paid for Kaplan. Initially, I listened to their content to refresh the material. Then I did their questions (1800) and reviewed all the rationales. The night before, i had to do some reviewing. Throughout the program, I always reviewed and i was too anxious to not review. So i did 30 more questions (scored 77%) and reviewed s/s of certain diseases for reinforcement.

Nonetheless, it was still a very difficult exam. I was thrown a lot of community health SATA questions that touched on spirituality/religion that I did not know so the true/false application was difficult to apply-pure guessing game. I got none of the disease questions: hypo/hyperthyr etc. It was very frustrating. This test is about test taking strategy so if you struggled during nursing school with test taking...youre in for a real ride but it is doable as I have been a terrible test taker. Kaplan helped with their questions-doing a lot; Sitting in their class and listen to the instructor break it down; eliminate first, then choose your answer. In school, I always went straight to the answer. As we realize now, there are 2 good answers, which is the best answer is the correct choice. Unfortunately, down to the last two, they both look the best.

Okay, that was my experience and I really wish you all the best. Once again, thank you to those that shared their post about getting the "bad" pop up and failed. It is a hard pill to swallow but put in the hours and focus on one study material that will help you dissect each question.

nurse671 · Jun 7, 2012

Congrats to you! :) I bet your toddler is very proud of you.

Dcmom · Jun 9, 2012

congrats! i wanna know how you manage to study while taking care of your little one cause i have an infant as well and i find it very hard to find time. tia.