NCLEX 2018

Published Jun 4, 2018

Reenie1995

1 Post

I wanted to share my success story with nursing students who are preparing for the NLCEX. I graduated May 2017 from a college in PA with my BSN. My school required all graduating seniors to take the ATI NCLEX stimulation exam before we would be signed off to the state , saying that we can take our boards. I took a "pre" NCLEX stimulation which said that I had a 96% Of passing the NCLEX?! Great!! Well of course when it came to taking the real NCLEX ATI stimulation (which determines if we would be signed off to take boards) it said I only had a 92% Of passing which was not acceptable at my school. I graduated and enjoyed the beginning of my summer before going back to take the exam in July. It said that I had a 98% chance of passing the NCLEX. I went home that day and paid Pearson Vue and registered with the board to take my exam. Two weeks later i got my Authorization to test (ATT) emailed to me. I scheduled the exam for the beginning of August. I didn't have the pleasure of not working like some, so I figured an additional four weeks of studying while working my full time summer job would be enough time. A few days before the test I would question if I was really ready to take the NCLEX. Yeah , so what if the stimulation test said I had a 98% Of passing? How right could that really be? I knew I was smart, but was I that smart?? Long story short I continued to reschedule my test date until it was to late to. My ATT expired and I was back at square one. (Do not and I repeat DO NOT let your ATT expire, PA was 90 days, is it really worth paying the fees to test all OVER again? Absolutely not) . I continued to work my full time job and somehow life got ahead of me. I accepted a GN Obstetrics job (my dream) in October 2017. Unlike most hospitals this one didn't have a specific time frame in which you had to take the NCLEX once being hired. I thought it would be no problem to work 5, 8hour shifts and study each night after work. (Easier said than done that's for sure). In April of 2018 (yup it was suddenly 2018!!) I received an email from my professor who said that PA had a new policy in place that all GN nurses had to take the NCLEX within one year of graduating. So it was suddenly April 2018 and I had to take my NCLEX in May?! I become so anxious! I submitted all my paper work and got my ATT within five business days. I scheduled my NCLEX for the 18th of May 2018. I studied for four weeks while working 36 hour work weeks. I worked 3-11. So my study plan for the next three weeks was waking up at 7A and studying until 1P. Then making a large cup of coffee when I got home around midnight and studying until 2A-4A. I was committed. I kid you not I was so submersed in studying that I would dream about test questions. I would lay down before going to sleep and would look up NCLEX success stories. I was praying that the statistics were not right. I would read about how everyday that passes by your chance of passing the NCLEX decreases. I decided to think only positive and tell myself I was going to pass on my first try. I wanted to speak things into existence. It was somewhere around the first week of May (my second week studying when I decided to look for a closer NCLEX date). My local testing center did not have any closer test dates and something inside me knew To have faith and schedule it sooner. I moved my test date from May 18th to May 12th. That gave me one more week to study. I focused on my weeknesses and took every test I could take.

Test day: ( Is anyone still reading this?,long post I know!) May 12, 2018. I drove from PA to Jersey City, NJ to take my NCLEX. The initial process is intimidating. They scan your palm vein and have you pat down. Even my pony tail had to be lifted up! My test was set for 2pm. I finished at 3pm. I only got 75 questions, most multiple choice. Now i read that if you get multiple choice questions that meant you were doing pretty good. (Those were considered harder questions) . But please do not think that you are smart enough to know what NCLEX questions are considered more difficult.... Now 75 questions can go two ways. Either I did spectacular and the NCLEX considered me a competent nurse with the minimum amount of questions or I got that many questions wrong that the NCLEX determines there was no way I was a competent nurse. Let me mention some important details. My palm scan failed the first time post testing because I was clammy! My test also froze on me mid way. Because of this when I tried to do the Pearson Vue trick i was told " Results on Hold." Now there are many other reasons why it might say this . But mine were two reasons that the test center would have to review me taking the test to confirm it was actually me and that my results were not altered. After the longest 48 hours of my life I paid Pearson Vue for quick results. It said "Pass"!! I could not have been more relived. I did not give myself enough credit. I did not think i was smart enough to get the minimum amount of questions. It felt like a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders, it was great but.... lol I wanted to see the official results posted on the BON site. Welp just my luck my official results weren't posted until almost three weeks after taking my test. I could not have been more happier to see my new license number!! I hope this inspires graduates who haven't taken the NCLEX yet or who are about to.

Be confident in yourself.

Focus less on freaking out about what you don't know, and remember who much you do know!

If you made it through nursing school, you can make it through the NCLEX!!

Incase anyone one is interested in the materials I used to study.

I created a three week calendar to make sure I covered all topics and kept a schedule for myself.

I rather study like crazy for a shorter period of time than study little bits at a time for a loooong time.

ATI

HESI notes

NCLEX RN mastery APP

Nursing school notes