what to do next? failed NCLEX-RN on Friday :( HELP!!

Nursing Students NCLEX

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I took my exam Friday did the Quick results yesterday (Sunday) and paid 8 bucks to find out I failed. Now I'm devastated and don't know what to do next! I took 265 questions in 4 1/2 hours and walked out not feeling very confident, tired, and already depressed! I have been out of school for over a year b/c I had to complete non-nursing courses to complete my degree so that my nursing school could send my "degree of completion" down for my license and to take my exam. I used our school's required prep-course, ATI and was getting great scores on their practice assessments. I also used KAPLAN's strategies, practice, and review book but read over it fast and plan to read it again and this time take my time.

On my exam I got a ton of SATA, delegation, prioritizing, and infection control questions. I also got alot of medications I have never heard of and was surprised that I only got three med calculation questions? Not sure what that means??? In addition I kept getting questions over the same topics which I felt confident on before and when I would see the same topic again I would question whether or not I had answered correctly. Earlier today I read on another thread that if you take too long to answer certain questions NCLEX will test you again on the same question. Is this true? I am normally a fast test taker but several people had told me to TAKE MY TIME....and after the first two hours I was getting really restless and couldn't focus.

I have been studying diligently and the thought of opening more NCLEX books is not what I wanted to be spending my summer doing but now more than ever do I want to take this exam and PASS. I am not sure where to begin!! HELP!!!! what books should I buy to study? and what to do?

P.S. does anyone know how long it will take for me to get my Performance Report back from Pearson Vue??? and how to use it?

Thank you so much everyone!

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Well first of all you are not alone because I failed with my nclex pn and i'm preparing for the 3rd time. I am also wasting my summer away studying for this freaking thing. My advice? JUST continue to study don't take time off because you will forget what you already studied from the last time. I wish I woulda studied right away but i was too devastated when i found out i failed. I could of had this done by now if I woulda sucked it up. JUST continue at it... seriously. This is just a stupid test-perfect world nursing. we don't live in it.

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Hey i failed my NCLEX RN 3 times and I finally passed on the 4th time last week. It has been 2 years since i graduated. First of all: DO NOT Give Up!! This last time I used the Saunders book. It has review chapters of all nursing material (i called it nursing school in one book) and it comes with a Cd with over 4000 questions. i think this book helped me bc i was out of school for awhile and I needed the review of the material. I also got alot of infection control, prioritizing and select all that apply. It seems like so many people who recently took it got the same type of questions. There is a book for strictly prioritization ( sorry cant remeber the name). My pearson vue results for the times i failed took about 2-3 weeks to be mailed to my house. Dont give up just keep trying. If it was easy everyone would do it! Good Luck

ps there is a Saunders book with strictly questions but i knew i needed the review one

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believeallispossible

ChrissybRN

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Make certain that when you plan out your studying for your retry, that you study as if you had never tested before. People are tempted to gloss over or even skip areas in their review because their mind tricks them into believing they "already know it". Don't make this mistake.

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Make certain that when you plan out your studying for your retry, that you study as if you had never tested before. People are tempted to gloss over or even skip areas in their review because their mind tricks them into believing they "already know it". Don't make this mistake.

Thank you for your advice! I went to B&N and scoped out the Saunders book yesterday....the 5th edition is $60. and $40 online, I've heard alot of people saying they've studied the 4th edition which is much cheaper does anyone know if it's a big difference?

Also anyone know of the prioritization and delegation book alot of people are talking about?

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Hey Reese, I recently took my NcLex last Friday July 15th and passed. The book you are requesting more information on is: Prioritization, Delegation and Assignment by Linda Lacharity. This book is a LIFE-SAVER. It strictly focuses on the P/D/A, and its analytical and application style Q's t will ensure your guaranteed pass on the NCLEX. I suggest you use this book a week and a half before your test.

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Going to 265 means you were near passing but eventually not enough to pass. I also went to 265 in 5 hours and failed, I received my performance review in a week and was near passing on everything. Ive been using Saunders, La Charity and exam cram. Ive also done the Kaplan Qtrainers questions. Im taking my 2nd attempt next week and Im crazy nervous.

You have 1 1/2 month to study, review your content and do a lot of questions and read the rationales. Good luck.

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@ReeceB321--Congrats on passing! Thanks on the suggestion I will have to review it around that time!

@linsmirn--Good Luck as you study!! I am also doing Saunders 5th edition, Kaplan Review Book, and have the Exam Cram and Saunders practice question books! I was near passing on everything but Infection Control on my performance review which sort of made me more sad b/c I knew I was close but look at it as motivation that you were so close!! Remember next week to relax the day before your exam, get plenty of rest, and eat a good light breakfast (things I did not do) but will this time ;)

Also my goal for tackling Saunders for anyone reading is to figure out how fast you want to get through it, then divide the book into sections you need to get done each week-->then goals that need read daily to meet that. I go through reading and highlighting chapter by chapter. Then about a week or so later go back through and do the ch. summary questions to see what I still remember or need to re-review and take notes on the important points!

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I meant that I re-do the ch. summary questions and read the rationales for all of them!!

A good point:

A strong positive attitude, belief in yourself, control, and a list of personal goals will help lead you to becoming a registered nurse!! Your study plan should have a schedule of daily, weekly, or even monthly goals you want to achieve and the more you stick to your schedule the more control and power you will feel to enhance your retention and positive momentum!

This is true for me, when I slack of for a few days I start getting anxiety and thinking about all the negatives..like if I fail again..etc. but the more I study and get through each day relieves my anxiety and build confidence!

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Sorry I keep posting on my own thread!

just wanted to post a link I found on another thread: http://goo.gl/hGHlm

if that one doesn't work then this is the same page just different link:

http://tinyurl.com/65rkpk2

I haven't check through it in-depth but it looks good so far!

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Specializes in Trauma/ ED/ ICU.

I paid the ~$8 and failed NCLEX-RN (1st attempt). Took my exam 2 days ago with 260 questions and 9 minutes on the clock. Asked me the SAME QUESTIONS over and over again: forgot conversion of oz. to mL. I studied my butt off... 8-12 hours per day since the day I graduated. I think it was just luck of the draw... EVERYONE in my class passed flying colors... with 75 questions... they are all on their way to finding work. Its a very frustrating, sad, upsetting, angering situation. Moving forward... I am not gonna ask for advice on how to study... that part I believe again is LUCK of what the computer throws at you... but I do have a question about the process... now that I know that I failed... what do I do? Do I do the exact same procedure again with my BON and Pearson Vue...???? Can I even reschedule an exam???? I know the whole wait 45-90 days... but I am not sure if thats after you re-due the ENTIRE registration process like before... Can someone who really knows the answer to this get back to me? I am crying and driving my entire family nuts... and besides this blog I am basically a deer frozen in headlights. Thank you. / P.S. I know exactly how you feel... I was drained the entire test... 35 questions through and I needed my break... I was hot in that room and felt light headed from thinking... I too spent too much time on the questions. I usually never spend 2 hours on 35 questions... I wasn't expecting it to go past 75 because I felt confident through the ones I was already doing. Questions repeated after the 85 quest. mark... before that I felt fine.

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