Out of school 2 years and needing NCLEX help

Published

I graduated nursing school 2 years ago. I sat for NCLEX 3 unsuccessful times. The last time was a year ago and I haven't looked at material since then. Because I did the Pearson trick and it accepted my credit card payment, rather than lose $200 without trying, I reschedule to take the exam the last possible date I could, early April. I've always felt I was failing due to lack of content knowledge. So since I haven't studied in a year, I've definitely lost content. I'm beyond overwhelmed going through school notes. They're helpful but I'm stressing out over my time frame to study. I'm afraid I'm not going to get through it all and be prepared for the test come April 12th. I've gone through a hurst review book and taking questions through PrepU. Is there anyone else that's been in a similar situation as me and can give me some advice? Thanks for any help

Thanks for that encouragement

listen I don't mean to damper your day but the fact that you've not past three times in a row should tell you something what was your GPA in school not that that really gives you any indication of passing the boards you could have a 1.5 and still pass the boards . how I never even went to school to be an LPN and I took the boards for that and passed. I don't know where you are located but you should look up a review course in Massachusetts there is something called the Anderson review and it's done by the person with that last name and his passing rate is nearly 100% so look for that in your state

Don't mean to be a damper, now do ya? Well I don't mean to be rude, however, your comments are neither helpful nor motivating. Remember that thing in nursing school called therapeutic communication?

Uworld and Saunders

[quote "how I never even went to school to be an LPN and I took the boards for that and passed."

Curious - how were you able to take the LPN exam without training? Do you live in a state that permits admission to the exam without prior LPN coursework?

Thanks!

If you have your RN degree, I believe you can sit for LPN, due to the fact you met the qualifications and then some. I've been suggested to take LPN boards I'm unsuccessful this go around. Get the license, work, and start focusing on knowing more critical thinking skills.

@aw722 Hi! I was browsing the forums and your post caught my eye cause I was somehow in a similar situation. Don't lose hope! I graduated nursing in a foreign country a long time ago, in fact almost 10 years, and I haven't practiced since then. I know you can do it! I know reviewing content can be really overwhelming especially if you took a long time off from studying. There's a lot of content and I didn't know where to start and how to tackle it and I was panicking. What worked for me was that I answered 75-150 questions per day and really reviewed the rationales. And for the stuff that I didn't know and didn't understand from the rationales I reviewed content. I used Kaplan's live online and their Qbank. I used up every question they had and I also read their book for content review. But before starting my review, I wrote a timeline to follow and mapped out what I'd do for each day. (It doesn't have to be a strict timeline, you can adjust it as you go along and give yourself some days off from studying) I gave myself a month and a half to finish the goal I'd set. I also prayed a lot while studying :) Took the NCLEX last 2/26 and thankfully all the hard work and praying worked out.

I hope this helps you a bit!

Just took the nclex 3 days ago and found out I passed. I had 75 questions, and was out of school for more than a year. I used u world and answered the whole qbank twice, then went over the ones I got wrong again. You can do it!!

[quote "how I never even went to school to be an LPN and I took the boards for that and passed."

Curious - how were you able to take the LPN exam without training? Do you live in a state that permits admission to the exam without prior LPN coursework?

Thanks!

If you have your RN degree, I believe you can sit for LPN, due to the fact you met the qualifications and then some. I've been suggested to take LPN boards I'm unsuccessful this go around. Get the license, work, and start focusing on knowing more critical thinking skills.

Notes Sent...

I couldnt do the private message thing.. Is there a way you can private message me?

Hello, I've tutored many students (many who have failed 2 or 3 times), and they have ALL (so far, knock on wood) gone on to pass the NCLEX. Over time, I've seen several common themes among these students.

1) They have really lost confidence in themselves and their education.

2) They do not have a structured study plan.

3) They are intimidated to the point of doing nothing (one person had a brand new review book that was literally untouched, despite failing multiple times) or quitting.

My advice to you is this:

1) Choose the review book you want to use, and stick to it. There are lots out there, you are not going to go over all of them. Saunders and Hurst are both excellent. You do not need to memorize every fact out there, but cover the material, and especially focus on the areas that your CPRs points you towards.

2) Definitely do questions, questions, questions. In my personal opinion, UWorld is the best one, with the best format, questions, and great rationales. Be really strict with yourself, and force yourself to stick to a plan and the number of questions you are going to do.

3) Get someone who will keep you accountable with all the above. This may be your spouse or S.O., or a study buddy.

As a matter of fact, if you comb through all the forum threads and the countless NCLEX testimonials, many of them corroborate what I've just listed here. And let me say that the majority of people will do great with just the above. The people who are really self-motivated and diligent will be fine.

However, if you have failed multiple times, you need to really be honest with yourself and examine your methods. You cannot repeat the same action over and over again and expect a different result. If you haven't actually taken the steps above (like that student who hadn't cracked a review book, or another student who did very few questions) or haven't followed the advice in this forum, you should be strict with yourself and actually do it. You may need some outside help or a tutor. Sometimes, that extra boost is what takes you over the top. One of the reasons I love tutoring people who have failed the NCLEX multiple times is that I feel like I've really made a difference, I've helped someone who had been in despair and helped them remove a great roadblock to their career. Find someone reputable in your area, or online. If you happen to be in the NYC/NJ area, or you are open to sessions over Skype, you can contact me, and I will be happy to show you personally why I've had so much success tutoring for the NCLEX.

There is a lot of great advice on this forum. I wouldn't take any one person's (even mine) advice as infallible truth. But when so many people with success are saying similar things, it might be worth heeding.

Best of luck!

Hello! I tried replying way long ago but it seems I'm having trouble. Anyway, would you mind emailing me? I'd like to let you know what I've done in the past and what I'm doing differently this time and get your feedback and possibly a tutoring session setup. Thanks! [email protected]

+ Join the Discussion