Passed NCLEX COVID 2020- short notice

Nursing Students NCLEX

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Hi everyone!! I took my NCLEX 3 days ago and just wanted to share my experience because it was really unusual and super scary for me but it ended up working out fine. I hope this can help someone prepare for their upcoming exam during the pandemic.

My intention was to take my NCLEX in about 3-4 weeks from now...and I planned to do the most studying after I got scheduled and I took the few weeks after graduation pretty relaxed as far as studying goes. I got my auth to test last Thursday.

As many of you probably know the testing centers are booking out quite a ways and I couldn't find a spot until October which was a huge bummer because I'm impatient and also didn't want all that fresh knowledge to leave me.

One of the testing centers a bit further away had a single opening two days later and in a panic I scheduled it because I really REALLY wanted to have a shot at being done with this whole thing. So, I did a whole bunch of questions on ATI for the next two days but I didn't over-do it because I figured if I knew the information...I already knew it.

Fast forward to test day and I was optimistic that somehow it would be easier than I imagined...I graduated top of my class so this was going to be cake!

The staff at my local testing center were so sweet and that helped me calm down quite a bit. But when I got into that test room I felt like a toddler...and like I didn't know a single question aside from the first one. I felt like such a jerk for thinking I could possibly pass the test with a day and a half of serious studying when some people study for months. I actually considered giving up at one point, that's how much I felt like I was bombing.

The computer shut off at 60 and I didn't know what to think. I called my mom on the way home and after reviewing some information and realizing what I got wrong I was CERTAIN that I failed. My mom even said that she had all the confidence in the world in me but when she heard my voice it "wasn't the usual self-deprecating tone...this was different.".

It was a long 48 hours but yesterday I found out that I passed! So, I want to share my experience with others because I wish I'd known what I know now.

1.) You very well may feel like you don't know anything during the test...please don't let that discourage you. If you're getting consistently hard questions and you were a reasonably good student you are probably doing great and the questions you're getting are at a higher level.

2.) Don't cram the day before. Give yourself a rest and don't assault your brain like that. Test day is so stressful and you're going to need max brain capacity!

3.) Don't forget to breathe!! Very important.

4.) I found that the test questions were not like I experienced with practice questions. I've seen some other folks say that they found the questions to be very straight forward but I found everything very vague. (Don't get me wrong, practice questions are the best way to study in my opinion so keep doing them!!). I had to infer a lot of information from the questions and there were a lot I didn't know. But my instructor told me that they're not testing your knowledge but they're testing what you do with your knowledge in order to recognize and address the things that are most dangerous to the patient! So even if you haven't a clue what the question is asking, break it down and really consider the answers, use your ABC's and think about patient priority.

I think you'll do just fine!

I hope I helped some of you fine people who are gearing up to take your exam!!

5 Votes
Specializes in graduate Nurse.

congratulation. Dont know how it feels to pass NCLEX LOL

1 Votes

You'll get it! Just keep going!

2 Votes

I am taking it soon m so nervous feel like I don’t know anything and IDK

I’m studying UWorld some practice questions I get high 48 percent some I get 75 percent it just depends but 56 is my average and I’m in 53 percent told

1 Votes
4 hours ago, H to the R dizzle said:

I am taking it soon m so nervous feel like I don’t know anything and IDK

I’m studying UWorld some practice questions I get high 48 percent some I get 75 percent it just depends but 56 is my average and I’m in 53 percent told

I was inconsistent like that too but I believe you can do it! Just do as many as you can and try to keep your mind framed around priority and you'll be good! I truly felt like I didn't know anything either!

1 Votes

It just u don’t know what your going to have on the questions and it’s random so some stuff I don’t know about it and so m confused what to do

Any tips to how to prepare for it

1 Votes
11 hours ago, H to the R dizzle said:

It just u don’t know what your going to have on the questions and it’s random so some stuff I don’t know about it and so m confused what to do

Any tips to how to prepare for it

for sure! I didn't think I was prepared at all because I only studied for 2 days. I found that I didn't know much about what they were testing me on. The most important thing is to focus on understanding nursing priority because even though I didn't know what the content was about very well, I was able to answer them correctly by knowing what the biggest harm to the patient would be. The questions on my test were all so vague and so broad that there's no way I could have studied all of that in any reasonable amount of time. So focus on your biggest most important categories and then follow your priority framework and your ABC's!

1 Votes

Congratulations! I took the NCLEX-RN 5/30/20 found out I passed 6/2. It feels good to be on the other side. The struggle was real.

3 Votes

Any tips

Pay close attention to the questions. Read each question more then once. Know what’s IMPORTANT, and LIFE-THREATENING. CONTENT! CONTENT! CONTENT! The Keywords pay attention. Must know labs. I had a tons of priority questions and a lot of SATA, and quite a few drag and drop, 1 math no EKG. I took my time and I ran I out time around 122-123. Take a break and regroup if you must. Have a clear mind walking in and passed the NCLEX.

2 Votes

I’ve been using UWorld n mark klemith u think that is enough I’m so confused I think m just nervous

1 Votes
Specializes in Case Management.

Booking out until October! I just finished nursing school, don’t have ATT yet and really hoping they open up more centers. We’ve been doing ATI for weeks and don’t want to have to wait 4+ months.
Thanks for the tips & sharing your experience

1 Votes
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