I have always checked in on this website from time to time over the years and there are a lot of inspiring stories here. I thought I would share mine. I started college a little later in life. I was kind of a typical dude, just sort of going through life focused on the short-term and partying way too much. My mother was always worried about where I would end up. She was a nurse for about a year before she passed away from post-surgery complications at the hospital she worked at. I was 17 and I was trying to take care of my little sisters because now we were alone. My kid sister passed away about a year after that from rhabdomyosarcoma. After I lost her I started to feel purposeless and I just kind of gave up. After about a year my cousin suggested that I pack my bags and leave. As big and as popular as my hometown was, there was nothing but pain there for me.
I packed my bags and moved to a dusty little college town. There were a few nights where I had to sleep in my car and some days where I didn't have money to eat a decent meal but I kept at it. I was working a construction job when I got a pamphlet from the community college here, and I saw their "become a lab tech" page and I thought that I could do that. I took my first science courses and they were all easy to me. I aced every chemistry class, every math class, every single biology class. A&P was fun for me; I got along with my teachers and they suggested that I "do something more important" than being a lab tech. So I transferred to the university and lo and behold, there's my A&P teacher. She was doing cancer research and she let me work in her lab.
After a couple of semesters, for some reason, I submitted an application to the nursing program at the community college I transferred from. I thought it would be logical to produce multiple options for myself. Why not?
I ended up graduating with a degree in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry in 2012. 1 year later, I graduated from my nursing program, in 2013. I had done 3 years of cancer research and got a couple hundred hours of clinical experience in 6 years. I really like nursing. I love nursing. I like the nurses and the doctors and the techs and housekeeping. I loved it all. I did my internship in the Emergency Department and I really liked it. My mentor enjoyed having me around and I got along with everyone. The house manager shook my hand and said that he heard good things about me and a medic even told my instructor that they could use more people like me.
So, as I'm turning in m graduation papers, thinking that I'm going to pass my NCLEX and start working as an ED nurse and get myself prepared for graduate school, my advisor says that I'm one credit short. Somehow, no one noticed that I had not taken my microbiology lab (just the lecture). I was told that I can't graduate in May. That I would have to take the class over the summer and graduate in August. At first I didn't mind, but on my first day of class, my attitude took a turn for the worst! For 8 weeks I had to sit through the lecture - again - and go through the process of Acing this class one more time. I was angry all the time and I didn't review for the NCLEX. As soon as I got my grade and sent my papers in, I registered for the NCLEX and failed! It took me 4 hours to answer all 265 questions.
I let myself get down about it but I synthesized a plan. I worked a bunch of overtime for a month and paid all my bills several months in advance. I bought a Kaplan class, downloaded every review app I could find for my phone. A friend gave me her Saunders review book. I studied 2-8 hours almost every day for 3 months doing every single question I could. I think I did about 3000 questions. My girlfriend helped me pay my bills and kept food in the fridge. I also ended up selling and pawning most of my things to pay for this review class.
I took the test again a few days ago and I found out this morning that I passed! I'm a nurse now!
If you failed the NCLEX, or are scared that you will fail, try not to worry too much. Dust your shoulders off and take it again. Anyone can give up, so don't be just anybody. Don't live in fear and believe in yourself! :)
I studied for about 3 months. I was totally clueless at first. I thought I knew everything but when I sat down and did practice questions I performed horribly. I was averaging about 40-45% on my Kaplan quizzes and even lower on some other practice tests I took. I would say "how was I supposed to know that?" or "how am I supposed to memorize all this?"
I started by going over pharmacology. For a week all I did was look at drugs. Then I started with med-surg. Then maternity and then pediatrics over he next month or so. I started getting around 65-70% on my quizzes. I looked at drugs for about an hour almost every day and then started at the beginning again at med-surg for the last month.
I would take a break when I felt overwhelmed or burnt out. If I studied for 4 or 5 days for 5 hours or more I would take a break for a day or two (usually just one). But I did practice quizzes everyday. Before I took the test I had scored 90% and above on several quizzes with 15 or more questions and I averaged at about 80%. I was averaging 20-30 seconds per question and I had trained myself to sit and concentrate for chunks of 25 questions - then take a small mental break - and then resume for another 25.
Lev, thank you! Yes it's really hard. The first time I took nclex... I was working as well. But now that I lost my job recently. I've just been studying. Hope I pass this time around. Praying and praying for a positive outcome. Taking Nclex soon.
Congrats! 
kbetty1
38 Posts
Wow your story is touching too. I hope and pray everyday that I will be nurse one day!