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First off, I just want to say THANK YOU GOD FOR BEING WITH AT EVERY MOMENT & THANK YOU ST. JOSEPH OF CUPERTINO FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE (I prayed the St. Joseph of Cupertino exam prayer every day right before I started studying)
And Thank you to everyone who posted on here. I read SO MANY posts on inspiring stories on how people passed after failing and it was so awesome to see God's work just flowing into your lives. It's even more amazing to see the faith you all had... It reminded me to let GO and let GOD take control.
I graduated in May 2015 & took the Nclex the first time in Aug. I did 265 questions and spent 5 hours at the testing center. I felt so defeated during and after the test. At one point I even felt nauseous. It literally took a month for me to get myself back together. I knew when I decided to start studying again I had to do things differently.
The first time around:
I studied Hurst and practice questions through the Kaplan Q bank
Second time:
1. I reviewed the whole Hurst book for 2 weeks. I used the remediation questions to reinforce the content. I didn't memorize it but I found that repetition is KEY just like they say in Hurst! I took my time to understand the content.
2. After 2 weeks - I purchased Uworld. That was probably the best money I spent. The questions are HARD & the rationales are SO DETAILED. I would only do 25 q at a time to keep my sanity. I wrote down majority of the rationales esp the ones I had no clue on. I would review my notebook full of rationales maybe every or every other day. Uworld's questions are much more similar to NCLEX than Kaplan's. I completed around 1500/1700 qs, total average 63%. But don't be discouraged by the scores. Rationales are what you need to focus on. I would range around 40s-70s on each 25 q quiz I did. I would do only 50-75 q a day. When it was getting closer to my test date I would do 100q - but still at 25 q intervals.
3. Prioritization, Delegation, Assignment book by Lacharity - JUST GET IT. I did just one chapter a day. I completed maybe just 18/21 chapters
4. NCSBN Pharm app - i would look through the meds r/t the chapter I just reviewed on Hurst. I didn't really memorize but I found that Uworld really incorporated those info on that app into their questions which REALLY helped me memorize meds.
5. 35 page NCLEX study guide - I would review some pages at a time. The infection control mnemonic really helped me esp bc I lacked that knowledge the first time. Don't forget to review lab values!
With all that preparation, I can say it definitely paid off because I passed the second time with 75 questions! Don't lose hope, don't lose faith! You made it out of nursing school, now you just need to take one more test and that's it (I would always tell myself this). PRAY, WORK HARD, AND HAVE FAITH - God's will is much more perfect than what we have planned for ourselves and His will for me is definitely much better!
Congrats Faelyn!
I just failed mine today. Like your first attempt, I also used Kaplan Qbank. I memorized
Kaplan Qbank to death! And did QT 1,4,5. Scores averaged around 65% on QBank. Also used Saunders.
When I took the NCLEX, I felt the things I memorized in Kaplan were only a small fraction. The exam ended at 265 questions. Worse feeling ever!
I'll take your advice and do PDA and UWorld.
If you would like to add Justine Buick, the nclex tutor, on Facebook... Please do so on this page The NCLEX Tutor Thank you!!!
Hi! Don't be discouraged. It is the worse feeling ever but remember it's only temporary. Kaplan is not big on content. It's much more on strategy. Uworld definitely has a good portion of both so definitely look up into that. And the PDA book is very helpful. Those questions are passing level questions. Feel free to ask me any questions you have! Good luck & im sure you'll do great the next time. 265 questions meant you were REALLY close! It doesn't feel that way but it is the truth!
FunkyRN2b
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Facelyn- I sent you a message please can you respond. Thank in advance :)