Passed NCLEX-RN 3rd time..DON'T GIVE UP!

2 Posts

Hi everyone! I wanted to post my story on here to share and hopefully motivate others when going through a tough time! So here we go... Well I graduated in May 2014 and I passed the nclex April 2015.

After graduating, I had a 1 week Kaplan class on campus and access to their qbank, review tests, trainers, the whole sha-bang of it. I unfortunately did not take that kaplan class as serious as I should have. I was also one of the only students who did not get their ATT as quick as everyone in my class did and I remember waiting almost a month longer than everyone else which made me pretty anxious seeing a bunch of my classmates pass the NCLEX. I remember when I received it, I scheduled my test right away and made a study schedule (always studied 5 days a week/relaxed on weekends) and I took Q Trainer 7 a week before taking the actual test. I remember getting 52% (yes, I did not do very well) & I took the test in mid-July. After taking the test, I did the pop up trick and from that I knew I did not pass. I was very sad, cried, all the typical feels you have when you don't pass. A week and a half later I received the official letter in the mail and by then I already accepted what had happened, so my next step was to think of a plan. I thought about what I need to improve on and it was both core content and test-taking strategies (I suck at test-taking).

I started studying again in the first week of August by watching the Kaplan videos of each category(safety, physiological adaptation, etc). I watched almost all the videos which took me about 5 weeks (I took my time watching the videos so I didn't overwhelm myself) because I thought that my core content was lacking & I was waiting for my ATT to come in. When I saw that my check got cleared by the BRN, a friend recommended Hurst review. So I took the hurst review and this is the review that I thought that made things so much easier to understand..from re-learning physiology and WHY diseases occurred, which I think is very important. This is all I studied content wise and I used Saunders (on evolve) and kaplan q-trainers for questions. I was very confused on which resource to use between Hurst and Kaplan because you are told to stick with one..but I decided to just study Hurst content and use Kaplan questions. I did not do very well on Hurst q trainers at all but I did not let it phase me. So I studied in August, September, and October(5 days a week). All of my Kaplan q-trainer scores improved by 10% (I did not remember the questions). So my confidence level was at an all time high because of my improvement. I took it at the end of October and I ended up failing again. I was at a pretty low point because I thought I put my all into studying this time around and I thought I had it this time. I was pretty sad for a week and got the official letter. I accepted not passing again and thought about "What's next?, What do I have to do to improve? What do I have to do to pass?" After not passing it twice, it was hard to see what was "right" in my eyes.

In the 2nd week of November I started lightly studying again using Saunders questions (since they have so many and I barely touched it). I would do about 50-100 questions a day. By Thanksgiving I decided to take a break (it's around the same time as my birthday too) and started studying again in December. I also got a part-time job to have a change of environment and make some money as well. Then in mid-December, I decided to take a break from studying because family from other states came to celebrate Christmas/New Years & i decided to start studying after New Years. I had asked a bunch of people what I should do and two people recommended Saunders. I used Saunders a lot more (50-100 questions a day) and I had mixed scores (ranging 70-80%). I also started using the LaCharity book everyone else uses on this site and I did well (ranged from 60-70%). In February I attended a nursing review class called Excell and it basically reinforced what I learned from Hurst, as well as made medications easier to remember and of course learned some things that my other resources did not teach me. So throughout February and March, I re-used Kaplan q-bank questions, the trainer tests, Saunders questions and I bought the online D&d review resource for one month for more questions. Studying for taking the test the 3rd time, I focused on just doing questions and reviewing rationales rather than content. But I did review content but very lightly. So April came along and I scheduled my test for the 2nd week of April. The week before my test day, I burnt myself out by studying way harder and doing way more then my brain could handle and I was pretty bummed. I was very frustrated in doing this to myself but I rescheduled my test to 4th week of April. The week before the test, I took a different approach and just took 100 questions a day while lightly looking at content(MEDS!) everyday and the 35 page PDF that floats around here. I took the test and passed!!! I really thought I failed again but I found out 3 days later I passed! My name was on the BRN website :).

My takeaways studying for the NCLEX for the 3rd time: Saunders really helped me even though the questions are seen as "simple" compared to Kaplan/Hurst because it helped me look at and understand the concept of test-taking strategies rather then just looking for the answer. I really focused on eliminating answers on every question, taking my time with each question, remembering safety, and utilizing the decision tree kaplan taught me. The content from Hurst really stuck with me as well. I realized that life isn't a race and to never give up because if it is something you want, you'll do whatever it takes for however long it takes. Sacrifices are temporary.

My girlfriend paid for my nclex test (christmas present) & I used it as motivation to pass. I prayed a ton and knew that whatever happened is on God's time and not mine. My parents even gave me a curfew so I have not stayed out past 11pm since February. I really sacrificed going out, spending time with friends, and going to the gym. NOW I CAN DO ALL THESE THINGS!

I had constant support from God, my family, girlfriend, and friends. No one gave up on me when I felt like giving up. I had friends text me randomly asking me how I was doing and constantly telling me I will pass and it helped me survive the tough year.

Throughout the test I kept telling myself that I'm in the game and not to give up. Even though I wanted the test to end, I did my best to stick to my test taking strategies that I practiced throughout the course of studying.

Overall (study material wise): I thought...

Hurst- Was best core content wise (lacked test taking strategies esp because you cannot know everything)

Kaplan- I learned how to utilize the decision tree (a must!!!) and its difficulty of questions made me really think

Saunders- Helped me understand the concepts of test-taking strategies (how to eliminate options, see similarities in options, etc)

LaCharity- Strengthened my delegation skills as well as leadership abilities related to questions

D&D- It was okay, thought that some of the questions helped but stayed positive with what resources they provided

Excell- Reinforced my core content that I learned from Hurst as well as helped me remember medications

I really utilized Saunders the most the 3rd time around followed by Kaplan/Lacharity

I hope this helps in some way, shape, or form! I apologize for any grammar errors. I've just been typing and all. It has been a beautiful struggle but well worth it seeing RN after your name.