Please help! Failed 3rd time, hope is fleeting

[Natnurse89]

Hey guys,

Finally decided to join this site and community as I desperately need some support. Just got the letter today that stated I failed the NCLEX for the 3rd time…Little background on me. I decided to go abroad for nursing school, Australia and graduated in 2012. Got my bachelor degree there and stayed an extra year to work and get some experience and I worked on the medsurge unit. When I moved back I took the NCLEX thinking practical experience would be sufficient and not surprisingly failed. After that I signed up for Kaplan….admittingly didn't put in that much effort again and failed after 98 questions. After that I took the past 4 months, signed up for ATItesting, have an online coach and have put a lot of effort into studying. I've done hours and hours of practice questions, predictor said I had a 90% chance of passing and I've been praying non stop about it and literally putting everything I had into it. Today got the dreaded letter after 75 questions I failed. This time decided not to tell anyone else but my family and a couple close friends, as i've found the more people that know the more pressure and embarrassment it put on me. My mom's a nurse, many friends are nurses and its already a lot of pressure as it is. I'm not sure how to pick myself up from this one. I feel stupid, I feel like people don't understand how hard this is. I have bad test anxiety and started taking xanax a week before my test, surprisingly I was calm on test day, did everything I was supposed to and out of the 3 times I felt this was the best i've felt. My mom suggested today maybe I go to school for an LVN and take a break and go from there and I feel as if that's not an option. I worked so hard to get through school, to get my degree, to get to where i'm at and yes I took a step back and now a couple more steps back but i'm just numb right now. I know this is where I need to be and want to be and this is my dream job!!!!! Am I too stupid to pass this test? Have I been out of school for a few years and thats why i'm struggling? I'm not sure what to do. Will I ever get a job when people find out I failed 3 times? Is there a certain number you can take the test? All these questions i'm asking myself and i'm not sure where to go from here. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as this time digging myself out of this hole is going to be a struggle. I know i'm a good nurse, I know I know this stuff, I just don't know why this is happening.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Moved to NCLEX forum

[abcdefghijay]

You are a good nurse! You are not stupid! You can get out of this hole. You've already finished the hardest part: nursing school. I failed twice, and living in Canada I only get 3 tries. I felt like nursing wasn't meant for me. I didn't know how to get back up since I studied so hard in my second try. In my third attempt, I changed my study habits and passed with 75 questions in 4 long hours! I used U World. The questions were similar to NCLEX, including the site layout. I only used the free trial for a few weeks. It didn't show my progress but it doesn't matter what your % is. I think it's about understanding the question and being able to answer confidently. I did a lot of questions, wrote down key words from the rationales and then tried to explain the rationale in my own words at the end of the day. I also used Hurst. I read the handouts 3 times one week before my exam and used Saunders to just fill in information. I wrote the lab values daily. I researched NCLEX. It's always good to look into what you're up against. I remember watching videos on how NCLEX is scored, and then imagining the line go up and down as I went through the quizzes and making sure I say above the passing line. I think the most important thing to do is believe in yourself. If you made it through nursing school, you can pass this test. Be familiar with the question style. Do not attempt to memorize content. Take a lot of breaks and your brain will thank you later. During your exam, take break as well, don't rush the exam and read the question thoroughly. Good luck studying!

[Natnurse89]

Hey!

Thank you for the support and words of encouragement. I've taken the past weeks of the holiday to reflect and build my confidence up again. I can do this and I will! As long as it takes me I will do it because I know like you said i've finished the hard part. I will check out U World, thanks for that! I've never heard of it. I've been doing an online class ATI testing, and talked to my coach and decided to start the class all over again. From the beginning! I need to not give up and I need to believe in myself. Sucky part is you never know what you're gonna get on that damn test, and I got a lot of SATA questions, which was so frustrating! Time to start again, i've taken a little break and now I'm ready!!