A_offthewall

Thank you. I’ll have to do some digging.

I have not.

My name is Austyn and I am nurse graduate of May of this year. I graduated from Polk State College in Florida and have taken the NCLEX three times as of yesterday actually and I have failed all three times with the max amount of questions of 145. I am finding it really hard to move forward after all this disappointment that first began during the start of my nursing school journey back in 2019. My first attempt was back in June and was a few weeks after I graduated and I mainly used UWorld and some of Mark K. videos with pre written notes. My biggest mistake this time was I was doing loads of question yes, but I was doing small quizzes at a time rather then sitting down and answering 75 questions and so forth. I read the rationales, but didn't read to understand them. I don't remember what my Qbank average was, but it was just under by a little of what the average was. So I took the NCLEX for the first time and got the max amount of questions which is 145. I knew I failed after taking it. I was a deer in headlights, I forgot everything I knew and everything on that exam was so foreign to me. Okay so I failed, that's okay I'll do better next time and I have this in the bag. My second attempt was in July and I tried completely different study habits. I used Archer World and followed the study guide they had and made a schedule of doing 75 questions this day, CAT assessments this day, and assessments this day for a month and a half. I spent no more than two hours a day Monday through Friday doing questions, because after that two hour mark my brain was just about over it. Since I didn't focus on the rationales during my first try, I made sure to spend extra time on this time and wrote out all the rationales for the questions I got wrong and went back to review them as I moved along my study plan. I took the exam again and felt a little better compared to my first try, but deep down I knew I failed it again. I still got the max amount of questions again. During this time I honestly could say I was well prepared going into this attempt, but I still failed and I was devastated all over again. The next attempt has to be a charm, because what do they say "Thirds a charm"? My third attempt was actually yesterday and I got my results this morning and I failed yet again. I also got the max amount of questions this time again. Yes I felt horrible after the exam, but who doesn't? I was so confident the weeks leading up until my exam and I believed I was going to pass this time without a shadow of a doubt. I met with a professor at my school to help with my testing anxiety and get some helpful hints. Let me tell you she gave me the most simple hints, but they worked and I saw improvement in my scores on questions after using them. All she told me was I need to train my brain to believe I was a good test taker and after time to back that up with evidence that made that statement true. For example, I am a good test taker because I passed my NREMT boards on my first try, etc. She also suggested I cover the screen for each question, close my eyes, and take a few deep breaths to reset my mind before pulling my dry erase board down to just read the question. After reading the question, I should answer it the best I could then look at the answer choices and if what I said was an answer choice to pick it and move on. I did that for each question if I was able to. I used this technique while using Hurst for my third attempt and I saw a drastic 20 point increase in my scores. I was so confident in myself at this point because more often then not I knew the answer and got it right. It was clear to me at this point that I wasn't facing a knowledge deficit problem, rather severe testing anxiety. I honestly believed this third try was going to be different and I was going to pass for sure! After the exam I still felt horrible, but at the same time during the exam I felt so confident with how I answered each question compared to the past two times I took the exam. Again, I got the max amount of questions. When I got my results this morning and saw I failed, it hit different and it hurt the worst. I am so tired of this exam and honestly feel like I will never overcome this obstacle and reach my dream of being a nurse. The reason I started this post is because I don't know what else to do at this point and I wanted to see if others like me are in the same boat. Thank you, I look forward to hearing from you guys!