ER-RN2009

I too have ADD. I was diagnosed during my second semester of nursing school. Fortunately, my doctor was very well informed on the subject of adult ADD. I started taking Adderall XR, which really helped me with my written work and studying. I had to really work at managing my time but I have to say after trying several different stategies I finally found what worked for me. I just had my 6 month review and was very pleased...of course there is always room for improvement but no one is perfect. To me, it sounds like maybe your ADD is exacerbated by your present home situation. Kids are tough, and having 3 small ones, with one being sick just really compounds your struggle with ADD. I would suggest maybe, if at all possible, take some time off and try to get use to your meds as well as, and don't take this wrong, but try and sort out things at home. ADD is difficult, but it really can be managed. It just sounds like maybe you have way too much going on right now. As far the post regarding a lawsuit, honey, do yourself a favor and don't tackle that monster. I'm afraid you would spend a lot of time towards something very unproductive and cause yourself a lot of trouble in the future. I'm all for ADA, but you kinda need to help yourself first before you go and get in way over your head.

Congratulations!! I know exactly how you feel, I too had failed twice before. I totally agree with everything in your post! I had about 5 questions that I'm sure were just some made up diseases or signs/symptoms. Things I had absolutely no idea about, never even heard of some of this stuff. Meds, OMG at the meds. And of course I was concerned because I had heard that meds are lower level questions, well let me tell you, they didn't feel all that low level to me! The majority of my questions were prioritization, teaching, of course meds, and infection control. I had 3 SATA and 2 dosage calc. Left the test trying to remember some of those crazy things I had never heard of so that I could look them up...only remembered one and seemed to have answered it right. It's a good thing I couldn't remember the others because I would have driven myself nuts trying to remember how I answered it. I'm OCD that way!! But in all seriousness, before my 3rd and last test, I really had a heart to heart with God and just turned it over to him. I knew I had done what I could and that if it was meant to be then it would turn out good. Letting go and letting God was honestly pretty difficult for me, believing that if I didn't pass it was for some good reason and that God had a plan for me. I have always liked to believe that I was in control of my life, but for the first time I really realized that a power greater than myself was guiding me and that it had just appeared that I had been in control. When I actually turned it over to God, to let his Will be done, I really felt a calmness that I had not felt before. I was still nervous, but not like before. This whole experience has been very humbiling! As bad as I hated failing the first 2 times, I know now that I did gain a lot from the experience. I have never been bostful or flaunted my previous successes, but I obviously had not ever felt the true pain of failure either. Atleast not to this degree!! I am humbled by this experience, and admire those that have continued to struggle with NCLEX even more times than myself. Who knows, maybe I have gained more than after my 3 times than those who passed the first time. That's not to say that I'm not proud for those that passed the first time because I am. Gosh, I don't want anyone to feel the hurt I felt. But I sure think there is a good possibility that I came away from this with much more than a passing result. Maybe, I needed to..

I totally agree 100% with you about not telling everyone when you are testing! My first time I really figured I was fine because all my classmates had passed and our grades were comparable, sometimes mine were even better. But OH the heartache when you have to tell ALL those folks you didn't pass. The second time I didn't tell anyone until the next day after my test, shoot I only got 95 questions and I just knew I had passed. WRONG!! Again, I had to tell all these people, I failed!! I know everybody probably means well by inquiring about your test date, but it really added stress before and after the test! Like more stress is what anyone needs when it comes to NCLEX. So, after my second failure when people would ask "so, when do you test again?" I just politely told them I hadn't scheduled yet, but as soon as I passed I would be sure and let them know. I was nice about it!! When I went to test this last time, no one knew except my husband. It was nice knowing that I only had him to tell if things didn't turn out so good, and hey if they did I knew I could call everyone and surprise them with the good news. It really decreased my stress going in.... So long story short, DON'T TELL EVERYONE WHEN YOU'RE TESTING, just surprise them with your good news!!

Do Not listen to what anybody says about not knowing the information. YOU DO!! A big part of my problem were situations that I put myself in, ie, moving, building, ect. and the other part was test taking! I stink when it comes to tests. My 3rd time, after having my self-esteem at an all time low, I just settled in, calmed down (the best I could) and told myself, "Take your time, you know this." I didn't do alot of practice questions, not saying you shouldn't, I just focused on the hows and whys, plus tons of random facts from this site. I really think I got more from the random facts than anything... I really saw alot of these random facts on my test..REALLY!! Just log in and start taking notes. I seemed to cover alot more information, rather than going thru the books by systems... I would get bogged down in the individual systems and information. Take a few days and gather your thoughts and then study at your pace and DO NOT schedule until YOU'RE ready. Now bare in mind that you're not ever gonna feel 100% ready, but once you feel that you've went over everything that you scored low in, go take it!! And have confidence in yourself, you made it thru nursing school, YOU CAN MAKE IT THRU THIS, TOO!! Keep in touch, and any way that I can help, please let me know!! I honestly don't mind....I wouldn't have made it thru if I didn't have help!! Wishing you much success!!!

Go read my thread, Finally passed nclex-rn---3rd attempt by ER-RN2009. I would like to speak with you on how and what I did to successfully pass. Please know that you are smart & you do know this information. Obviously, you are close to passing since you are getting all 265 questions. Hang in there, YOU WILL PASS.

Well I finally passed boards on my 3rd attempt! PRAISE GOD!! Needless to say, I'm on cloud nine. I feel it is only right that I give some credit to ALLNURSES.COM. After failing twice, I really found comfort in this amazing site. For me this site was a place to go where I knew people understood and felt the heartache that I was experiencing, as well as, offering words of encouragement. My family was so encouraging, loving and supportive, but they didn't really understand the hurt, disappointment and humility that I felt. They just didn't know and how could they!! So THANK YOU to this site and to all the amazing people that write in with advice & encouragement!! Now to give something back for all that I received from everyone.... After graduation we put our home on the market and planned to build when it sold. Well little did we know that it would sell the first week ! So, we moved into a small home and started our search for land to build on. When I say small I mean 900 sq. ft SMALL with myself, my husband two daughters ages 16 yrs & 7 yrs old. This was not a good idea, but we thought it would be fine, it's only for a short time...WE THOUGHT!! So I landed my dream job, ER! I was working full time with my preceptor and looking everywhere for land but nothing was turning up. Lord, I was getting stressed. Trying to work full time, raising 2 kiddos in a house to small, searching for land and last but not least...studying for boards! My mind was all over the place. I finally just thought, "go take them, if my friends could pass, then so could I." I even had better grades in school than them. WRONG!! I took all 265 questions...FAIL. I was devastated! So now I had to go back to work and let them know the bad news. They were great...allowed me to remain with my preceptor and continue my job with a few exceptions..No RN assessments and so forth. But that was fine with me. So, I continue working full time, but now we find land and start building!! WOW, I just had know idea what that meant!! After asking around about review courses I decided to attent the Hurst Review. Started looking online for a live Hurst Review in my area, but there weren't any even remotely near me. After locating one in the time frame that I was looking for, I went in to work and spoke with them about taking a couple weeks off to fly from Texas to Virginia to attend a live review..again, they were great! I was very fortunate that my husband and I were in a position financially that allowed me to do this. So many of my friends from school were really struggling financially after graduation. "Sure, we are 100% behind you and helping to insure your success", is what they told me!! How AWESOME!! Went to the review, it was everything I had been told and more!! Came back, went back to work, studied and had started building.. So about 2 months later I scheduled boards. The week before I was scheduled to test my oldest daughter, now 17 yrs. old moved out of my house! OMG!! In Tx. a 17 yr. old CHILD has the legal right to move out of their parents home, my hands were tied!! My husband & I never saw this coming...turned out to be over a 21 yr old man, if you will that she had been sneeking around with. "What do I do", I thought. Really hadn't studied as much as I should have, again I let myself think!! I thought, "hey, I can do this, I'm actually pretty smart, I took the Hurst Review and they have a 99% pass rate, I know what to expect this time, yeah, go take it." WRONG AGAIN!! This time I only had 95 questions! What the heck, did I lose information, did I actually get DUMBER??!! No, I didn't!! But I sure felt like it! "WHAT WAS I DOING WRONG," AND HOW DO I MOVE ON FROM HERE??", I thought. I've never felt lower in all my life, I took a couple of days and felt sorry for myself, did the whole crying, self-pity thing! Then a friend of mine that had failed twice just like me said, "It's time to quit crying and feeling sorry for yourself." Kinda hard to do!! The difference in her and me was the fact that her department let her go. She applied as a PCT in the ER where I was working. Her and I had went to school together and I always admired her outlook. No matter how bad it got, she just got right back in there and did what she had to do!! And she was right, feeling sorry for myself wasn't solving or helping anything. I went back to work, again everyone was great, the only difference this time was that my preceptorship time was over, so all I could do is tech. I did that for a few weeks before really trying to figure out what I needed to do to pass boards. After speaking with my boss, I decided to go PRN as a tech, that way I kept my foot in the door. Besides, they have been so great to me and have invested time and money in me. WHat I did different this time is, basically, sorted my life out and got where I needed to be mentally. Now that I was working, I had a lot more time. Time that I spent finishing my house, working things out with my daughter and spending a GREAT deal of time on ALLNURSES.COM!! Other than unloading a ton of stressors in my life, which put me in a better mental state of mind, I did a lot of note taking from the "RANDOM FACT THROWING" thread. OMG it was amazing what I gained from everyone. I really am pretty smart, but there was so much information that others had found that I had never seen in all my reading. So I really started concentrating on what I already knew and adding these random facts to it. There was so much information, as well as, good testing suggestions!! Other than getting my life settled, I basically used this site exclusively to prepare for boards my 3rd and last time. I probably took about 20 pages of notes, 50% being meds and the rest was random information. Wednesday March 25th I went and took boards, scared to death, but mentally more prepared. The next 2 days were the longest!! This morning I logged in to get my quick results, nearly wetting my pants, crying and expecting the worst, but what do ya know, "I PASSED!" So THANK YOU ALLNURSES.COM and everyone that contributed to the Random Fact Throwing!! God Bless You!!

I just took my hesi-rn exit exam and scored an 1125. If you do not already have the HESI-RN Review Book & CD, then run out and buy it. Read all the HESI Hints...they are a gold mind. Look at your test review and go over the area that you were weak in and that should help you narrow down your studying so that you don't spend time in area you don't need to. The test is comprehensive, and it does cover all areas quite well. I had about 5 dosage calc. questions..all were very different, no one type of calc. There was only one item on my test that I had never heard of..plepharitis, prob. incorrect spelling...but it was on there..eye infection...needed to know what the nurse should do...it was wash the eyelashes with shampoo...look it up so that if you don't already know it you will be familiar. Most everything else I was familiar with. I had several ABG questions, several ob, pedi, psyc....mostly general med-surg. Don't remember there being a lot of diabetes/insulin questions..just a few. Good luck!!

Can you elaborate with more specifics. If I had a better idea of what you are studying and causing you problems, maybe I could help you out. My management class for me wasn't all that difficult. It was more scenerios with applications. Example: You had to know what an RN, LVN, PCT, ect could do so that you can delegate certain pt's and tasks to them. Then there was staffing issues, budget issues, TPAPN, scheduling, ethical issues...and on and on. For me my management class wasn't that difficult, but you had to understand the material and apply it. Good Luck! If you have any questions I'll be happy to help you out, just PM me..

Buy you a Saunders NCLEX RN Review book... Whatever system you are studying, lets say you're studying the Respiratory System, so get the CD out that came with your book and pop it in the computer and click on respiratory and away you go... This is a great tool to help you prepare for your unit exams as well as preparing you for boards. My book goes everywhere I go... It's great for studying..it condenses the subject matter down to the IMPORTANT stuff... If you can't tell...I'm a huge fan of Saunders. If you have trouble finding it, PM me and I'll give you the exact info. off of my book... Good Luck to you and everyone else just beginning. You'll do good.

By the way if I haven't mentioned it in an earlier reply.....I GRADUATE IN 7 WEEKS..... YEAH, YIPPEE...... yea, i'm a little happy about it...:lol2::lol2:

Yes ma'am start on the subjects that you are covering from day 1 and continue..... This was the best advice I received.. My med-surg II instructor (Col. Medvedev), who I love and respect very much, told me to do 100 questions a week. It not only helps you with the subject matter, but more importantly it helps you learn how to "take nursing exams & figure out what the heck they are asking." In all seriousness, this has helped me with test taking.... I really struggled in first semester, but now it's gotten way easier...not that I'm zooming thru without any problems, but I'm much better at weeding thru the extra info. & figuring out what the question is asking. I wish you the best and I know you will do good. You will make friends that are going to get you thru some really tough times... My friends became my rock...and I hope I have been the same for them. These are the people you will come to love and depend on... Cherish them.. If you ever need any help I will be happy to help you.. kinda of a pay it forward... Please feel free to contact me anytime you have any questions.... God Bless!!! Susan

I will graduate in 7 weeks and let me tell you there are times when I wonder how in the hell I got to this point. Most of the time I feel really good about myself but boy there are times when I just have this deer in the headlights look...DUH... But I'm honest with myself in the fact that there are so many more things out there for me to learn. My real learning is coming in about 7 weeks when I get out there for real.. I'm ready!!!

you must have excellent time management!!! Saunders NCLEX review book with cd.. Do atleast 100 questions per week, every week and you will be successful..This was one of the best tips my med-surg instructor gave me... Good Luck

I'm a first yr. nursing student. I took my didactic test on thursday and immediately saw my results.. should have had an A but I changed 3 of my answers before submitting my test. After seeing my mistakes I had to go directly into the next room and take my dosage calculations test...well guess what I did.... totally bombed. All I could think about was the test prior and I just totally forgot all my conversion factors.. Now the pressure is really on. I have to have a 75 on didactics as well as a 75 on calculations. There are only 3 test and I made a 54 on the first, now I have 2 left and I'm concerned. Does anyone have any suggestions or words of wisdom for me? Please help..