SoniaFLRN

I have to say, the first time I took nclex I got 233 questions and knew I had failed. I wanted the test to be over... if I only knew then what I know now, I might have been able to pull off passing that one. The second time I took it medicated, after taking all of kaplans question trainers and a lot of the q bank and got 75 questions. I thought that I had passed because you don't hear many that fail with 75. Only afterwards did I realize that I wasn't getting any of the harder questions. So after taking the actual Kaplan course, learning how to answer these questions, did I feel semi confident that I had passed the 3rd time with 75 questions again. I couldn't imagine failing that bad AGAIN. Deep down I knew I had passed, but was still worried until I saw PASS.

I took nclex-rn 3 times, urgh... now have passed. Idid not have any strips.

Physical needs always come before psychosocial and pain is considered psychosocial!!! Never ask a patient why questions RNs can't delegate assessments, teaching, discharges, judgments. Pretty much give lpn's and nurses from other units patients that are the most stable with the least chance of dying, leaving, or a hard procedure. Never pass the buck.. don't call the MD, and follow your chain of command. Always go to your nursing supervisor first. Employee experience doesn't matter. Lpn with 10 years vs new rn... rn gets harder pts. Real problems priority over potential problems. Assess patients before implementing unless the assessment has already been done by the RN in the question. then get rid of all of the assessment answers and look for the best implementation. Always stay with pt family during crisis. Seemed weird to stay with a family after a death, but on this test you do. If question says the nurse should intervein... then look for an answer that is wrong. If which response is best...use therapeutic responses. Most meds are not taken at bedtime Osteoarthritis is worse in morning vs. rhumetoid watch for sudden crisis or emergent in answers and questions usually will be the answer read up on digoxin, basic things, drug came up a lot. no grapefruit with meds...buspar, zocor,tegretol,verapamil Lithium causes diabetes insepidus. Needs lots of fluids. gastric ulcers pain one hour after eating, vomiting relieves pain. duodonal ulcers no vomiting, food relieves pain also math questions like gtt. 1000ml NS, 15ggt/min over 6 hours. (1000)X(15)/360min = 41.6ggt/min make sure you round or not depending on what they ask you... Got quite a few of these. I also on the third time got tons of select all that apply. Got very upset about it, but managed to still pass. There will always be at least 2 answers right in those. If you only find one, keep looking. You want questions that are who should you see first, call back first, those are the questions that nclex passes you on. So... read your first answer... what is it asking for in your words. Do you need to assess the patient? Has the rn in the question already done so.. in that I mean, does it say that the rn checked the pulse and it was 39 or did the wife tell you it was 39. If rn has then get rid of all of those assement answers, like check the patients vitals, or ask the wife how long ago she checked it etc. Then look at your implements. Follow the ABC's in order then. Does the answer then make sense. ABC's only work if it makes sense. I learned in school always to pick the respiratory answers. Not true on nclex. If question is about diabetic ulcers, and ABC answer is there. More than likely that respiratory although has priority, doesn't make any sense. Just try and relax. Read each question as many times as you need to. Make slash marks for all four answers(/) then as you get rid of them make them into X's. It worked for me, and I hope this will help you.

I graduated Nursing School in December of 2007. I had a job waiting for me back at home and moved the day of graduation. I began working in early January as a Graduate Nurse in an ICU that I had worked in as a tech for nearly 6 years before nursing school. Everyone knew me and seemed excited that I was finally back as an GN. February comes and orientation is going well. I sign up for the nclex on my birthday, which should have been my first sign things were not going to go so well. I had been studying using a friends password on a popular class/prep course website and had been doing fairly well (60-70%). All of my classmates had passed theirs by this point, most with 75 questions and one with 110. I go in, sit down, take a deep breath, and start the test. Man the questions were a lot harder than I had anticipated!! By question 70, my heart was beating out of my throat, I thought I was going to throw up or pass out. A math question next. A gtt calculation..."how the heck do I do these"... Completely forgot how. Now I thought I was going to really pass out. After I answered 75, I hit next. 76 came up. Oh was I really shaking at this point. Questions kept coming and coming. I didn't wan't a break!! I wanted to get out of there. By mid 200's I was looking for the quit button. At 233, it finally shut off and I raced to my (new) car holding back the tears. I had failed. I knew it. Everyone says, "oh, you passed. Everyone thinks they failed." I knew I had failed and I went into a depressed and I mean depressed mode. I had to tell everyone. I started therapy, began taking an antidepressant, and found out that apparently I had had an anxiety attack during the test. Medications were given to me for that too. Fast forward 45 days and I had talked myself into taking the test again. Everyone at work was rooting for me and I had been taking more and more of those practice tests doing better and better. This time I had to travel to take the test and went up the night before. I had a good dinner, tried to relax, found the test site the night before, and really felt ready this time. That morning I got up, took a shower and popped in my anti anxiety medications. Off I went. Felt great during the test. 75 questions and it shut off. I passed... well thought I had anyway. I was so excited. I called all of my co-workers and classmates. I went out that night and celebrated with friends. Two days later I found out that I had failed!! Failed at 75 questions?? I couldn't believe it. I couldn't even remember any of my questions. Were they hard? Easy? Not one could I remember. So back in to depressed mode I went. Luckily this time I was medicated. My family was supportive. I quit my job... too embarrassed to go back and face everyone. And thought this was a sign that nursing maybe wasn't for me. WHAT WORKED FOR ME!! Third time was a charm for me as I passed with 75 questions. I took a Kaplan course and felt that it really helped me pass. I had been so caught up on learning facts and content based questions like in school and not on how to take this crazy test. I took deep breaths. No medications this time to put me in a daze. And I took my time. I read every question and answer and made sure I knew what they were looking for. I used the board and marker and made slashes for each answer choice. Then instead of looking for the right answer, I got rid of the wrong ones. I remembered Maslow...and ABC's... and Most of the time, I only had one answer left!! When the computer shut off, deep down I knew that I had passed this time. It just felt right. So to everyone who are re-peat test takers, I felt your pain. I pushed through, and although now I am in the process of looking for a new job, I am excited about a new start in life. My dad told me last night... "This will probably be the last time in a long time, that you will not have to work. Retirement is still a long time away." And he was right. I hate that my life has been on hold for six months, but you know what... I bet I learned more in those few months studying harder and harder, answering thousands of questions, than I probably did in nursing school. So Good Luck Repeaters and new test takers. You can and will do it!!