caravacaa1

Hi cherybaby I wanted to respond to what you said. I respect your opinion and I do realize that the exam is about critical thinking. I am aware that the exam is not based on "real world" experience, but rather "textbook" experience. But that is exactly one of the aspects that is unjustafiable. Nursing is the art of caring, is it not? Then having the patients well-being on a caring level is just as important as it is on a medical level. I have test anxiety, as many people do, but I will stand by my purpose of being a nurse. It is what I have devoted my life to, it is what I enjoy doing (at least on a CNA basis for now), and I will not give up my quest to make a difference in the lives of others in that respect. That being said, there have been more and more people failing the exam. As far as critical thinking and prioritizing, I have no issues with that. I fully understand which patients are a priority and I can certainly critically think. The ABC's, etc. However, it is quite difficult to work with patients having been through nursing school and seeing nurses who do not prioritize based on their physical needs, walking by rooms and seeing that there needs to be a dressing change and the nurse ignores it. The absolute worst is seeing that a patient is in excrutiating pain and there medication is past due and the RN feels no sense of responsibility. I, like you, have studied day in and day out, reviewing any and all textbooks I had from school including newer ones, and I personally feel that the exam is certainly geared more towards strategies than content, as even Kaplan teaches. Like I said, I respect your opinion and will continue to persue my passion.

hello all! this discussion thread is to seek out those who have graduated from nursing schools/programs who share the same feelings in regard to the n-clex examination. has anyone noticed how unbelievabley unfair and restrictive this exam is? i have taken and failed my n-clex for the third time on may 28th, 2009. through viewing many of the posts from other prospective nurses, i can see that i am not the only one. i truly believe that the n-clex examniation is nothing but a money-making exam scheme that is literally designed to help people fail and keep people from becoming the great nurses they can be. it is a non-sensical method of exploiting graduates for money, time, and of course, more money. i have taken every single n-clex rn practice exam that i could get my hands on. i have spent more money than i can count on review books, which are no where near consistent as far as providing the correct information about the exam itself. i have taken the kaplan n-clex rn course, and i still failed. this seems to be the case for a lot of people, and it is absolutely unacceptable! let me throw this question out there: what is the point in spending money, blood, sweat, and tears to get through an already almost impossible nursing program, whether it is a two year program or a bachelor's program, only to continuously pay and fail for a license that should already be earned through our education? to add insult to injury, there is a fee to actually get the results of the exam. is it not enough that the exam itself is incredibly expensive? i guess not if the ncsbn (national council of state boards of nursing) has the audacity to ask for even more money from us only to display a single word of "pass" or "fail" after waiting an agonizing two or more days. i am ready and willing to begin a national petition to change the entire set up of the n-clex. it does not test the knowledge of prospective nurses, but rather uses "strategies" and "tricks" in questions. i have had friends who have told me they knew absolutely nothing when they tried practice tests, yet they passed because of "tricks" learned to eliminate specific options. is that the way our health care system (as bad as it is already) screens important health care workers? having a license that is not based on true medical knowledge should be absolutely prohibited! i would furthermore like to know who it is, exactly, that is picked to formulate these n-clex questions. though it is told that these select group of nurses have "great quality nursing experience", then it is fair to say that they should be smart enough to know that this type of testing is beyond asinine and brutally unfair. please, any of you who agree with me, let me know so that i can begin the process of bringing this to national attention. we have worked hard enough to get to where we are. we know that we love and care for our patients. it is time to take a stand against getting taken advantage of financially, emotionally, and mentally!

hi lindsay, i just wanted to update you to let you know that i too have failed my n-clex for the third time. i just received my results saturday and i pretty much slept all day. i thought of you and how i wanted to tell you about it so you know you're not alone. i saw that you did not get discouraged and i am proud of you! i just registered to take the kaplan rn course....for the second time!!! :anbd: and i am going to start a petition about how unfair this exam is. like you i did absolutely everything. i read book after book, did practice exam after exam, read my old course book, and felt quite confident going in. i guess i was wrong:cry:. i plan to take the test again right after my kaplan course, but i'm going to see if there's a way to send out a mass post for people who are in our position so that if they choose, they can come along with me to make this petition happen. let me know what you think and if you have any additional ideas! i'll keep you posted, and feel free to do the same

hi lindsey, i wanted to reply to you because i am waiting to take my n-clex tomorrow...and i wanted you to know that this is my third time, too! i'm trying everything in my power to absolutely not focus on tomorrow because i can completely sympathize with you about feeling heartbroken and emotioanly exhausted. i promise you that you are not the only one going through this! i know how hard you've worked, and i can certainly relate to the agony of doing practice exam after practice exam, thinking things will be ok, only to get a "status: failed" when you log in for your results. keep trying!!!!! i will certainly make sure to get back to you to tell you what my results are when i get them, and just know that this test is a total injustice to all prospective nurses! seriously, i have not found one book, or even taken one class that has helped me completely, or guided me in the exact direction for prep for taking the real thing, and i am more than willing to petition to get a group of people together who feel the same way we do and write to the national nursing boards to protest this type of examination. i have very close family friends, both of whom are doctors, and they just recently went through their 10-year recertification exam. when i babysat for them this past weekend, i explained how you cannot go back to review or move on to the next question in this exam. they both looked at me cross-eyed and said, "what????" if they allow physician's this luxury, then they certainly should allow it for nurses as well. this exam is a complete inaccurate measure of the knowledge that we have and how great of nurses we will be! hang in there.....you are definitely in my thoughts and prayers!!!! remember what i said about how inaccurate this test truely is, and i am prepared to go to any higher level to create a petition to have this entire process changed!! with warm thoughts, andrea