sickofnclex

Thank you so much!!! I knew I had to be in order to get over this speed bump

this post is for anyone who is feeling saddened, down, depressed and distraught by the nclex exam!!! If I can do it at the 6th attempt, you can too!!! You can do it! Stick to a strict schedule, don't change your exam date a million times, eat healthy snacks while studying, study with people (one of my biggest regrets was I didn't study with anyone because I was too embarrassed to ask for help), get 7-8 hours of sleep (your brain cant function if you're constantly falling asleep), and ENJOY THE MATERIAL YOU ARE STUDYING. Be positive, PRAYYYYYYY, and just try your hardest. make this the last time you ever have to go to a pearson testing center for this exam! You can do it!!!!!!! Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more WISELY”

I PASSED NCLEX ON MY 6TH TRY WITH 75 QUESTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hi everyone, This is just a disclaimer- this post is about to be VERYYYY LONG. I always told myself that once I passed, I would write a post to motivate and encourage others because so many posts on this site have gotten me through my toughest days. I am not writing this post to brag in any way.. I just want to bring some kind of encouragement and hope to people who are feeling how I have been feeling for the past 2 years… if you want to just read what I did to pass, skip to the section after the ******** line Backstory: I graduated with my BSN in may of 2014… I graduated nursing school with a 3.4 gpa, did well in all my classes, and I felt on top of the world. I could finally RELAX. After 5 years of college (2 years pre-nursing, 3 yrs of nursing school), I felt like there was a weight lifted on my shoulders. I took the week between graduation and Kaplan to just CHILL for once in my life and not worry about anything. I read books, attended a wedding, caught up on all my tv shows, and watched movies with my sisters. Kaplan began june 2, 2014-june 6th. I focused in Kaplan, sat no where close to my friends (because I knew I wouldn't be able to focus), but I didn't feel like I got from Kaplan that all my older friends who had graduated years before me did. They all raved about it but I just felt like the professor read questions and did test taking strategies all week. After Kaplan, I began studying not so vigorously (one of my first mistakes), doing about 75 questions a day and half-assedly doing the qtrainers and qbank questions. I only finished about 50% of the questions before I went in for my test on aug 15th. Nursing school was so tough for me, I figured I would be invincible and pass no matter what. Also, up until this time, I had never had trouble in school/testing. First attempt: doing Kaplan only I got 75 questions and failed…I pretty much knew that I had failed after leaving the testing center.. but I wasn't too upset about it for too long because my sister's wedding was in a week and I got wrapped up in that. 2nd attempt: I took a content review course because I felt that my content was not strong enough. I took a course taught by a woman named miss bola in greenbelt, md. i DO NOT recommend this course for someone in the DMV (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia) area who is looking for a good content review. She provides you with a binder and just makes you repeat what she says.. I also extended my Kaplan for the free extension period and did qbank questions and qtrainers. I also did nclex exam cram cd (not good at all they repeat the same questions). I took my exam on nov 7th, and failed with 75 questions AGAIN. 3rd attempt: this is when I fell into sort of a phase of depression…. I felt that I didn't study the notes provided to me at the best of my ability, and could have done better on Kaplan questions. I called Kaplan customer service (which is very good) and they gave me a free full repeat of the course.. I didn't get my money back regardless of meeting all the criteria, but I got to attend another course. I went to this course in December of 2014 being taught at the community college near my house, still depressed but I was doing okay. I felt SOOOOO stupid in that class because I felt that these kids who all knew each other had such good foundation for content. Regardless, I began studying after the holidays in janurary of 2015. I did Kaplan (I was doing great at the questions, but I had basically memorized the answers by then), Lippincott review book (very good practice tests with rationales), and studied my miss bola notes. I went in to take my exam on march 25th 2015, and failed at 137 questions. I was SO disheartened by this because I felt as if I had passed. I was just so excited I got past 75 questions. I also had saunders and pearson book which were not good in my opinion. Saunders questions were very basic, and I couldn't read the whole book and basically memorize a whole textbook. 4th attempt: from end of march to july I was SUPER depressed. I didn't want anything to do with nclex I changed my date probably about 3-4 times and finally settled on august 26th to take my exam again. I went in with my mom this time (she was praying for me in the car) and I went all the way to 265 questions!!!! I was sure I had passed, this time I did lippincott, hurst videos for content (really good if you like her teaching method I think this helped me the most) and NCSBN 3 week course where I just did the questions. NCSBN questions were very similar to nclex because NCSBN writes the nclex, but I felt that they were on the same level and that didn't benefit me. On august 28th, I paid my $8 quick results and found out I failed. 5th attempt: again from end of august to about December I was SOOOOO depressed. By this time my nursing school friends had been in their profession for about 1 year, and everone was living their lives. I was happy for them, but also jealous because I wanted to be like that too. I began studying in December 2015 for my 5th attempt in January. I wanted to start off the new year with a BANG by getting my nursing license. I studied for about 3-4 weeks. I did UWORLD and studied my HURST notes as well. I went in for my exam with my big sister there for moral support on January 15th, and came out after 3 hours and 137 questions. I sped through the questions.. I found out I failed on January 17th. ********************************************************************* 6TH ATTEMPT: I was depressed for about 1.5 months. From the middle of January-end of February. It took MBON forever to process my application- which I wasn't complaining about because I did NOT want to study). Once they did I set my date for april 19th. Im one of those people who cant study for too long because my brain begins to feel mush. I was studying” by looking over hurst note. Then one day on march 3rd, my older sister came over to visit and basically said I need to get over my hump and push through. We found a nursing course called Julius nursing review course taught in greenbelt, md as well. His next class was starting march 7th-april 1st.. 5 days a week from 10:30-1:30. I paid the $500 for the course and went in march 7th. If you are someone who needs content review, THIS IS THE PLACE FOR YOU. The professor leaves NOTHING out. He does a comprehensive review, with animated examples and LOTS of humor to get you through the day. Weekly tests, homework, and very understandable terms. Many of the students in his class have English as a second language so he simplifies the language A LOT so youre understanding it in normal people terms. He explains everything and emphasizes that the class is like a family. I took his course, and didn't really start studying hard core until the end of the second week. I studied alllllllllllllllllllllllll the material he provided. By the end of the course, I also bought his question bank for $125. After his class, for the next 2 weeks, I did 150 UWORLD questions and 100 of Dr. Julius's questions for a total of 250 questions per day. I spent more time going over the UWORLD questions because they were sooo much more difficult. The rationales are a million times better than kaplan's whack 1 sentence rationales. They provide images, graphs, and full fledged explanations. I also divided the book that Dr. Julius had given us into days, and began with my weakest areas. I broke the pharm chapter up into 5 sections and memorized one section per day and repeated it for 2 weeks. i took a readiness exam provided by dr Julius on the Saturday before my exam and scored a 66% when he recommends 70%. After that, I had started FREAKING OUT because I knew I wanted this to be the last time I took this exam. For the next 2 days I went through EVERYTHING, I even came home the day before my exam and studied the peds chapter I didn't get a chance to go through. I also went to my doctor and got a prescription for a very SMALL dose of and anti-anxiety medication to help calm my nerves before the exam. On Monday, april 18th, I went in to take my exam and got done with 75 questions in 2 hours. I read all the questions carefully, had a bout 11 or 12 SATA, and took my time with it. My heart sank after the blue screen of death which says loading content” popped up after hitting next after the 75th question. I thought it was time for my break, but my exit exam popped up. I did the exit exam and prayed for about a good 10 minutes before submitting it. I went back to the car, where my little sister was waiting and we prayed SOOOOO hard for like 30 minutes. I went home thinking theres no way I passed with 75 theres no way” I had a busy day today helping my dad with yardwork and running errands. I checked my board's website not thinking anything would be updated but there it was---- a license number next to my name! I was sooo overjoyed because I am officially a REGISTERED NURSE. After almost 2 years of crying, depression, AND ANXIETY, I AM OFFICIALLY A RN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Review of resources: Kaplan- $500.00 good if you have a strong content base, and are good with critical thinking. Waste of time if you don't have a good content foundation (like me lol) HURST: $400-500.00? very expensive but very good for content, but I feel like she doesn't go in depth with pharm. I wish she had a whole chapter/lecture dedicated to pharm, and ekg's and med calc. I feel like that would really help. Nclexx rn exam cram- don't know the price- piece of crap- don't waste your money Saunders: $50- good if you are willing to read a 700-800 page book for content, questions are VERY simple, and there's only about 10 questions per chapter at the end of each chapter. Lippincott: $50- GOOOOOD FOR PRACTICE QUESTIONS! This really helped me get over my 75 q hump. Broken up into systems with 150-190 questions each and 6 comprehensive exams.. I wasn't ablet o finish the whole book. Pearson book- $50- like saunders--- I wouldn't get it PDA LAcharity: $30- I felt like this book contradicted a lot of what I had learned in school/confused me with prioritization and delegation. If you know someone who has this book, I would recommened borrowing it to see if you like it. Julius Nursing review center in Greenbelt, MD: $499.99- VERY GOOD!!! Awesome professor who really CARES for his students, checks up on them afterwards, tries to create study plans with them, and shows them unwavering support. Really hilarious teaching style. You may think hes wasting your time sometimes with stories but they always come back and connect UWORLD: $60 (30 day subscription)- holy grail!! Do UWORLD with allllll your heart and you will succeed. Some people only do UWORLD and pass. The rationales are amazing compared to kaplan's rationales that state b is not the answer, c is the answer” ßWHACK. Good images, charts, and rationales. Don't worry if you are doing badly on test, try to get above average on exams and go through EVERY SINGLE QUESTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The questions are so difficult from here that you get accustomed to that level… when you go to nclex—nclex questions seem too easy” What worked for me was dr julius' class, which is taught in greenbelt (and online—go to ijnursingreview.com) and UWORLD (only $60 for the 30 day subscription, you get 1850 questions which is a BARGAIN compared to Kaplan and hurst)

hi, congrats on passing nclex!! if you could send your notes over my way, i would greatly appreciate it! i'm taking nclex again for the 6th time. MAKING IT MY LAST BY ANY MEANS POSSIBLE. thanks in advance!! :) congrats again!!

glad to hear you are doing better. i'm in the same boat. i've failed nclex rn 5 times. and i get more and more discouraged each time. my family is very supportive and tells me not to give up, but after failing so many times it's hard to be 100% positive. please keep us updated on if you pass or not. i'm gearing up to take it for the 6th time in march... just waiting for my ATT now.

i'm in the same boat. ive taken nclex 5 times, and graduated in may of 2014. i've done hurst, kaplan, uworld, ncsbn, a local course, exam cram, lippincott, PDA. i feel like i've done everything... and still can't pass the nclex. i've registered again, and am waiting for my ATT. i want to take it ASAP.. but i feel stuck and lost as to how to prepare. were you able to pass the next time you tok it? i really hope so!! i know its frustrating and depressing to study for an exam for a number of years. dont give up! if we were able to make it through nursing school, we will be able to pass the nclex. it's just a longer journey!

hi, im writing because i've taken the nclex 4 times and failed. i graduated in may of 2014, and it seems like my nursing career is on a downward sprial since then. i took the nclex in august of 2014, november 2014, march 2015, and then last time in august of 2015. the first two times i got 75 questions, the second time i got 123, and the last time i got 265. i was sure i had passed the last time, but clearly i didnt. it's so frustrating to see all your peers move on 1.5 years into their careers while you are still struggling to pass the licensing exam. i always excelled in nursing school, but for some reason i can't defeat the nclex. my family is very supportive, but i get so discouraged after each failure. it is so much harder to pick myself back up after constantly being unsuccessful and feeling like a failure. it's the worst feeling in the world. i feel like i've done almost everything out there to prepare for the nclex. i've done kaplan, hurst, saunders, LaCharity's PDA, pearson book (questions weren't as hard as nclex), lippincott (very diccfficult questions, i felt that they helped me, but clearly not enough), ncsbn, a local review class, exam cram, flash cards, specifically for my last test i did: ncsbn, kaplan, and hurst notes. i felt that the hurst review helped me understand, and NCSBN & kaplan was a good way to do questions. i have used all these materials, but i feel like i'm doing something wrong. i also don't have any money for expensive review courses either. they are so pricey. every time i study, i try to stay as positive as possible, and take frequent breaks. i eat well, and make sure i have snacks. i study for a good 6-7 hours a day, and focus on actually learning the material and understanding my mistakes with questions. i registered for my next exam on december 22 because i really want to be a RN before the year is over. i'm currently still in my funk stage because i feel like total and complete crap for failing. i just need some advice on what has worked for other people. every time i fail, i lose more and more faith in myself and sometimes think i wasn't meant to do this. i just dont know what to do at this point. i know i have to be studying rigorously but i don't know how to go about it without repeating the mistakes. every time i fail, i feel like i wasted my time studying because i don't see the results i want to see. it's very hard going fro excelling academically in nursing school to failing the nclex 4 times. the worst is facing my family and friends who are always hoping to hear good news from me, or just want to grill me on my life. unless you've taken a licensure exam, its really hard to explain how difficult it actually is. it is so hard to explain to people who are not in the field. if someone has some advice, i would greatly appreciate it. thank you.

**disclaimer: this is a really long message** hello everyone, im new writer to the site, but i've always been a frequent reader. i need some advise from fellow nurses out there. i've taken the nclex 3 times and failed all 3 times. i'm starting to lose hope in myself and my decision to become a nurse. i did very well in almost all of my nursing school courses with a lot of hard work.. but i've never faced a struggle quite like this before. school/academics have always been my forte, so for me these failures feel like a slap in the face. im just writing here to maybe gain some insight on what i can do to take my exam, and how i can be more motivated. it feels like everytime i fail, i get more and more and more shot down and its so much harder for me to get back up. my new test date is in 24 days, but i think i'll probably end up changing it because i haven't fully studied like i should be. this is what i did to study the previous 3 times. if anyone can offer tools or advise, that'd be great Thanks: 1st time: august 2014: i took kaplan review and did all my q trainers and scored OKAY on them.. not the best. and i did about 60% of the qbank. to be honest i was kind of cocky this time, and did not study hardcore like i should have.. and i was very focused on my sisters upcoming wedding, so i was distracted all summer. failed at 75 questions. - and i just had a feeling that i had failed. 2nd time: november 2014: i was able to extend my kaplan, and i took a local review course for content. i heard from alot of classmates that this class was great. it costed $350.00. i used kaplan qbank, this class's review, and examcram CD (which i would not recommend to anyone because the questions repeat themselves). i was really focused and put my heart into studying all day long for about 1.5-2 months. failed at 75 questions. i thought i could have actually passed this time. i didnt do the pearson check because it would give me major anxiety.. needless to say, i was really disappointed when i checked my quick results. 3rd time: march 2015: i didnt start studying until january because i got so busy with holidays and it really took me a long time to get the motivation and positivity back. this is when i REALLY studied with my heart. i used lippincott rn review book, kaplan qbank (by now i was so familiar with the questions so i stopped using it halfway because i could easily recognize the answer), saunders book, and the notes from my review course. i spent a solid 2.5 months studying. i was sure i had passed leaving the exam becasue i felt that i knew more than the other times, and i had gone past 75 questions. my exam shut off at 127 questions. again, i was really disappointed in myself when i checked my quick results 48 hours later.. now i finally was able to afford to sign up for the FOURTH time, and i cant even get the confidence and positivity up to start studying full fledge. i'll study half ass sometimes.. but i know my heart isn't in it. i've wanted to be a nurse ever since i was a little girl and the constant disappointment is very hard for me. especially seeing classmates who have moved on from this exam, and seeing their success.. it's hardd not feel bad. if there's anyone out there that can provide some insight and advise, i'd greatly appreciate it!! i'm planning to sign up for ncsbn course, and i am currently reading the pearson nclex rn book. i dont really like it, but it's pretty informative. sorry for the super long message.. lol