girafferika

First attempt: 11/24/15 Questions: 265 with no breaks Preparation: Hurst and NCLEX Mastery Second attempt: 1/14/16 Questions: 265, 1 break to use the bathroom Preparation: Hurst and UWorld Third attempt: 5/2/16 Questions: 265, 1 break to use the bathroom and eat a snack Preparation: NSCBN review, Mark K, and NCLEX Mastery Fourth attempt: 9/1/16 Questions: 144-148, 2 breaks (50q and 100q) to use the bathroom, eat a snack and rejuvenate my brain Preparation: Saunders book/ online bank and LaCharity What I did different? I got a tutor. I don't think everyone needs to get a tutor, but I needed someone to hold me responsible for studying and to keep me on track. She would explain things that I didn't understand, help keep me organized, and give me positive reinforcement. She encouraged me to take one day off a week to not do any studying, but the other days I hit hard. 3-5 hours of studying a day. I started reading the Saunders book, 2 chapters a day and then doing 25 questions for each chapter (50q total). Reading has never been my speciality, so I learned more from doing the questions. I took notes ONLY on the questions I got wrong and reviewed them. This was my bible! It was specialized to me because it was over the questions I got wrong. At the end of my studying I had 30+ pages of typed notes. I did not review the questions I got right, because even if I guessed right, oh well, I got it right. Move on. I got the LaCharity book (prioritization, awesome book!) to do something different for a week as well as 25 questions a day. Once I choose my last date I started doing 100 questions a day, in 50 question increments. Your brain needs a rest. 1 week before I took NCLEX I did 150 questions "mock NCLEX" style. No phones, no big meals, no distractions. Also, in 50 question increments. The day before my exam I didn't look at a single item related to NCLEX. I got a massage, got my nails done, drove to my hotel, got dinner, took a bath, and relaxed. The morning of I felt very emotional, which is something I didn't really feel for past attempts. I was a pro at the whole testing center environment by this point, so there was no anxiety there. I took a break after 50 questions and 100 questions. It was getting close to when I was going to take my next break (150) and the screen turned blue at 144-148 questions. My heart dropped and I couldn't believe I was done for the first time in less than 265 questions. So the worst part.. waiting. In Illinois you can find out in a little over 24 hours (for free) by putting in your information into continentaltesting.com, but of course that didn't work for me this time. I had to wait the 48 hours and pay the $8 or whatever it is on Pearson, but I finally got the word I was dying to see "PASSED". Do NOT give up. You made it through nursing school and NCLEX is a hard test. You can do it! Get the help you need and dedicated yourself to studying in a way that helps you, not makes it repetitive.

My overall was a 50%. I'm probably going to do it again. I don't believe it will be different questions though.

I took NCLEX for the first time 11/24/15. To prepare for it I took the Hurst review and did the NCLEX mastery app. I was so nervous going into the test and I prepared myself for 265 questions. Well, that's what I got, 265 questions. 3 hours later I get to my car and I felt numb. I did the PVT 5 minutes after I finished and I thought I got the good popup, but I was wrong. I did the trick way too soon. My popup said "The candidate currently has an open registration for this exam. A new registration cannot be completed at this time." I showed it to one of my classmates who had already taken and passed and she quickly looked and told me I passed. So I told everyone I passed! My friend called me as I was driving home and told me to check again because it was a different popup than she got, so I did it again and wouldn't you know, it let me register. In Illinois you can check continentaltesting.com the next day and it was confirmed I failed. I wasn't going to let this get me down, there were many nurses I knew that had failed NCLEX the 1st time. So to prepare for my 2nd attempt I reviewed hurst and got uworld. I took NCLEX again on 1/14/16. I felt different about this test, like I wasn't even taking it. It didn't feel real until I walked into the testing center. I wasn't prepared for 265 questions again, but that's what I got. It took me another 3 hours. I left the testing center feeling the same way, numb. I decided not to do the PVT and to just check continentaltesting.com today. I checked every hour starting at 10am. At 4pm it said that I failed. I feel so defeated right now and I'm wondering if anyone else has had my same experience or a similar one. I don't even know how to go on and study for my third attempt.