I took my exam yesterday at 11am and I am currently freaking out because I am almost 10000% sure I failed. The questions were extremely hard. There were times when i sat there and just stared at the screen and just questioned my life decision on wanting to become a nurse. The questions were really hard. I got about 8-10 SATA, no math or any other alternate format. I took 2 breaks, one at 25 and one at 60. Each time I went to the bathroom, prayed long and hard, took a long swig of my water, and went back to continue. Once I got to 74 questions, I was really hoping it would continue but once I answered 75 questions, it stopped. I swear I sat there for like a good minute, dissociating myself from the exam and the world. I was/am sure I failed. A few hours after taking the exam, I tried the PVT trick and it said "results on hold". The last 5-6 questions were the only bearable questions.
I took UWorld's 2 assessment, got a high chance on the 1st one and then very high on the 2nd one but mannnnnnnnn, I think even the Uworld assessments were easier than the NCLEX. (And the Uworld assessment questions were extremely hard). Now that I've taken it, I can't comprehend how people think it's easier....
I'm terrified. I really don't want to go through this exam again. I will be completely and utterly SHOCKED if I pass. SHOCKED! What do you all think?
Specializes in Psych, Peds, Education, Infection Control.
I don't know how you actually did or your case, obviously. As Guy in Babyland said, how you did in nursing school might be a good predictor. But I got bumped out at 76, nearly 14 years ago...if the PVT existed then, I didn't know about it. I cried in the bathroom because the last questions I'd answered had been SO hard, and in nephrology, too boot. (It's the subject I struggle most with.) I had a sweet graduate nurse job that I was going to lose if I'd failed.
...I got my license in the mail three days later, a day before it popped up on the website and two days before I got mail results informing me I'd passed. ;-D
I'm not sure that's accurate. As previously mentioned by another poster, the test is adaptive.
Actually that's exactly what I mean. If you get a question right, it gives you a harder one. I believe I read somewhere that it gives you a question you have about a 50% chance of getting right. If you get one wrong, it gives you an easier one for the same reason. It's going to consistently give you questions just hard enough it isn't sure whether you'll get them right, so in the end you'll have answered about the same number of questions correctly as the next guy, unless you bombed it beyond reason. The questions will Always seem super hard because the computer wants to ask what's just a little above your skill level to determine where the cap of that skill level truly sits.
Also, don't forget that if your test stopped at 75 and you passed, then 15 of those questions were not even questions used to determine your individual score, and were trial test questions. Hope you find out your results soon!
Lol I think we all felt like failures after taking NCLEX I know I did! I thought for sure I'd failed and that I had ruined my life lol. It took me over 2 hours to answer about 88 questions and I was having chest pains the whole time. Anyways, I passed. Usually if shuts off like that it's a good sign. But if you don't pass it's not the end of the world. I've known many great nurses who took the NCLEX 3 times before passing. Don't be discouraged if you don't pass is all I'm saying.
The only thing you can infer from your exam stopping at 75 questions is simply that you either did well enough for the computer to pass you or you did poorly enough for the computer to fail you in the minimum number of questions. The computer will start evaluating your "ability" from the first question but it'll only start applying the pass/fail rules at 75 questions. If you meet a pass/fail rule at any time from then on, the system stops the exam but even going 1 question beyond 75 means somewhere along the way there's some area of content where you weren't clearly above or below passing standard so the system has to keep asking questions until you fit a pass/fail rule and it can stop the exam. So, you either clearly passed or failed.
Because your exam results are on hold, that simply means they need to be certain you weren't cheating somehow and once they're satisfied, they'll release your results. There's nothing you can do right now to change anything so relax and do something else for a while.
Mine stopped at 75 too. First I was ecstatic and sure I passed. Then I started looking up some of the questions I wasn't sure about...which I think is a bad idea bc then I was sure I failed. In the end I did indeed pass but it was an emotional rollercoster. When I got the message that I passed I just stood up hugged my husband and bawled like a baby and I'm not that emotional usually. It's just the culmination of all I had to go thru and now it was over. Hoping that you get the good message too.
Oh gosh. I haven't took NCLEX yet but we have been taking ATI proctors and I always think I am doing horrible but end up with at least level two and at the beginning of the semester I got 81% chance on the predictor. I take it again Friday.
Hopefully it's just anxiety and nervousness making you feel like you did awful and really you did great! Our instructors said the questions start easy and as you are answering them if they are correct, the questions get harder and if u miss it goes down a level. So if they seem hard maybe u were doing well.
Any who, sending good vibes and let us know if you passed!
Specializes in ICU, Telemetry, Cardiac/Renal, Ortho,FNP.
75 questions tells you nothing. It's the trending that determines whether it passes you or not. I think I answered every NCLEX question ever written and have some dispute over the "the same question is never repeated" diatribe. At any rate there used to be a way of unofficially checking your pass/fail by simply signing up for the test again and it would let you pay if you failed but not if you passed. There's info on that out there if it still applies...you didn't have to wait for a letter in the mail.
NuGuyNurse2b
927 Posts
I'm not sure that's accurate. As previously mentioned by another poster, the test is adaptive.