Taking NCLEX for 3rd time in 1 week...Please pray for me!!!

passion4people · May 24, 2010

Wishing you the best on your exam. If you feel you need more study material perhaps you should consider checking out books from your library with cds. Continue to practice questions. What study materials have you been preparing with ? Exam cram, Nclex 4000 & 3500, Lacharity, and Saunders are some of the recommended resources. :up:

tz0472 · May 24, 2010

thanks for the tips, I have used NCLEX 4000 & 3500, Saunders, Kaplan, a bunch of stuff. Thanks for the prayers, although everytime I take a test, I am always just a few points away from passing, so frustrated, I can't hold off my test any longer

caliotter3 · May 24, 2010

Best wishes sent your way.

tz0472 · May 24, 2010

thank you

NowPedsRN · May 25, 2010

Best of wishes on your test, I will definitely keep you in my prayers. I will be taking my boards again for this third time this month, I am nervous as well. You will do fine be confident!

oyeah0207 · May 25, 2010

praying for your success!!!

Bean79 · May 25, 2010

Good Luck to you and I will def keep you in my prayers. Dont freak out, you will be fine and are well prepared. What I do before I start answering questions on a big test, is I will stop and take some deep breaths and then say a prayer for me to stay focused and calm. I dont start until I am completely calm. I know you will be just fine :) Good luck.

Leonardo Del Toro, RN · May 25, 2010

Well, I'm taking my test again for the 3rd time in one week, I have studied different from the first two attemps. I guess we will have to just see what happens. Although, I'm so stressed over this, I don't know if I can handle not passing for the 3rd time, I have been doing a lot of positive thinking up until now, I'm freaking out!!!! Just wanted to know if anyone knew of any questions online to practice, I have used up all the ones that I have. Please pray for me and my family to get over this hurdle, it's been over a year now, I just want to start my life!!!!

I wrote this a few weeks ago and I think it could be helpful:

This post is for those who are struggling and have taken the test more than twice but not a bad idea for those taking the test for the first time. I am passing on what I learned about this test and the changes I did to pass. The NCLEX is a passable test and perhaps not even as hard as most people think. I like to point out aspects which are not well explained or easy to miss. Many people are so smart and have studied so hard but have failed, so there must be something else they are missing, so read this post very carefully and you might find the key to set yourself free. In the NCLEX world there are two huge components: knowledge and how you apply that knowledge quickly. Another major component is how to take the test. I think that for those who are struggling is very important to start re-thinking the test in a brand new way; to understand what is being asked of you and realize that what you have been trained to do during your school years with traditional tests are basically useless. There are a few items I like to go in detail and it might be helpful to understand them well. It might set you free from the deceptions and traps of the NCLEX. If you are trying really hard and still not passing, it's time to do a whole evaluation and change the way you think about the test.

1)TIMING: as they say, timing is everything. This might be one of the most misunderstood components of the NCLEX. The bottom line is: you only have one minute or so to answer each question. All the knowledge you acquire for this test is useless unless you can answer the questions that fast. I am not sure about this but I now believe there is an algorithm which measures the time you use for each question crediting or discrediting you. The NCLEX really likes when you go fast. And that makes sense for nursing where emergency situations come up and you know little about them and only have a minute or so to make a decision. So when they say "don't over think", is more like you don't have the time to - "over think". Have you ever noticed how some questions keep coming back? Even though you might have answered them correctly but took too long, they (the NCLEX brain) are not sure that you really know it well or just guessed. So if the questions keep coming back two things can happen: you get too tired which is not good because your performance suffers or, run out of time which is another problem that can cause you to fail. They want you to look at the question, read it carefully, make a decision select, and move on. You must have the ability to answer the questions like you playing ping-pong game and be able to play a long game and not get tired. I know it sound a little fuzzy and crazy but you have nothing to lose at this point do you? Another timing issue is how long you delay to re take the test. Don't. You are never ready for it; put that in your mind. If you take too long between the tests you get cold, so use your failure as a practicing match and go take it again while you still hot. So go to PearsonVue website and schedule that test right now and go face the beast!

2)YOUR KNOWLEDGE: of course the more you know about nursing the better, but not really. All you have to have is "NCLEX type knowledge" and that you can get by using the so many books available and listed by other posts in this site, Kaplan book/course, is a good source of that as well. Here's an example of NCLEX type knowledge: when they ask about chest tube, they might want to know a, b, or c (about chest tubes) and usually it does not stray too far from a certain number of options: know these options by heart. These are the building blocks NCLEX is made of and you must know it well enough to retrieve it from you mind on a heart-beat. The more you have these building blocks in your mind the better because it will help you to answer fast and correctly without thinking too much. So the way to look at knowledge is not in the traditional way of really knowing it but using your NCLEX knowledge to play the NCLEX game.

3)STUDY TIME: don't drive yourself crazy. I would practice 60 questions in one hour. Buy a timer and keep the pace, don't ever take more than one hour. If you are getting above 65% in one hour you looking good but try to get higher. One day per week go all the way to 265 (ouch!) because most likely this is what your test will be like! So in essence you are building up endurance within that kind of knowledge rather than becoming a nursing genius. Have fun with it, if you drive yourself to pain you will also learn pain so when you get to the test that's what you will remember.

4)THE TEST: it's important to know about this test and its components. One fact I think is interesting is that the NCLEX will test everyone differently. The NCLEX has two ways to make a decision about you: (1) you will pass or fail with an "X" number of questions, so if you are really good you can pass as little as 75 questions and if you are doing really bad you will fail with 75 questions. (2) but at a certain the computer makes a decision, it can't figure you out, you have missed a bunch of questions but you've also hit some important ones, so it decides that you need to be tested in the whole gamut of questions, so you are going all the way to 265 baby (ouch again). However remember, if you are not consistent and begin to do poorly because you are tired you can fail too and not go all the way, or go all the way and fail too. So you must stay in the game and perform consistently. If you are struggling forget about that magical "oh a passed with 75 questions", be prepared to go all the way and most importantly be consistent throughout the entire range and that's why is so important to train yourself to endure long periods of time answering these type questions. The NCLEX will be really impressed with your consistency and you will be credited for that. Remember, the NCLEX is not about getting questions right and building up points like in regular tests, the NCLEX is testing how you perform under stressful situations and in certain ways your ability to improvise. I believe the algorithm of the computer program is very sophisticated and can measure everything you do.

5)TAKING THE TEST: you must understand what is critical thinking. Some people are there already, but if you are not for whatever reason you should begin to pay close attention to "what is to critically think". You must focus on that question in a way you never did before, you must zero in to that question only and not stray one bit from it. I developed this way of thinking in which I would imagine myself there, at the hospital with a real situation at hand and then think "what would I do here...for real" and make that decision in terms of what would I do in order to be the safest. When you take the test you must be confident in your intuition. Another way to interpret when people say: "don't over-think" is that your mind goes into this overdrive mode where decisions are made quickly and without thinking but they are the correct ones. It's like playing a video game where you only have a split second to make decisions but as the rhythm speeds up your mind speeds up and you actually make better decisions than if you think it over. This is the kind of mind set you have to have when you take this test. In my opinion this is exactly what they are trying to test: your ability to quickly decide emergency situations. How many of those did you get right?

6)PLAY TETRIS: and here's why, Tetris is one of the first video games made for computers and in my opinion it simulates several of the brain functions required in for the NCLEX. It will help you with the brain stamina you need to endure all the 265 questions without lowering your performance. You have to make quick decisions in shorter and shorter amounts of time. It forces your brain to critically think faster and faster as the geometrical shapes fall down and you have to figure out where they fit. I was amazed to find out how much I improved as I started to play. If you don't believe this is helpful, just play for fun and it will your mind from the study.

7)PRAY FOR ST. JUDE THE PATRON OF THE IMPOSSIBLE CAUSES AND THE BEST LUCK TO YOU.

calledtodo · May 25, 2010

Take the pressure off. Don't say, I can't fail a third time. If you fail you fail. You may pass the 4th. Stay positive and don't put that much pressure on yourself. Overall your main concern is to pass, NO MATTER HOW MANY ATTEMPTS IT TAKES!!!!!!!!!!! Stay positive!!

oyeah0207 · May 26, 2010

hi to all!

pls give some advice if there's new requirements to take nclex for the third time.

it will be my third time but vermont wants me to review in kaplan n i did it but again i wasnt able to take exam.

im planning to take CALI but thinking if there are thesame thing.

pls advice!

thank you very much!

labdad1234RN · May 26, 2010

First and foremost...get a cup of non caffeinated beverage. Read a good book, put on some relaxing music and just...calm yourself down. You have the knowledge, you havereviews, you can do it.....