5th time nclex taker

Nursing Students NCLEX

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hi. i need ur help!!! i took nclex already 4th times and no luck yet. i already tried Excell review in burbank and kaplan twice but did not help. i graduated 2010 and since then twice a yr i stop working couple of mos or so and focus my review. i have my att valid until march 25 2014 and im still working. im planning to start focus review feb1. do you think 2 mos of everyday review is enough? i will try the american healthways at this time. can u me some advices and suggestions that u may think will help me to pass this? im

hopeless sometimes and blaming myself being not smart enough to pass. or God is not

letting me to pass because im a sinner. cant stop thinking what to do.. HeLP!!! thanks

i mean i took my last exam march 2013

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As someone who recently took boards and passed and have taken boards in another profession prior to that and passed, I can assure you that these certification exams have little to nothing to do with your ability to perform in that given role, only your ability to perform on a written test. I have seen tons of people who pass these tests with "flying colors" and are horrible nurses, teachers, lawyers, etc. Additionally I have seen some of my former classmates who were some of the best clinically who failed boards and need to retake them, but have job offers waiting for them bc of how good they were during clinicals/practicum/work. While I agree that I would definitely change your approach to the test (after 5 times something isn't working... Content? Strategy? Anxiety and nerves?) I do not think you need to give up on this profession. Additionally no GN is super nurse despite what they may tell you. Once you graduate no hospital in their right mind would let you loose on the public. After having a proper orientation, I do believe that you could find success in this profession. I do agree that you may find it more difficult being that you've been out of school and therefore out of practice for a couple years. A refresher course is a good idea that was addressed previously. Good luck!

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I happen to agree with fancypants09. She is entitled to her opinion and is saying what many others would like to say but has kept quite. The realities are, with the proliferation of For-Profit Schools, many that are not regionally or Nationally accredited, a large pool of Nursing Students are being dumped into the market place without being adequately prepared. I speak with many of these graduates and hear all the horror stories about the low entry barrier of these schools and the poor job a lot of these schools are doing to prepare their students.

The NCLEX exam is not a difficult exam and failing it 4+ times is an indication that something is fundamentally wrong. After taking the exam x-number of times, you will have been exposed to a large subset of the exam questions and their comes a time when taking the exam beyond a certain number of attempts will yield very little success. Of course individuals who have taken the exam multiple times themselves will be quick to demonize fancypants09 for her candid comments because they too were ill-prepared to sit the exam. Something needs to be done now to address these schools that are turning out nursing candidates that are just not ready to be nurses. I'm unapologetic in voicing MY opinion.

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I have a few things to say to the PP:

1. I never said that that person wasn't entitled to their own opinions... Of course they are... Just like the rest of us are.

2. I think you made a gigantic assumption here... "people that don't agree with fancy have probably taken boards a bunch of times and were equally ill-prepared... Completely false! I took boards 1 time and finished in under an hour and at 75 q. However, that isn't the point I was trying to make. My point is not whether or not the exam is easy or difficult. It is whether NCLEX is a good indicator of a successful nurse. I don't believe that the NCLEX and many other national certification exams are truly indicative of this. Without knowing the person, I believe it is completely false to berate her as if she is an ill-prepared terrible nurse. Additionally, I don't hold people who pass boards in 75q on their first shot to be stellar nurses either. This is ONE written exam with NO clinical component. As a nurse and as a former educator this is a terrible way to gage a whole person, if you ask me.

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What school did you graduate from?

March right back there , tell them they did NOT prepare you for the exam,

Demand assistance, you paid for your education, something is wrong with their curriculum.

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What school did you graduate from?

March right back there , tell them they did NOT prepare you for the exam,

Demand assistance, you paid for your education, something is wrong with their curriculum.

Something is wrong with their curriculum?!

If there were dozens of graduates who failed NCLEX-RN four times, then I would say that. But if one person fails NCLEX-RN four times, it is not the curriculum.

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I would bet that your lack of fluency in English is your downfall.....nursing questions involve quite a bit of understanding of the question and the options presented as possible answers. The subtle nature of some of the test questions is probably being lost on you. I hate to sound discouraging, but could you take a nursing test in another country in your native language???

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4 times is a lot. That doesn't mean you are not smart, probably nursing is not for you. Just my opinion.

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I think there's a little bit of a excuse if you fail it once. But twice, 3 times I don't know. By the time you finish nursing school you should be really confident with critical thinking and knowing your material + the critical thinking you would pass the nclex.

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To the OP: It would appear to me that perhaps your English skills are a bit low if you are taking the NCLEX in the USA. A lot of answering the questions appropriately is understanding the words, terminology and what the root of the question is looking for. If you struggle with any of those portions you are going to have a really hard time. If your English and medical comprehension is good, then you need to look back to the basic strategies of tackling an NCLEX question. These questions, often times, aren't so much based on super advanced knowledge or content, it's more about being skilled at taking these questions. A lot of times, if you have a good basis of knowledge, the questions are pretty straight forward.

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I know someone who failed 4 times and had been a nurse for 20 plus years now. It's the principal , if you don't have anything nice to say don't say it , deliverance is everything , and we all learned empathy . Put yourself in this person shoes. When someone's down you don't kick them . Keep it to yourself. Go tell ya wall . I hope our 5th time test taker uses the haters as motivation and doesn't let negative ppl get to him or her . I'll pray for you && the ppl that said what they said

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I know many people wont like what I want to say.. but I wish I was the one that failed 4 times in a row so that I can stop and do what I really like to do.

The only thing that would of hurt me is the student loans. I would of taken it as a life tip. When you get into a field you should volunteer and see what being a nurse is all about. These passed few months at my new nursing job have been some of the most stressful days of my life. My hair falls of constantly and I get nervous every day I go to work. No matter how many days, months pass I still feel the same.

I wish that I was in your shoes and failed. After the third attempt I would have chosen a different career. Don't get me wrong all of my patients love me and I care for them. Its just high levels of stress is not something I can live comfortably with.

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