I decided that after browsing the internet for some hope that I passed the NCLEX I should just give in to my anxiety and present my case as it is: I took the NCLEX yesterday and got the infamous credit card page today when I tried the PVT. As my username suggests, I just didn't have the emotional stability to wait it out for 48 hours like I should have. No pop-up.
So yes, I'm aware that I probably failed. Though, what confuses me is how I could have failed, not to mention how I managed to (probably) fail so freaking miserably. Here is the breakdown of how my exam went:
-75 questions
-8 SATA
-No calculations and no delegations
-Lots of random medications that I did not recognize
-Inordinate amount of OB questions along with a lot of non-ABC-related priority
I'll address each of these points myself with my own take on what they meant. From what I heard, getting the boot at 75 questions is usually a good sign. Prior to taking the NCLEX, I heard about how it was "the hardest exam i've taken" from almost everybody who took it within the month. Knowing the general mechanics of the exam, I wasn't too discouraged that I thought the same thing. The exam was easily the most difficult exam I've taken, having graduated from an accredited nursing program with its own share of difficult exams. Good sign, right? If I was borderline failing by the minimum number of items, wouldn't it seem a bit easier? There were a few questions, specifically med questions, that had me thinking "oh hey maybe I should just learn all the knowledge of the universe".
8 SATA questions isn't very much, but it seems like an adequate amount for 75 questions (assuming I would pass). The fact that there were no calculation questions was both infuriating and somewhat relieving. Relieving because I assume these would be among the "easier" questions, and infuriating because...well, I just find calculations so freaking easy. Same goes for questions regarding delegation; I find them just as easy, yet there wasn't a single question about that on the NCLEX.
This is a bit subjective, but I find those random medication questions to be the hardest ever. Once again, I interpreted this as a good sign and continued to the best of my ability. I took over two hours to finish the exam and even spent a solid 1-2 minutes on ridiculous questions such as these. As I mentioned above, I also had a LOT of L&D and newborn questions. If the exam decided this was my weak point and decided to capitalize on it...well that would just be evil. But it seems like that's exactly what happened. OB isn't my strongest subject nor my weakest, but the corresponding exam questions were (subjectively) very difficult, and I found myself eliminating 2/4 of the answers quite often.
At this point I'm pretty much rambling, but it's helping me cope a bit so bear with me. I suppose you could say I'm somewhere between the 1st and 2nd Kubler-Ross stage of grief and loss
As for the Pearson Vue trick, it's the only thing at this point that's telling me I flunked the NCLEX. I didn't walk out of the exam with confidence (which is normal as far as I can tell), but I figured I would know if I completely flunked it in 75 questions. Right now I believe that I failed because the PVT is supposedly pretty accurate. But...
The only thing giving me hope is that something having to do with my registration caused an error. When I registered my account at the PV NCLEX site prior to receiving my ATT, I entered a username as the registration process suggests. After receiving my ATT (along with an email), I attempted to sign in and register for the NCLEX on the PV NCLEX site. I was unable to sign in, and I was also unable to receive my username or password. I followed some instructions on the site that led me to an online PV help chat, where I was given a new username and password. I registered for the exam using the new username, and I'm considering the possibility that MAYBE this has something to do with not receiving the "good pop-up".
Or I just failed. I'm trying to come to terms with failing because it's probably what happened. It's disheartening, discouraging and embarrassing, and I dread breaking the news to my family and friends who have been supporting me for the past 4+ years. All this time I saw failure as a non-option. I put in the grueling hours, did ~2000 prep questions and started scoring as high as 78% on a couple practice exams. Graduated from a notoriously good nursing program with an impressive NCLEX passing rate. And yet I failed in 75 questions? Seriously what?
Ugh...end rant. I just gotta wait one more day, and I'll let you all know what ends up happening. Thank you all for reading.
Thanks, all of your encouraging words do mean a lot to me.
You could probably tell I'm not religious in the same way many of you are. I see nothing wrong with praying and having faith, but I really want to take it upon myself to pass this exam. Sometimes it goes a little bit beyond concrete planning, solutions and analyses though. This really makes me doubt the accuracy of the NCLEX CAT system, but what can I do? I need to learn the system and beat it at its own game, but it's frustrating that I thought I was getting so many deceptively difficult questions. This part still confuses me, but I guess it was just that. Deception. My own interpretation that the questions were hard because I wasn't as prepared as I thought I was.
There are some things I would love to know though. Why so many OB/newborn questions? Why not a single math or delegation question? Why was my knowledge of lab values so useless? I would like to understand why this exam selected items from a narrow range of topics and determined so quickly that I had no chance.
i feel the same way. I took it and failed 2 weeks ago. i had mostly OB/newborn questions and meds ive never heard of. I barely got priority questions and no delegations!!! (which i really enjoy) these computer test is so freaking dumb and annoying.
I'm sorry that you didn't pass. Hang in there! There is always a second chance! Now that you know how the Nclex works, you will be to do better and pass the next time.
I just took my NCLEX for the first time today. When I got out of there, I did not feel confident at all. I had about 20 SATAs and some drag n drops (which were kind of okay). I had mostly med-surg (and the contents were on critical care, like central lines) and maybe 1 or 2 on OB, no peds, no psyche, some priority/delegation/legal stuff. I actually didn't get a lot of meds either, which were surprising. I wish there were some questions on med calculation because I'm better at those. Well, NCLEX has 3000 questions, we all will get random questions that we don't like.
I am sorry you failed. . The nclex has a way of finding a weakness and exploiting it. My test was almost all cardiac and meds. And cardiac is a weakness of mine. It was horrible.
It's true, sometimes it will just be the luck of the draw. I really hope you passed! Leaving the test center with low confidence seems to be a good sign in many cases.
Anyways I've been trying to find information about re-registering for the NCLEX, and I can't find the answer to a couple questions I have. Do I need to receive another ATT? I assume the answer is yes, but I haven't found any definitive answers telling me so. And if I do have to get another ATT AND reschedule my exam, do I have to pay the entire ATT fee again? Considering how expensive that is on top of the $200 per exam, that would be ridiculous.
I don't want to shell out another $400 after getting my hopes crushed, but that's exactly what it's looking like. Can anybody confirm this?
Got the official (unofficial?) result. I failed. PVT tells no lies.
I dont even know what to do with myself. Anybody know of free practice questions that are accurate to the NCLEX in terms of difficulty? ATI and ExamCram seemed much easier and apparently they haven't helped one bit. I'm sort of at a loss.
Have you done Kaplan? The questions on Kaplan are moderately hard (not sure how they are compare to ATI, examcram, HURST) but they cover broad topics. NCLEX3500 is pretty good too, esp. the SATA questions. I wish I did more them but I didn't have enough time. I also like Lippincott's Q&A nclex-rn and saunder's review book. Both have a lot of information and provide great rationale.
What part of new england did you take the exam, if you don't mind me asking? How many days do you have to wait to retake it?
Okay ...yes you do have to repay to get a new ATT#..your ATT# is per test. So you have to repay for the application fee +background check+ nclex fee..I know right not cheap at all. They will send you your results in the mail with everything..how well you did ..even the time of your breaks are on the results. Then it will say in the results..like near passing , above passing, below passing..Not 100% sure what they all mean but I do know you have to have above passing in all the areas to pass the test. Below passing means you need more work in that area..but near passing could mean you were one to two questions away ..that is what I heard . There is a book that explains the language of nclex test I am not sure . But it will explain ..if they give you a question ..what they want from it...good luck
Got the official (unofficial?) result. I failed. PVT tells no lies.
I dont even know what to do with myself. Anybody know of free practice questions that are accurate to the NCLEX in terms of difficulty? ATI and ExamCram seemed much easier and apparently they haven't helped one bit. I'm sort of at a loss.
I'm so sorry! When you get your CPR, you'll have a breakdown of what went wrong, really. I'm ONLY going by what you're saying, my 'feel' for how you're saying it, and my gut is telling me that you probably have the knowledge but are answering the questions themselves poorly. Many times students have difficulty because they read too much into the question, make it more difficult than it was supposed to be, and choose the wrong answer.
Content seems to be covered best in programs such as Saunders and Hurst, from what I'm gathering on the forum. Others will probably chime in with other suggestions. IF, however, it's more strategizing and prioritizing when it comes to choosing correctly, I'd say to go with Kaplan. And I'm someone who never recommends one program over another, but I think this feedback may be useful.
At any rate, you'll need to see what that CPR tells you. Then you can work out a re-take strategy for yourself.
I'm so sorry! When you get your CPR, you'll have a breakdown of what went wrong, really. I'm ONLY going by what you're saying, my 'feel' for how you're saying it, and my gut is telling me that you probably have the knowledge but are answering the questions themselves poorly. Many times students have difficulty because they read too much into the question, make it more difficult than it was supposed to be, and choose the wrong answer.
Content seems to be covered best in programs such as Saunders and Hurst, from what I'm gathering on the forum. Others will probably chime in with other suggestions. IF, however, it's more strategizing and prioritizing when it comes to choosing correctly, I'd say to go with Kaplan. And I'm someone who never recommends one program over another, but I think this feedback may be useful.
At any rate, you'll need to see what that CPR tells you. Then you can work out a re-take strategy for yourself.
Again, so sorry.
This.
For other sources: check out LaCharity for Prioritization, Delgation questions, Lippinicott for more intense questions, as well a NCSBN (the makers of NCLEX) as a source for questions.
The issue may not necessarily the source of the review, but how one approaches the NCLEX itself: understanding the four concepts of becoming a competent, entry-level nurse:
1. Safe, effective care;
2.Health promotion;
3.Physiological Integrity;
4.Psychosocial integrity
Will determine WHAT the question is asking you; the question may be Respiratory related-but is it a Health Promotion or a Safety, or a Physiological or a Psychosocial one? Would you know the difference and choose the BEST answer?
Once one understands the concepts of NCLEX, they can do so successfully.
As far as OB questions; they may have been giving the to you based on WHAT the question was asking; your
weak area may be Physiological Integrity, for example, I think that's how they usually break down the testing.
Hi, you are not alone on this. I did not pass the first time I took the exam 2 weeks ago, but I am now back on track. I am studying very hard and I am confident this time is going to be different and I will PASS! I actually ran out of time on question 224. In my CPR got near the passing rate in all areas. I felt so bad and frustrated the first three days but then I realized I just cannot give up. We are here for a reason and we are going to become RNs.
As far as the fees go, I paid a 50 dollars fee for reapplying and the 200 for pearson. I am still waiting on my ATT to schedule my exam. The fee depends on your state, and the backgroundcheck is good for a year so you do not have to pay for that.
It sucks if you need to pay for everything again, starting with the application fee and registration fee. But don't be so discourage, because the end result, that is you passing and becoming a nurse, is worth it. Stay strong, sodonewaiting!
Maybe practice the SATA questions again? Nearly half of my test was SATA, somewhere around 30. I know there were many medications I had never encountered, but they were all the 'generic' names, so I was able to narrow it down based on the ending. (like a -pine ending isn't used for prostate issues etc.) I know I was at least able to eliminate some choices based on what kind of medication I was dealing with.
I remember having some pediatric questions, a LOT of infection control questions (CVAD, IV maintenance etc.) and even more restraint/legal questions.
. The nclex has a way of finding a weakness and exploiting it. My test was almost all cardiac and meds. And cardiac is a weakness of mine. It was horrible.
sodonewaiting
8 Posts
Thanks, all of your encouraging words do mean a lot to me.
You could probably tell I'm not religious in the same way many of you are. I see nothing wrong with praying and having faith, but I really want to take it upon myself to pass this exam. Sometimes it goes a little bit beyond concrete planning, solutions and analyses though. This really makes me doubt the accuracy of the NCLEX CAT system, but what can I do? I need to learn the system and beat it at its own game, but it's frustrating that I thought I was getting so many deceptively difficult questions. This part still confuses me, but I guess it was just that. Deception. My own interpretation that the questions were hard because I wasn't as prepared as I thought I was.
There are some things I would love to know though. Why so many OB/newborn questions? Why not a single math or delegation question? Why was my knowledge of lab values so useless? I would like to understand why this exam selected items from a narrow range of topics and determined so quickly that I had no chance.