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.
Kaplan/NCBSN. The kaplan book at barnes and nobles was like 50$, NCBSN 3 week 50$. Nclex 3500 was good (and free), but I really felt that it was NCBSN and Kaplan that helped me pass it. the NCBSN questions are hard, and really punish you for misreading or getting lazy on interpreting the questions. You already know the information, just need to practice and get exposed to a number of things you may not have covered in nursing school.
I had alot of Pedi/L&D in my Exam too, but after reading some of the questions I realized that they were not in fact Labor or Pedi, but something else. The question was just presented as such to throw you off. I did about 7500 questions prior to sitting the nclex. I would recommend spending the next few weeks just bombarding yourself with questions, and reading rationales. Nothing helped me more than simply being hit by questions.
Best of luck to you, Im sure next time you will be fine. and if you have any questions about the costs of retaking, just call PCS and/or pearson, they generally are pretty easy to reach on the phone.
Hey everybody! Thank you so much for the responses. I normally wouldn't post in an old thread but I feel it's appropriate to give a follow-up on my experiences with the NCLEX-RN.
First of all, thank you all so much for the moral support, useful studying tidbits and resource suggestions. After failing the NCLEX back in July, I took about a week off from studying and instead focused on, well, being happy. After that I sort of knew what I had to do. I committed to doing 50-100 practice questions a day using primarily questions from Exam Cram and NCLEX 3500 while studying from ATI, Mosby and La Charity books. My raw practice scores ranged from 60-80% without any sort of pattern, which was kind of concerning. Regardless, I took the exam on Monday (9/22) and once again had 75 questions.
The exam started off with a ridiculous number of SATA questions, from which I gathered that I was probably doing alright. But then the SATA questions stopped coming and I was getting loads of priority based questions until question 75 when the exam shut off. So naturally I assumed that the exam was getting easier because I was doing poorly, and I spent the following two days convincing myself I had failed at 75 questions AGAIN.
Quick results came in today and it turns out I actually passed! So. Freaking. Relieved.
To anyone else who recently took this exam and failed after 75 questions: PLEASE for your own good, do not let this result bear any significance beyond the fact that you need more practice for this exam. I normally have difficulty concentrating while studying, so for the past two weeks I have been doing 100 practice questions throughout each day. I read each rationale and consulted Google for anything I wasn't sure about. Obviously, different study methods work for different people. This method just happened to work wonders for me, considering I went from failing in 75 questions to passing in 75 questions. Never lose hope!
Once again, thank you all so much. For everything. Keep being awesome :)
jdl1982
23 Posts
Kaplan/NCBSN. The kaplan book at barnes and nobles was like 50$, NCBSN 3 week 50$. Nclex 3500 was good (and free), but I really felt that it was NCBSN and Kaplan that helped me pass it. the NCBSN questions are hard, and really punish you for misreading or getting lazy on interpreting the questions. You already know the information, just need to practice and get exposed to a number of things you may not have covered in nursing school.
I had alot of Pedi/L&D in my Exam too, but after reading some of the questions I realized that they were not in fact Labor or Pedi, but something else. The question was just presented as such to throw you off. I did about 7500 questions prior to sitting the nclex. I would recommend spending the next few weeks just bombarding yourself with questions, and reading rationales. Nothing helped me more than simply being hit by questions.
Best of luck to you, Im sure next time you will be fine. and if you have any questions about the costs of retaking, just call PCS and/or pearson, they generally are pretty easy to reach on the phone.