Thought NCLEX was easy but failed...anyone?

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ok so I want to start by saying that I am not arrogant, I have read all the horror stories about NCLEX. but here is my story and I am curious if any others have had this experience.

IM 45 years old and started nursing school at 42. made the grades and graduated (C's and a one B). Passed HESI first attempt with a 972. completed the Kaplan review that my school requires. completed the Hurst review. made an avg score on Saunders test of 72-75%. Kaplan in the high 60-low 70's. and until I took NCLEX I studied, did many many questions, read rationales and tried hard to understand. soooo........................

test day, no anxiety, felt confident I knew content and was going to pass. started the test, felt like the test was not really that bad. 168 questions, (educated guess here but..) maybe 30 SATA, 10 dosage, 15 put procedure in order, 5 look at chart, and the rest multiple choice.

I honestly felt like I knew and understood the majority of the questions.

when the test shut off I honestly smiled inside because I knew that I had passed. but went home, did the PVT and got the CC page, a day or so later FAIL on my state board websight.

I am honestly perplexed as to where I could have gone wrong. the report they sent me said I was at or near passing in every area. has this happened to anyone else? would it be worth it to challenge the boards? has anyone ever challenged the boards and won?

I started right back studying and taking more Kaplan and Saunders tests. still making in the mid 70's on them. Any insight would be appreciated.

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I would challenge the the board, but also study during the same time if it does not go well so you can retake it by the time they make their decision.

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I have considered challenging the boards but I have not been able to find a post where someone has challenged the boards and actually won, or that it did any good.

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I don't understand why you'd want to challenge. You didn't pass unfortunately. And although you feel that you truly understood the questions, you obviously did not.

The nclex is written for a year 1 nurse with a low knowledge base. If you can't pass it, maybe you aren't ready.

That said, it's rough that your practice test scores are so high bc that's usually a good indicator!

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

Since you got NEAR the passing standard, then your focus should be on reviewing questions and rationales focused on those subjects and change up your sources.

I also would recommend the LaCharity and Lippincott as a source to study, and the NCSBN review for their question content.

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Sorry to hear about you not passing:( My advice would be just study and do as many questions as you can. Maybe use a different review. ATI was good as far as content but not analytical thinking. I think you should stick with kaplan for the analytical questions. You can do this!

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i can totally relate.

i was a straight A - B student in nursing school, but i didn't pass the boards.

i had to take the boards over again.

this is what worked for me:

- i started from scratch (pretended i knew nothing) and reviewed the Hurst review making sure that i knew the CORE content.

- i didn't re do questions from the books that i had previously used ... i bought a new book (Davids Q&A). i did about 100 questions in that book every other day. when i did the questions i asked myself "what is the question asking" while thinking about the core content.

don't give up, you've made it this far :)

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