took nclex-rn for the second time today

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So I took the nclex again today, the first time I went in totally unprepared, un confident and knew I was failing...bad combo. ..I got 265q multiple sata, math and ekg. Two days later found out I failed.

This time I took a while different strategy. The first time I took kaplan and studied twelve hours a day. This time I did hurst and loved it (im pretty sure it was the southern accents that hooked me) I study for weeks but only a few hours a day and the LaCharity booked helped me with my critical thinking and prioritizing.

So I get to the exam today, I felt more confident and positive than last time. Went thru the whole test saying I was going to save this person. And I still got 265 questions, a lot of sata, the drag and drop, prioritizing and a couple ekg's.

I have no idea what to think or what to do. I'm to scared to do the trick because I am so scared of failing again!!

Any tips for me??

Prayers needed!

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You can take confidence in knowing that you did a lot of studying and preparation to pass this time. Not every first time NCLEX failure takes this route, I've seen how difficult it can be in overcoming that first failure. Hoping you passed!

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Specializes in Neuroscience.

Do the trick. I also failed my first time, went in not as prepared as I should have been, got cocky and thought maybe I could pass anyway because I went to a good school and did Kaplan's qbank. I failed after 93 questions. Did the trick immediately so I knew. The next day I signed up for Hurst online because I really needed a content review badly - not more questions to practice. So for 45 days I studied with Hurst (and Saunders on the side) and did 3 of their tests (I was saving the last 3 just in case I failed again), re-took NCLEX on Mon and found out today that I passed. I was so scared to do the trick this time around though because it felt so bad not seeing the pop-up that first time. I caved though because not knowing was driving me mad. Just do it and get it over with.

You got a lot of SATA that prioritization so that's probably a good sign. My first test had math and lots of low-level questions especially at the end before it shut off, and that's why I bombed. My second test had lots of priority, analyzing data, drop and drag (ugh) and SATA one after the other and I passed. I also ended up with around 83-86 questions this time.

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Hey QuarterLife88, my story is identical to yours. Did well on Kaplan and thought I could ace it: didn't ace it. I'm retaking it in 2 weeks. I also am doing Hurst this time. I just finished the videos and wanted to know what you did after you finished the videos? Did you just review your notes or really study them? I don't know if I should be making flashcards off of the notes, watching the videos again or just browsing through the notes. Not sure how to proceed so I thought I'd ask :) Also, how many questions did you do a day? I never felt like questions helped me so I've just been focusing on content. Congrats on passing!

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Specializes in Neuroscience.

Hi there searay!

After watching all of the videos I watched them again. Looked over all of my notes day by day. Like one day I would do cardiac and gastrointestinal, and then oncology and renal. You get the picture. Took it a few sections at a time. I also would read in the Saunders books whatever I was doing on Hurst because Saunders covers a lot more of the diseases. I only went over the ones I learned in nursing school, but I basically ended up going through the entire book, Peds, OB, and Psych included, by the time I was done. That took about 2 1/2 weeks pacing myself.

I also utilized all of their 5th day materials, and a few days before my test I took 3 of the 6 quizzes. My scores were, 85, 86, and 92 out of 125. I reviewed all of those to see what I had gotten wrong.

Anything I still didn't understand I looked up on youtube for a visual.

I didn't do questions this time outside of Hurst quizzes. The first time all I did was questions instead of learning the content. This time I did the opposite: content and hardly any questions. Usually when I fail it's because I don't know something well enough, as was the case here rather than not knowing how to answer questions. If that's you, then just do Hurst quizzes and don't tax ourself out trying to reach some magical number of questions.

Good luck. Hurst is awesome!

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Thanks so much! Wish I would of done Hurst the first time around.. I love it

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Specializes in Neuroscience.

No problem, and best of luck!! I too wish I would have used Hurst the first time but everyone was raving about Kaplan. pffft. LOL

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Specializes in Critical Care.
No problem, and best of luck!! I too wish I would have used Hurst the first time but everyone was raving about Kaplan. pffft. LOL

Congrats :)

I'm using Hurst also for my first try. I take the test this month.

My scores are 91,85,85,89 and I'm saving the last two just in case I fail.

I pray to God I'm successful the first time though. Thanks for your help.

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