Took NCLEX-RN today...keep getting good pop-up...still feel numb!

NikkiC213 · Jul 21, 2012

Woke up to THE BEST NEWS OF MY LIFE! Saw my license on CA's BRN website!! STILL CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!! It's crazy cuz I thought CA would be slow with their postings. I took my nclex on the 17th and it stated my license was issued on the 19th. Congrats everyone!

Nurse2BGo_FAMU · Aug 11, 2012

Took NCLEX yesterday at 1pm, did the PVT and getting "the good pop-up" as they call it! Man I just wanna celebrate but I just wanna be surebefore I do. This has been a LONG five year journey for me. YES five years!! A little history about me. I got accepted into nursing school fall 2007. I withdrew from pharmacology cuz I didnt wanna fail and risk getting put out of the program (My average was about a 62 in the class) so that push me back 2 semesters because pharm wasnt offered in the spring or summer. Ended up getting pregnant with my daughter before I retook the course. Retook it in fall 2008 and passed with a B. Continued on to the next semester (I was 5 months preggo by then and ironically doing peds and maternity rotations). Classes ended May 11 and I was due May 28th (Wheeew! Close call). I had to decide if I was going to continue on in the summer (which included Med-surge 1 and 2) with a new baby or if I was going to take a break.

I ended up taking a semester off and picking back up in the fall (2009). And what do you know... I ended up failing med-surge with a D :-( Soooo, that pushed me back ANOTHER semester, so I had to take it in the spring (2010) Retook it and passed with a C. Continued on with the final semester Fall 2010. Took my exit exam (ATI, which u need a 70 in order to get ur BSN) and got a 69.3! Less than a point away!! Another failure!!! I felt soooo defeated, but I didnt give up. I looked at all the times I was pushed back which felt like every semester (dropping pharm, having the baby, failing med-surge, and now failing my exit) in Nov 2010. So now I had to retake the exam when it would be offered which was July 2011. which pushed me back AGAIN!! So I took the ATI exam in July, passed it and graduated in the summer. I got pregnant AGAIN with my second daughter. I started preparing for NCLEX in September using Saunders, Lippincott, PDA, and a little bit of Davis. Took the NCLEX in Nov 2011 and FAILED it with 206 questions. I ran out of time! I was 8 months pregnant and didnt think I had enough energy to retake it before the baby arrived. So even though I knew it would be tough to study with a toddler and a new baby, I decided just to wait and retake NCLEX later after I recovered from having a c-section.

Had the baby in January 2012 and signed up with allnurses to get a little bit of motivation and encouragement because physically and emotionally I was so DRAINED. According to the reviews, I was down to deciding between HURST and KAPLAN. A friend of mine had recently passed with just the Q-Bank on her 3rd attempt. So I figured if I can do the entire virtual classroom then there is no reason why I should not pass NCLEX. Purchased the classroom anywhere with a $120 off coupon I found online through a search engine and paid $379 for it versus the $499. I was trying to find a schedule that would work for since the kids were at home with me. I didnt have the money to put them in daycare so I chose to do an 8 day four hour class schedule from 9p to 1a which I completed in mid-May. I set my date for Aug 10. With the two children, my daughters ages 3 yrs and 6 months old, it took me about 3 months to complete everything. I watched maybe 1 or two videos and skimmed through the kaplan coursebook and I read half of the pyramid points in saunders (The key points written in red on the sides that they may test you on.)

My question trainers were as follows....Diagnostic-62%, Q1-57, Q2-65, Q3-62, Q4-49, Q5-33, Q6-62, Q7-56. My Q Bank average was 51% with 100% completed (148 were left unanswered though, so if I didnt run out of time, it might have been a little higher.) I reviewed EVERY single question and answer whether right or wrong and wrote the rationales down in a notebook. I didnt get a chance to read through my notes of rationales before the test. I just skimmed through the study guide I found here in this forum. I completed the question trainers late at nite when the children were sleeping. Like 3 and 4am. Sometimes I fell asleep answering questions and would wake up with a pop-up on the screen saying "your time has expired." So I would have to redo the test the next day so I would have an accurate score because since I wouldnt finish, it would be a score of like 28%.

It was really tough studying with 2 children, I cried many times. Couldnt really get any solid studying done, because of the constant need to stop with a toddler and newborn baby. I would do like an hour here and there throughout the course of the day totaling about 7 or 8 hrs minus the interruptions. I would start early in the morning like 8 and stop at 9 at night. I really felt helpless, but I just kept thinking of how much I wanted for my girls. But anyway Im glad its all over with, I dont even know how many questions I had. I just remember freaking out when it didnt shut off at 75. It was somewhere between 75 and 85 and my last question was about rifampin when it shut off. I just plopped my face into my hands and just sat there for about 2 minutes, completed the survey, and left. I felt like the exam was a straight guess test for me. I was maybe sure about 10 answers out of 80 something.There were more than like 20 times when I had no idea what the answer was and just remember completely melting inside and closing my eyes and just praying and praying and praying.

I had 2 exhibits, a few infection control, float nurse assignments, priority,triage, delegation, 1 dosage. I pray the trick is true! Cant wait to get my quick results tomorrow...This has been the LONGEST five years ever, not counting the 2 yr pre-nursing, (sighs)....