2 years out of Nursing School. Failed 3 times Help!

Nursing Students NCLEX

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I've been out of school for 2 years and failed Nclex 3 times. 1st time I was pregnant with my 1st child (7 month pregnant at the time), 2nd time baby was 5 month old and kept me up all night. 3rd time was 3 months ago and I think I was just too rusty and scared. The hard part for me is only person that knows is my husband. So it's my hidden secret from family and friends. Since I am currently a stay at home mom. No one really ask me about it they just figure I am a RN. So... I have been avoiding the nclex like its the plague but, now I've decided it's time to close this chapter and start a new as a RN and NEED to Pass this time. I need to start from scratch on study.I'm looking for recommendation on good study resources for core content and over all testing strategies. The time frame I'll be able to spend studying is 2 hours a day, 5 days a week. Any suggestion, motivation or personal story would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I would try an NCLEX review class. I know you're going for RN and not LPN, but when I was studying for the LPN, I used UWorld. I've read many people going for RN have also tried it. It was about $85 for a month, but they may have discounts during holidays. It's a subscription service, but it's amazing. It gave me 2 85-question tests, and after it provided rationales that were detailed. Then it had about 1200+ questions in its database for med-surge, peds, psych, ob, etc. Good luck! Don't give up!

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Don't give up! You can make it as long as you focus and take studying seriously you're gona pass the test. No doubt! Because I did. I graduated 5 years ago and just decided to take the NCLEX this year. Failed the first one in February due to a fulltime job and didn't have much time to study. So I changed to part-time. After work I'd go to the library even if I'm too tired. I'd study as well during my day off in the public library as that's the only place where I won't be distracted. I only used Uworld and finished 1,300 questions. I made sure I understand the rationale why it was the right answer. I prayed harder. God gave me signs. Then on my exam day, I know God was with me Bec altho the questions were hard, I felt that It was just another Uworld questions. Uworld prep me for the test as well as prayer and faith. Good luck to you!

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Keep trying and don't be discouraged.

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Honestly, you need to reconsider if this is the path for you. Stop making excuses regarding why you did so poorly. You are placing your patients and fellow staff members at risk if you are not capable enough to pass this exam. The exam is designed to weed out students who can not excel in nursing in order to protect patients.

If anyone is not here to help others and encourage each other then that person should not respond to other people's post. Someone came in here to look for help and instead of you to encourage her or him you were bent on ridiculing her. By this you are demoralising her and that's not good. If you don't like someone's post, don't comment and find something else to do. I personally don't like to see people responding with this type of tones, we are here for each other and many of us are appreciating allnurses.com. That you have passed the Nclex is GOD not in your own power.

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Specializes in OB, Case Management, Nurse Navigator.

I know it is expensive, but I did Hurst in a live classroom. After the 3 day class, I studied for 4 hours each day on the materials I learned from Hurst and took weekends off. Two days before, I did their practice tests. I have really high test anxiety, but, after studying and using Hurst, I wasn't really nervous on testing day. I felt prepared and ready to do the test. I passed in 75 questions and, if you don't pass, they have a money back guarantee (though I am sure you will pass the next time).

Don't give up! Get it in your head that you know the material and study your butt off. It'll pay off, I promise. Congrats on your sweet little one too!

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Specializes in Pediatrics and Nursing Education!.

Hi, there!

I'm sorry to hear about your NCLEX struggles. But, you're not alone in this.

The majority of NCLEX questions are written at an applying level or above. So what does this mean to you? Your critical thinking skills and nursing knowledge need to be really sharp. Essentially, you need to be able to use intelligent intuition to make decisions in these question scenarios. Critical thinking isn't a skill that is necessarily taught (explicitly) in nursing school, and that's a large reason why so many students and grads struggle with "putting the pieces together". When I work with my tootRN students, this is a skill that we really fine tune-- and is why they are so successful in passing the NCLEX!

Consider these things: 1) Identifying what you PERSONALLY feel is your biggest challenge. Is it UNDERSTANDING the concepts (knowledge), interpreting what the question is asking, or a combo of the two? 2) If you are doing content review, focus on understanding, not just knowing. Anyone can know... we need to understand (how, what, where, when, why!) So as an example, reading a chapter on the s/s of VSD and trying to remember them all is not as effective as understanding the normal A&P of the heart and blood flow through it. If you have this foundation of knowledge, you can build on it-- and really well! This is critical thinking; taking your knowledge a step further and further and further so you can see the big picture. Not only is this helpful in test taking, but in professional practice as well. Finally, 3) adopt a clear strategy of answering questions. The steps my tootRN students learn to do is:

STEP 1: What is this question asking me? What are the key points in this question? Essentially, summarize the question into this simplest form.

STEP 2: Think about expected outcomes. Meaning, what do I think is happening, or will happen, based on the problem in the question from what I just read?

STEP 3: What are the results of each item (the answer choices), and which one do I want to happen or do I expect/ aligns with the thoughts I had in step 2?

And... if nursing is what you want to do, do not allow negativity to sway you from your goals. People are unsuccessful in testing for a wide array of reasons. Failing the NCLEX is not an exclusive determining factor of the type of nurse you will be. And, the NCLEX itself is not free of flaws... and is not designed to be a "weeding out" assessment.

Very, very best wishes to you!

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I agree with you "schoolisexpensive" needs to be a bit more understanding and less judgmental. There are nurses that have taken the NCLEX six times. I say never give up. I have gone through some medical issues, as well. I actually developed a UTI the night before my last NCLEX. I am going for my third attempt. I tried Happy NCLEX last go round along with UWorld. Best Wises to CamdensMomma - prayers.

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Tell me how exactly a stay-at-home mom with no RN license, no job, and no career is placing patients and "fellow staff members" (which don't exist) at risk?

You're a BSN and yet you're talking to a "sisterL that's trying to get through that step but has had setbacks? Wow? Did you happen to skip all your humanities courses? You're coming across without any empathy and at most you should be giving encouragement instead. Maybe you should've considered another career. But then again, we see time & time again...the BSN & MSN (NOT ALL, just a vast majority), aren't the ones out there busting their behinds. They're just sitting on them.

Sorry I just call it as I see it.

Whoever you are, that sees your dream, regardless of what obstacles are in your way...keep trying. Things will "weed" there way out of yours.

Think of Aaliyah song- Try Again.

God bless you.

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You're a BSN and yet you're talking to a "sisterL that's trying to get through that step but has had setbacks? Wow? Did you happen to skip all your humanities courses? You're coming across without any empathy and at most you should be giving encouragement instead. Maybe you should've considered another career. But then again, we see time & time again...the BSN & MSN (NOT ALL, just a vast majority), aren't the ones out there busting their behinds. They're just sitting on them.

Sorry I just call it as I see it.

Whoever you are, that sees your dream, regardless of what obstacles are in your way...keep trying. Things will "weed" there way out of yours.

Think of Aaliyah song- Try Again.

God bless you.

Ummmmm. I think you need to re-read her post. She was replying to another poster who told the OP she shouldn't be a nurse because she was a threat to her patients and co-workers. The OP isn't a nurse yet because she's struggling to pass boards so she isn't a threat. BSNbeDone was standing up for the OP against someone who was being incredibly mean to her. And the person who was nasty isn't even a nurse. I think an apology isn't in order.

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I have used Saunders Comprehensive Review Book, and NCSBN learning Extension. I am thinking of taking Kalpan or Hurst full Online Review course. Then after taking one of those course looking into UWorld to really practice test taking strategy.

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This is sooo incredible helpful. I am literally going to print out your key points and keep them by me as I study. I am overwhelmed by the positive support. This is truly appreciated.

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you will succeed!!

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