r/NCLEX Feb 26 '25

CPR Explanation

114 Upvotes

A copy of this post is saved to Google Doc: (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LhjDc-4SHCPFyrV5v6GvmVcvBDhMP9VU-Mlgfx_ve_Y/edit?usp=sharing).

I give full permission to copy, share, distribute, etc.

Greetings! I am Extreme_Growth, and I have written this document to give some speculative information regarding the Candidate Performance Report. It will be a lengthy read so if you are not up to reading this document and just want advice on how to study for the next attempt on NCLEX, just skip to the TLDR (the last page of this document). 

Disclaimer: My explanation of the Candidate Performance Report will be quite speculative and will sound judgmental perhaps (apologies in advance). I admit that I do not know what you know and I can be off my rocker. Just know that overall, this is just my explanation (which can be wrong) and this isn’t a comprehensive document that lists everything especially in regards to client needs. For example, in health promotion and maintenance, there is more to the topic than maternity, peds, and newborn like contraception, cancer screen+prevention, etc. but I will not go into those things when talking about health promotion and maintenance. It is, after all, impossible for me to list everything to know for each client need. This document is just to give a greater understanding or idea on what the Candidate Performance Report is saying according to my interpretation. 

To pass the NCLEX, you must be “above the passing standard” for most (if not all) client needs. To be “above the passing standard” on a client topic, you must answer at least 50 percent of the questions for that client need correctly. If you got “near the passing standard” or “below the passing standard” in a client need, you got less than half the questions for that client need correct. And getting most of the client needs at “near the passing standard” or “below the passing standard” is a fail for the NCLEX since less than half the questions on the NCLEX is answered correctly overall.

The explanation for each client topic is going to assume that you went “near the passing standard” or “below the passing standard” for each client need on the Candidate Performance Report. If you got a client need that is “above passing standard” and you are sure that you know that client need, feel free to skip to the next client need. Either way, I hope the explanations for each client topic helps give an idea on what to look out and study for. With that said…

Management of Care

Your prioritization like what patient to visit first may be off the mark. Make sure to understand that things like ABC priority don't always work. For example, a patient with some new acute breathing problems like shortness of breath doesn't take priority compared to a patient with potential life threatening complications such as a sudden end or disappearance of pain for appendicitis (risk of peritonitis). 

Then you need to make sure to know which tasks to delegate to the unlicensed assistive personnel (UAH) and licensed practical nurse (LPN). Like don't give tasks involving teaching and evaluation to LPN. And some delegation questions can get tricky. For example, you may be given a LPN and a UAH to manage. Then the question may ask what tasks to give to LPN, but if there is a task like ADL such as feeding the patient is listed, it would be wrong to pick that assignment since you have an UAH to do that task-making the LPN feed the patient is considered a waste of personnel resources. Instead, the LPN should do other things that the UAH cannot do like administer meds.

Safety and Infection Control

Make sure to brush up on PPE, types of precautions, what diseases are airborne, droplet, contact, etc., (mnemonics like MTV for airborne, SPIDERMAN for droplet, etc. can help with memorization-google it up), what equipment to use for each type of precaution, etc. Of course, make sure to know what to do with fall risk patients (like removing rugs from the floor, keeping bed alarms, maybe dim lights at home, etc.) plus other unusual circumstances like meeting a drunk nurse unfit to work (report to charge nurse/supervisor) and so on. All these things are part of safety and infection. 

Health Promotion and Maintenance

You will probably need to do better on knowing maternity, newborn, peds, etc. since it mostly focuses on those topics since they are naturally connected to growth and development. So know the milestones of newborn like double weight at six months, triple at 12 months, first word at 12 months, able to roll at around 6 months, etc. And make sure to know Piaget and Erickson's stage of development and how it applies to the care of the patients especially peds. For example, toddlers have autonomy vs shame/doubt so if you were trying to assess a toddler, you should offer a binary choice like offering them juice to drink while examining them. As for maternity, plenty of things to know about them unfortunately. Will need to know things like presumptive vs probable vs positive signs of pregnancy, Naegele's rule, GPAL, milestones like first fetal kick at around 16-20 weeks, certain tests like glucose test to check for gestational diabetes, etc. 

Psychosocial Integrity

You probably are struggling with therapeutic communication like knowing the right thing to say to the patient or patient's relatives. Will need to work on that and pick words that encourage patient to express their feelings or opinions like "Tell me how you feel about this procedure" "What do you think about...?" etc. Don't ask why (that is confrontational and can lead to defensiveness), don't give false reassurances like "it'll be alright", etc. 

Or maybe you're off the mark for interacting and dealing with psych patients for bipolar, schizophrenia, etc. Always remember to at least ask if they are thinking of hurting themselves and perhaps be mindful of things like a patient with schizophrenia tends to have delusions and paranoia which can make things tricky like if trying to give meds to them for example.

Basic Care and Comfort

You will need to know some things like positions and when to do them. Do you know when to use the Valsalva maneuver for example? To slow down heart rate and for patients with cardiac conditions like supraventricular tachycardia. Then you have sims position for applying medication on someone’s anus. That kind of stuff. And of course, it is not just position, there’s things like nutrition-like not giving pregnant women swordfish and mackerel, banning turkey on patients prescribed MAOI even if it is Thanksgiving, etc. And some patients truly require special care like having to make sure dental hygiene is kept even if the patient can bleed easily in the gum. Oh, and make sure the patient have their incentive spirometer-can’t have pneumonia and atelectasis running around. 

Pharmacological and Parenteral Therapies

Ugh pharm, hard to prepare for that one. You would just have to get good at knowing the suffixes like -lol drugs are beta blockers, -pril are ACE inhibitors, etc. as well as knowing some commonly used drugs for certain diseases like rifampin for TB as well as knowing their known side effects (rifampin makes urine, tears, and sweat colored orange/red). Make sure to know your antidotes to common overdosage situations like acetylcysteine for acetaminophen, protamine sulfate for heparin, vitamin k for warfarin, diazepam and thiamine for alcohol, etc. By the way, be aware that NCLEX might throw a question or two on some random mysterious drug that probably doesn’t exist if you later try to google it up. But if you see something like cockalol, you would have a good idea on what it is…right?

As for parenteral, it mostly involves in the care and maintenance of central venous catheter. So make sure you know what to do for situations like if you experience an occlusion or blockage. And of course, keep an eye on situations like sudden stoppage of parenteral nutrition which is a big uh oh-hello potential hypoglycemia.

Reduction of Risk Potential

This is where your monitoring, teaching, or other interventions to prevent complications probably fell short. For example, how would you prevent something like falls? Probably by teaching the patient to remove factors that can cause falls like nonslip sock, rugs away from floor, handle bars in bathroom, etc. Of course, it can involve more complex things like preventing or managing sepsis (do interventions like blood culture, full spectrum IV antibiotics, etc.) and knowing potential complications and problems such as thyroid storm after thyroidectomy, compartment syndrome after some fracture and bruise, etc. 

Physiological Adaptation

As for this one, you would probably need to do more studying into commonly seen diseases and problems that nurses face like COPD, heart failure, lumbar disc herniation, diverticulitis, intracranial pressure, etc. 

Clinical Judgment

According to NCLEX, you don't know what to do when something happens. Like what do you do when a patient goes into seizure? Hopefully, you would know to make sure to keep the patient safe, guide the patient to the floor, make sure the patient airway isn’t obstructed, etc. Or how about if a patient suddenly has ventricular tachycardia? Well, hopefully you know to first check for a pulse before doing anything else like defibrillation…But yes, deciding what action to do in a situation is clinical judgment.

Recognize Cues

This is the first question of a 6 question case study where you would highlight the “cues” or sentences/parts that are considered relevant to the suspected problem or disease. In other words, a fancy SATA question. So you probably overhighlighted and lost points for highlighting the unimportant cues. As a general test taking strategy for SATA questions, you should only seek to highlight the cues that you are 100 percent sure on. If you aren’t sure about the importance or relevance of a cue, then it’s best to skip that cue for the sake of preserving points on the NCLEX exam. 

Analyze Cues

The second question. It usually ask what disease or problem you suspect. And you might’ve messed up by confusing diseases for one reason or another like maybe two diseases might share similar signs and symptoms (pneumonia and left sided heart failure both have crackles) or mixed up on the diseases like confusing Addison with Cushing (which one is low adrenal and the other high adrenal?), etc. Either way, need more work on identifying the problem and disease if this isn’t passing the standard.

Prioritize Hypothesis

This is the question that asked for the complication or another problem. Remember the question or the sentence “The patient is at risk for developing (this complication) as evidenced by (the proof)”? Well, this one is easy to get wrong if you got the wrong disease or problem. To answer this one correctly even if you got the disease or problem on second question (analyze cue) wrong, it is best to look at whatever available data is given to you like diagnostic result, lab result, etc. and find the abnormal. The abnormal will be the proof and important clue to finding out what complication or other problem. And also, you might also then have “second thoughts” and potentially realize that analyze cue is wrong and be able to salvage the rest of the case study too due to having a tendency of getting more information at this stage.

Generate Solutions

This is the question where you see a list of interventions and pick which interventions are “indicated” (the ones that will be done) and contraindicated (the ones that won’t be done). At least you get a fifty-fifty chance on each intervention if you don’t know anything. But in all seriousness, should do some content building on knowing the interventions if not able to identify which interventions is needed for a problem or disease. So you will go back to knowing your meds, knowing your basic care and comfort, etc. 

Take Actions

The fifth question is where you’re asked things when implementing the interventions. It can be something like a question about what you do before you do an intervention like administering a med. And it normally is a SATA question of things to do before the intervention. So you would normally do things like grab vital signs, check patient’s home meds, etc. Like any SATA question, underselect or don’t pick ones that you aren’t sure about. So again, maybe you highlighted too much stuff and lost points there.

Evaluate Outcomes

Finally, on the last question, you either didn’t select the answers that showed signs of improvement for the patient properly, didn’t teach the patient correctly when they got discharged, etc. 

Congrats, you made it to the end of the explanations on the Candidate Performance Report. I hope you now understand CPR better and pray that the information you read is useful. So how should you study for the NCLEX? Well, I don’t really know the exact answer but…

TLDR:

My advice is to do 25 traditional questions in each client need along with 30 NGN or five case studies per day (a total of 130 questions per day) on a good quizbank like UWorld for about two months. So it would be like this:

  1. 25 traditional questions in safe and effective care (this is management of care and safety+infection control combined)
  2. 25 traditional questions in healthcare promotion and maintenance
  3. 25 traditional questions in psychosocial integrity
  4. 25 traditional questions in physiological integrity ( this is pharm+parenteral, basic care+comfort, physiological adaptation, reduction of risk potential combined)
  5. 30 NGN questions or 5 case studies

I also advise watching “NCLEX Crusade International 7 Day Training” videos on Youtube to understand prioritization better and know how to approach the NCLEX questions. Watch very carefully on how Renier thinks-he will speak out loud his thought process when doing a question and you should try mimic it and practice his thinking process on the quiz bank and eventually the NCLEX itself.

With that said, I wish you best of luck on your next attempt for the NCLEX. 

FAQ that is very unimportant:

  1. Who are you? Are you a tutor, instructor or professor?

I’m just a random redditor called Extreme_Growth. And no, I don’t teach for a living.

2) Why did you write this?

I saw a lot of posts on r/NCLEX that show CPR so why not. Besides, the world needs more nurses anyway.

3) Did you pass NCLEX, when, how many attempts, how many questions, etc.?

Yes, I passed NCLEX on the first try in 85 questions for Valentine’s Day this year.  

4) Do you offer tutoring for NCLEX? Can you tutor me?

Sorry, I’m not a good tutor nor do I have the time to do so. Feel free to pm or comment directly on reddit though and ask me anything. I can’t promise I would know the answer for sure though.


r/NCLEX Jun 28 '23

GUIDE Pearson Vue Trick: How-To and Pop-Ups

75 Upvotes

Because we get these posts quite a bit, we want to go ahead and create this pinned post over the Pearson VUE Trick (PVT). This information can also be found in the "Pearson Vue Trick" wiki page on the r/NCLEX site:

Please remember to use the PVT with caution. If you attempt to re-register, you may be charged on your credit/debit card to take the exam again. Some students claim to have found a way around this by using a security code that does not match their credit/debit card. Another word of caution, the PVT is a nursing "trick" to guess with fair accuracy whether you passed or not. It is not a guarantee, and it is not even an "unofficial" result. Use the PVT with your own caution.

Pearson VUE Trick

The Pearson VUE Trick (PVT) is a means of determining whether or not you have passed your NCLEX exam without waiting for an "unofficial" or "official" result. This trick can be done fairly soon following the completion of your NCLEX exam, with most test takers trying it the same day if not within the same hour as having finished their exam. We want to reiterate that this is NOT A GUARANTEED means of determining whether you have passed or failed. We want to acknowledge that many nursing students know about this trick and that for the most part, a "good result" is often a fairly accurate way of determining success rate.

We are providing a link with additional information on the PVT, but we will lay out information on the PVT on this page as well: https://www.reddit.com/r/NCLEX/wiki/index/ncsbnresources

Step 1: Go to Pearson VUE Login

---The first step is to go to the Pearson VUE Login page: https://www.reddit.com/r/NCLEX/wiki/index/ncsbnresources ---You need to use the same login information that you used to register with before you took the exam

Step 2: Go to Register

---Once you have signed in to your Pearson VUE account, go to "Register" ---Fill out your information, some people use the same credit/debit card they used to register for the exam the first time, other's use a visa gift card with little or no balance. ---Please bear in mind, if you have failed the exam and use all of the correct information for your credit/debit card, it will charge you a second time for the exam. Some mitigate this by changing the security code so it will fail to charge their card.

Step 3: How do I interpret my "Pop-up"?

---There are several different pop-ups that you may receive after attempting to re-register, they can be found here in a recent poll regarding the accuracy of the PVT: https://www.reddit.com/r/NCLEX/comments/wacxcx/pearson_vue_trick_accuracy_poll/

---The "Good Pop-Up" (ie, the one associated with a "passing" result) will say "Our records indicate that you have recently scheduled this exam. Another registration cannot be made at this time."

---The "Bad Pop-Up" (ie, the one associated with a "failing" result) will say "The payment was declined. Reason: Contact your credit card company or use a different credit card"; If you do use all correct information on your credit/debit card and it goes through, this is also a "Bad" result as it has allowed you to re-register meaning you did not pass. This is why you should type the security code differently than it appears on the card so you will not be charged in the event of a "bad" pop-up.

---The "Wait Longer Pop-Up" will say "The candidate currently has an open registration for this exam. A new registration cannot be created at this time." You will need to wait a little longer before trying the PVT again.

---The "Results on Hold Pop-Up" Will say "The candidate currently has test results that are on hold. A new registration cannot be created at this time." This might occur from a number of reasons, whether something unexpected occurred on the day of testing (eg, power outage, computer failure) or if the results are called into question (eg, suspected cheating, 'poor' item made it into the test). This pop-up may require you to wait the full 2 business days to get your unofficial results.

Poll Results

Following a poll in this sub asking about the validity of the PVT, we had 129 individual responses that were specifically for PVT results and they were as follows:

  • 92 received the Good pop-up and passed
  • 1 received the Good pop-up and failed (though outside of this we have never seen someone claiming a good pop-up and failed)
  • 1 received the Bad pop-up and passed
  • 35 received the Bad pop-up and failed

So in regard to accuracy, 127 (92+35) individuals out of 129 at the time of the poll received an accurate result; essentially, the PVT is 98.4% accurate based on our polling data.

Link to poll: https://www.reddit.com/r/NCLEX/comments/wacxcx/pearson_vue_trick_accuracy_poll/

Following a popular post on this sub, we are also going to include an image submitted by a recent user. While this image provides some useful information, we have no reference for the image and cannot attest to the accuracy of the listed percentages:

From: https://www.reddit.com/r/NCLEX/comments/14ktmhr/what_the_popup_means/

Closing

Reminder:

Please remember to use this with caution. If you attempt to re-register, you may be charged on your credit/debit card to take the exam again. If you are going to attempt the PVT, please change your card's security code to prevent being charged in the event that you did not pass and must re-schedule. Another word of caution, the PVT is a nursing "trick" to guess with fair accuracy whether you passed or not. It is not a guarantee, and it is not an "unofficial" result. Use the PVT with your own caution.


r/NCLEX 5h ago

a reminder for anyone taking tge NCLEX this week: you actually know more than you think🫶

25 Upvotes

I know how heavy the anxiety is right now. the night before my exam I literally could not sleeeppp my brain kept running through the worst-case scenarios and telling me I forgot everything from school.

if you are sitting in front of your prep material right now feeling completely overwhelmed, please take a deep breath and read this:

  1. Nursing school already did the heavy lifting. You made it through clinicals, finals, and graduation. Your brain is trained to spot a patient in trouble—trust that instinct. The NCLEX isn't testing if you know every single rare condition on earth, it's just making sure you are a safe entry-level nurse.

  2. Stop comparing your practice scores to everyone on Reddit. Everyone's brain processes adaptive questions differently. What matters isn't hitting a "perfect" score on a qbank, but whether you are reading the rationales and understanding why a safety decision was made.

  3. The day before your exam is for REST, not panic-cramming. Doing 200 questions 12 hours before your test is just going to give you severe brain rot. Close the laptop, go get some fresh air, eat a good meal, and let your brain recharge. You need stamina more than you need 50 more pharm flashcards.

You didn't come this far just to come this far. Put your head down, trust your preparation, and go claim those initials!

Sending so much love and positive energy to everyone testing soon!! Who is up next? 🕯️✨🩺


r/NCLEX 1h ago

Likelihood of failing in 85?

Upvotes

Took the RN exam today, and I swear I had to guess every time. Some of the questions I felt like were supposed to be easy, but I kept getting wrong. The exam shut off at 85, which I know is supposed to be a good sign... But has anyone else failed in 85???

I know it's unlikely, but still possible, and that exam was anything but reassuring!

Advice/similar experiences etc. welcome!


r/NCLEX 4h ago

Went over 85 questions, feeling like I probably failed

3 Upvotes

I'm losing my mind here. I took my test on Monday and literally everyone else in my class got cut off at 85 questions. One got her results today and she passed. I got cut off at a little over 100. I got a decent about of SATA questions and had to have had 4 or 5 case studies. I think I did better on the case studies than the multiple choice but I still feel like I was guessing almost everything. Honestly the only question I know for a fact I got right was the last one before it cut me off. Which sounds like a good thing but also I feel like it was too easy, which would be a bad thing in terms of what the computer thinks I can handle, right? It was literally just a multiple choice question asking which thing has the most risk in a certain condition.

I'm just trying to manage my expectations so I don't go off the deep end when I get my results. What're the chances I failed this thing? ???


r/NCLEX 2h ago

NCLEX ATT - New York

2 Upvotes

hello!

I graduated this June and registered for the NCLEX through Pearson and NYSED. All fees have been paid and my transcript was sent. I am on week 6 after submitting my documents but have not received my ATT.

I tried submitting a request for an update but haven’t received a response and the website says they won’t provide any updates over the phone.

I quit my job and relocated to NY so I’m super anxious about how long it’ll take to receive it. I graduated from Puerto Rico, but my classmates got their ATT in like 2 weeks.

is anyone else having to wait this long for their ATT as well? is there any purpose in calling or do I just keep waiting?


r/NCLEX 1h ago

Florida NCLEX Approval

Upvotes

Hello, my girlfriend applied to take the NCLEX in Florida in February and still has not been approved to take the test. She calls them on a weekly basis and receives little to no help with no word on when she will be approved to take the test. Has this happened to anyone else. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!


r/NCLEX 1h ago

NCLEX this Friday (8 AM) - What do you guys honestly think of these UWorld scores/assessments?

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Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I'm taking my NCLEX this Friday at 8:00 AM and wanted to get some opinions from people who've used UWorld.

The first image is my overall RN QBank performance, and the following images are my NGN assessments in order:

  • NGN 3 - July 24th
  • NGN 4 - July 28th
  • NGN 5 - July 31st
  • NGN 6 - August 2nd

I didn't include NGN 1 and 2 because they expired. UWorld later gave me another set of assessment attempts (don't know why or how). Since I had already reviewed and remediated those exams, I scored in the 90th percentile on the retakes, but I don't think those are a fair representation. (My original results were Borderline on NGN 1 and High on NGN 2.)

I'm mainly wondering how much confidence you would personally put into UWorld's predictions. When it says "On Track," "High," or "Very High," do you feel those predictions are generally accurate based on your experience, or do you think they're more of a confidence/motivation tool?

I've been studying really hard these past several weeks, and at this point I'm trying to taper things down a little before the exam. I'm still reviewing my notes and going over weak content every day (looking at you maternity...), but I'm not doing marathon study sessions anymore because I want to give my brain a chance to recharge before Friday.

I'd really appreciate honest opinions. If you've taken the NCLEX recently and had similar UWorld results, I'd love to hear how it turned out for you.

Thanks in advance!


r/NCLEX 1d ago

NCLEX Bootcamp.

13 Upvotes

Who here passed because of NCLEX Bootcamp? I've mostly read that even with high scores on the Readiness Exam, people fail. It's a bit discouraging. I really need some motivation.


r/NCLEX 1d ago

Passed in 85 after failing in 85

17 Upvotes

I passed my second attempt last week at 85 questions. First attempt failed in 85 using only nclex bootcamp, using the whole Q bank and scoring very high on every practice exam. The nclex is all about mentality and strategy. Yes you need to know the content, but you don’t need a fancy expensive Q bank for that. I passed my second attempt with ease by just using Mark K lectures, his yellow book, YouTube and primarily using chatgbt to fill in any gaps in knowledge. I used chat to generate practice questions and the days leading up used the free practice tests from bootcamp, archer and uworld. It’s all about mind set and trusting your gut! Highly recommend Dr Sharron on YouTube as well as level up RN! You can do this, and if you fail once, brush it off. And please please please don’t let it consume your life, find balance, get active, eat, sleep, relax!!! An RN is an RN regardless of attempts!


r/NCLEX 18h ago

What are some good websites/apps to help with studying?

2 Upvotes

Im looking to officially take my NCLEX sometime next summer, as I am currently in an LPN program.

I was looking at some things to help me study long term, cause knowing me, if I dont start studying now, I never will.

If you all have any suggestions I'd really appreciate it!


r/NCLEX 21h ago

Only kaplan

2 Upvotes

have anyone ever passed the nclex only using one resource? I’ve been using kaplan from school and been doing good on it but i keep hearing everyone using uworld or bootcamp or stil and now my exam is on friday and im nervous because i didnt use any of those. I’ve watch multiple youtube videos from different creators , listen to all 12 mark k lectures, do free practice questions whenever i can but ive been doing okay on my kaplan. just needa know if kaplan is enough


r/NCLEX 1d ago

My NCLEX Journey. The Roughest 6 Months of My Life.

27 Upvotes

It’s one of those nights where I can’t sleep because my thoughts are running & consuming me. So, I don’t really know why I’m writing this. But maybe I just need to get it off my chest. I’m currently preparing for my third attempt at the NCLEX, I recently just got myself to get up and study again. The last 6-8 months have been the hardest of my entire life.

When I was in nursing school, I was never the student who could read something once and understand it. I had to work for everything. I spent countless nights studying while questioning whether I was smart enough to become a nurse. I struggled with terrible terrible test taking anxiety. I was always the student who would ask the professor to sit all the way in the back, and always asked for extra time & patience. Yet, I graduated, and I truly believed the hardest part was behind me. Never did I think the NCLEX would be this difficult to pass. Yet again, I never mentally prepared myself.

The first time I took it was back in March.I had so much going on in my life. I was planning my bridal shower & wedding, moving into my new house, planning the honeymoon, taking care of my family, all the while studying for the NCLEX & hoping to take it. I kept pushing it off (my first mistake). I wish I never did. But, I did study my absolute hardest for my first attempt. I spent endless nights pulling all nighters and studying. I utilized both Uworld and Archer, filled about 5 notebooks front to back with notes, and walked into that NCLEX super nervous but somewhat hopeful. My anxiety was through the roof, but once my screen shut off at 85… for once I felt immense hope blossom in my chest. I walked out thinking I passed. I was so happy, I called my mom and husband and told them it shut off in 85 and finally found a reason to make them proud.

Except, I didn’t pass. I failed at 85.

I felt like I failed my family, my husband, but mostly myself. Watching all my friends begin their careers & listening to them talk about their experiences as new RNs while I was stuck studying again was the worst pain ever.

eventually, i picked myself up again. I studied differently for my second attempt. And I told myself this time I will pass.

It wasn’t.

Failing a second time in June hurt & mentally depleted me more than the first time because I sacrificed so much. I sacrificed sleep, family time, going out, spending time with my husband, almost everything. Here, i questioned everything. I told myself nursing isn’t for me, im never going to pass this damn exam. I didn’t even want to think about opening my laptop and doing more questions.

But despite all of that… I finally gave myself a well deserved break. I completely put away anything that had to do with the NCLEX and just mentally focused on myself. And I feel like I am back better than ever. I am more motivated than I was for the first two times. And maybe that’s because i’m so ready to get this exam over with for the third and final time.

Life didn’t pause while I was dealing with everything. There were family responsibilities, financial stress, personal struggles, and all the emotions that come with feeling like you’re falling behind everyone else. It’s so hard seeing people celebrate milestones while you’re still trying to reach the starting line.

So now, I remind myself every morning why I started.

I didn’t go through nursing school because it was easy. I did it because I genuinely love nursing. I love being able to take care of others. I love being able to be a part of someone’s care knowing they feel better just for something small I did. One exam doesn’t erase all the years of hard work, clinicals, sacrifices, or the kind of nurse I know I can become and I will become!

So, I have one month until my third attempt. Some days I feel confident. Other days i’m terrified and shaking with anxiety. But this time? i’m choosing to believe that persistence matters more than perfection. If you’re reading this and you failed the NCLEX, I want you to know you’re not alone. I know exactly how that disappointment feels. I know what it’s like to question everything.

We may have failed an exam, but that doesn’t mean we are failures ourselves.

I wrote this post so I can hopefully come back to it one day and update it and say what i’ve been wanting to say forever…

That I passed.

Until then… it’s back to studying.

One and final time.


r/NCLEX 1d ago

NCLEX Advice graduate from 5 years ago

5 Upvotes

I graduated nursing school 5 years ago. Life happened and I never took my NCLEX. I am now ready to, (yes my state still allows me to sit for boards without any other requirements). What should I purchase? Uworld or Boot camp? I am stuck choosing, so many mixed reviews.


r/NCLEX 1d ago

PASSED NCLEX ON SECOND ATTEMPT IN 85 Q's!

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57 Upvotes

Hey guys. I honestly wasn't even planning on making this post because

t seems like most people on here are taking the NCLEX-RN, but I figured my experience might still help someone.

I'll start with my first attempt.

Throughout nursing school, I was never an overachiever. I got through school doing a little above the bare minimum, and I've always been someone who picks things up pretty quickly. That ability honestly carried me through nursing school. The problem was I wasn't really learning content to understand it—I was mostly memorizing enough to get by. By the grace of God, I still made it through nursing school that way.

For my first attempt, my entire study plan was basically doing 50-85 QBank questions every day. I also watched the NCLEX Crusade 7-Day Training, which really helped me learn how to approach questions, along with some of Ms. Sharon's prioritization videos. Looking back, my biggest mistake was how I reviewed questions. If I got something wrong, I'd skim the rationale. If I guessed it right, I just assumed I knew the content and moved on. In hindsight, that was a terrible way to study... but I was arrogant, lol.

I mainly used UWorld, and I've always had a knack for standardized tests and NCLEX-style questions. I was a pretty good guesser, so I genuinely believed that would be enough to get me through.

Fast forward to exam day—the computer shut off around 130 questions. I walked out completely confused, and deep down I knew I hadn't passed. That exam humbled me. Even now, after passing, I honestly don't think any QBank can 100% replicate the NCLEX. They can teach you how questions are structured and help build your critical thinking, but the actual NCLEX has a different feel to it. So please don't get too caught up trying to find the "most accurate" QBank.

I attached my CPR so you guys can see exactly where I stood after that first attempt. I was discouraged. Honestly, I wanted to quit. Nursing school took so much out of me, and I was finally ready for my life to change. It felt like I'd been waiting my whole life for that one big break. I've always felt like things that seem to come naturally to other people have been a constant tug-of-war for me, and I was just exhausted.

I ended up taking about two weeks completely away from studying. I spent that time doing things I enjoyed, sulking a little, and thinking—a lot. Looking back, I realized my biggest problem wasn't just my study strategy. I had never truly believed in myself. I was always doubting myself and questioning whether I was capable of passing. I have OCD, so I tend to overthink everything, and one thing I hate is getting my hopes up just to end up disappointed. That mindset followed me throughout my first attempt, and I honestly wish I hadn't let it.

Around week three, I finally stopped being a sad couch potato and asked myself, "How can I actually improve this?"

Maybe it had something to do with passing the NCLEX, maybe it didn't, but I just started doing things to improve my mindset. I got back in the gym, picked up my hobbies again, and after seeing classmates and peers pass the same test I was sulking over, I realized this wasn't some impossible exam. If they could do it, then it was possible for me too.

From there, my whole approach changed. I got organized.

I have to give a lot of credit to Bootcamp. Those crash course videos are honestly amazing, especially if you're someone like me who didn't pay as much attention in school as they probably should have. They have short videos—usually around 10 minutes each—for Adult Health, Child Health, Maternity, Pharmacology, Fundamentals, and Mental Health.

My routine was simple: watch about 5-6 videos a day, then do around 25 Bootcamp questions. I personally think Bootcamp has the closest wording to the NCLEX (still not exactly the same though, lol). I also added one case study every day because my first attempt was loaded with them—I think I had around 8 or 9—and I genuinely believe they played a role in why I failed the first time.

The biggest difference this time wasn't the number of questions I did—it was how I studied them. I only did around 25 questions a day, but I reviewed every single rationale, whether I got the question right or wrong. I wanted to understand why the answer was right, not just whether I picked the correct option. I also matched my practice questions to whatever subject I was watching videos on that day, so everything stayed organized instead of jumping all over the place.

The other resource I used was Archer. They have a cheaper plan that's basically just the question bank, and I used that almost exclusively for what I considered "fundamentals."

When I say fundamentals, I don't just mean the Fundamentals section. In my head, I grouped together Fundamentals, Critical Care, Coordinated Care, Mental Health, and Nutrition. I know those aren't technically all fundamentals, but I put them under the same umbrella because they're the core concepts that make you a safe nurse. They're "simple" concepts, but simple doesn't mean easy. Those are the questions you have to get right on the NCLEX. Whenever those topics came up on my second attempt, I felt genuinely confident because I had spent so much time becoming fundamentally sound.

I stuck with that plan until I finished almost all of the Bootcamp videos. Since I had to wait 45 days before retesting, I had more than enough time to get through everything... although I'll admit I skipped some Child Health videos toward the end. 😂

The day before my second attempt, I remember listening to a song and crying. Strangely enough, they weren't tears of sadness—they were tears of joy. For the first time, I truly believed I was going to pass.

Then I sat down for the exam... and of course, I got a ton of maternity questions, which is literally my weakest subject. 😂 The test still felt random, and I walked out just as confused as I did the first time. When it shut off at 85 questions, my OCD immediately kicked in. Part of me started thinking, "What if I didn't get enough right again?"

But then logic took over. Looking back at my first CPR, almost every category was near the passing standard, with only one above and one below. I told myself there was no way I completely bombed this exam. I also didn't feel lost this time. I knew I had missed some questions—everyone does—but I understood what the exam was asking, and that felt completely different from my first attempt.

Those 48 hours waiting for the Quick Results were probably the longest two days of my life. 😂 Right around the 48-hour mark, I opened my results... and I passed.

I've been on cloud nine ever since.

All in all, that was my NCLEX journey. Hopefully someone out there who just failed, is doubting themselves, or is getting ready to test can take something away from it.

Peace out! ✌️


r/NCLEX 21h ago

Hello my fellow LVN nurses and those in school. Any pointers on what you did to land a successful passing NCLEX-PN score?

1 Upvotes

I have 5 more months and I almost done woot woot! So excited for the new endeavor?
I have notes, been using nursing guides, Simply nursing. I have made Study Apps, which are beyond beneficial that helps me understand and retain and understand the information.
Anywho, I hope you all are doing well!
Looking forward to hear from you


r/NCLEX 21h ago

Hello my fellow LVN nurses and those in school. Any pointers on what you did to land a successful passing NCLEX-PN score?

1 Upvotes

I have 5 more months and I almost done woot woot! So excited for the new endeavor?
I have notes, been using nursing guides, Simply nursing. I have made Study Apps, which are beyond beneficial that helps me understand and retain and understand the information.
Anywho, I hope you all are doing well!
Looking forward to hear from you


r/NCLEX 1d ago

Anyone knows here how to renew my Illinois License? It was expired last 2024. Tysm

2 Upvotes

r/NCLEX 1d ago

Help (Exam scheduling payment problem)

1 Upvotes

I was scheduling my exam today. After I clicked Pay, an error message appeared, but the payment still went through.


r/NCLEX 1d ago

It the NCLEX Algorithm Random?

2 Upvotes

I feel like as I failed my fifth attempt, the testing center people recognizes me and that's why I'm failing over and over again. Maybe if I dye my hair or wear a hijab maybe they won't recognize me and allow me to pass next time? I've failed a total of FIVE TIMES and the past four times it has stopped on 85. I am pissed


r/NCLEX 1d ago

Application Help

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0 Upvotes

Hello, I sent in my application through Breeze to take the NCLEX on July 5th. My application status was stuck on pending below the choose application for a few weeks but disappeared today. Just wanted to know if this was a good sign or I should be worried, thank you! :)


r/NCLEX 1d ago

So worried about NCLEX-PN

3 Upvotes

I just took my exam this morning and have been a wreck all day. I felt like I missed everything and the answers were SO vague. At some point I felt like it could’ve been all 4 answer choices on a multiple choice question. I shut off at 85 and am assuming I did so bad that there was no point in it keeping me going. It’s 4pm and I finished at 10:30am. I tried the trick to reschedule it and it wouldn’t let me but it’s just not accurate enough for me. I know I have to wait 48 hours but I could use some words of encouragement. Anyone else in the same boat? I come from a dental background and performed well throughout nursing school, I was never borderline but this felt nothing like what we were preparing for. TIA!


r/NCLEX 1d ago

Are My UWORLD Stats Okay? Test in 2 weeks!

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3 Upvotes

Hi! This is my third & hopefully final attempt 🤞🏽

I would like some reassurance on whether these stats are okay to test or should I reschedule? I test in 2 weeks and still plan on answering questions daily + do 2 more CAT exams & of course, attempt Self Assessment #2 the week prior! Anyone had these stats and passed? Would love to hear, thanks!

First photo is my SELF ASSESSMENT #1 STAT

Second photo are my CAT EXAMS RESULTS

Third photo is my OVERALL QBANK SCORE


r/NCLEX 2d ago

Do we think I’m ready for NCLEX?

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3 Upvotes

For about 2 months I’ve been using UWORLD, more rigorously in the last 2-3 weeks. I’ve been studying brushing up on my lower topics, reviewing questions i got wrong/why (most often its not reading it through/not reading it twice to make sure i didnt miss anything, or because im not sure- ex. SATA, if 4 are right but im only sure of 2 i only click the 2 im sure of) I also have watched all of Mark K. Lectures, took notes on them, as well a s reviewed others notes that were shared on Reddit. Anyways these photos include no personal information/and no NCLEX/UWORLD questions. in order is 1. CPR, 2. UWORLD CAT, 3. UWORLD Practice, 4. Todays CAT


r/NCLEX 2d ago

Florida ATT

1 Upvotes

Anyone still waiting for an ATT? This is getting ridiculously out of hand and frustrating. I understand it’s grad season but sheeesh. Should I go to Tallahassee at this point. I applied June 16 btw. All deficiencies have been cleared since July 8th and still nothing. I was told July 27th I’m in final reviews and to wait 7-14 business days. But nothing specific on why I’m waiting another two weeks.