Student-to-Student: How I Passed the NCLEX® the 2nd Time

Daphnee, a nursing student at Nova Southeastern University, shared how she passed the NCLEX® the second time. If you failed the NCLEX® the first time, don’t worry! Learn about Daphnee’s experience, and what resources she used, to crush her exam the next time.

“I passed the NCLEX® after 210 questions!”

“The first time I took the test, I failed after getting all 265 questions. I don’t think I was ready to take a six-hour exam, even though I knew there was a chance I could sit for the whole thing. I was prepared the second time, though, and after 150 more practice questions, I got myself mentally ready to take the whole thing if necessary. So when I sat for the next exam, I was in a little bit of shock when it shut off around 210! I didn’t see that coming. A lot of emotions passed through me. I didn’t feel confident, but I wasn’t worried either, I was just calm. I went home and took a nap because I could not sleep the night before. After my six-hour nap, I did the Pearson trick and I got the good pop up, THANK YOU, GOD!!!! I was relieved but I still couldn’t believe it; I wanted to see it officially. Lo and behold, the next morning I checked my name on the license verification website, and there it was: I was officially an RN! I was so relieved because it has been a long journey and I’m glad I could finally close this chapter. For those of you still out there getting ready for the NCLEX: be confident in yourself first and foremost. You already know the basics to pass, so learn how to take the test and work on your weak areas. Don’t overwhelm yourself with too many things to study!

Here are the resources I used:

1. Prioritization, Delegation, and Assignment (Practice Exercises for the NCLEX® Examination 2nd Edition)

I did half of the book [which was] very important in my opinion. This helped me improve a lot in that category, which is a huge part of the NCLEX.

2. Kaplan

With Kaplan, I would watch a whole lot of videos on what the NCLEX is about and how to prepare for it. I wish I utilized Kaplan more the first time! It really has a ton of info, just browse through it. It also comes with the class session of Kaplan review, with a bunch of questions and videos in each NCLEX category, they go through with you answering each question.

I used [Kaplan] to practice questions in the Qbank, Question Trainer Test, Sample NCLEX, and Focused Review Test.

And I used it to review material in the very fabulous Content Review Videos, which helped a lot. I kind of followed their guide on how to effectively use the Kaplan website. They even have a study guide schedule for when you want to take the NCLEX.

3. Picmonic

I also used Picmonic ❤❤❤ (I wish this was around when I was in nursing school…) If you are in nursing school, YOU HAVE TO GET THIS! It has everything you need. You can focus on pharm, med surg, psych, OB, Peds, etc., and it’s kind of fun and easy to remember. If you want to have all A’s in nursing school while studying things in a fun way without reading too many boring textbooks, get this ****. It makes those drugs and topics that are hard to grasp or remember sooo easy. It also caters to students in medical school. For more tips from Picmonic on how to pass the NCLEX, check out this blog!

4. Cramfighter

This I used as a study schedule guide. It does all the work for you, and you can rearrange it however you want. You input the materials you are going to study (book, website, flashcards, apps, etc.) and it will give a day-to-day content schedule to study. You can customize everything, including how long you want to study each thing, how many questions you want to do every day, what days you want to study or not, etc. Input your exam date and it will give you the amount of content you need to study until your exam date.

Good luck to all my future RNs. YOU CAN DO IT!!!” Want to check out Picmonic for free? We’ve got your back!