“I am a nursing graduate as of Dec 2012 with a 3.4 GPA. I have taken the NCLEX twice and have gotten “near passing” on every category, both times! I am at a point where I’m thinking if this is even for me anymore. I have loss my urge/motivation/excitement that I use to have about nursing and I’m not understanding why. But a small part of me wants to pass it just to prove that I can. What should I do?”
Not passing your NCLEX can be such a downer. Some people describe ‘failing’ the NCLEX as being just as bad as going through a bad break-up with someone you truly thought was ‘the one’. After all, you wouldn’t have went to years of nursing school, incurred thousands of dollars in student loan, and subjected yourself to night after sleepless night of endless studying for something that doesn’t mean anything to you, right?
Now imagine having to take the exam more than once and still end up not snagging that passing grade. That’s pretty much devastating!
Okay, we are going to take it up a notch and say you’ve taken the exam more than twice…and still, the NCLEX seems to just keep on kicking you to the curb again and again. What a soul crusher!
That’s not all, imagine that for all the times the NCLEX totally disappointed you, you’ve been a hairbreadth away from passing! Argggh! That is so, so, so frustrating!
Hey, calm down. I’m sorry for bringing up those mental pictures but you won’t be reading this if you have not been subjected to at least one of the scenarios above.
What’s a nurse to do? Give up? Take up voodoo classes (does this even exist?)? Train to be a super villain? Give the NCLEX another go? Or take some serious time off from all the testing and disappointment?
There are several ways to deal with not passing the NCLEX but the very first thing you should do is acknowledge that you might be experiencing a virulent case of NCLEX burnout.
Good thing that’s not lethal, huh? Better yet, it is temporary and you can certainly bounce back. How do you do that? Let’s get some things straight first, shall we?
The NCLEX is NOT a Race
So what if most of your class already have some shiny new additional letters affixed to their name? It’s not a race to the altar honey! Whoever passes the NCLEX first or who ends up doing so last does not matter as far as being a great nurse is concerned.
More so…
The NCLEX is just An Exam
I’ve said this before and I’m going to say this again, the NCLEX is no longer an effective tool to determine who’ll make a good nurse or not. Unfortunately, until the day comes when some other test is introduced to take its place, we are stuck with having to pass the NCLEX.
But then…
The NCLEX Doesn’t Define You
The exam should simply be a reflection of your nursing knowledge. It does not reflect how good you are with your patients, how caring you are, and how much you love nursing. The same goes for your NCLEX score. Stop obsessing over numbers. 75 questions or 300 questions, or 175 questions doesn’t matter. It’s not like your NCLEX score will be printed out to your license anyway.
No one would care how many tries it took you to pass the test, and your patients couldn’t care less about which nursing competencies you rocked and which ones you merely did ‘meh’ on. What matters is what you do once you are already an RN and how you handled getting there.
So how do you get there after a not-so-okay first try?
Get Your SEXY Back
Hold your eyebrows down! We’re not going to break into a groovy dance number here (yet).What I mean by getting your SEXY back is getting your Sassy-Enthusiastic-‘Xam-taker-You back to rollin again.
Remember when you can’t wait to take the NCLEX and get it over with? How bright and green the world seemed back then and how you have plans laid out? You need to bring that part of yourself back to life because that’s what’s going to carry you on; especially because you need to…
Grieve and Regroup
Failing sucks. It hurts, and then it sucks some more.
You have to give yourself a break and let yourself grieve or you’d go crazy from bottling up buckets of tears.
Grieve for not being there for a loved one’s special day.
Grieve for all the pounds you’ve lost or put on because of all the stress during your NCLEX preparation days.
Grieve for that time that you had to sacrifice watching Game of Thrones because you have scheduled study time for the NCLEX.
Just let yourself go and have a good crying/howling/pigging-out session.
Once you’ve done that, you’ll feel a little bit better and hopefully will come back to your senses; that’s the time to plot your next steps. Surely, there’s no way that you’ll take not passing the NCLEX as a defeat and be totally okay with it, right?
Think about this, if you’ve survived nursing school, along with a gazillion exams that comes with it, you can certainly do the same for the NCLEX! There is no bigger tragedy than a nurse who’ve worked so hard to be a nurse and then give up just because of some test (you know what I mean, and you bet I’m looking at you!).
Bring Out the Big Guns
Recruit your support group, surround yourself with minionsloved ones who appreciate all the effort that you’ve put to being a nurse (because nursing is very hard y’all!). This often works wonders but of course, you have to:
Take Care of YOU, the NCLEX Second
You know what, the NCLEX is just some exam that should have been overhauled years ago anyway, so in the end, it is you and what you want that matters.
If you no longer feel like you want to be a nurse anymore, then don’t be one. What’s the point of passing a test that will allow you to legally practice being a nurse if your heart is no longer in nursing?
Let me be clear here, I am not saying that you should ditch your dream. What I am saying is that it is okay to be selfish sometimes and start letting go of things which are no longer enjoyable for you. If you start missing it, then that’s the time to…
Get Motivated to Take the NCLEX Again
Oh yeah, you’ve got your mojo back! What are you waiting for? Go ahead and…
Shop around for the best NCLEX preparation course. Forget what everyone and their sister is using when it comes to reviewing for your exam, go for what looks good for you. Read reviews, ask what the course involves, and choose based on your own judgment. You’ll end up thanking yourself later for it.
Don’t be afraid to try new things. Gone are the days when you only have books and perhaps some CDs to help you crush the NCLEX. Now you can join online study groups, listen to motivating podcasts, or even use NCLEX preparation apps. Hey, if it works, then it works! ‘Nuff said.
Find inspiration if need be. If you think that you suck because the NCLEX won’t give you a thumbs up even after repeated tries, then you clearly have not heard of Ashley’s inspirational story. So pick yourself up and go after your dream. Remember #YOLO!
Need some more NCLEX preparation pep talk? Then join NRSNG.com’s growing community! See what study tips work, get awesome nursing updates, and have fun bouncing from NCLEX burnout with people who understand what you’re going through!
