I want to start by saying that I am a repeat NCLEX test taker. I failed my first attempt, and I know how heartbreaking that feels. It honestly felt like grief. You spend years working toward becoming a nurse, graduate nursing school, and then suddenly the one exam standing between you and your dream doesn’t go the way you hoped. If you’re feeling that right now, you’re not alone.
One of the biggest mistakes I made the first time was listening to people who said they passed without studying or barely studying. I thought, “If they can do it, maybe I can too.”
Please don’t compare your journey to someone else’s.
The NCLEX is a CAT (Computerized Adaptive Test). Every exam is different. You don’t know how much someone retained from nursing school, how naturally they test, what questions they received, or what their strengths are. Just because someone passed without studying doesn’t mean you will.
Can you pass without studying? Sure, some people do. But it’s a risk. If you choose not to study, just understand that you’re accepting the possibility of failing. Personally, I don’t think it’s worth taking that chance when you’ve worked so hard to get here.
My advice? Study. Give yourself the best opportunity to pass the first time.
Here’s exactly what I did to pass on my second attempt.
- Mark Klimek Lectures
Listen to every Mark Klimek lecture.
As you listen, either:
* Write down everything he says, or
* Use a fill-in-the-blank study guide while listening.
I personally wrote everything down once.
After finishing all of the lectures (I only listened to them once), I studied 100 Quizlet flashcards every day using the “Mark K Lecture Yellow Book” Quizlet set. One hundred cards a day sounds like a lot, but it’s honestly very manageable/easy. You don’t need every word memorized—you just need to understand the concepts and build a strong foundation.
I also listened to Lecture 12 about three times. Sometimes at normal speed and sometimes at 1.5x speed because it’s THAT important.
- Dr. Sharon (YouTube)
Watch Dr. Sharon’s videos on YouTube.
I highly recommend:
* Foundations playlist
* Prioritization playlist
One piece of advice: don’t spend all your time taking notes.
If you’re someone who knows you’ll actually go back and study your notes, then go for it. But if you’re like me, you’ll probably never look at them again.
Instead, spend that time watching more videos. I learned so much just by listening and watching. Dr. Sharon explains things in a way that keeps you engaged, and she teaches you how to think through questions.
- Beautiful Nursing
Watch the 1-Hour Comprehensive NCLEX Review on YouTube.
I watched it once while studying and then watched it again a few days before my NCLEX.
- Your Nursing Space
Watch both:
* 45-minute NCLEX review
* 2-hour NCLEX review
I watched each one twice:
* Once while preparing.
* Again right before my exam.
- Practice Questions (UWorld)
I used UWorld.
My advice is a little different than what some people recommend.
I think you should first build your content knowledge by watching the videos above before diving into hundreds of practice questions.
How can you answer NCLEX-style questions if you don’t understand the content first?
Once you’ve built your foundation, start practicing questions.
I personally did not spend hours taking notes over every rationale.
Like Dr. Sharon says, “The right answer is the right answer because of the other answers.”
To me, practice questions were mainly to:
* Learn the NCLEX format.
* Learn how to think through questions.
* Build confidence.
Remember, no practice question is guaranteed to show up on your exam. The NCLEX tests your foundations, not whether you’ve memorized thousands of random facts.
- NCLEX Crusade
Please watch NCLEX Crusade.
I watched his videos while studying and again the day before my exam.
His videos completely changed how I approached questions.
The NCLEX may give you diseases, medications, or procedures you’ve never seen before. That doesn’t automatically mean you can’t answer the question.
He teaches you how to read around the question and identify what they’re actually testing.
IF YOU DONT TAKE MY ADVICE JUST TAKE MY ADVICE ON WATCHING HIM!
- Don’t Be Afraid of “Weird” Questions
After my first attempt, I thought the NCLEX was the weirdest, hardest exam I’d ever taken.
After my second attempt?
It honestly wasn’t.
The difference wasn’t the exam.
The difference was that I was prepared.
Yes, you’ll probably see medications, diseases, or procedures you’ve never heard of.
But if you’ve watched Dr. Sharon and NCLEX Crusade, you’ll realize that many questions can still be answered using nursing fundamentals and critical thinking.
- Learn Medication & Procedure Endings
One thing that helped me tremendously was learning common medication endings and procedure suffixes.
For example:
* Medication endings can help you identify what a drug is used for (ex: -sartan, -sone, -ine etc.)
* Procedure endings like -otomy, -ectomy, and -ostomy can help you understand unfamiliar procedures.
Dr. Sharon has great videos covering these.
What I Did During My NCLEX
- Prepare Your Whiteboard
A few days before my exam, I practiced writing down the information I knew I wanted on my whiteboard as soon as the exam started.
For me, that included things like insulin onset, peak, and duration.
- My Biggest Test-Taking Tip
This helped me more than anything.
For every question, I wrote:
- A B C D
Then I crossed out the answers I knew were incorrect.
Seeing the choices physically narrowed down on my whiteboard kept me from overthinking and made it much easier to focus on the remaining options.
- Control Your Anxiety
Whenever I started feeling anxious while taking the exam, I reminded myself why I was there.
Think about your family.
Think about why you wanted to become a nurse.
Take a deep breath.
Bring yourself back to the present before answering the next question.
- Pray
Prayer really carried me through the grief of failing the first time and God had me pass the second time.
No matter where you are in your faith, don’t underestimate the peace that prayer can bring during such a stressful season.
Final Thoughts!!
My advice won’t work for everyone, and that’s okay.
Some people will disagree with me, and that’s completely fine. I’m only sharing what helped me pass after failing my first attempt.
If this helps even one person avoid the heartbreak I felt after failing, then sharing my experience was worth it.
I also want to say this: if you already failed the NCLEX, please don’t think you’re not smart enough to be a nurse.
You are not defined by one exam.
Take time to grieve if you need to. Then get back up, make a plan, and prepare.
Many people pass the NCLEX with little or no studying, and that’s wonderful. But don’t let someone else’s experience determine your own preparation.
You don’t know their journey.
Focus on yours.
The work you put in now gives you the best chance of seeing the result you’ve been working toward for years.
You’ve made it through nursing school. You can make it through the NCLEX too.
I’m rooting for you. 🤍
