Week 1

After working in healthcare for 10 plus years, I made the decision to go back to school to get my nursing degree. This was a very difficult and scary decision for me as I was 30 years old and a single mom of three boys. I started my nursing classes in January of 2020, just two months before everything would change. The world had shut down due to Covid and the school was not familiar with teaching nursing under such circumstances. I feel like we missed out on many learning opportunities and experiences because of Covid. I tried to make the best of it and worked hard to learn as much as I could. I was a good student and always on the Dean’s list. My last semester of nursing school the tables turned. I was in a car accident and had to have surgery on my dominant hand. My professor was not very accommodating. I had to take my first exam the morning after surgery and failed. From then on, I was playing catch up all semester. I did not know if I was going to pass and be able to graduate. I was in therapy for 8 weeks and had to wear a brace. I did not even know if I would be able to do my role transition. I pushed through and barely made it. I graduated in December of 2021!

Fast forward several weeks after graduation, I took the NCLEX in February of 2022. I was devastated when I found out that I did not pass. I feel like I did not even know how to prepare myself for the next attempt and I felt the pressure becoming more and more stressful. It was very hard for me to make the decision to take this six-week NCLEX prep class. I did not want to postpone my future any longer. However, I took the time to reflect and really felt it was the best option and that I needed to be patient.

I was not too nervous going into the class. After completing week one, I already feel good about my progress and surprised at how much I have learned already. It has been an adjustment to my schedule, and I feel exhausted. I am trying to juggle many responsibilities and keep up with the work. My goal is to make this class a priority and stay on top of the questions and reading.

Week 3

The past three weeks have flown by! Being in this class has been exhausting on top of work and kids but has been completely worth it. I feel like I have learned so much and have a much better understanding of many different concepts. When I work on my Uworld questions, I have noticed that I can understand most questions much better than when I took the pretest.

I am getting more nervous as my test date is approaching quickly. I am trying to stay focused, stay on top of questions, and review my notes daily. Definitely feel like I’m heading in the right direction!

Week 5

I honestly can’t believe that this journey is already coming to an end. Five weeks of class has flown by. I feel confident but also extremely nervous at the same time. Just a week before taking the NCLEX has my anxiety very high.
I was a little nervous going into the practice exam. I feel like I started out strong but questioned myself as I went through more and more questions. I was pleasantly surprised with my percentile along with the high probably of passing. Even not knowing all of the information, I was able to make good, educated guesses based on everything we have covered in the past 5 weeks. I am also very happy to be able to review the questions I was not familiar with and learn from the rationales. I look forward to the 4-day review to refresh my memory prior to taking the NCLEX at the end of this week.

Post Pass

I can’t believe this journey is over! It went more quickly than I could have ever imagined. During the last week of class I was feeling confident in my knowledge and ability to answer questions. However, knowing my test was at the end of the week had me feeling very anxious and nervous.

I took the NCLEX and only had 75 questions. I left feeling upset and defeated. I didn’t feel confident, however Nick took the time to talk with me and help me reflect on my testing experience. He was able to calm me down and make me feel much more confident in my performance. By the end of the weekend, I was officially a registered nurse!

The six-week course gave me so much more knowledge that I may have not fully comprehended during nursing school. It helped me to develop a study plan specifically for the NCLEX that I would not have known how to do on my own. I’m a grateful for this experience!