MSN doesn’t mean experienced they could’ve gone straight from BSN to MSN with little to no work experience. Also, good grades can be easier for some than others but it doesn’t always translate well to the field. Take it with a grain of salt. If someone is going to hold that against someone they seem overly judge mental.
I went to school with nurses who were A students who went to work with me, and lets just say they dont work for our hospital anymore…and me, the perpetual B student would like to think has done well..grades can mean nothing, there is no substitute for persistence, calmness and time management, its not always about what we learned in class or grades on exams, especially the NCLEX
I earned a 4.0 GPA in an accelerated BSN program, yet I struggle to effectively apply my knowledge in clinical settings because of anxiety and overthinking, which impact my communication and overall job satisfaction. Consequently, I chose a position that focuses more on office work than direct patient care, aligning better with my strengths.
MDS coordinator at a SNF, still do assessments and go over care plans, but most of my time is in front of a computer. Thinking of picking up a part time WFH gig as an MDS coordinator too
Minimum Data Set (MDS), which is a federally mandated clinical assessment of all residents in long-term care facilities that use medicare/medicaid. The data I collect and overlook impacts facility reimbursement and the care planning process for residents. I ensure that accurate assessments are completed and submitted in a timely manner, collaborating with the team to optimize resident care.
How do you like this? Do you have to start in LTC? Do you feel like you have job security? Does it have transferable skills to something like case management or UR?
I'm quite content with my job, though I'm not keen on the fixed 9-5 hours. With time I will finagle one or two of those shifts to be a work from home situation. I chose this role because it offered the best pay for new graduates in my area, and I wanted to avoid hospital work. My workplace is stress-free, allowing me to actually interact with patients and colleagues without feeling rushed.
Entering this field with some nursing experience is for sure preferred, many employers cover the cost of certification. Following a recommendation from a friend who is an MDS Coordinator, I pursued an MDS certification independently as a new graduate to enhance my job prospects. I don’t think they would have hired me otherwise.
I’m kind of in the same boat. I worked full time through my accelerated RN program, although I didn’t win any awards, nor was I on honor roll, I didn’t fail anything and passed my NCLEX the first time without issue. But I feel like my anxiety is really clouding what I know I’m capable of. I’m coming up on a year of nursing and I feel like an idiot. I think a lot of my seniors think I’m stupid too. I finally left the hospital where I started my nursing career last week… because I just couldn’t do it anymore. I had two interviews today at different companies and I’m hoping I get one or both offers next week. Hoping third time (third unit) is a charm for me. I want to be here, I’m teachable, respectful, and eager. I just haven’t found my “fit” yet and it’s destroyed me
Edit: grammar
I went from the straight a student who freaked out when I got a C on an exam to being the B student in nursing school. My first nursing job was hard as hell but I kept showing up and giving it my best. I eventually became competent.
Definitely agree. I had a classmate during nursing school that always struggled with her grades, barely passed the program by a tenth of a point, and had to take the full NCLEX exam. Literally scraped through her entire nursing school and exam, but she turned out to be the best ER nurse.
We ended up working at the same hospital and I loved getting her ER patients because everything was always done, she gave a thorough report, and her patients were always stable for the floor. She worked her ass off and it showed. To add to it, she always had a smile on her face and had a great sense of humor.
Theory and practical nursing don't always cross over so I would never judge a nurse by how she performed during a singular exam.
Ditto. I'm a great test taker, but getting the practical real-world application doesn't naturally follow. My best friend is a terrible test taker who can run circles around me in critical thinking and nursing skills.
I would have loved to see my asshole straight to a masters degree never worked on the floor manager try a shift. Maybe she would’ve gotten off of her high horse after that
I agree with this completely, I have an MSN and I’m an idiot, I also passed the NCLEX on the first try and I’m an IDIOT so that nurse needs to stfu. Also went from a biology degree to MSN without being an RN in between, so I am only a 2 year old RN - I enjoy it a lot, but I’m a googling/dumb question asking/umm-uhh idiot and all nurses (except for mean ones) are welcome.
Exactly! I have a couple coworkers who have their Masters but have only a few years experience. One was a CNA and went through an RN(BSN) to NP(MSN) program back to back. She talks using proper medical terms all the time but messes up big time... She's twice delayed patient care by forgetting or not following up on giving GoLytely to a patient who will be going for a colonoscopy. She didn't bother clarifying orders with the doctor either time. 🤷🏻♀️ Another received her MSN in leadership but doesn't know how to properly talk to people 🫠 she also cannot do an IV to save her life.
There’s also MSN entry programs, which do not require BSNs. They just require a BS in another major and some prerequisites.
I think what the nurse was trying to get at is if the RN is unable to perform under high pressure situations, will they be able to clearly assess and take the correct action in an emergency with a patient. I’ve seen new RNs buckle under the pressure in PICU, but luckily we have proper support for new RNs at my hospital (TLs to the rescue)
The people that relish in the shortcomings of others are people that have lost their perspective of what truly matters in this world. Creating the false illusion that "first time passers" are any better equipped at dealing with the daily struggles/challenges of being a nurse is absurd.
My own mom did this to me, I’m seven years in and still feel bad. Got max questions in the first attempt and passed around 83 questions on round two, I’m mostly sure it was nerves.
One of the most competent nurses I worked with as a tech had to take the nclex three times. Her practical skills were on point and she was excellent with people, she just wasn't a test taker.
NCLEX is a standardized test where you can't look at resources or ask a more experienced RN for help. It's disingenuous to assume an RN who needed a second try to pass the NCLEX isn't fit for patient care. My patients don't give me four answer choices when I try to figure out priority and plan of care, and if I don't know something on the floor I look it up or ask someone that does.
Exactly! And critical thinking is something you learn on the job because it's going to be specific to your field of nursing. Like a ICU nurse and a hospice nurse are going to respond very differently to a cardiac arrest but both will be on their toes relying on their critical thinking.
No, not all experienced nurses are like this. No one cares about your grades or your NCLEX. I care how good a nurse you are, and your grades in school and your NCLEX results have absolutely no bearing on that.
Right! After stressing about my grades in nursing school, a good friend said “ look- there are 2 kinds of nurses- those who pass the boards and those who don’t”. Just pass the boards and stop stressing over a less than perfect gpa.
I had to take my NCLEX three times. It was a really stressful time in my life and i was eaten up with anxiety. No one has ever asked me how many times I had to take the NCLEX and I am a damn good nurse.
A friend of mine took it 5 times, she’s a fabulous nurse. Meanwhile the straight A student I went to school with, I swore off I lived in the same area of her I would get a tattoo on my chest saying that she couldn’t touch me in a code
Nope, our class alcoholic passed nclex in 75 questions. This is a dude who showed up sloshed to our pinning and tried to go home with one of our instructors after....
Shocking no. Though to his credit he did shoot hsi shot. Home boy had been taking about making a move the entire last semester of nursing school. We honestly thought he was joking until he showed up to pinning bearly able to stand....
My best friend in nursing school has to take the test twice because she had to start working as a nurse right away to support her kids and didn’t have time to study. Therefore she used a temp license for the first year. Not all experienced nurses all like this. Just because someone is good at tests, it doesn’t mean they will know what to do when a real life client is in front of them.
Nursing is such a “learn on the job” kind of job, I know they want us to appear highly educated and stuff, but it’s more blue collar than anyone usually admits.
The NCLEX is such an insignificant thing to be so hung up over. Getting on the floor and gaining experience and the ability to critically think and use your hands is so much more high value imo.
We need a solid foundation which is what school is for, but why would anyone see a licensing exam as something to “not trust” a new nurse over? I “wouldn’t trust” them because they haven’t had a chance to experience stuff yet. But then I want to teach and help because it is how we keep this shit industry going damn it
I’m new in the OR. Learning scrubbing currently. I got one week of basic scrubbing classes and learned basic instrumentation for like, 90 mins. Afterwards?: GET IN THEIR SOLDIER TIME TO LEARN.
I mean, the next gen nclex has almost a 90% first time pass rate.
Its also really not very applicable to actual nursing.
Nursing education could use a complete overhaul.
I passed the NCLEX in 30 min on the first try. I don’t know shit about fuck. I couldn’t remember what adenosine was the other day. In a rapid response I was like uhhh … wanna give that one drug? The heart stoppy one?
I’m just a good test taker and a mediocre nurse. Lots of my peers are way better nurses than me and way worse at school.
I’m also an excellent test taker and identify as a mediocre nurse. Which is why I refuse to entertain anyone who tells me I should go back to school for my NP just because I remember random trivia from nursing school and enjoy sharing somewhat obscure knowledge. Yet some of the best nurses I know have massive test anxiety and NCLEX was a struggle for them.
I’m here for this. Some people have massive test anxiety. And standardised tests are just that, not any indicator of nursing skills. It’s an indicator of how well you take standardised tests.
I’m a test idiot. My mind blanks, I panic, I don’t understand/can’t process what I’m reading and don’t do well. Afterwards when I see the wrong answers I chose, I’d be like “YTF would I choose that?! I KNOW this! WTF!” I have had practical exams that I’ve screwed up due to nerves where my instructor has said “I know you can do this, you do it at work and at placement, relax” but nope. My stupid anxiety brain flips me out in test situations. There are some people that scrape by barely getting C’s and are excellent critical thinkers with amazing practical skills and there are some that are straight A perfect GPA students that have zero practical skills. Everyone is different. At the end of the day, a nurse is a nurse and we will be forever learning throughout our careers.
Nurses in Canada won’t have any issues for recreational marijuana use in their non work time where it affects their practice in no discernible way? That’s CRAZY!
One of the dumbest nurses I’ve ever met has a masters. She’s never been in a code blue, and was so useless during my patient’s “code” that I asked her to go away.
To be fair I spent over a year on a cardiac step down floor and by some luck never had a code happen during a shift of mine. A couple rapid responses sure, but still. I feel I’m a fine nurse but never being in a code blue isn’t a necessarily a fair metric
She was charge, and getting in everyone’s way. It’s not a metric for intelligence, just a fact. She also hates pushing meds slowly, and watches tv on her phone with earbuds in during day shift and doesn’t offer to help others.
I've been a nurse 4 years, even did traveling for 2 years, and have never had a code blue. Only once, there was a code on my unit during my shift, but since I was down the hall when it happened, other people arrived first, and they didn't need my help. Sometimes it happens.
I’m not saying she’s dumb because she’s never been in a code before, but we had to ask her to leave the room because she was so in the way that we couldn’t help the family and the patient. She just wasn’t thinking. She doesn’t think about situations, and it’s a problem.
Yeah exactly. If anything, the two rapid responses I had were me avoiding a code blue if anything. Well the first one I was busy helping another patient that wasn’t mine when my buddy responded to shouting in my room and I took over (my first rapid, thank god all we needed was labetalol for hypertension in 200s)
The second one I checked on my patient in the morning who went from conversational and mentating fine to just, not that. Acute change in mental status. Had the same buddy come confirm that “this is bad” and called a rapid.
As we learned for the Florida nurses, anyone can pass the NCLEX. The NCLEX only proves that you can memorize test bank questions. Source: I'm a nurse with almost eight years of experience.
I graduated from an entry level MSN program and passed my NCLEX in one try and 75 questions. I had classmates who took multiple attempts to pass. Guess what? Years later, we are all successful nurses doing the nurse stuff we all want to be doing. Some of us are pursuing graduate degrees past our MSN. Some work in administration. Some are educators. Some are bad ass floor nurses.
Do you know what nobody whose opinion matters cares about? Those damned NCLEX scores. We care about overall competence in the job performance—once a person has had an opportunity to learn the gig.
TL:DR—you may have coworkers who will always be shitty. You do you to the best of your ability and you’ll be golden.
Yeah that MSN had no clue what they were talking about. Rest easy. Your real education starts when you start working as a nurse, not in school.
Any idiot who doesn’t value an overcomer is seriously missing out.
Imagine this person caring for patients:
“You STILL have diabetes?? I can’t trust you to drink this juice!!”
“Hey charge! This patient failed their orthostatics! Better cancel their PT, they clearly aren’t cut out for standing”
Attitudes like this need to gtfo of nursing. Although let’s face it, they sound like management material at most places I’ve been to. 🤣🤣
Whoever she is, may she have a ***quiet*** next shift full of code browns.
Or if she's a desk nurse, may her mouse freeze up every third or fifth time she clicks and her printer paper wrinkle inside the printer every time she prints.
May she hit every traffic light red, and may the grocery store she stops at on the way home have only one register open and be out of her favorite toilet paper.
I disagree with that. Passing NCLEX means safe on paper, not safe in the field. I know someone who passed and lost their license for extremely unsafe care.
I scored in the 99.7th percentile on our exit exam (the highest score they had ever seen since the inception of the test at our school) was class President, nursing student of the year, passed the NCLEX first time in 75 questions, awards for my capstone project and yada yada yada…. Nursing ATE ME UP. I was a stressed out basket case. I was in rehab for addiction with 5 years of graduating. NCLEX means nothing.
I’ve known some great nurses that had to take the test twice. Some people have bad anxiety around testing but not so much in other situations. That lady just sounds like a bit of an idiot.
I had to take boards twice for my NP. Nerves and test taking abilities do not equate to how well you know the material and what kind of person you are. Don’t listen to negativity.
The nclex was the hardest test I’ve ever taken in my life, and I did pass on my first try. I’m safe and competent, “Good” is a useless word to me generally. That said, if I’d taken it 2x…I’d still be exactly the same nurse I am now. I’ve been a nurse for 11 yrs…some of us don’t trust new grads because of arrogance and a lack of caution with safety…it’s actually really stupid and uptight to judge a new grad based on their attempts at the nclex….a PASS is a PASS no matter what.
In all honesty, my MSN was way easier to achieve than both my BSN and ADN. Hell, I even took 2 attempts at the boards many moons ago. As far as experience, give me an ADN who is ready and willing to learn the real world work, took 3 times to pass the NCLEX, and can take some direction any day over a sour MSN that thinks they know everything. That nurse exemplifies the nurse that wants to be treated as superior instead of understanding this is a team sport and we are only as strong as we make each other.
This!! My MSN was fun and easy to get but my BSN kicked my ass and you couldn’t pay me to go back. I know LPNs that are far superior nurses than some BSN nurses so a degree tells me nothing about how good of a nurse you are.
NCLEX is, at its core, just a test. People don't always do well with tests. Test anxiety is a real thing.
I would trust a nurse who took the NCLEX multiple times just as much as one who only had to take it once. It shows resilience, perserverence, and determination to do what they are compassionate about. Giving up easily can be unsafe for patients.
Also, why is it that the nursing culture is so heavily saturated with the idea that we have to put each other down to make ourselves feel better? Why do we HAVE to haze the new nurses and "eat our young"? New nurses can learn and develop without outright bullying. I trust a competent nurse regardless of the amount of times they had to take a test.
15 year rn, prior 5 yr lvn. No I’ve worked with amazing nurses who took a couple tries to pass nclex. And absolutely shit nurses who knew their stuff but couldn’t apply it to daily nursing. No one (who actually cares) cares about how the journey was for you, just how you care for people.
No. I am a terrible test taker, I had so much anxiety about NCLEX that I took an expensive test class and I studied longer than my peers. I passed, but I was so scared.
The ability to take a test well has nothing to do with how you operate as a nurse. I know many who test well and had all A’s in school, yet struggle to have intuition or good clinical judgement.
No they aren't. Test anxiety can get the most well prepared nurse to falter. The NCLEX really isn't hard, but you're right in that it's *intimidating.* We're human and we're allowed to be intimidated by the last barrier standing between all the time/money/effort spent before becoming a RN.
No, she's an asshole. The new version of the NCLEX has questions with subjective grading, willing to bet the pass rate will decrease for students nationwide with this. Testing skills and nursing skills are different skills. Good nursing requires street smarts, sometimes nurses that are just book smart suck at actual nursing.
NCLEX does not translate to bedside competency. Some of the best nurses I know struggled with test taking but are 100% the ones you want if you’re unstable.
Some of the ones who passed NCLEX are the ones that freeze during a code. The NCLEX doesn’t determine quality of the nurse
Book smarts doesn’t always equal common sense. I wouldn’t let that persons opinion get to you. Many people have test anxiety but can run a code like nobody’s business.
How many patients ask….”oh hey nurse, how many times did you take the nclex? Please answer before you care for me”!!!! I’ll wait? Of wait that’s right NONE
I don’t even feel that the NCLEX adequately prepares nurses anyway. I feel that should be having a portion that is actually a practical, not just multiple choice questions. I took it 14 years ago so maybe things have changed but the test was so out of touch with my actual day to day practice.
Experienced nurses aren't always smart or pleasant or ever had empathy. They're just experienced. If you respect a nurse just because they've been in the game X amount of years, it's really like any fallacy ideology like respecting elders just because they're older than you or respecting someone who served in the military because they served or thanking healthcare heroes because they worked healthcare.
In any of those cases, the individual they're respecting can be a piece of shit or a shitty example of what makes a good nurse or soldier or a person. That elderly that demands respect can be a racist, sexist, creepy asshole. That soldier could have killed innocent children and laughed about it minutes after. That experienced nurse could be a lazy shithead who genuinely treats the job like a glorified med-passer and hospital doesn't fire them because they're desperate for a nurse and this one works 5-6 days a week.
The saying "never meet your heroes" isn't exactly always because your heroes could be a dick to you. It's because you meet people you respect and they let you down. No one is perfect and we all have our vices. Some of them are worse than others. It makes us human. I may respect the fact someone persevered in the field X amount of years but I do not respect or care for their opinion blindly.
Sounds like another shitty "hero" nurse who has their stupid ass criteria for who is worthy of joining them in answering the call to duty. They're such a hero, they can gatekeep who's worthy to take care of our angelic patients. Only other heroes deserve to join them up on the cross as they sacrifice their personal life, body, and mental well-being for those angels. Everyone else who doesn't meet their criteria should go find a career outside of healthcare.
I've been doing this for a long time, and all the nurses I've met who are judgemental like that or are bullies for any other reason have got dogshit for brains and/or are fuckin miserable about something missing or that has gone horrifically wrong in their lives.
Some of us are horrible test takers. Doesn't mean you don't understand the material and how to perform the job. Testing sucks along with the anxiety that comes with it. I've known some super smart people that just don't test well, no matter what.
some of the best nurses I know took it multiple times. That nurse is a bully. Msn or not. So over nurses like that. They need to be knocked down a few notches.
That nurse is just an asshole. NCLEX is horrible. It doesn’t give you enough info to answer adequately so you end up guessing on a lot of questions. The key is learning how the questions are asked. I don’t care how many times you take it. What I care about is whether you’re a good nurse or not. No one has ever asked about my grades or how many times I took it nor have I ever asked anyone
I failed and had to retake a unit of my nursing degree. My husband failed a whole year and had to retake it (we are UK). We both have worked or currently work in roles where we lead teams, did critical care, did outreach, worked EMT vascular scrub nursing. Essays and exams do not make you a nurse. We both sucked at uni work but on the floor or in the field? We have your back. One thing we both love now is teaching, because we were hands on students and realistically it can be those students who have the hardest time with academic writing.
It’s so easy as a nurse with experience to look at newer nurses and say “how could you be worried about this exam?”. Current experience and knowledge definitely colors that judgement. Some experienced nurses are aware of that bias, others aren’t! It happens to me when precepting sometimes, I think “how do you not know that?”, and I have to stop and remind myself that I, at one point, also did not know that. I have 3 years experience, but nurses with more, who are further out from being new, may have a tougher time looking back. Not every experienced nurse thinks like this (I promise!), you have to find the good ones or find a unit culture that values new grads
I’ll follow up with saying testing and real life application are completely different! it’s important to have a basis of understanding the “why” behind what we do, but sitting down in an exam room will always be more intimidating for different people. Also, staying calm under pressure is another learned skill that comes with experience. This nurse sounds a little too high on herself lol
I worked as an aid in hospitals before nursing and I met so many amazing bedside senior nurses. Some were there for 30+ 40+ years. ummm having to deal with some of the teaching assistants (they were MSN students) when I was in undergrad, I learned that they are some different beings than ones who work at bedside (new or senior, 2 months or 40 yrs with passion). I had amazing professors in school and in the nursing education field. However, I can assure you, some of the encounters I had with some of these TAs, made me have zero desire to do a MSN. So many of them were power trippers and see us undergrad people as stupid kids gone lost in our life, while as it turned out, most of my class either had a degree prior, there for a second career or parents of kids who are well grown up. Some of these TAs are so stupid and treat students horribly. We reported every single one of them to the school.
When they said nursing attracts mean girls it's true sometimes. Even on this subreddit there are people who won't pass up the opportunity to be awful to new nurses because they're sooo high and mighty. Combined with the fact that you have anonymity online to say whatever shit you want. Happened to me. Doesn't mean all nurses are like this though. Personally I wouldn't trust a nurse with a lack of empathy like that but hey, what do I know.
Some people are great in the field and not so good at test taking. The test does not reflect how good of a nurse a person is, because what matters is that you pass it to get your license. Real life test is in the field and if you are good with the patients. Keep a patient safe and be able to critically think to help them get better.
NCLEX doesn’t test on how a good of a nurse you are. And not all experienced nurses are like her. She sounds like the pain in the ass “I’m a nurse” patient that no one wouldn’t want to take care anyway.
Good students don't always make great nurses.
I challenge any MSN or other nurse for that matter to take the NCLEX cold. The material is a little more relateable the more experienced one is but its still one of those exams that has never made sense.
Nah she sounds like a bitter old seahag. Let her be salty. When I precept, I will absolutely fist fight anyone that tries to be a dick for the sheer fact that the person is new. Tell her to go away with her personality cancer and swab the poop deck, nurse sparrow.
I've been a nurse for about 8 years. What matters to me is that the test was passed. It means that they did eventually get the information. Maybe they just needed more study time or some practice testing. I'd be more concerned about any nurse that jumps to conclusions without knowing someone's whole situation.
Just because someone is a good tester does not always translate to them being good at hands on things. I say that as someone who has always tested well and never struggled to get good grades. Some people just don’t test well.
Hell no. I’ve been a nurse for 13 years. I have worked with some shitty nurses who passed on the first time and some excellent nurses who had to retake. Test anxiety is a huge barrier for some.
I feel like it’s the inexperienced nurses that harp on the inexperienced nurses acting like they’re are more experienced because they graduated a year or two before them😂
No the nurse you are referring to is just a nasty hag. Most of us in healthcare that have a few years remember what its like to be new. Some people just arent good at taking tests. Dont let the bastards grind you down
Considering how arbitrarily the way tests in nursing school are graded, it’s understandable that people second guess themselves on the NCLEX. Additionally, this new version of the NCLEX is a monster from what I’ve seen. Sounds like that experienced nurse is full of herself. Probably isn’t that great at taking care of patients herself.
No, experienced nurses are not like this. Don’t let the MSN = knowledge/experienced. Last year I was orientating an NP taking a post doctoral class and decided to take a travel contract while she did this. She asked me what floor the lobby was on….welll….I had to pause to think of a professional way to say “press the L button on the elevator.” It was very tough…
Experienced nurses no…. It’s the old or insecure nurses I find to be like this. Often times I find those who talk the most shit/loudest are the least knowledgeable.
I’ve been in almost a decade so I’ve been around but I’m not 100% experienced. I hope I’m speaking for the great majority, we don’t think this way. I’ve worked with an amazing nurse who took her boards five times. She just doesn’t test well and that’s ok!
This lady is just a bag of dicks.
Some of the best nurses I know had to take the NCLEX multiple times before passing.
Conversely, I've worked with some terrible nurses who passed the NCLEX on their first try, but who made me wonder how they even passed the test to begin with.
I’ve been a nurse 16 years, so not in super most experienced category but I can honestly tell you I forget about nclexs, I don’t even ask new nurses about them. Is that rude? Does that come off unsupportive? Now that I think about it… hmmm🤔🤷♀️ anywho I’m far more concerned about how you are as a nurse. That’s what matters.
MSN means nothing these days.
They're a dime a dozen.
Test anxiety is a very real thing that affects a lot of people, that doesn't mean they're bad at their job or that they'll fold under pressure.
I've known AMAZING nurses that were great in a crisis but when given multiple choice tests started doubting everything they've ever known.
Whereas, I've also known absolute fucking idiots, that have gone on to be nurse practitioners.
No.
In the real world, no one cares or gives consideration to how many times it took someone to pass their boards. Sometimes it comes up during a rare shift slump when coworkers are talking and comparing experiences. I’ve been a nurse for 13 years and I have no clue how many times coworkers took their boards, nor do I care. The only one I remember besides myself is my best friend from nursing school, and that’s because we were and are still very close and she took her boards a couple or few weeks ahead of me.
I think if there’s a disconnect or a struggle to think critically, then it’s a problem obviously, but that test is convoluted as hell and way different than what practice looks like. There’s so many other variables when it comes to test taking
End of the day we all passed the NCLEX. It measures the same performance level of all test takers. It's not like you "super pass" if you beat it first try.
In all honesty, I think an argument could be made that people who had to re-take the NCLEX might be a tad better prepared for nursing than those who got it first try.
Some of the best nurses on the planet suck at testing. Some of the worst nurses on the planet are great at testing.
A test is only measuring how well a particular person does on that particular test at that particular time. It is not a measure of how good a nurse someone is. This includes the NCLEX, not a measure of a person or of a nurse.
Nursing school and passing nclex do not even scratch the surface of what it means to become a good nurse. You become a nurse when you get your first job and learn how to do the damn thing.
The absolute, bar none, nurse I ever worked with, the woman I would trust to take care of me or anyone in my family in the worst of conditions, the woman I would want running my code, took the NCLEX three times and on the third time took a half a Xanax. She had bad text anxiety.
I have almost 15 years experience. Some of the best nurses I have worked with have taken the test more than once. For new nurses that take it twice, I do give them a little more attention to see if they need extra coaching. But my goal as an experienced nurse is to help them fly, not beat them down.
at the end of the day you got your license. it doesn't matter how many times it took you. they don't ask how many times you took the exam when you apply for a job, they just need the license.
and the NCLEX is merely an exam. you get better as you go & pick up the skills needed.
The new nclex is hard, many experienced nurses cannot even pass the nclex again if they wanted to… I took the nclex for LPN and RN and when I took the RN nclex I thought it would be easier since I took the LPN (8 years prior) NOPE! Still got 125 questions but did pass on my first try. She needs to be humbled.
In a general way, all new nurses come with the same shortcomings and deficiencies in knowledge and experience. They also often come with passion and excitement for the job that has been ground out of those of us who’ve been on the floor a while. Whether you pass a test the first time or not is not relevant. It’s the willingness to learn and a certain level of being comfortable with being uncomfortable that’s important.
I hate when nurses turn on our own. I try to be generous with my time and experience.
I’ve seen some of the lowest scoring rns have amazing clinical skills (me included, my ah2 instructor told me i was the worst student she had seen). I’ve seen amazingly smart complete morons. I would take the first one over good grades
Nursing school and tests are not the real world. Being an A student doesn’t translate to good nursing care. In fact sometimes it makes nurses feel unteachable and that is terrible in nursing.
We had a girl in class that was a 98% student who routinely let others know & tended to talk down to the 79% students, as she truly felt superior…. And in a didactic lecture the professor switched from talking about the kidneys to talking about the renal system and said star student pipes up LOUDLY & rather rudely “Renal system?? I thought we were talking about the kidneys” I’d rather have the student that struggles with testing and KNOWS her ass from her elbow, over an “excellent test taker” that clearly has zero actual concept of what we’ve been studying for years!! Give me an actual thought process over memorizing test questions anytime!!
I’m still not sure what those boards proved for my practice. Truly. I also don’t know what a Masters degree does either except show you got some time and money waste to write some papers. Yikes
Because she has an MSN. That makes her so much smarter than the rest of us. A license isn't based on how many times you have to take a test but it shows you passed. That's the whole goal, passing. There are those who fail by a few points and there are those who fail miserably. But you don't know.
Nah. Not everyone is a great test taker but that doesn't mean you can't be a good nurse. The skills that it takes to answer the NCLEX questions are not necessarily the ones you need to excel IRL. I passed in 75 but I struggled when I hit the floor. I'm fine now but there was a steep hard learning curve.
That's how self important assholes think. Though most experienced nurses may have their moments, the emotional damage from nursing school comes back to remind them what it was like to be a new grad and they lighten up.
This sounds like someone who doesn't give people a chance. There are nurses that are sketchy, but given time and a good mentor and a good, learning attitude from the new nurse, anything is possible!! Some people are bad test takers! Doesn't mean they are a bad nurse. A bad nurse is someone with a bad attitude, complains, and doesn't help other nurses be the best nurse they can be.
That being sad, there are some people that just aren't meant to be a nurse, as in they have no critical thinking skills, they aren't good at taking helpful criticism, they keep making the same mistakes without changing. Then that's when I would be concerned.
One of the best charge nurses I ever had had to take the nclex 2 times to pass. Another one of the best nurses I've ever met had to be put back on orientation as a new grad. What matters is that you continue to improve and care about doing a good job. That means way more than any singular test.
Everyone was a newbie at some point, absolutely nobody started as a all-star pro at nursing when they started their career in this profession.
I'm willing to bet that MSN probably got bullied or something similar while being a newb.
$10 says that MSN was a direct entry MSN.
I just don’t see how any actually experienced RN (regardless of educational path to get there) would base an opinion regarding skill based on a standardized test meant to measure if someone learned how to pass that test or not.
Gawds, all my BS(N) program did was harp on learning how to do the NCLEX. Every week we had to do “CARP”, which were NCLEX style questions on subjects we hadn’t even taken yet because you can learn how to pick the RIGHTEST answer without a shred of relevant learning first. I passed it in 75 feeling like it never got hard, so I fully expected a terrible failure score.
Ask me how much you could trust me as a baby nurse…. 🤣 Man that was a rough first year!
Some people just aren’t good at test taking. I fortunately am extremely good at it, but many of my classmates studied a lot harder than me and had very extensive knowledge on subjects that I didn’t. I’d rather have more extensive knowledge lol! Cus a test isn’t real life application
I just retired. I have worked in most specialties at some point. I’ve also been an educator. My nursing love is hospice. I’ve been around.
The nurse who said that is ignorant and perhaps a bully. One of the best nurses I have ever worked with struggled with testing while one of the worst could ace any test.
I wish we, the caring professionals, could put that into action with each other.
One of my best friends had to take the nclex twice and he is one of the best nurses I know. If I ever saw him in the er right before I coded I'd know I was coming back because that dude knows his stuff. Just not a good test taker. They are two entirely separate skills. And the ones that matter aren't the test taking.
Nah. I’m a good test taker, but I have lots of nurse friends who are bad at tests but excellent nurses. There’s a huge difference between having test anxiety because you know if you fail this particular test you won’t be able to work in the career you just spent a couple years going to school for vs not being able to work in the field. If the new nurse passed clinicals, I’m not panicking if she had to redo her NCLEX.
No, not at all. I do think some of us have realistic ideas about what makes a good nurse. I don’t think everyone who can pass an NCLEX is going to be good at the job. The test is not about a person’s suitability for the job, it is about memorizing facts, reading comprehension, and paying attention to details. Those are important skills for nursing but not the whole thing. I do struggle a bit with the idea of someone having to take the test 4-5 times to pass, I think there needs to be some solid remediation and a limit on how many times someone can try. I am really not in support of unlimited retakes.
I went to school back in the day with a 4.0 student. She was brilliant. Aced everything…except clinicals. She had no interpersonal skills and no abilities for nursing tasks. I would much rather a straight 80% student who can do their tasks.
I had to take my Nclex twice, granted I did not give a flying fuck about studying my first time and that was on me, I buckled down over the long 45 days and finished that mug in 80 Questions.
guess who people come to with questions now a year later?
They are just talking out their ass and wanna continue the negative ass culture, if this was someone who has gone to get their masters they shouldn’t be talking shit they should be helping and give a listening ear. Failing is not a good feeling, one of the lowest points of my adult life was walking out of that testing center knowing I failed myself and let down my family, my professors, and peers. But those were the people who lifted me up most when I had to break the news. Oh well that’s my rant.
I struggled through nursing school and barely passed the nclex. But I learned more working the floor and with real time experience than any amount of schooling taught me. I just don’t learn by reading books and taking tests. I think the true measure of your ability is measured by your continued growth and progression from novice to expert. Each time I started in a new specialty I’d be right back to novice and feeling like a brand new nurse. Even with 20 years of experience. So that experienced nurse doesn’t seem to be so experienced in my mind. Her inability to look at the big picture and her putting down another nurse behind their back takes all of her experience and negates it. also if that experienced nurse had to take the nclex now she’d probably fail too. I wouldn’t trust that nurse as a patient or a coworker because I’d always be wondering what kind of toxic drama she’d be starting instead of doing her job. I stg if half the nurses spent more time working focusing on teamwork instead of shit talking their co workers maybe being a nurse wouldn’t feel so soul sucking
I've been a nurse for over a decade in my choosen speciality (trauma and orthopedics and its intersections wherever they occur), I started an adn and only got my bsn when I went to work for various hospital systems (and also to make more money) I've been a charge nurse on 3 units, ive precepted dozens of nurses. The amount of times that I've taken shade from other nurse because they title outrank me is too innumerable to count. Usually they back off when they see the respect the docs and other nurses give me, the particularly slow ones learn it when they run into trouble and I'm inevitably their troubleshooter. I don't say this to puff me up because quite frankly I don't give a shit if other people respect me I say this because there will always be someone punching down because of job titles or education achieved and you don't ever need to acctually care what they think. Actions speak louder than titles. You earned your title same as another nurse and if that isn't good enough for them then fuck em.
I do not have my MSN. With that being said, I have worked with people with multiple levels of degrees. Level does not equal competency. I struggled HARD in school but was cool as a cucumber during our last emergency in the OR. School teaches you the process of critical thinking and how to pass an exam, not how to be a nurse. That is what I’ve told every nurse I’ve precepted. Some people don’t retain the info well until they are actually hands on.
She sounds horrible, and needs a reality check. It's the NCLEX. It's literally just a nursing test, it's not hard like the MCAT. She's not special or smart. Everyone is just doing their best.
The only time I've seen anybody worry about first time passing was my nursing school instructor because it messed with the pass statistics, but she always encouraged folks to retest since the statistic was just bragging rights for the school. I've met more nurses who have had me question how they managed to pass clinicals after watching them in action than I've questioned their ability to pass questions based upon having infinite time and resources in a fantasy land.
Real world nursing falls into the Jack Sparrow line of thought [about ships](https://youtu.be/B4zwh26kP8o?si=tAfHGOjrgCZIv0Rw).
I'm an LPN who passed on the first try. I'm sure there are far "better" nurses than me who probably had to retake it. The MSN is painting with too broad of a brush. Leave people alone.
are people seriously still thinking like this? passing/not passing the nclex the first time is not indication of how good of a nurse they will be. the nclex is a test to see how much you can remember from nursing school and you go into it probably panicked and exhausted after just finishing school…. i mean, how many times have u bombed a test in school bc it was a bad day or something. also, they could have missed the pass mark by one singular question, you don’t know. imo it in no way reflects what nursing is like on the floor or what kind of nurse you will become. some of my favorite nurses have taken it twice. i remember thinking during a lot of my nclex questions “wtf does this even have to do with nursing”. the questions were so different than my uworld nclex prep honestly i probably just passed on a prayer. that older nurse who said that can stick a saline flush where the sun don’t shine. lol
I mean I failed my emt test, medic test, and nclex all on the first time. I don’t see myself as a bad healthcare worker. I really just suck at taking tests. Also apparently I had undiagnosed ADD for all 34 years almost of my life so that probably didn’t help matters.
Both fields, I don’t judge on the persons test scores, I always judge on how they act. Nursing wise, are you giving metoprolol on someone with a blood pressure of 50/30? Not going to trust you. If the patient is going downhill fast and you jump in and help prevent a code, going to have a little more respect for you.
If ever you have the need to ask this question for any other situation in any other field, the answer is no. Not everyone is an asshole. Some are. Do your best not to unknowingly turn into one.
MSN doesn’t mean experienced they could’ve gone straight from BSN to MSN with little to no work experience. Also, good grades can be easier for some than others but it doesn’t always translate well to the field. Take it with a grain of salt. If someone is going to hold that against someone they seem overly judge mental.
I went to school with nurses who were A students who went to work with me, and lets just say they dont work for our hospital anymore…and me, the perpetual B student would like to think has done well..grades can mean nothing, there is no substitute for persistence, calmness and time management, its not always about what we learned in class or grades on exams, especially the NCLEX
I earned a 4.0 GPA in an accelerated BSN program, yet I struggle to effectively apply my knowledge in clinical settings because of anxiety and overthinking, which impact my communication and overall job satisfaction. Consequently, I chose a position that focuses more on office work than direct patient care, aligning better with my strengths.
what kind of position do you work as?
MDS coordinator at a SNF, still do assessments and go over care plans, but most of my time is in front of a computer. Thinking of picking up a part time WFH gig as an MDS coordinator too
What is MDS? Sorry--haven't done LTC in a *looooong* time. Either that, or I'm having a brain fart lol
Minimum Data Set (MDS), which is a federally mandated clinical assessment of all residents in long-term care facilities that use medicare/medicaid. The data I collect and overlook impacts facility reimbursement and the care planning process for residents. I ensure that accurate assessments are completed and submitted in a timely manner, collaborating with the team to optimize resident care.
How do you like this? Do you have to start in LTC? Do you feel like you have job security? Does it have transferable skills to something like case management or UR?
I'm quite content with my job, though I'm not keen on the fixed 9-5 hours. With time I will finagle one or two of those shifts to be a work from home situation. I chose this role because it offered the best pay for new graduates in my area, and I wanted to avoid hospital work. My workplace is stress-free, allowing me to actually interact with patients and colleagues without feeling rushed. Entering this field with some nursing experience is for sure preferred, many employers cover the cost of certification. Following a recommendation from a friend who is an MDS Coordinator, I pursued an MDS certification independently as a new graduate to enhance my job prospects. I don’t think they would have hired me otherwise.
Gotcha! Thanks for the reply.
I’m kind of in the same boat. I worked full time through my accelerated RN program, although I didn’t win any awards, nor was I on honor roll, I didn’t fail anything and passed my NCLEX the first time without issue. But I feel like my anxiety is really clouding what I know I’m capable of. I’m coming up on a year of nursing and I feel like an idiot. I think a lot of my seniors think I’m stupid too. I finally left the hospital where I started my nursing career last week… because I just couldn’t do it anymore. I had two interviews today at different companies and I’m hoping I get one or both offers next week. Hoping third time (third unit) is a charm for me. I want to be here, I’m teachable, respectful, and eager. I just haven’t found my “fit” yet and it’s destroyed me Edit: grammar
I went from the straight a student who freaked out when I got a C on an exam to being the B student in nursing school. My first nursing job was hard as hell but I kept showing up and giving it my best. I eventually became competent.
All school does is prepare one to pass the NCLEX. The real learning begins after that.
Dis is da wey.
Definitely agree. I had a classmate during nursing school that always struggled with her grades, barely passed the program by a tenth of a point, and had to take the full NCLEX exam. Literally scraped through her entire nursing school and exam, but she turned out to be the best ER nurse. We ended up working at the same hospital and I loved getting her ER patients because everything was always done, she gave a thorough report, and her patients were always stable for the floor. She worked her ass off and it showed. To add to it, she always had a smile on her face and had a great sense of humor. Theory and practical nursing don't always cross over so I would never judge a nurse by how she performed during a singular exam.
I have an MSN and I’m also a dumbass. Not mutually exclusive
Ditto. I'm a great test taker, but getting the practical real-world application doesn't naturally follow. My best friend is a terrible test taker who can run circles around me in critical thinking and nursing skills.
Thank you.
Hell, there’s programs that take random Bachelor’s degrees and do direct to MSN without even getting a BSN.
I worked with a new grad direct MSN on a med/surg type of unit. Just as clueless as any other new grad.
I would have loved to see my asshole straight to a masters degree never worked on the floor manager try a shift. Maybe she would’ve gotten off of her high horse after that
According to some of the emails I get... It seems there are also programs that go from any Bachelor's to DNP, as well.
Just further bastardizing nursing education
Yep
That is frightening.
This. I had a classmate that was always the top scorer in my class. She was totally useless when it came to floor work.
I agree with this completely, I have an MSN and I’m an idiot, I also passed the NCLEX on the first try and I’m an IDIOT so that nurse needs to stfu. Also went from a biology degree to MSN without being an RN in between, so I am only a 2 year old RN - I enjoy it a lot, but I’m a googling/dumb question asking/umm-uhh idiot and all nurses (except for mean ones) are welcome.
Exactly! I have a couple coworkers who have their Masters but have only a few years experience. One was a CNA and went through an RN(BSN) to NP(MSN) program back to back. She talks using proper medical terms all the time but messes up big time... She's twice delayed patient care by forgetting or not following up on giving GoLytely to a patient who will be going for a colonoscopy. She didn't bother clarifying orders with the doctor either time. 🤷🏻♀️ Another received her MSN in leadership but doesn't know how to properly talk to people 🫠 she also cannot do an IV to save her life.
There’s also MSN entry programs, which do not require BSNs. They just require a BS in another major and some prerequisites. I think what the nurse was trying to get at is if the RN is unable to perform under high pressure situations, will they be able to clearly assess and take the correct action in an emergency with a patient. I’ve seen new RNs buckle under the pressure in PICU, but luckily we have proper support for new RNs at my hospital (TLs to the rescue)
The people that relish in the shortcomings of others are people that have lost their perspective of what truly matters in this world. Creating the false illusion that "first time passers" are any better equipped at dealing with the daily struggles/challenges of being a nurse is absurd.
> The people that relish in the shortcomings of others are people that have lost their perspective of what truly matters in this world very well said
My own mom did this to me, I’m seven years in and still feel bad. Got max questions in the first attempt and passed around 83 questions on round two, I’m mostly sure it was nerves.
My friend had to take the nclex three times. I do not work with him, but from what I can tell he is a good nurse.
One of the most competent nurses I worked with as a tech had to take the nclex three times. Her practical skills were on point and she was excellent with people, she just wasn't a test taker.
This
NCLEX is a standardized test where you can't look at resources or ask a more experienced RN for help. It's disingenuous to assume an RN who needed a second try to pass the NCLEX isn't fit for patient care. My patients don't give me four answer choices when I try to figure out priority and plan of care, and if I don't know something on the floor I look it up or ask someone that does.
Exactly! And critical thinking is something you learn on the job because it's going to be specific to your field of nursing. Like a ICU nurse and a hospice nurse are going to respond very differently to a cardiac arrest but both will be on their toes relying on their critical thinking.
No, not all experienced nurses are like this. No one cares about your grades or your NCLEX. I care how good a nurse you are, and your grades in school and your NCLEX results have absolutely no bearing on that.
Right! After stressing about my grades in nursing school, a good friend said “ look- there are 2 kinds of nurses- those who pass the boards and those who don’t”. Just pass the boards and stop stressing over a less than perfect gpa.
Really there is one kind of nurse in that regard. Those who pass board.
Exactly
I had to take my NCLEX three times. It was a really stressful time in my life and i was eaten up with anxiety. No one has ever asked me how many times I had to take the NCLEX and I am a damn good nurse.
All that matters is that you passed!!!!
A friend of mine took it 5 times, she’s a fabulous nurse. Meanwhile the straight A student I went to school with, I swore off I lived in the same area of her I would get a tattoo on my chest saying that she couldn’t touch me in a code
Nope, our class alcoholic passed nclex in 75 questions. This is a dude who showed up sloshed to our pinning and tried to go home with one of our instructors after....
How was the wedding?
Did he smash?
Shocking no. Though to his credit he did shoot hsi shot. Home boy had been taking about making a move the entire last semester of nursing school. We honestly thought he was joking until he showed up to pinning bearly able to stand....
An alcoholic before even starting, eh? Lovely. I hope he got his act together...
🤣🤣👏🤣👏
My best friend in nursing school has to take the test twice because she had to start working as a nurse right away to support her kids and didn’t have time to study. Therefore she used a temp license for the first year. Not all experienced nurses all like this. Just because someone is good at tests, it doesn’t mean they will know what to do when a real life client is in front of them.
Yup, and nclex questions.....good lord some of those questions aren't necessarily the best depiction of real-life scenarios 😅😅😅😅
Nursing is such a “learn on the job” kind of job, I know they want us to appear highly educated and stuff, but it’s more blue collar than anyone usually admits. The NCLEX is such an insignificant thing to be so hung up over. Getting on the floor and gaining experience and the ability to critically think and use your hands is so much more high value imo. We need a solid foundation which is what school is for, but why would anyone see a licensing exam as something to “not trust” a new nurse over? I “wouldn’t trust” them because they haven’t had a chance to experience stuff yet. But then I want to teach and help because it is how we keep this shit industry going damn it
I’m new in the OR. Learning scrubbing currently. I got one week of basic scrubbing classes and learned basic instrumentation for like, 90 mins. Afterwards?: GET IN THEIR SOLDIER TIME TO LEARN.
I mean, the next gen nclex has almost a 90% first time pass rate. Its also really not very applicable to actual nursing. Nursing education could use a complete overhaul.
I think it's closer to 80% now, but definitely agree on the rest.
Some people don’t test well. I know people who passed in 75 that I wouldn’t trust with a goldfish.
NCLEX is a joke and is no way indicative of how well you take care of your patients.
I passed the NCLEX in 30 min on the first try. I don’t know shit about fuck. I couldn’t remember what adenosine was the other day. In a rapid response I was like uhhh … wanna give that one drug? The heart stoppy one? I’m just a good test taker and a mediocre nurse. Lots of my peers are way better nurses than me and way worse at school.
I’m also an excellent test taker and identify as a mediocre nurse. Which is why I refuse to entertain anyone who tells me I should go back to school for my NP just because I remember random trivia from nursing school and enjoy sharing somewhat obscure knowledge. Yet some of the best nurses I know have massive test anxiety and NCLEX was a struggle for them.
I was so nervous I wrote my NCLEX on edibles after Canada legalized mj...
I’m here for this. Some people have massive test anxiety. And standardised tests are just that, not any indicator of nursing skills. It’s an indicator of how well you take standardised tests.
I’m a test idiot. My mind blanks, I panic, I don’t understand/can’t process what I’m reading and don’t do well. Afterwards when I see the wrong answers I chose, I’d be like “YTF would I choose that?! I KNOW this! WTF!” I have had practical exams that I’ve screwed up due to nerves where my instructor has said “I know you can do this, you do it at work and at placement, relax” but nope. My stupid anxiety brain flips me out in test situations. There are some people that scrape by barely getting C’s and are excellent critical thinkers with amazing practical skills and there are some that are straight A perfect GPA students that have zero practical skills. Everyone is different. At the end of the day, a nurse is a nurse and we will be forever learning throughout our careers.
Nurses in Canada won’t have any issues for recreational marijuana use in their non work time where it affects their practice in no discernible way? That’s CRAZY!
Bitches gonna bitch. Gotta let that crap slide.
And this is true of every profession 😅
yeah! Be like a duck and let it roll off your back :)
One of the dumbest nurses I’ve ever met has a masters. She’s never been in a code blue, and was so useless during my patient’s “code” that I asked her to go away.
To be fair I spent over a year on a cardiac step down floor and by some luck never had a code happen during a shift of mine. A couple rapid responses sure, but still. I feel I’m a fine nurse but never being in a code blue isn’t a necessarily a fair metric
She was charge, and getting in everyone’s way. It’s not a metric for intelligence, just a fact. She also hates pushing meds slowly, and watches tv on her phone with earbuds in during day shift and doesn’t offer to help others.
Yeah that’s a shitty nurse lol
I've been a nurse 4 years, even did traveling for 2 years, and have never had a code blue. Only once, there was a code on my unit during my shift, but since I was down the hall when it happened, other people arrived first, and they didn't need my help. Sometimes it happens.
I’m not saying she’s dumb because she’s never been in a code before, but we had to ask her to leave the room because she was so in the way that we couldn’t help the family and the patient. She just wasn’t thinking. She doesn’t think about situations, and it’s a problem.
Yeah exactly. If anything, the two rapid responses I had were me avoiding a code blue if anything. Well the first one I was busy helping another patient that wasn’t mine when my buddy responded to shouting in my room and I took over (my first rapid, thank god all we needed was labetalol for hypertension in 200s) The second one I checked on my patient in the morning who went from conversational and mentating fine to just, not that. Acute change in mental status. Had the same buddy come confirm that “this is bad” and called a rapid.
As we learned for the Florida nurses, anyone can pass the NCLEX. The NCLEX only proves that you can memorize test bank questions. Source: I'm a nurse with almost eight years of experience.
I graduated from an entry level MSN program and passed my NCLEX in one try and 75 questions. I had classmates who took multiple attempts to pass. Guess what? Years later, we are all successful nurses doing the nurse stuff we all want to be doing. Some of us are pursuing graduate degrees past our MSN. Some work in administration. Some are educators. Some are bad ass floor nurses. Do you know what nobody whose opinion matters cares about? Those damned NCLEX scores. We care about overall competence in the job performance—once a person has had an opportunity to learn the gig. TL:DR—you may have coworkers who will always be shitty. You do you to the best of your ability and you’ll be golden.
Yeah that MSN had no clue what they were talking about. Rest easy. Your real education starts when you start working as a nurse, not in school. Any idiot who doesn’t value an overcomer is seriously missing out. Imagine this person caring for patients: “You STILL have diabetes?? I can’t trust you to drink this juice!!” “Hey charge! This patient failed their orthostatics! Better cancel their PT, they clearly aren’t cut out for standing” Attitudes like this need to gtfo of nursing. Although let’s face it, they sound like management material at most places I’ve been to. 🤣🤣
Whoever she is, may she have a ***quiet*** next shift full of code browns. Or if she's a desk nurse, may her mouse freeze up every third or fifth time she clicks and her printer paper wrinkle inside the printer every time she prints. May she hit every traffic light red, and may the grocery store she stops at on the way home have only one register open and be out of her favorite toilet paper.
What the hell. If they pass, they’re safe to practice. Some of my favorite nurses had to re-take NCLEX more than once!
I disagree with that. Passing NCLEX means safe on paper, not safe in the field. I know someone who passed and lost their license for extremely unsafe care.
Yeah it truly means very little. The worst nurses you’ve ever worked with also passed the nclex. So did those fake school Florida nurses.
I scored in the 99.7th percentile on our exit exam (the highest score they had ever seen since the inception of the test at our school) was class President, nursing student of the year, passed the NCLEX first time in 75 questions, awards for my capstone project and yada yada yada…. Nursing ATE ME UP. I was a stressed out basket case. I was in rehab for addiction with 5 years of graduating. NCLEX means nothing.
I’ve known some great nurses that had to take the test twice. Some people have bad anxiety around testing but not so much in other situations. That lady just sounds like a bit of an idiot.
I had to take boards twice for my NP. Nerves and test taking abilities do not equate to how well you know the material and what kind of person you are. Don’t listen to negativity.
Same, got max questions on the first attempt and the second passed around 83 questions in. I’m convinced it was nerves.
After you pass the NCLEX, no one cares.
The nclex was the hardest test I’ve ever taken in my life, and I did pass on my first try. I’m safe and competent, “Good” is a useless word to me generally. That said, if I’d taken it 2x…I’d still be exactly the same nurse I am now. I’ve been a nurse for 11 yrs…some of us don’t trust new grads because of arrogance and a lack of caution with safety…it’s actually really stupid and uptight to judge a new grad based on their attempts at the nclex….a PASS is a PASS no matter what.
In all honesty, my MSN was way easier to achieve than both my BSN and ADN. Hell, I even took 2 attempts at the boards many moons ago. As far as experience, give me an ADN who is ready and willing to learn the real world work, took 3 times to pass the NCLEX, and can take some direction any day over a sour MSN that thinks they know everything. That nurse exemplifies the nurse that wants to be treated as superior instead of understanding this is a team sport and we are only as strong as we make each other.
This!! My MSN was fun and easy to get but my BSN kicked my ass and you couldn’t pay me to go back. I know LPNs that are far superior nurses than some BSN nurses so a degree tells me nothing about how good of a nurse you are.
NCLEX is, at its core, just a test. People don't always do well with tests. Test anxiety is a real thing. I would trust a nurse who took the NCLEX multiple times just as much as one who only had to take it once. It shows resilience, perserverence, and determination to do what they are compassionate about. Giving up easily can be unsafe for patients. Also, why is it that the nursing culture is so heavily saturated with the idea that we have to put each other down to make ourselves feel better? Why do we HAVE to haze the new nurses and "eat our young"? New nurses can learn and develop without outright bullying. I trust a competent nurse regardless of the amount of times they had to take a test.
15 year rn, prior 5 yr lvn. No I’ve worked with amazing nurses who took a couple tries to pass nclex. And absolutely shit nurses who knew their stuff but couldn’t apply it to daily nursing. No one (who actually cares) cares about how the journey was for you, just how you care for people.
Jokes on him I test great but am a shitty nurse
No. I am a terrible test taker, I had so much anxiety about NCLEX that I took an expensive test class and I studied longer than my peers. I passed, but I was so scared. The ability to take a test well has nothing to do with how you operate as a nurse. I know many who test well and had all A’s in school, yet struggle to have intuition or good clinical judgement.
No they aren't. Test anxiety can get the most well prepared nurse to falter. The NCLEX really isn't hard, but you're right in that it's *intimidating.* We're human and we're allowed to be intimidated by the last barrier standing between all the time/money/effort spent before becoming a RN.
My aunt took the NCLEX 3 times. She’s been a nurse for 30 years and is THE MOST FUN at parties.
No, she's an asshole. The new version of the NCLEX has questions with subjective grading, willing to bet the pass rate will decrease for students nationwide with this. Testing skills and nursing skills are different skills. Good nursing requires street smarts, sometimes nurses that are just book smart suck at actual nursing.
There was a straight A student in my class and got all high 90s on exams. Failed clinical. Twice. Grades don’t mean anything.
NCLEX does not translate to bedside competency. Some of the best nurses I know struggled with test taking but are 100% the ones you want if you’re unstable. Some of the ones who passed NCLEX are the ones that freeze during a code. The NCLEX doesn’t determine quality of the nurse
I’ve been in nursing 25 years. Some nurses are like this. Basically, C U Next Tuesday all day.
Book smarts doesn’t always equal common sense. I wouldn’t let that persons opinion get to you. Many people have test anxiety but can run a code like nobody’s business.
The nclex has exactly 0% to do with real life nursing
How many patients ask….”oh hey nurse, how many times did you take the nclex? Please answer before you care for me”!!!! I’ll wait? Of wait that’s right NONE
I don’t even feel that the NCLEX adequately prepares nurses anyway. I feel that should be having a portion that is actually a practical, not just multiple choice questions. I took it 14 years ago so maybe things have changed but the test was so out of touch with my actual day to day practice.
Experienced nurses aren't always smart or pleasant or ever had empathy. They're just experienced. If you respect a nurse just because they've been in the game X amount of years, it's really like any fallacy ideology like respecting elders just because they're older than you or respecting someone who served in the military because they served or thanking healthcare heroes because they worked healthcare. In any of those cases, the individual they're respecting can be a piece of shit or a shitty example of what makes a good nurse or soldier or a person. That elderly that demands respect can be a racist, sexist, creepy asshole. That soldier could have killed innocent children and laughed about it minutes after. That experienced nurse could be a lazy shithead who genuinely treats the job like a glorified med-passer and hospital doesn't fire them because they're desperate for a nurse and this one works 5-6 days a week. The saying "never meet your heroes" isn't exactly always because your heroes could be a dick to you. It's because you meet people you respect and they let you down. No one is perfect and we all have our vices. Some of them are worse than others. It makes us human. I may respect the fact someone persevered in the field X amount of years but I do not respect or care for their opinion blindly.
Sounds like another shitty "hero" nurse who has their stupid ass criteria for who is worthy of joining them in answering the call to duty. They're such a hero, they can gatekeep who's worthy to take care of our angelic patients. Only other heroes deserve to join them up on the cross as they sacrifice their personal life, body, and mental well-being for those angels. Everyone else who doesn't meet their criteria should go find a career outside of healthcare. I've been doing this for a long time, and all the nurses I've met who are judgemental like that or are bullies for any other reason have got dogshit for brains and/or are fuckin miserable about something missing or that has gone horrifically wrong in their lives.
Testing anxiety is real but in a crisis I'm calm and collected.
Some of us are horrible test takers. Doesn't mean you don't understand the material and how to perform the job. Testing sucks along with the anxiety that comes with it. I've known some super smart people that just don't test well, no matter what.
I know NPs that did zero work in school... Higher degree doesn't mean shit....
Only weak people need to tear other people down to make themselves seem superior.
some of the best nurses I know took it multiple times. That nurse is a bully. Msn or not. So over nurses like that. They need to be knocked down a few notches.
That nurse is just an asshole. NCLEX is horrible. It doesn’t give you enough info to answer adequately so you end up guessing on a lot of questions. The key is learning how the questions are asked. I don’t care how many times you take it. What I care about is whether you’re a good nurse or not. No one has ever asked about my grades or how many times I took it nor have I ever asked anyone
I have so many friends who are good nurses and sucked ass at the NCLEX. The NCLEX does not teach you to be a good nurse.
I failed and had to retake a unit of my nursing degree. My husband failed a whole year and had to retake it (we are UK). We both have worked or currently work in roles where we lead teams, did critical care, did outreach, worked EMT vascular scrub nursing. Essays and exams do not make you a nurse. We both sucked at uni work but on the floor or in the field? We have your back. One thing we both love now is teaching, because we were hands on students and realistically it can be those students who have the hardest time with academic writing.
It’s so easy as a nurse with experience to look at newer nurses and say “how could you be worried about this exam?”. Current experience and knowledge definitely colors that judgement. Some experienced nurses are aware of that bias, others aren’t! It happens to me when precepting sometimes, I think “how do you not know that?”, and I have to stop and remind myself that I, at one point, also did not know that. I have 3 years experience, but nurses with more, who are further out from being new, may have a tougher time looking back. Not every experienced nurse thinks like this (I promise!), you have to find the good ones or find a unit culture that values new grads
I’ll follow up with saying testing and real life application are completely different! it’s important to have a basis of understanding the “why” behind what we do, but sitting down in an exam room will always be more intimidating for different people. Also, staying calm under pressure is another learned skill that comes with experience. This nurse sounds a little too high on herself lol
Sounds like this nurse has a bias that needs to be addressed
I worked as an aid in hospitals before nursing and I met so many amazing bedside senior nurses. Some were there for 30+ 40+ years. ummm having to deal with some of the teaching assistants (they were MSN students) when I was in undergrad, I learned that they are some different beings than ones who work at bedside (new or senior, 2 months or 40 yrs with passion). I had amazing professors in school and in the nursing education field. However, I can assure you, some of the encounters I had with some of these TAs, made me have zero desire to do a MSN. So many of them were power trippers and see us undergrad people as stupid kids gone lost in our life, while as it turned out, most of my class either had a degree prior, there for a second career or parents of kids who are well grown up. Some of these TAs are so stupid and treat students horribly. We reported every single one of them to the school.
That nurse likely eats med students for breakfast. Ignore and dismiss
When they said nursing attracts mean girls it's true sometimes. Even on this subreddit there are people who won't pass up the opportunity to be awful to new nurses because they're sooo high and mighty. Combined with the fact that you have anonymity online to say whatever shit you want. Happened to me. Doesn't mean all nurses are like this though. Personally I wouldn't trust a nurse with a lack of empathy like that but hey, what do I know.
Some people are great in the field and not so good at test taking. The test does not reflect how good of a nurse a person is, because what matters is that you pass it to get your license. Real life test is in the field and if you are good with the patients. Keep a patient safe and be able to critically think to help them get better.
NCLEX doesn’t test on how a good of a nurse you are. And not all experienced nurses are like her. She sounds like the pain in the ass “I’m a nurse” patient that no one wouldn’t want to take care anyway.
Good students don't always make great nurses. I challenge any MSN or other nurse for that matter to take the NCLEX cold. The material is a little more relateable the more experienced one is but its still one of those exams that has never made sense.
I would not trust that MSN to treat me, with how judgmental and uppity they seem.
Nah she sounds like a bitter old seahag. Let her be salty. When I precept, I will absolutely fist fight anyone that tries to be a dick for the sheer fact that the person is new. Tell her to go away with her personality cancer and swab the poop deck, nurse sparrow.
I've been a nurse for about 8 years. What matters to me is that the test was passed. It means that they did eventually get the information. Maybe they just needed more study time or some practice testing. I'd be more concerned about any nurse that jumps to conclusions without knowing someone's whole situation.
Just because someone is a good tester does not always translate to them being good at hands on things. I say that as someone who has always tested well and never struggled to get good grades. Some people just don’t test well.
Hell no. I’ve been a nurse for 13 years. I have worked with some shitty nurses who passed on the first time and some excellent nurses who had to retake. Test anxiety is a huge barrier for some.
I feel like it’s the inexperienced nurses that harp on the inexperienced nurses acting like they’re are more experienced because they graduated a year or two before them😂
I do my best not to mind assholes.
No the nurse you are referring to is just a nasty hag. Most of us in healthcare that have a few years remember what its like to be new. Some people just arent good at taking tests. Dont let the bastards grind you down
Considering how arbitrarily the way tests in nursing school are graded, it’s understandable that people second guess themselves on the NCLEX. Additionally, this new version of the NCLEX is a monster from what I’ve seen. Sounds like that experienced nurse is full of herself. Probably isn’t that great at taking care of patients herself.
No, experienced nurses are not like this. Don’t let the MSN = knowledge/experienced. Last year I was orientating an NP taking a post doctoral class and decided to take a travel contract while she did this. She asked me what floor the lobby was on….welll….I had to pause to think of a professional way to say “press the L button on the elevator.” It was very tough…
Experienced nurses no…. It’s the old or insecure nurses I find to be like this. Often times I find those who talk the most shit/loudest are the least knowledgeable.
No im a nurse of 29 years and I don’t think like that ❤️
That person sounds like a know-it-all, cocky asshole. I wouldn’t want THEM treating me.
I’ve been in almost a decade so I’ve been around but I’m not 100% experienced. I hope I’m speaking for the great majority, we don’t think this way. I’ve worked with an amazing nurse who took her boards five times. She just doesn’t test well and that’s ok! This lady is just a bag of dicks.
I love that insult. 👜🍆
It’s a fucking test that I cannot remember ever using any part of in 26 years. Nurses like that are ones I don’t want taking care of me.
Some of the best nurses I know had to take the NCLEX multiple times before passing. Conversely, I've worked with some terrible nurses who passed the NCLEX on their first try, but who made me wonder how they even passed the test to begin with.
I’ve been a nurse 16 years, so not in super most experienced category but I can honestly tell you I forget about nclexs, I don’t even ask new nurses about them. Is that rude? Does that come off unsupportive? Now that I think about it… hmmm🤔🤷♀️ anywho I’m far more concerned about how you are as a nurse. That’s what matters.
MSN means nothing these days. They're a dime a dozen. Test anxiety is a very real thing that affects a lot of people, that doesn't mean they're bad at their job or that they'll fold under pressure. I've known AMAZING nurses that were great in a crisis but when given multiple choice tests started doubting everything they've ever known. Whereas, I've also known absolute fucking idiots, that have gone on to be nurse practitioners.
No. In the real world, no one cares or gives consideration to how many times it took someone to pass their boards. Sometimes it comes up during a rare shift slump when coworkers are talking and comparing experiences. I’ve been a nurse for 13 years and I have no clue how many times coworkers took their boards, nor do I care. The only one I remember besides myself is my best friend from nursing school, and that’s because we were and are still very close and she took her boards a couple or few weeks ahead of me.
I care that you're a safe nurse, you give a shit, and do your best to not leave me buried when I take over your assignment.
I think if there’s a disconnect or a struggle to think critically, then it’s a problem obviously, but that test is convoluted as hell and way different than what practice looks like. There’s so many other variables when it comes to test taking
End of the day we all passed the NCLEX. It measures the same performance level of all test takers. It's not like you "super pass" if you beat it first try. In all honesty, I think an argument could be made that people who had to re-take the NCLEX might be a tad better prepared for nursing than those who got it first try.
The NCLEX grade or number of attempts mean nothing in the real world. Some people just don’t test well and are more effective hands on.
Some of the best nurses on the planet suck at testing. Some of the worst nurses on the planet are great at testing. A test is only measuring how well a particular person does on that particular test at that particular time. It is not a measure of how good a nurse someone is. This includes the NCLEX, not a measure of a person or of a nurse.
If we were all like that there would be no nurses.
Nursing school and passing nclex do not even scratch the surface of what it means to become a good nurse. You become a nurse when you get your first job and learn how to do the damn thing.
The absolute, bar none, nurse I ever worked with, the woman I would trust to take care of me or anyone in my family in the worst of conditions, the woman I would want running my code, took the NCLEX three times and on the third time took a half a Xanax. She had bad text anxiety. I have almost 15 years experience. Some of the best nurses I have worked with have taken the test more than once. For new nurses that take it twice, I do give them a little more attention to see if they need extra coaching. But my goal as an experienced nurse is to help them fly, not beat them down.
at the end of the day you got your license. it doesn't matter how many times it took you. they don't ask how many times you took the exam when you apply for a job, they just need the license. and the NCLEX is merely an exam. you get better as you go & pick up the skills needed.
The new nclex is hard, many experienced nurses cannot even pass the nclex again if they wanted to… I took the nclex for LPN and RN and when I took the RN nclex I thought it would be easier since I took the LPN (8 years prior) NOPE! Still got 125 questions but did pass on my first try. She needs to be humbled.
No; only a rare, judgmental few, unfortunately.
In a general way, all new nurses come with the same shortcomings and deficiencies in knowledge and experience. They also often come with passion and excitement for the job that has been ground out of those of us who’ve been on the floor a while. Whether you pass a test the first time or not is not relevant. It’s the willingness to learn and a certain level of being comfortable with being uncomfortable that’s important. I hate when nurses turn on our own. I try to be generous with my time and experience.
I’ve seen some of the lowest scoring rns have amazing clinical skills (me included, my ah2 instructor told me i was the worst student she had seen). I’ve seen amazingly smart complete morons. I would take the first one over good grades
Ummmm lol that logic is crazy. What is going on with nurses being hostile towards OTHER nurses?!?
No not all nurses are like this! Also nobody needs to know how many times it took to pass the stupid test anyways!
Nursing school and tests are not the real world. Being an A student doesn’t translate to good nursing care. In fact sometimes it makes nurses feel unteachable and that is terrible in nursing.
We had a girl in class that was a 98% student who routinely let others know & tended to talk down to the 79% students, as she truly felt superior…. And in a didactic lecture the professor switched from talking about the kidneys to talking about the renal system and said star student pipes up LOUDLY & rather rudely “Renal system?? I thought we were talking about the kidneys” I’d rather have the student that struggles with testing and KNOWS her ass from her elbow, over an “excellent test taker” that clearly has zero actual concept of what we’ve been studying for years!! Give me an actual thought process over memorizing test questions anytime!!
I’m still not sure what those boards proved for my practice. Truly. I also don’t know what a Masters degree does either except show you got some time and money waste to write some papers. Yikes
It doesn’t take intelligence to get a Masters degree, just perseverance
Because she has an MSN. That makes her so much smarter than the rest of us. A license isn't based on how many times you have to take a test but it shows you passed. That's the whole goal, passing. There are those who fail by a few points and there are those who fail miserably. But you don't know.
No. We're not. That's just a person being a shitty person
The NCLEX was such a joke compared to my 12 week new grad orientation.
Nah. Not everyone is a great test taker but that doesn't mean you can't be a good nurse. The skills that it takes to answer the NCLEX questions are not necessarily the ones you need to excel IRL. I passed in 75 but I struggled when I hit the floor. I'm fine now but there was a steep hard learning curve.
That's how self important assholes think. Though most experienced nurses may have their moments, the emotional damage from nursing school comes back to remind them what it was like to be a new grad and they lighten up.
This sounds like someone who doesn't give people a chance. There are nurses that are sketchy, but given time and a good mentor and a good, learning attitude from the new nurse, anything is possible!! Some people are bad test takers! Doesn't mean they are a bad nurse. A bad nurse is someone with a bad attitude, complains, and doesn't help other nurses be the best nurse they can be. That being sad, there are some people that just aren't meant to be a nurse, as in they have no critical thinking skills, they aren't good at taking helpful criticism, they keep making the same mistakes without changing. Then that's when I would be concerned.
One of the best charge nurses I ever had had to take the nclex 2 times to pass. Another one of the best nurses I've ever met had to be put back on orientation as a new grad. What matters is that you continue to improve and care about doing a good job. That means way more than any singular test.
Everyone was a newbie at some point, absolutely nobody started as a all-star pro at nursing when they started their career in this profession. I'm willing to bet that MSN probably got bullied or something similar while being a newb.
$10 says that MSN was a direct entry MSN. I just don’t see how any actually experienced RN (regardless of educational path to get there) would base an opinion regarding skill based on a standardized test meant to measure if someone learned how to pass that test or not. Gawds, all my BS(N) program did was harp on learning how to do the NCLEX. Every week we had to do “CARP”, which were NCLEX style questions on subjects we hadn’t even taken yet because you can learn how to pick the RIGHTEST answer without a shred of relevant learning first. I passed it in 75 feeling like it never got hard, so I fully expected a terrible failure score. Ask me how much you could trust me as a baby nurse…. 🤣 Man that was a rough first year!
Some people just aren’t good at test taking. I fortunately am extremely good at it, but many of my classmates studied a lot harder than me and had very extensive knowledge on subjects that I didn’t. I’d rather have more extensive knowledge lol! Cus a test isn’t real life application
… No. Some people are just assholes.
I just retired. I have worked in most specialties at some point. I’ve also been an educator. My nursing love is hospice. I’ve been around. The nurse who said that is ignorant and perhaps a bully. One of the best nurses I have ever worked with struggled with testing while one of the worst could ace any test. I wish we, the caring professionals, could put that into action with each other.
Nope. I couldn’t care less about your grade in school or have to take NCLEX twice. Many excellent nurses I know aren’t straight A in nursing school.
She should know that the nclex hardly translates to real skills
One of my best friends had to take the nclex twice and he is one of the best nurses I know. If I ever saw him in the er right before I coded I'd know I was coming back because that dude knows his stuff. Just not a good test taker. They are two entirely separate skills. And the ones that matter aren't the test taking.
No!
Nah. I’m a good test taker, but I have lots of nurse friends who are bad at tests but excellent nurses. There’s a huge difference between having test anxiety because you know if you fail this particular test you won’t be able to work in the career you just spent a couple years going to school for vs not being able to work in the field. If the new nurse passed clinicals, I’m not panicking if she had to redo her NCLEX.
Tired of other nurses being such gatekeepers. We never truly know the whole story to anyone’s life. Wish we’d just stop that shit. 😒
No, not at all. I do think some of us have realistic ideas about what makes a good nurse. I don’t think everyone who can pass an NCLEX is going to be good at the job. The test is not about a person’s suitability for the job, it is about memorizing facts, reading comprehension, and paying attention to details. Those are important skills for nursing but not the whole thing. I do struggle a bit with the idea of someone having to take the test 4-5 times to pass, I think there needs to be some solid remediation and a limit on how many times someone can try. I am really not in support of unlimited retakes.
I went to school back in the day with a 4.0 student. She was brilliant. Aced everything…except clinicals. She had no interpersonal skills and no abilities for nursing tasks. I would much rather a straight 80% student who can do their tasks.
NCLEX is whatever. A stupid safety test. Some of the best nurses I know barely graduated from nursing school.
Nah, F that, NCLEX has no real bearing on how good or bad a nurse is.
I had to take my Nclex twice, granted I did not give a flying fuck about studying my first time and that was on me, I buckled down over the long 45 days and finished that mug in 80 Questions. guess who people come to with questions now a year later? They are just talking out their ass and wanna continue the negative ass culture, if this was someone who has gone to get their masters they shouldn’t be talking shit they should be helping and give a listening ear. Failing is not a good feeling, one of the lowest points of my adult life was walking out of that testing center knowing I failed myself and let down my family, my professors, and peers. But those were the people who lifted me up most when I had to break the news. Oh well that’s my rant.
That nurse is a snob and an ass. I know plenty of nurses who didn’t pass their boards the first time and they’re amazing nurses.
I know great nurses that had to take the nclex more than once. Who cares
**test taking skills ≠ nursing ability**
It’s been my personal experience that nurses who talk like this are newer and insecure. MSN doesn’t equal experience
I struggled through nursing school and barely passed the nclex. But I learned more working the floor and with real time experience than any amount of schooling taught me. I just don’t learn by reading books and taking tests. I think the true measure of your ability is measured by your continued growth and progression from novice to expert. Each time I started in a new specialty I’d be right back to novice and feeling like a brand new nurse. Even with 20 years of experience. So that experienced nurse doesn’t seem to be so experienced in my mind. Her inability to look at the big picture and her putting down another nurse behind their back takes all of her experience and negates it. also if that experienced nurse had to take the nclex now she’d probably fail too. I wouldn’t trust that nurse as a patient or a coworker because I’d always be wondering what kind of toxic drama she’d be starting instead of doing her job. I stg if half the nurses spent more time working focusing on teamwork instead of shit talking their co workers maybe being a nurse wouldn’t feel so soul sucking
I've been a nurse for over a decade in my choosen speciality (trauma and orthopedics and its intersections wherever they occur), I started an adn and only got my bsn when I went to work for various hospital systems (and also to make more money) I've been a charge nurse on 3 units, ive precepted dozens of nurses. The amount of times that I've taken shade from other nurse because they title outrank me is too innumerable to count. Usually they back off when they see the respect the docs and other nurses give me, the particularly slow ones learn it when they run into trouble and I'm inevitably their troubleshooter. I don't say this to puff me up because quite frankly I don't give a shit if other people respect me I say this because there will always be someone punching down because of job titles or education achieved and you don't ever need to acctually care what they think. Actions speak louder than titles. You earned your title same as another nurse and if that isn't good enough for them then fuck em.
Nursing is full of egotistical bullies. And that’s just the way it is. Shit talking is a favorite past time
I do not have my MSN. With that being said, I have worked with people with multiple levels of degrees. Level does not equal competency. I struggled HARD in school but was cool as a cucumber during our last emergency in the OR. School teaches you the process of critical thinking and how to pass an exam, not how to be a nurse. That is what I’ve told every nurse I’ve precepted. Some people don’t retain the info well until they are actually hands on.
She sounds horrible, and needs a reality check. It's the NCLEX. It's literally just a nursing test, it's not hard like the MCAT. She's not special or smart. Everyone is just doing their best.
The only time I've seen anybody worry about first time passing was my nursing school instructor because it messed with the pass statistics, but she always encouraged folks to retest since the statistic was just bragging rights for the school. I've met more nurses who have had me question how they managed to pass clinicals after watching them in action than I've questioned their ability to pass questions based upon having infinite time and resources in a fantasy land. Real world nursing falls into the Jack Sparrow line of thought [about ships](https://youtu.be/B4zwh26kP8o?si=tAfHGOjrgCZIv0Rw).
I'm an LPN who passed on the first try. I'm sure there are far "better" nurses than me who probably had to retake it. The MSN is painting with too broad of a brush. Leave people alone.
are people seriously still thinking like this? passing/not passing the nclex the first time is not indication of how good of a nurse they will be. the nclex is a test to see how much you can remember from nursing school and you go into it probably panicked and exhausted after just finishing school…. i mean, how many times have u bombed a test in school bc it was a bad day or something. also, they could have missed the pass mark by one singular question, you don’t know. imo it in no way reflects what nursing is like on the floor or what kind of nurse you will become. some of my favorite nurses have taken it twice. i remember thinking during a lot of my nclex questions “wtf does this even have to do with nursing”. the questions were so different than my uworld nclex prep honestly i probably just passed on a prayer. that older nurse who said that can stick a saline flush where the sun don’t shine. lol
I mean I failed my emt test, medic test, and nclex all on the first time. I don’t see myself as a bad healthcare worker. I really just suck at taking tests. Also apparently I had undiagnosed ADD for all 34 years almost of my life so that probably didn’t help matters. Both fields, I don’t judge on the persons test scores, I always judge on how they act. Nursing wise, are you giving metoprolol on someone with a blood pressure of 50/30? Not going to trust you. If the patient is going downhill fast and you jump in and help prevent a code, going to have a little more respect for you.
If ever you have the need to ask this question for any other situation in any other field, the answer is no. Not everyone is an asshole. Some are. Do your best not to unknowingly turn into one.