I Failed my Nursing Exam: What Now?

I started this podcast because I wanted to reach as many nursing students as possible and to help make the experience of nursing school a little less more rewarding , overwhelming and ridden with anxiety and stress that just comes with the territory , unfortunately , most of the time , and I can't take away all of those things .

But it is my hope and my goal that , with the strategies and tactics and all the crazy hacks that I share with you , that I can help make your experience a little more enjoyable so when you get to the end , you can look back and say , okay , you know what I actually enjoyed , that I enjoyed the ride a little bit more .

So if you've enjoyed the show , if you have benefited from it in any way , I would so appreciate you sharing it with somebody that you know who could also benefit . That way we can reach as many future nurses as possible and help put more great nurses into the world together . So I thank you so much for your help in doing that .

Last week I got a message on social media from a student who was really upset and I wanted to talk about it with you because I think we can all gain a lot from this .

This person unfortunately failed their first nursing exam and they were very upset about it understandably , and one of the things that they said was that it had ruined the last several days , first of all , and that they didn't want to see what they had done wrong . They didn't want to review their exam because they were too embarrassed .

I think this is something that so many people can relate to and maybe we don't talk about it . We just kind of brush it under the rug and say you know what , I'll do better next time , I'll figure it out , and we never really face the things that we did wrong , and then it can be a pattern that continues to happen .

So , first of all , what I want to say to this person and to anybody who has gone through this or is experiencing it now it is okay to feel embarrassed , it is okay to feel upset , devastated . These are some high stakes that we're facing in nursing school .

There's a lot on the line and there's a lot that's expected of you , and if you failed that exam , it's okay to be upset about it . Feel it , be upset , be angry , be whatever you are , but don't let yourself fall into that abyss of negativity for too long . You know I have a 15 minute rule .

I have a 15 minute rule where there's any heightened sense of emotion . You failed an exam . You just got done taking an exam . Whatever the case is , you have 15 minutes to feel it and then let it go and I'd say that's true here because you've got work to do .

You did fail this exam and it's okay to feel what you're feeling , but then you got to let it go because you've got work to do .

The first thing that I want you to do is to schedule an appointment with your professor to review that exam . I don't care if you're embarrassed , you've got to face it . You've got to face that thing that has this power over you right now .

That exam , that set of 50 questions , 40 questions , whatever it was that does not have the power to take away your desire to be a nurse . You've got to keep going . I know personally so many people that I went to school with who failed an exam . They failed an exam or they failed more than one exam and you know what ? They kept on going .

They looked at what they did wrong and they kept going . And now they are out there and they are working and they are nurses . So this is just a bump in the road . You can so recover from this . You just have to take the steps to fix it . So that's the first thing .

You've got to meet with your professor , say I failed this exam , I don't want to fail another exam . What did I do wrong ? Because you may look at that exam and see you made some very silly mistakes or there's a pattern to why you're getting questions wrong .

Maybe you're missing key words , maybe you're not reading each question twice , maybe it was something as simple , as you were exhausted , you knew that material . You just made really simple slip-ups and now you've learned that you've got to get a good night's sleep the night before .

Or maybe you didn't prepare as well as you thought you did , and maybe you need to change the way that you study . Whatever it is , you've got to look at that exam so you can see what you need to fix . What's the problem . So that's the first thing I would do . There is a great book called Positive Intelligence by Shurzad Shamin .

I didn't want to get the name wrong . I'll put the link in the show notes in the description of the show . I know we don't have a lot of time to read books , but if you want to check it out , I'll put the link there . He's got some great TED Talks as well , but basically he talks about this concept of our inner saboteurs .

Those are these voices that live inside of us . They're the parts of ourselves that allow us to go to the dark place . They allow us to go to the place to say I'm too stupid to do this , I'm not smart enough for nursing school , I should just give up .

But basically , once we can identify these saboteurs , I call them your inner monsters , but it's all the same thing . It's the part of ourselves that causes self-doubt .

So he suggests , when something like this happens when you fail an exam , for example to only let yourself feel it , to feel that disappointment only for mere seconds , because then you're walking in that danger zone of allowing the saboteurs to take over . Now , if you have the ability to only feel that for a few seconds , good for you .

I know that can be really hard , so that's why I have the 15-minute rule . But the point is is to be aware , be aware of these inner saboteurs , so you could not let them take over , these inner monsters that say things to you , like you shouldn't even look at that test because you're so dumb . You're just gonna fail the next one anyway , whatever it is .

So be aware , be aware of those negative parts of ourselves that are really getting in your own way of doing well the next time .

He also suggests , when something like this happens to , once you allow yourself to feel those feelings , to immediately say what are three great things that could come from this , what are three gifts that could come from this negative experience .

Now , I know that can be really hard to do , but maybe , for example , you might develop better study habits because of this . Maybe you failed this first exam for a reason . Maybe this is the best thing that could have ever happened to you , because it forced you , it shook you to the core and forced you to say you know what ? I really really want this .

I do not accept a failing grade , so I have no choice but to take the steps to fix it and to do better going forward . So maybe this will force you to create better study habits . Maybe that will come from it .

Or maybe you'll develop better sleep habits or , if nothing else , maybe this will make you more grateful for all of the good grades that you'll get in the future .

Now , next time you get a 90 or a 95 or an 88 , you will have a deeper appreciation and gratitude for that grade , because you know what it feels like now to get a 55 , to get a 60 , whatever it was . Here's the thing . The only thing that stands in your way between right now and becoming a licensed nurse is a series of exams . That's it .

You have to become an expert test taker and you're doing something that is incredibly hard . Nursing school , nursing exams are hard . They are literally like learning a new language . So go easy on yourself at first and understand that this is a learning process . You will get better as you go further and further into your nursing school journey .

If you failed this exam , if this is your first exam or one of the early ones for you , it's okay and you're not alone . It's going to get better . It's going to be okay . Remember why you're here in the first place .

Remember your why . Why do you want to be a nurse ? When you close your eyes and you visualize your future self , what does that look like ? Where are you working ? How does it feel knowing that you accomplished this major thing , this major life achievement of graduating nursing school , passing your NCLEX and now working as a nurse . How does that feel ?

Let that be your driving force as you navigate through this journey , as you go to sit down to drill those daily practice questions every day , allow your why to be your guide . Allow it to be what drives you to get up every day and to do this . Because you are meant to be here . You are smart enough to be here . You are supposed to do this .

I believe in you and I know that you can do this . Well , that's it for today , guys .

If you follow me on social media , at nursing student coach on Instagram , I am going to start posting , at least once a week , a practice question where I will go through all the different parts of the answers and we will flush out different strategies and tactics why is this answer correct , why is this answer wrong ?

And just start getting better at taking these exams together . So I hope to see you there . You can also go to nursing student coachcom to join my mailing list . And until next time , guys , have an awesome day and I will see you the next time . Bye , bye .