NCLEX, what and why?

NCLEX:

The National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN^® exam) is taken in order to determine if it's safe for you to begin practice as an entry-level nurse.  It is different from any test that you took in nursing school as they are knowledge based and while other one tests application and analysis using the nursing knowledge you learned in school. It even analyses how you can use critical thinking skills to make nursing judgments.

After a hard time in nursing education and earing a nursing degree, one should get a title of registered nurse offical by passing the NCLEX exam to get license in state.  This will allow you to practice as a nurse in the hospitals.

The exam is organized according to the framework, "Meeting Client Needs." There are four major categories and eight subcategories.  Safe and effective care environment (Management of care 17-23%, safety and infection control 9-15%), Health promotion and maintenance 6-12%, Psychosocial integrity 6-12% and Physiological integrity (Basic care and comfort 6-12%, Pharmacological and parenteral therapies 12-18%, Reduction of risk potential 9-15%, physiological adaptation 11-17%).

Most of the questions are primarily multiple-choice with four possible answer choices; except some are alternate question types including multiple-response, fill-in-the-blank, hot spots, chart/exhibit and drag-and-drop.

In an exam there will be a minimum of 75 questions to a maximum of 265 questions. Regardless of how many you answer, you will be given 15 experimental questions that do not count for or against you. The exam administrators use them to test for future questions on the exam.

A time of 6 hours will be given to complete the exam including a tutorial in the beginning and there is no time limit for each individual question. There are no mandatory breaks. However, there's an optional break after 2 hours of testing, and another optional break after 3.5 hours of testing.  The exam will end in follwoing conditions:

• we demonstrated minimum competency and answered the minimum number of questions (75).
• we demonstrated a lack of minimum competency and answered the minimum number of questions (75).
• we answered the maximum number of questions (265).
• we used the maximum time allowed (6 hours).

There is no numerical score in exam but will be said pass or fail only. A determination will be made at the conclusion of the exam as to whether you have passed or failed.  If you fail, you'll receive a diagnostic profile that evaluates your test performance.  You'll see how many questions you answered on the exam.  The only way you continue to get questions after the first 75 is if you are answering questions close to the level of difficulty needed to pass.  Re-testing for the exan is permitted 45 days after the initial administration