NCLEX Exam

This site, NCLEX-exam.com (for the National Council Licensure Examination) is an exam preparation site enabling you to pass the exam required in order for you to obtain a license to practice as a registered nurse. The exam is administered by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and ensures that your license is acceptable throughout the entire United State and its territories.

NCLEX examinations are developed and owned by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. (NCSBN). NCSBN administers these examinations on behalf of its member boards which consist of the boards of nursing in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and four U.S. territories American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands.

To ensure public protection, each board of nursing requires a candidate for licensure to pass the appropriate NCLEX examination, NCLEX-RN for registered nurses and the NCLEX-PN for vocational/practical nurses. NCLEX examinations are designed to test the knowledge, skills and abilities essential to the safe and effective practice of nursing at the entry-level. PLEASE NOTE: The NCLEX is NOT about memorization but rather one must understand the concept behind critical thinking. As of 2010, the NCLEX is focusing a lot on how to delegate and prioritize as well as infection control.

NCLEX examinations are provided in a computerized adaptive testing (CAT) format and are presently administered by Pearson VUE in their network of Pearson Professional Centers (PPC).

What is the difference between NCLEX-PN and NCLEX-RN?

On the NCLEX-RN nursing students are required to concentrate for a longer period of time due to the higher number of questions. If the computer doesn’t turn off at the minimum number of questions, continue to answer each question in a reasonable amount of time. Do not begin to rush through the questions, because you may have to answer the maximum number of questions on the exam. Anticipate going the distance and concentrating on each question.

Obviously, some of the questions related to delegation of responsibility are different between these exams. Registered nurses will be asked to assign tasks to practical nurses and nursing assistants while prioritizing their patients. Likewise practical nurses will be asked questions that require assigning tasks to nursing assistants and requesting more assistance from registered nurses.

Many of the study guides on the market have questions that help understand the delegation of responsibility task with nursing.

Tips for NCLEX

1. READ, READ, READ. a broader knowledge in nursing concepts, content areas and DRUGS makes you prepared to take on questions on clinical assessment, interventions and procedures. Do not focus on how much info you can absorb but just try to understand and apply the knowledge you learned in the actual clinical setup. the big question is...ARE YOU COMPETENT, SAFE and EFFECTIVE TO PRACTICE NURSING IN THE US? (i read Saunders 3rd Ed. twice, the Davis Reviewer on Drugs, part of Mosby's and the Kaplan Strategies for Test taking at least 2x too) Also, take time to study the Herbal Drugs--saw palmetto, black cohosh, st.johns wort, hawthorne, gingko biloba etc. are frequently asked.
2. SIMULATE THE NCLEX EXAM. Take as much Practice Tests in your computer. Take time to answer the questions. I take a 100 item exam in the morning, another 100 in the afternoon and another 100 just before going to sleep.
3. LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES. Take time to check on the rationales of the mistakes you have made. It is better to make mistakes now and learn from it rather than on the actual exam.
4. DEVELOP,MASTER and APPLY TEST TAKING STRATEGIES. In the exam, you don't look for the answer right away. You need to eliminate to get to the right answer. Follow a criteria in eliminating choices given. Make use of the Maslow's Heirarchy, ABC, ADPIE, Safety... Never rely on a hunch---try to eliminate.
5. EXERCISE, SLEEP and EAT WELL. You don't want to be sick on the week of your exam.
6. SPEND ENOUGH TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY or FRIENDS---you also don't want to be crying in the day of the exam because you miss them.
7. SECURE YOUR ATT, ATB (for Saipan), PLANE TICKETS, HOTEL and MONEY as early as possible. If you attend to it later, these things will cause severe anxiety on your part--and you never would want that..believe me, i got my ATB the day i'm leaving for Saipan.
8. ALERT! ALERT! Make sure that you signed your Passport. An examinee was not admitted at Pearsonvue on his exam day because he forgot to sign his passport.
9. BE CONFIDENT, NEVER DOUBT YOURSELF and BELIEVE YOU CAN MAKE IT. Our attitude defines us when we face adversities.