The NCLEX-PN and NCLEX-RN exams are required to become a licensed nurse in the US. Administered by Pearson VUE, the computer-based test varies in length and difficulty based on the student’s answers. Results are emailed by the NCSBN, with information on specific areas of success or failure.
The National Board Licensing Exams – known as NCLEX-PN for Practical Nurses and NCLEX-RN for Registered Nurses – are the nursing exams required to become a licensed nurse in the US. Casually known as boards of nursing, these tests are administered by the National Board of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) through a subsidiary company, Pearson VUE, which owns, updates, and administers the special computerized tests. After a nurse sits for her nursing boards at a Pearson VUE testing site, she receives her NCLEX results via email from the NCSBN. An initial interpretation of the NCLEX results is not difficult as the test taker is informed in bold in the first sentence of the two-page letter whether or not they passed the exam. Further interpretation of the test taker’s NCLEX results may be accomplished with additional information included by the NCSBN, provided the student understands the special nature of the NCLEX test.
Initially, a student may interpret the NCLEX results as passing or failing as indicated in the first sentence of the test results letter. The computer-based NCLEX exam is unique to all test takers, with different questions asked of different students. The length of the test – ranging from a minimum of 75 questions to a maximum of 265 – even varies according to each student and their answers. According to Pearson VUE, a student is asked a question that she has a 50% chance of answering correctly. If she answers the question correctly, the computer responds with a more difficult question; if an incorrect answer is given, the computer will ask the student an easier question.
After the minimum of 75 exam questions, the computer will terminate the test if the student has passed or clearly failed the passing pattern. If more questions are needed to determine if the student passed the test, the computer will continue asking questions up to a maximum of 265. The second paragraph of the NCLEX results letter gives the exact number of questions the student was asked, again in a font. bold. The fewer the number of questions, the more clearly – and quickly – a student clearly demonstrates a score lower or higher than the passing standard.
The NCLEX results letter also contains information about a student’s success or failure in different areas of the test. Test categories are listed on the second page, with student scores reported below, close to, or above the passing standard. If a student fails their advice, this area can help identify specific study issues to address before nursing advice resumes.
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