What is the NCLEX? And Why Blog About It?

The NCLEX stands for the National Council Licensure Examination and it is the only test that, once passed, allows the practice of a nurse. There are two versions of the NCLEX: PN, for associate-degree nurses (though this becomes rarer and rarer) and the RN, for bachelor-degree nurses. Either one is the most difficult test of any nurse's life.

The test ranges anywhere from 75 to 265 questions. The length is based on how well the student answers the questions. If she gets a question right, she will be presented with a similar or more difficult question. If she gets a question wrong, she will be presented with a similar or easier question. Somewhere in between is a pass-fail line that the student must stay above in order to pass the exam.

Important things to note about the NCLEX:

There is a total time limit of six hours in order to complete the exam.
Out of the first 75 questions, 15 of them do not count. These are considered trial questions that the exam writers are considering as real questions. They don't, however, affect your final score.
90% of the NCLEX questions are multiple choice; the rest are comprised of fill-in-the-blank, arrange in order, or click-and-identify questions.
The people who write NCLEX questions are volunteers with their Masters or Doctorate in nursing.
If the student runs out of time while taking the NCLEX, the computer will use the last 60 questions answered to determine a pass or fail grade.

Now why blog about it? Because it's a damn hard test! In more than a few ways, it is unfair, especially to students who have always had problems with tests.

In recent years, the NCLEX has clearly surpassed what it was meant to be- a fair evaluation of the "basic competencies" to become a nurse. (How could a new nurse know the intricacies of burn wound care? Or how to administer chemotherapy?)

This blog will identify aspects of the exam and studying for it that other guides may have forgotten. Enjoy the ride!

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Why You Need to Worry About the New NCLEX

The Next Generation NCLEX (NGN) project has been going on for quite a while now. It's sought to determine if its questions really test what new nurses need to know when they enter their practice for the first time. Currently, only 20% of employers felt that new nurses are empowered with the knowledge to make critical clinical decisions - and that can account for some of the high error rate of new nurses (50% in the first year of practice!), low confidence to advocate for patients, and high turnover in hospital staffing. In an effort to do better, NCLEX is considering some drastic changes, and I don't mean to be inflammatory here, but you should be afraid. You should be very afraid. As technology has improved and the price of it has fallen, the NCSBN has considered using it to greatly enhance questions. And I don't just mean new drag-and-drop scenarios. I'm talking playing through clinical scenarios like a video game where you need to make the right choices . Or els

Marijuana questions coming to the NCLEX?

It won't be long until questions related to marijuana begin to show up on the NCLEX. Okay, it might be a few years. But my guess is no more than 5 years before it's included in every nursing program. At NCLEX Simplified , we take a lot of pride in staying on top of the latest news. It's our job to make sure NCLEX Simplified is the best study guide for NCLEX that it can be- and that includes making sure all information in it is thorough and up-to-date. Within the past few months, there has been a lot of chatter at the NCSBN about marijuana and practice guidelines for nurses to follow. The NCSBN Homepage on February 27th, 2019 Marijuana has become legalized (at least for medical if not recreational use) in all but 17 states . That means that 33 of them are places you may encounter a patient who is mixing a form of THC with their usual medications! How do they interact with their blood pressure medications? How does THC affect their appetite or energy levels? Wo

Explain Like I'm Five: The Pavlik Harness

1 week old. First minute in the Pavlik harness. Above is my daughter Elena, pictured at the age of 1 week of age. She is wearing what is known as a Pavlik harness, a cruel-looking device that can be confusing to understand. I certainly never thought I would have to understand it beyond the basic nursing questions. I was more than a little wrong. Elena in her harness, meeting her great-grandmother for the first time. Note how her hips could fold in but that she could not stretch her legs out, nor kick to the side. As it turns out, Elena was doomed. She and I literally had all the risk factors. Let's count them together! 1. Firstborn child. Check! 2. Female child. Check! 3. Breech position. Check! 4. Low amniotic fluid. Check! 5. Family history of hip dysplasia. Check check check! When she was first born, I remember craning my neck around from where I was positioned on the table to look at her as she was taken to the isolette. The entire NICU team was

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