What is the NCLEX exam?
The National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) is an examination for the licensing of nurses in the United States and Canada. There are two versions of the exam: the NCLEX-RN and the NCLEX-PN. NCLEX examinations are developed and owned by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. These examinations are used by the Boards of Nursing and/or Regulatory Bodies to test entry-level nursing competence of candidates for licensure/registration as Registered Nurses and as Licensed Practical Nurses. In Canada only the NCLEX-RN is offered. Practical nurses in Canada must complete the Canadian Practical Nurse Registration Examination.
The NCLEX-RN is a 6-hour computer-adaptive exam. Questions are primarily multiple-choice with four possible answer choices, however there are also alternate question types. Alternate question types include multiple-response, fill-in-the-blank, hot spots, charts, drag-and-drop, audios, and graphics. All questions involve integrated nursing content. Candidates will complete anywhere between 75 and 265 questions. There is no set number required to pass the exam, rather the NCLEX is graded by comparing the responses to a pre-established standard. Those individuals who meet or exceed the standard pass the exam, those who do not meet the pre-established standard fail the exam and must wait 45 days before attempting the NCLEX again.
The content of the NCLEX-RN Test Plan is organized into four major Client Needs categories. Two of the four categories are divided into subcategories:
Safe and Effective Care Environment (Management of Care, Safety and Infection Control)
Health Promotion and Maintenance
Psychosocial Integrity
Physiological Integrity (Basic Care and Comfort, Pharmacological and Parenteral Therapies, Reduction of Risk Potential, Physiological Adaptation)
History of the NCLEX
In January 2015, the NCLEX-RN replaced the Canadian Registered Nurses Exam (CRNE), a national, entry-level exam required for registration and licensure of nurses. The last administration of the CRNE, was October 1, 2014. The exam specifications and passing standards are the same for all NCLEX exams and international test centers are required to meet the same security and exam administration requirements as domestic test centers.
Changes to the exam content are made every three years, following an analysis of data provided by over 12,000 recently licensed nurses about different nursing activities. The most recent changed to the exam occurred in 2013, with the next review scheduled to begin March 31, 2016.
Who needs to take the NCLEX?
The NCLEX exam was created for nursing school graduates who intend to obtain a nursing license and begin practicing in Canada or the United States. NCLEX examinations are designed to test the knowledge, skills and abilities essential for the safe and effective practice of nursing at the entry-level.
All Canadian provinces other than Quebec require the NCLEX examination for registered nurses. All provinces except Quebec now recognize all passing NCLEX-RN results back to 1982. If a student has already passed the NCLEX-RN, he/she is not required to take the exam again.
Nurses can take one of the two NCLEX exams after the graduation. The type of the exam depends on the level of education that a nurse has completed. Practical nurses (PN) generally complete a two-year practical nursing diploma at an accredited college; Registered nurses (RN) complete a four-year baccalaureate degree in nursing from a Canadian university or its international equivalent.
NCLEX Exam offering in Canada and the United Stated
The NCLEX is administered by Pearson Vue. Exams in Person Professional centers are held almost every day across Canada and US. Each location’s schedule is highly flexible and depends on the amount of students who register for the exam. Students receive information about their exam day/time/location only upon getting an approval to write the exam from Pearson.
For more information on the NCLEX exam, visit the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.
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