NCLEX "easy" question??

Nurses General Nursing

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What the heck is an "easy" question on the NCLEX? According to the NCLEX writers, if you pass 50% of only the "easy" questions, you fail after 75 questions. If you pass 50% of the "harder" questions, you pass. If you are close to the passing score, the computer keeps asking questions until it clearly knows if you can only answer easy or difficult questions.

I just took the NCLEX. To me, it was a very difficult test. I have never seen these questions before, and I own 3 prep books for the NCLEX. Some of the questions were impossibly difficult (ex. name a single side effect for one of the injectible antipsychotic drugs used to treat schizophrenia -- it was a drug I've never heard before, in classes, clinicals, or working on a psych unit). But then I would get easier questions (basic A, B, C's).

I also got 5 or 6 questions of the new type, ie. fill-in-the-blanks, and "select all of the above correct answers" (with no partial credit given).

To me, this was a hard test. But maybe I'm just stupid? The computer shut off after 75 questions -- either I answered hard questions correctly (by guessing!), or I failed miserably & found the "easy" questions to be difficult.

Can you tell I'm worried/stressed?? I wish I knew how NCLEX defines "easy"....

Good luck to all of you who are taking the NCLEX! I'm in my last quarter of school and I'm getting nervous already...

Yikes!!!!!!!! NCLEX is a monster. All my fellow classmates thought they failed (me included). I had no idea what some of those questions meant. But we all passed.

Let us know how you did. I am so excited for you. All that hard work in nursing school is going to pay off for you now.

Specializes in IMCU/Telemetry.

I haven't met anyone who didn't think they failed, and most of the people I know passed. It is one of the hardest experences you willhave, and you did it. You finished. I'll bet you did fine. Good luck, and do let us know how you got on. :)

Everyone on this bulletin board is awesome! Thank you so much for the support.

I realize that most people leave the test thinking that they failed, but it is still AGONY. Yesterday (after the test) I wasted so much time going over some of the questions in my head, trying to find the right answers in my books -- how silly, for the test is now over and the results are fixed! Now I have FOUR WEEKS to wait for results -- even though the computer knows right away if I've passed or failed, the NC Board of Nursing has to mail the results to our homes (we're prohibited from viewing the results on-line).

I feel so much pressure because my mom is a nurse, and I want her to be proud of me. Additionally, I need a job and want to start my career! And, I don't ever want to go through this NCLEX thing again. The test seems so unfair and out in left field, and I don't really understand how 75 questions can really gauge my capability or "safety" as a nurse! In fact, I wish that it had been a much longer, in-depth test!

OK, I'll stop griping now. Thanks for letting me unleash this tirade. Good luck to all the other grads who took this stupid exam -- we're in this together! We'll all make it, either sooner or later...

:o

Hey Glow_Worm. I just took my boards TODAY! and I know exactly how you feel. I have always tested very well in school and I left feeling that I, for sure, answered about 5 right. I hope that critical thinking and common sense really kicked in today for me. Mine was also 75 questions. I used Kaplan, Saunders, and Mosby's and felt those were easy compared to these. I would also like to know what constitues an easy question. There were a few that were easier, but for the most part all were hard. Well good luck to you. Waiting sucks, doesn't it.

Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

Best of luck. I'm sure you did fine.

Me being another oldie 2 days/5 tests/waited 6 weeks (actually only 3 cause I was a summer graduate).

xantha31669 AND kimmicoobug...

let me know how you do!! I've been checking the board of nursing site for my new licensure number (*please show up, please show up, please, please god!*)...

let's all come back to this board and announce the results... good luck to you both! my fingers are crossed for us all.

Originally posted by glow_worm

Some of the questions were impossibly difficult (ex. name a single side effect for one of the injectible antipsychotic drugs used to treat schizophrenia -- it was a drug I've never heard before, in classes, clinicals, or working on a psych unit).

OMG, I got that question! I took the boards on 6/11, 5 days before my new grad nurse internship program began. I have always been a good tester and felt pretty comfortable & prepared going in.

I got a barrage of absurd questions, including that oddball pysch drug one (do you remember the name of the drug?). When the computer shut off at 75 questions (45 minutes), I sat in stunned silence. Left sick to my stomach, convinced I had failed. Started wondering how I'd break it to my father, an RN who passed the boards 3 years ago on his first try at 77 questions and has been so proud to have another daughter going through the ADN program he & my sister went through.

Happy to say I passed and just finished my fourth week orienting to my very first nursing job!

~*~*~*Happy thoughts and warm wishes to you!*~*~*~

I'll be coming back to check how you did!

I took my boards 3 days ago and feel more worried now than I did before I took the test. The machine shut off at 75 and for some reason when I was in the 60s I felt that it would. Some of the questions I got I felt were hard but then I would get about 2 after each hard question that were so easy. I felt I was up and down the whole time.

I also got some absolutely random questions that were never expected. One about Buddist Dying Rituals, the other was if someone was allergic to Sudafed which HERB (yes I said herb) would you not give them. The answer was Ma Huang-honestly I never learned this from studying, school, or Kaplan-I learned that from tv. I kept thinking-are there the "hard" questions? I was expecting stuff about lab values, acidosis, chest tubes-I maybe got one of each of these questions. The only other med question I got was about Epogen (not dig, anticonvulsants, or bronchodilators).

I don't know what to think.

Soon2bnp,

They must like the dying ritual thing because I got one about Jewish Orthodox dying issues and the one thing I could remember was not one of the answers!!

Lori

Hey glow_worm,

did you call the number that the NCBON website says has more recent updates? I took my test on a Tuesday(in June) and by Friday was able to call the number and they at least could tell you whether you passed. you had to have a push button phone to key in your SSN and stuff. Not your new license number, but if they could find your name, you were good to go. Try that, maybe.

Sorry, my location says Ohio, now--but I DID take the NCLEX in NC!

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