Easy Questions vs. Hard Questions?

It's technically possible to write a SATA question at any level. NCLEX questions and their difficulty levels are based off of Bloom's Taxonomy. Easier questions assess your ability to recognize, remember, and understand information. Tougher questions ask you to do things like apply or analyze information. Now I'm going to say some things that deviate from traditional nursing student (and instructor) lore:

1. Acknowledge that there is a difference between absolute difficulty and how complex a question is cognitively. If I ask you to recite the name of every known endocrine disorder, that is a difficult task that almost nobody will realistically be able to do. But it isn't a cognitively complex task. You're fundamentally being asked to recite a memorized list. 

2. Think about the SATA questions you've seen through nursing school and on practice exams. Ever notice how many of them are asking you to remember or recognize things like signs and symptoms for a known condition or adverse effects for a known drug? The questions might be difficult, a lot of people might miss them, but it's still probably a recall/recognition level question. 

3. Passing level SATA questions are going to be ones that ask you to do higher order thinking. A good example might be asking you which of the following clients are appropriate for a nurse who is floating from X unit. There isn't a memorized list to parrot off for that. Instead, you've got to think about how stable the clients are, who needs specialized care that the float nurse isn't going to be familiar with, and which clients need care that a nurse from that unit is well practiced at. 

Point is, a SATA question is just a question format. Loads of them are written at a low level, and getting lots of them doesn't mean you're doing good. Beyond that, 15 of your first 75 items are going to be pilot questions anyway. What if all of those were SATA? Or none of them. How would you even know? 

How would you be able to differentiate whether you get an easy or hard question on the NCLEX? I understand you can't post questions but what types of questions, or like "made up examples" are easy and hard?

Does SATA/priority questions indicate a more higher level questions since it requires more critical thinking? Or is that a myth?

All question types have higher and lower cognitive levels based upon Bloom's Taxonomy. There are high multiple choice and dosage calculation and there are low SATA and alternate format.

I was told in nursing school all about the if it's just a knowledge question then it's low... if it's a priority or delegation then it's high.

Here's the thing, my NCLEX turned off at 75 questions an I felt like all of my questions were knowledge with just one or two priority. I had absolutely no delegation questions.

About half my questions were SATA, which doesn't mean a thing as to the levels... but they've always been a weak spot for me, so I was sure I was failing below the passing line because of them.

36 hours later my license was posted... since I a had the least amount of questions possible most of mine must have been above the passing level.

SO after that long explanation, I would say while your taking the NCLEX... theres no real way of knowing if the questions you are getting are above or below the passing line.

The level of difficulty of questions found on the NCLEX is based on Bloom's taxonomy.

Simple recall of facts, such as the mechanism of action for a med are softballs.

Ranking the order in which you perform a task require higher level thinking and are weighted heavier.

What you said has given me some ease. I took my NCLEX this morning and all I could think about is how much knowledge questions I've been getting. Just like you, I only had 4 prioritization I believe. It's reassuring to hear I still have a possibility to pass. I've been feeling sick to my stomach thinking I didn't because of how I thought my questions were not high level as I've heard from others. I know it's a controversial topic, but did you ever try the PVT after taking it? I have and I'm getting the good pop up so far but am still not convinced. I guess I have to wait and see

Did you pass?

I left my NCLEX thinking "were those questions hard because I was doing well, or were they actually easy questions and I'm just an idiot".

Thankfully I passed, but honestly while you're in the moment I don't think it's possible to really know.

I just finished taking my RN NCLEX today. I did the PVT and got the red ring of death. I have done hours of research and am getting conflicting results about the validity of the PVT. my test is a blur but, what I do remember is I got a lot of case study format questions. After reading some of the post on here I feel like it was a good thing but, you only really know when you get your results. I wasn't going to check the unofficial rapid results. Who am I kidding? I was probably always gonna check the rapid response. If I didn't pass the exam I have already paid for it doing the PVT. If I did pass then I lost $200 really I won't care at that point. I think the computer shut off at 83 and I know I got the last question correct. Was this mean I have no idea. Was that last question a difficult question that I knew and got right or, was it an easy question that I got right. It was a medication administration question. Anticoagulant injection question, but it was also from the prospective of me monitoring another nurse and deciding what they needed further education on if they did this. I would consider that a high level question. Could I hear what your opinion is to who ever reads this. Also, now that I think about it I got a lot of delegation questions and case studies on what I thought the diagnosis or issue could be. My test was hard. My exam required me to do a lot of critical thinking. That has to be a good thing. I am glad I started to write on this forum. I now feel I can get some sleep. Also, pass or fail I will be ready for whatever happens next.