Certification compared to NCLEX ?

[DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN]

I am registered to take the Med/Surg certification test in March 2005. When I pass I will be the only nurse in my hospital who is certified. For me it is a personal goal. I know alot of you are certified. I was wondering how the test compares to NCLEX. It is computerized? How many questions? All multiple choice? I do know it takes like 6 weeks to get the results. I can handle that. That's for any help you can give me.

[Karen]

Wow, the only nurse in the hospital that is certified that is great and you should get a raise. NCLEX is computer adaptive testing which means that each question answered determines the difficulty level and content of the next question. It also is testing minimal competence to practice nursing whereas certification indicates superior knowledge and experience in an area. Certification tests may be computer based but are given that way as a convenience. They are the same as taking a paper test just taking it on the computer. I was certified in informatics and I found the content outline in the candidate book and sample questions to be a good indicator of the content and difficulty of the test. I also bought the standards of practice. This was an AACN test. Definately go for it!