CRNE to NCLEX

Soupysoup · Feb 25, 2013

This has been blown out of proportion. We will still have the CRNE. The only difference is that we will be taking the exam on computers rather than writing it, which will be waaay better. I'm not sure why people are spreading this rumor, but they did the same thing at my school. Go to CARNA and look it up.

dishes, BSN, RN · Feb 25, 2013

CASN website has a powerpoint that discusses the differences between the exams and transitioning from CRNE to NCLEX RN

CNO website has information on the jurisprudence exam

loriangel14, RN · Feb 25, 2013

They are not switching to the NCLEX. It will be similar to the NCEX in that it will be done on a computer and it will be offered more than 3 times a year. It will still be the CRNE.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Feb 25, 2013

Here is the CASN powerpoint http://www.casn.ca/vm/newvisual/attachments/856/Media/2012Nov7NCLEXSessionatCouncilPBforcirculation.pdf

donk · Feb 25, 2013

Thanks for the info. One of our course instructors was telling us this and a bunch of students in my class found it very confusing. I'll pass along all this info :)

steven007, BSN, MSN · Feb 28, 2013

It is my understanding, after talking with people involved in writing the CRNE and with nursing scholars in Ontario, that indeed we are shifting to the NCLEX. It is not just "let's do the CRNE on Computers", the company that does NCLEX has bought out the CRNE and technically owns it now. The CRNE cannot create a system like NCLEX over night and needs to have a validated and reliable system to use for their examination, which is the NCLEX. Therefore, the exam that is going to be written is indeed an NCLEX exam.

To help mitigate differences in nursing practice between Canada and the USA, a board of representatives are going through the NCLEX question bank and are allowed to block out a certain amount of questions that are specific to the U.S., such as nursing standards and questions that contain American specific medications. However, their is a cap on the number of questions that can be blocked, therefore students writing this exam must be familiar with the different units of measurement (like mg/dL instead of mmol or meql/L).

And the shift to the NCLEX is evident for people who just wrote their CRNE. The CRNE has dramatically changed from community and health promotion based to medical model based (which is in congruence with the NCLEX).

dishes, BSN, RN · Feb 28, 2013

I agree with most of what you wrote Steven, with a couple of exceptions, the company (NCSBN) that does NCLEX did not buy out the company that does the CRNE (ASI). NCSBN out bid ASI in the college of nurses request for proposals. The CRNE questions are protected by copyright, therefore cannot be used in the NCLEX. At the end of 2014, the CRNE questions will no longer be used, see history on the background on the CRNE History | CNA – AIIC

I am not sure that the question bank has changed from community and health promotion to medical model based questions, as the questions are selected randomly and I don't see why they would change the CRNE at this point. Do you have a reference?

steven007, BSN, MSN · Feb 28, 2013

No, unforunately I do not. It is just my opinion drawn from anecdotes of previous test writers, current test writers (I just wrote on the 6th) and individuals involved in creating test bank questions. But, from my perspective, the CRNE was nothing like other people had described it in the past and in fact asked questions about what physicians would do (interms of diagnosis, prescriptions and diagnostic workups) and what nurse practitioners would say. That seems very medical model to me, but I may be completely missing the boat.

Oh and I see a perfect reason why they would change the test bank questions! How can they not? The NCLEX is extremely med model; however, nursing schools are adopting more of a community health promotion look on health, which is insufficient if the graduates are to start writing the NCLEX. They need to establish where the current educaiton needs reform and have already started telling schools (my program is one of them) that they need to reshape their curriculum.

donk · Mar 1, 2013

So my best bet is to study from both prep guides and cover my ass either way Lol!!

dishes, BSN, RN · Mar 1, 2013

I think (but I don't know) that it is more likely that the questions were distributed according to the CRNE's exam blue print. The educators don't have the authority to change the skew of the test bank questions. The students who are writing the CRNE this year should be tested under the curriculum in which they were taught. If the educators need to know how to adjust the curriculum to meet the needs of future NCLEX exam writers, they need to conduct research in which volunteers are recruited to write mock NCLEX exams, anything else would be unethical.

donk · Mar 1, 2013

I don't graduate till 2016 so it's a preemptive question. I've just heard that using the prep guides from the beginning helps you to understand the application and critical thinking method of testing during the program as well. It will be interesting to see if our program undergoes changes during my time there.