Does NCLEX really determine if your effective Nurse???

kerybery83 · Sep 11, 2008

I would say I AGREE with you 100% :) Thats totally how I feel....I just took the boards and I guessed on almost all my answers. Im from Cali so I have the waiting game to play. If I pass I seriously feel it was luck.

Algernon · Sep 23, 2008

Yeah. I can't say I have too much admiration/faith regarding the predictive nature of the NCLEX and future RN competency.

suzanne4, RN · Sep 23, 2008

The exam is very different from anything that you saw in class. Those that got the A's in class usually excelled at memorizing material/information. The exam is not interested in what you learned already since you were tested on it, but how you are going to apply it to what will be happening when you start to work at your first job. Nothing more than that.

Questions are assigned to you based on how you answered the previous questions, that is why it is called a CAT exam.

The exam is not the end-all in determining if one will make it as a nurse, it is just a judge of what they will do in a certain situation. This is all that the exam is looking for. It is not an issue if one thinks that it is appropriate or not, but the fact is that all states in the US use it and one must pass if they wish to work as an RN in the US. Or you can look at it from the other way, and we can go back to when each state had their own licensing exam and it was 1000 questions and took two days to complete, it was only given two times per year and you had to more than likely take an exam if you wished to move to a new state unless your state's exam was accepted by all if your numerical score was high enough. You also had to wait several months to get your results, and if you missed a section, then you waited another few months to retake that part of the exam.

Do not think that this would be something that I would want back in place of the old exams. ...... just something to think about.

Algernon · Sep 25, 2008

The exam is very different from anything that you saw in class. Those that got the A's in class usually excelled at memorizing material/information. The exam is not interested in what you learned already since you were tested on it, but how you are going to apply it to what will be happening when you start to work at your first job. Nothing more than that.
Questions are assigned to you based on how you answered the previous questions, that is why it is called a CAT exam.
The exam is not the end-all in determining if one will make it as a nurse, it is just a judge of what they will do in a certain situation. This is all that the exam is looking for. It is not an issue if one thinks that it is appropriate or not, but the fact is that all states in the US use it and one must pass if they wish to work as an RN in the US. Or you can look at it from the other way, and we can go back to when each state had their own licensing exam and it was 1000 questions and took two days to complete, it was only given two times per year and you had to more than likely take an exam if you wished to move to a new state unless your state's exam was accepted by all if your numerical score was high enough. You also had to wait several months to get your results, and if you missed a section, then you waited another few months to retake that part of the exam.
Do not think that this would be something that I would want back in place of the old exams. ...... just something to think about.

I don't know what others experience in nursing school, but my exams were typically not knowledge-based as much as common-sense and critical-thinking style questions. In other words, I found I could pass almost all the exams in school without studying. I did, in fact, ace most exams without studying. Comically, I actually learned things during my exams (simply eliminating the three answers that did not belong and then "learning" from the remaining answer...I'm pretty sure I had the same experience on the NCLEX, whether I passed or not).

I understand the NCLEX is designed to evaluate how an RN would respond in a certain situation, but I don't think it's a very realistic exam. Despite its intention, I feel it could be a lot better at predicting an RN's ability to think safely and effectively. But I'll leave that to much smarter/wiser people and I won't much care. Life is full of such hoops that fall far short of perfect in order to systemically serve the masses and satisfy so many different controlling/governing interests.

While I'm grateful the exam is not as it used to be, I certainly don't think the fact that it used to be even more silly is cause to be satisfied with how it is. But I don't care more than to give an opinion, be done with the funny test, and move on. But I don't see it as an either or thing--as in, either it's how it is, or how it was. I think it is how it is, and I'm not crying about it, but I think it could be better.

And I agree with those out there who think it's a silly exam.

I just hope I don't have to study for it (ie. take it again). There are some areas I just have no interest in reviewing/studying at all.

That's interesting, though, about how the test used to be. Someone must have realized how crazy that was.

And to give my opinion, in response to the question that makes the title of this thread: No, it does not.