Does the NCLEX target your weaknesses

[NurseBeefcake]

Hello all, I'm an LVN who took the NCLEX-PN last year and plan to take the NCLEX-RN in February of 2007. I know on the paperwork to get my ATT I will acknowledge that I've taken the NCLEX before. So my question is will the computer remember who I am and target my weak points or will it be as if I just sat down for the first time and random questions are given.

[RNKay31]

Hello all, I'm an LVN who took the NCLEX-PN last year and plan to take the NCLEX-RN in February of 2007. I know on the paperwork to get my ATT I will acknowledge that I've taken the NCLEX before. So my question is will the computer remember who I am and target my weak points or will it be as if I just sat down for the first time and random questions are given.

That is not how the nclex works, the RN and LVN test are different, and IMHO, I do not think that would be a big deal.

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

You may get questions that seem very similar to one another, but there are many reasons for this besides the computer targeting your weaknesses. For one, some of the questions are simply being pretested for future use and do not count in the scoring. The computer would not 'remember' you from your PN exam.

What the NCLEX will do is adjust the difficulty level of the questions to keep you around 50%. If you start getting more right, the questions tend to get harder. If you're getting less right, the questions tend to get easier. What determines pass/fail is the level of difficulty where you're hitting around the 50% mark. That's why the exam feels so frustrating for so many.

See the 2006 Candidate Bulletin at www.ncsbn.org. That document has a lot of information on how the NCLEX works, including a section that addresses repeat/similar questions.

[Nursing28]

Hi Eric......If I meet above 50 % the level of difficulty then I would pass? Nursebeefcake, make sure that if they throw you a question on peds for example, make sure you answer it right or they will keep giving it to you. That is what happen to me. I kept getting peds and peds which they had found my weakness and of course I failed

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

Hi Eric......If I meet above 50 % the level of difficulty then I would pass?

No. If you start getting above 50%, the questions will get harder. If you are consistently able to maintain around 50% with questions that are a high level of difficulty, then you will pass. On the NCLEX, the level of difficulty is what determines pass/fail, not the percentage (since everyone gets around the same percentage). Make sure you read the candidate bulletin.