Does the NCLEX have trick questions like in nursing school exams?

[LotusPetals82, ADN, CNA, RN]

My classmates and I want to know, as we have heard rumors that it does not. But does the actual NCLEX have all the trick questions that nursing school exams do? Like in ATI, Wolters-Kluewer products, Cengage, etc? The questions can be rather unfair at times (Yes, I KNOW that is how the questions work, but really, sometimes they are...). So we are wondering, is it as bad?

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

If your question is "Are ATI questions similar to questions on NCLEX?" The answer is yes. NCLEX requires you to use knowledge from several different areas to answer the question. For example, "Your patient has a history of CHF and is complaining of heart palpitations, muscle weakness, tingling in their fingers." You are given a list of meds and their lab results. What is causing their symptoms? First you have to know what CHF is and what medications are used to treat it. Next you need to know the side effects of the meds and how they can effect your lab results. Then, you need to know the normal ranges of labs. Finally, you need to know what happens when a certain lab is either too low or too high. So, to get the answer you need to know that diuretics are used to treat CHF. Some diuretics can cause low Potassium. Is your patient on one of those? What are the symptoms of low Potassium? What is the normal range of Potassium and is their Potassium low?

NCLEX questions are not tricky, you need to retain and apply all of the information you learned in school to answer the questions correctly.

[LotusPetals82, ADN, CNA, RN]

I do understand how it works. However, what I meant was sometimes the wording seems tricky, and ATI seems to be worse about it than others. My question is more like "Are the questions worded clearly, so that one can understand exactly what is being asked of them?"

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

If you slow down and read each question carefully and make sure you know what the question is asking before you select an answer, then you will be fine. I've caught myself doing it with practice questions from a certification exam- read slowly, pick up on key words. That solves half of the issue of thinking there are "trick questions" very easily.

[imhorsemackerel, LPN]

I can't speak for the RN exam, but with the PN exam, it wasn't as tricky as my exams were. I think the SATA may trick people because they might not select an option that's part of the answer. For me my problem was with SATA and choosing which statements were correct or incorrect. Whenever I'd get these questions on ATI or UWorld, I'd usually get them wrong because I would be thinking the opposite of what the question is asking. The wording is clear though. ATI was a bit of a mess with the misspellings and the convoluted questions, but I didn't have that problem with the NCLEX.