First Question (for those who took the NCLEX already)

[RN59217]

Kaplan says that the first question that you get is right on passing level. So I am wondering what you all thought of the first question you got.

Obviously we can't post what the question was. Mine was so basic though that if you didn't know the answer, you could in fact kill your patient.

I know for a fact that I got that question correct. I could have answered it without the multiple choice.

What did you all think of your first question?

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

I don't remember my first licensure exam question but I will always remember my first certification examination. A friend and I studied for months; we were the first ones to take such an exam in our field in our hospital, and we really didn't want to embarrass ourselves. We were in critical care in a pretty excellent hospital and had worked there for a few years, so we were pretty experienced, but still drove to the testing center with great cases of nerves.

So the first question in my book was, "What is the purpose of peritoneal dialysis?" I put down my pencil and looked around and asked myself, "Am I in the right room?" After seeing that softball lobbed, it was less scary.

I think as a general rule many such exams start you off gently to ease your mind.

[RNEshun]

Mine was a select all that apply, the first five were in a row

[John24]

I had a ton of SATA to start out as well...probably half of the first 30 were.

[krisiepoo]

Mine was SATA too... I had so freaking many of those. My heart dropped and I wanted to cry and I thought, holy crap, I better stop at 75 with all these hard ones

[RN59217]

I started getting the SATA's later. My first handful were the standard multiple choice. By the end I had tons of SATA's. I should have kept tally but I didn't.

Rumor has it that the more SATA's you have, the better you're doing. SATA's by default are difficult to get correct since it's all or nothing. It's just mathematically not probable to get it correct by sheer guessing. You have to know your content in order to keep getting them right.

So you should feel good about getting a lot of SATA's. It's probably an indication that you're passing since the questions get harder the more that you answer them correctly.