Well, I went and took it. I felt like I was just procrastinating and should just get it over with. Every practice test i took i scored with a 99% probability(HESI, MOSBY's CAT and all I actually used was saunders for studying). I have no idea if I passed but of course I feel I failed while I'm waiting for results. CA--forever....
Shut off at 75--no new format, no select all, no math, nada.
However, here's what i wanted to say about the test. It was NOTHING like any of the books, exams, etc. that supposedly prepare you for it. I had no content questions(where was cardiac, renal, psych, specific diseases, anything??) none that were at all like Saunders type. I guess you would categorize them as priority but even now we know that's not always such a good thing.
Anyway, I'm not gonna lose it until i actually find out but i just wanted to give a heads up to those still preparing. My test looked NOTHING like any of the review prep I have ever seen. I perused a lot of them but only used Saunders to study and then took the CAT to see where I stood. I think all of these "predictors" really don't matter unless you have the same kinds of questions.
Well, I can't disagree with you about Saunders as that is the only CD i actually bought until I did the Mosby's CAT at the last second. It obviously, in retrospect, did prepare me quite well.
I was saying that priority didn't seem to be always higher level as recently there have been at least two people on here who supposedly had a lot and did not pass. My test, after about the first three, seemed to be all "first, initially, immediately, etc.". I guess that is a good sign after all.
Again I will say, though, I thought I had wandered into the wrong Q bank when i was going through my questions.
Priority questions are still considered the higher level questions.
Whether or not someone gets them right is another story.
But if you get mostly math type questions and very few priority questions, then your chances of passing are quite slim. It means that you have not made it to the next level.
Glad that you passed and that is what matters. What you learned form using Saunder's actually prepared you for the NCLEX exam, it let you make decisions based on the reasoning that you learned while reviewing the rationales with the CD.
Depends on the questions that you received on your exam. Some have been quite similar to those in the Saunder's book. The reason that I push the Saunder's book is that their rationales are so good. Can't say that about the others.
Priority questions are considered by the Board, that wrote and approved the exam, to be a higher level of question. Not my decision.
Unfortunately, the math and drug questions are considered a lower priority as you were already tested repeatedly on those in school.
The exam is interested in what you would do in a certain situation. They feel (the Board) that you have already been tested on this information and should already know the basics, but want to know how you would do in a certain situation.
I do not write questions for the exam, nor decide what is considered priority and what is not. I just know what has worked for my students in the past, and English wasn't even their primary language.
Not sure what you mean by priority questions have not been found to be of a higher level.
I would just like to clarify one thing in your post. No one "board" creates the NCLEX exams or makes decisions on them. The exams are developed through NCSBN, with input from a variety of sources, including the member boards of the National Council.
Priority questions are still considered the higher level questions.
Whether or not someone gets them right is another story.
But if you get mostly math type questions and very few priority questions, then your chances of passing are quite slim. It means that you have not made it to the next level.
Glad that you passed and that is what matters. What you learned form using Saunder's actually prepared you for the NCLEX exam, it let you make decisions based on the reasoning that you learned while reviewing the rationales with the CD.
The level of the questions depends on the cognitive level at which they are written. Most of the NCLEX questions are at the analysis level or higher. Depending on how the math questions are written, they too can be a higher level. The difficulty of a question on the NCLEX also depends on its psychometric properties.
I would just like to clarify one thing in your post. No one "board" creates the NCLEX exams or makes decisions on them. The exams are developed through NCSBN, with input from a variety of sources, including the member boards of the National Council.
The Board that I always refer to is the NCSBN, not individual boards of nursing. They usually do not have much in the way of input with the exam. In the old days they did, but not now. There are specific wiriters that are hired by the NCSBN to write the exam.
The level of the questions depends on the cognitive level at which they are written. Most of the NCLEX questions are at the analysis level or higher. Depending on how the math questions are written, they too can be a higher level. The difficulty of a question on the NCLEX also depends on its psychometric properties.
Math questions in the past have not been considered a higher priority as they have been covered so thoroughly in school. They expect that you can do calculations without any problems if you have made it as far as taking the exam. The exam is not geared to test on things directly that you have have had in school but what you would do in trying to care for a patient that doesn't fit in the box.
The Board that I always refer to is the NCSBN, not individual boards of nursing. They usually do not have much in the way of input with the exam. In the old days they did, but not now. There are specific wiriters that are hired by the NCSBN to write the exam.
And yes, it is a national exam.
That is actually not correct. NCSBN is made up of member boards of nursing from all of the 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico, the Mariana Islands, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. Altogether there are 61 member boards. Representatives make ALL of the decisions regarding EVERYTHING to do with the NCLEX exams. This is done through board of directors meetings and various committees made up of VOLUNTEERS from the member boards. NCSBN does NOT hire anyone to write the exam. Volunteers are selected to come for item writing and item review panels. These volunteers have to be approved by their respective boards of nursing and by a special committee. Paying some of these volunteers would be a conflict of interest for some of the boards of nursing. If anyone is interested in being on such a panel, the first thing to do is to go the the NCSBN website (http://www.ncsbn.org) and click on the left hand side of the screen where it says item development to fill out an online application. The only people that are hired by NCSBN are the staff that facilitate the whole process and Pearson Vue, who is the test vendor. I am very familiar with the whole process because I fall into one of these categories of development involvement.
Math questions in the past have not been considered a higher priority as they have been covered so thoroughly in school. They expect that you can do calculations without any problems if you have made it as far as taking the exam. The exam is not geared to test on things directly that you have have had in school but what you would do in trying to care for a patient that doesn't fit in the box.
The exam is geared toward testing competence at an entry level. The level of difficulty has to do with the cognitive level and how candidates perform on the question. That is part of the pretest process. What may be a simple calculation question that you and I think all new grads should be able to answer, may test out as being very difficult. My point is that there is no black and white answer as to what constitutes hard questions on the NCLEX exams.
Now see...it was just the opposite for me. Maybe you're a good test taker, but I stink at taking tests and in nursing school would ALWAYS get hung up on the distracters in the questions. My teachers would shake their fingers and heads at me. I used NCLEX guides and flash cards to help me learn how to answer the questions. I don't think these study guides are exactly like the NCLEX but prepare you how to think like the NCLEX to help you take the test. I felt that they were very helpful. I still had 170 questions tho.
All my friends that had 75 questions passed it.
I had a lot of questions about IDDM. My weakness. I had a few select all that apply one. No point and clicks and no math questions...thank goodness!
I graduate in December 2005 and I prefer not to take an NCLEX review course, just because I feel I study better independently. For our one class our instructor had us buy the Saunders review with CD included. Is there any other study materials that may help me. Any advise would be great.
Miss Mab
414 Posts
Thanks Suzanne.
Well, I can't disagree with you about Saunders as that is the only CD i actually bought until I did the Mosby's CAT at the last second. It obviously, in retrospect, did prepare me quite well.
I was saying that priority didn't seem to be always higher level as recently there have been at least two people on here who supposedly had a lot and did not pass. My test, after about the first three, seemed to be all "first, initially, immediately, etc.". I guess that is a good sign after all.
Again I will say, though, I thought I had wandered into the wrong Q bank when i was going through my questions.
Thanks again for the congrats:))