NCLEX- how many attempts is too many?

[dinah77]

Inspired by another thread I saw, just wondering what people's thoughts are: Should there be a limit on attempts? Why or why not? Personally I feel that if you can't pass it by the second time, some serious re-evaluations should be made

[Everline]

I feel kind of bad saying this but the NCLEX isn't THAT hard. Really, most of my nursing school exams were much harder. I think every one of my classmates has passed, most at 75 questions—and that includes the weakest students in the program and a few that never even studied, just took it as soon as we graduated. I can understand having trouble passing when English is your second language. But other than that, if you are failing three times, there is something very wrong. I want to say two times and you need to remediate, but somehow that feels harsh. But three failures should definitely be the point at which you are told to take a step back.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

As long as there are States that are happy to collect application fees for years on end.....as long as Pearson Vue can continue to charge $200 for every NCLEX taken, regardless of how many times any one person has done so....this debate is moot.

While I personally feel that there should be a maximum number of attempts prior to requiring mediation, no one at any BoN is asking my input

One thing that does frost my cookies is when someone fails the maximum number of attempts allowed to pass NCLEX and then seeks licensure from a State that has no such maximum. What, after all, is the point of having such regulations if there is no national standard enforced? Seems to me that no State should allow an applicant who has failed to meet the standards for licensure in his/her OWN State get one in another State. Florida seems to pop up more and more on this forum, as new grads from what must be an insane number of newly cropped-up nursing schools attempt to pass the exam. When they fail to do so, they just need to ask New York to allow them a NYS license, and BANG: more (and endless) NCLEX attempts! For those who are ignorant of what the exam actually is (national minimum competency exam, not "State Boards"), there is the belief that the exam is "easier" in this State or that one. They haven't recognized that the Infinite Monkey Theory applies....and after enough repeats at the exam, there is just the chance that you might pass one of these days.

It's true that somewhere around 90% of first-timers pass on the first attempt. And something like 50% of those who need to attempt it a second time pass then, which leaves a relatively small number of players in the Infinite Monkey Game. Still......it doesn't leave me with confidence that the person who passed after 6 or 7 attempts at the NCLEX is really, honestly ready to begin practice, just that they managed to play the odds long enough to pass the exam. Maybe that's not a fair assessment, but it certainly is there in my mind, and to be honest, the vast majority of multiple-attempt people I've seen posting on the forum don't give me any reason to believe them to be competent professionals with just a little bit of 'test anxiety' standing in their way. ESL issues, poorly educated native speakers, those who just should not have been able to complete nursing school being handed a certificate, YES. But paralyzing test anxiety is always the culprit? Sorry, just don't see that to be the case, IMHO.

[scaredsilly, BSN, RN]

You're assuming the nclex is "perfect", and your other comments about *any* complaint to the board of nursing triggering mandatory training show that you don't understand how things work in the real world.

There's a huge difference between a complaint being filed and a finding of actual wrongdoing. Employers often use threats of complaints against nurses to force nurses to continue unsafe practices (like taking more patients than a nurse can actually handle).

Nursing school prepares you for getting a license (and passing the nclex). The nurses you work with at your first job teach you how to actually be a nurse.

I actually said that I didn't think that the NCLEX is perfect, it is far from it, which is why I think that incidents in practice should be looked at.

My comment stated that if a facility found you unsafe enough to report to the BON, I guess I should have stated AND if the BON found the complaint to be legitimate. I do understand how it works, and I therefore understand that there is not currently a good reliable way to get unsafe nurses out of practice (at least until more education is provided), and in my opinion there really needs to be a way to do that!

[la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN]

I agree with the notion that it should be 2 attempts, remediation and then you have to go back to nursing school if you want to be approved to take it again.

NCLEX, though not the be-all, end-all of nursing knowledge, is testing people on the foundation they should have built by graduation. Not to mention that there are ample opportunities within programs to practice, practice, PRACTICE NCLEX questions. There is no reason someone should not have at a minimum a rudimentary strategy for dealing with NCLEX questions. I really do wonder what the deal is with people who need to do it more than twice, let alone 3, 4, 5 times, etc.

[PacoUSA, BSN, RN]

THIS.

I feel employers should do their due diligence in finding out how many attempts a potential employee took. I don't cotton to the idea of being treated like equals with someone who barely graduated school with a B- average and took six times to pass boards. Like someone else mentioned, every profession isn't for everybody.

Not your THIS, but ^^^ THIS!

It's time to separate the men from the boys, so to speak. Graduating with honors from a reputable nursing school along with passing the NCLEX 1st time out should count for something. Why should the C+ student that passed NCLEX on the 6th try get an equal chance at getting the same job? Where is the reward for working hard to be the best? Again, where are the standards?

And by reputable nursing schools, I vehemently exclude the for-profit train wrecks out there. Those places need to shut down like a rat-infested diner would.

Sent from my iPad using allnurses

[ComeTogether, LPN]

I agree. I think everyone should get a second chance but that's it. At the very least, a refresher course or something similar should be required after the second try.

I also think if people didn't have it in the back of their minds that there were "unlimited" attempts, more would make absolutely certain they passed the first time.

[elkpark]

... Letting pretty much anyone attend and graduate nursing school (predatory for-profit schools, I'm looking at you), the relatively low entrance requirements (I work with some awesome diploma and ADN grads, but reality is that everyone is requiring higher degrees and while nursing should grandfather in those already licensed, we need to get on board), ...

I agree with you in principle, but would take issue with your implied suggestion that a BSN program is obviously more difficult and a more significant achievement that other types of nursing programs. My hospital-based diploma program had high entrance requirements, was 33 months of full-time study which was extremely demanding and had notoriously high academic standards, and it was rare and unusual that anyone flunked the NCLEX (they would go for years at a time with a 100% pass rate, and this was back in the days of two-full-days-of-testing, when the NCLEX really measured your knowledge in a comprehensive way). I've taught in BSN programs more recently that were much easier. So I don't agree that the format of the program and "name" of the degree necessarily say anything about how difficult a program is.

[Jubilee163]

Stop... Stop worrying about how many attempts it took the nurse next to you to pass....worry about yourself. This is pettiness. If this is all we had to worry about it would be a good day.

[elkpark]

Well for me this will be my 3 time at my nclex-pn . I think that the school you come from needs to have a class that is base only only nclex stuff only ...lab stuff...how to answer questions..a whole 8 weeks to 12 weeks with just that. A lot of schools just take your money and can care less if you pass . My school give us ATI books without even explaining how to use them or how to ask nclex questions. I want to pass but it's hard ...nobody has explain how this test was going to be...now it's up to me to make it work...I am not a baby but nobody cared if I passed all they wanted was their money to finish the program..I am just saying.

I would like to see schools focus less on passing the NCLEX and more on teaching people what they need to know to successfully enter practice as RNS. If you are well-prepared to enter practice, you should not have any problems with the NCLEX. IMO, schools now put too much emphasis on passing the NCLEX and not enough on actually learning what you need to know about nursing.

My concern about multiple retakes of the NCLEX is that, with the current format, it is almost like a lottery. Anyone, if s/he takes it enough times, is going to eventually get lucky and only get asked enough questions s/he knows the answers to up front in order to pass. I felt much more confident about the NCLEX when everyone took the same exam and it comprehensively measured your knowledge in all areas of nursing. On what planet do you get a professional license on the basis of answering 60 questions? How broad a range of nursing knowledge can be assessed in 60 questions??

[dinah77, ADN]

Stop... Stop worrying about how many attempts it took the nurse next to you to pass....worry about yourself. This is pettiness. If this is all we had to worry about it would be a good day.

Not quite sure how worrying about safety and high standards is petty

[dinah77, ADN]

Well for me this will be my 3 time at my nclex-pn . I think that the school you come from needs to have a class that is base only only nclex stuff only ...lab stuff...how to answer questions..a whole 8 weeks to 12 weeks with just that. A lot of schools just take your money and can care less if you pass . My school give us ATI books without even explaining how to use them or how to ask nclex questions. I want to pass but it's hard ...nobody has explain how this test was going to be...now it's up to me to make it work...I am not a baby but nobody cared if I passed all they wanted was their money to finish the program..I am just saying.

When I was in school, I bought an NCLEX book and began using it in the 2nd semester to help study for my school tests

It helped get me in the right mindset

nobody told me to do it, I just did

Perhaps you are failing because you've been waiting for somone to tell you what the trick is to passing

There is no trick, you either think like a nurse or you don't

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

GrnTea: I respectfully understand you don't agree with my post but please don't assume anything about me or my family when trying to disagree with me.

The "you" in those posts does not refer to any one individual; it's a common conversational shortcut.

If we used British English, I'd say "one," as in, "If one can't pass ... take care of one's child ..."