The NCLEX adapts to your skill level. The first questions that are presented are determining your ability level. Once that ability level is determined, the questions are presented in increasing level of difficulty/decreasing difficulty until you have answered enough questions for the computer to determine (with 95% statistical certainty) that you have met the passing standard.
The minimum number of questions you will have is 75 (60 questions plus 15 pilot items). You will not be able to distinguish pilot items from "real" items. SO, if you get 265 items, that means the computer has not yet determined that you have met the passing standard at the 95% confidence level. There is no random number of candidates that get the exam with 265 questions- that is a myth.
You will not be able to tell whether you have passed by the number of questions you get!
The test is 6 hours long, and you should take your time. You have paid $200 for that test seat- USE IT!
Rushing through the questions or rapid guessing will most likely lead to failure, because each one you get wrong due to guessing means the next question is easier, and then on and on, until you fail because you are guessing at them all. Take your time to think each question through.
You will not leave the exam feeling good- the test challenges every bit of you, so you will feel tired and unsure of yourself. The way you feel does not equate into passing or failing. You cannot judge. Wait for your results.
NCLEX is given throughout the US and its territories, so the same format is used and the same question bank is used across the US. You do not have to take the exam in the same state where you are applying for licensure.
These are some resources for NCLEX prep that I like (no monetary incentive for sharing).
I am impressed with the strategy that is taught in the Kaplan course.
Lastly, you must manage anxiety. Pay attention to strategies to reduce anxiety. Approach each question as a new patient- one at a time, and focus completely on that question (patient).
Do not get distracted by thoughts of passing or failing, or by focusing on the number of questions you have had. Just keep going, one at a time, until the test ends. Then- be good to yourself while you wait for results. Remember you will not be able to accurately judge whether you passed by the way you feel. The test challenges you and you will not feel great when it is over.
I'm new...and in need of prayers and encouragement. There is nothing I want more than to be an RN. Well today was "D-Day" for me. My test cut off at 75 questions, I had too many "choose all that apply" questions to count. I suck at these b/c I always leave one thing out or add one thing that doesn't belong. I even had one question twice, all they did was change the ages of the patients in the question. Well, looked it up when I got home...got it wrong both times I don't think I've ever been this depressed (or had a headache this bad for that matter) in my life, PLEASE will someone send a prayer out for me. I have been praying, crying, and fretting all day and my head feels like it is going to explode Here's hoping for a miracle...
I will send up a prayer for you! Please keep us posted. I'm sure we'll be celebrating with you in a few days. You hang in there and try not to worry. Get some rest.
I was just in your shoes up until yesterday. Trust me it is not going to get any better. The next two days of your life is going to be the most painful, agonizing, torture you are going to experience while you wait for those results. No matter how many times you hear people tell you, stop worrying about it now, there is nothing you can do to change your results so stop stressing over it, you just can't!! I will be praying for you. On a good note though, I took my exam on Wednesday and the computer cut off at 80 questions. I just knew I failed. I remember most of my questions that I had gotten and sat in my car and looked up the questions and I had gotten SO MANY of them wrong. I had already told my co workers I was 99.9% sure I failed and I would be showing up Monday to work in Tech Scrubs. I was so devistated and stressed out. Crying and Depressed you name it! I couldn't eat or sleep for two days. Got my results yesterday and I passed. I am sure you will be fine. Most people who get 75 questions pass unless they just really bomb it, which if you studied, I doubt you did. I know my words prob dont' help much, but just keep in mind after I left my exam I felt like I missed pretty much every one of them and even confirmed that by looking up a lot of the questions. Just remember that 15 of the 75 questions are pilot questions so those don't even count against your score. I am sure you did fine!!! Try to find something to keep yourself busy for two days!! Easier said than done but my results came in exactly 48 hours from the time I started my test. 8AM friday morning exactly I got my results. I could not believe I passed. Keep us posted. NurseEr
Mimi_C said:
Hello,
I'm new...and in need of prayers and encouragement. There is nothing I want more than to be an RN. Well today was "D-Day" for me. My test cut off at 75 questions, I had too many "choose all that apply" questions to count. I suck at these b/c I always leave one thing out or add one thing that doesn't belong. I even had one question twice, all they did was change the ages of the patients in the question. Well, looked it up when I got home...got it wrong both times I don't think I've ever been this depressed (or had a headache this bad for that matter) in my life, PLEASE will someone send a prayer out for me. I have been praying, crying, and fretting all day and my head feels like it is going to explode Here's hoping for a miracle...
I got my reults yesterday and I PASSED!!! Thank you to everyone on this site that gave me words of encouragement and prayers. I am now officially RN. Feels so good to say RN!! I guess it is possible to pass with 80 questions after all. I spent the whole day yesterday shopping and pampering myself. Good luck to all those still waiting on results or waiting to take the Exam. WOrst two days of my life.
You are a living testament to others. I was told that we need to get 51% in the questions we are tested on. When i took the nclex this summer, i got two questions on herbs and 5 multiple choice questions. Fortunately, i had been studying herbs on my own for the last 15 years, so they were easy. I figured that if i got that many multiple choice questions, i must be passing. None of my classmates i spoke to got those "choose all the apply" quesions. So, i chose to think positively by concluding that i passed. Maybe getting all those difficult "all the apply questions" meant i was above the 50% mark. I am one of the rare people who knew i passed.
I see so many on this thread chose negative thinking. :chair: as students, we tend to do that because school is difficult and we strive for near perfection. Guess what, the real world is not a textbook.
Please please please, start thinking . You all passed school, and you know your stuff. Go into the test with a peaceful state of mind. An anxious state of mind will jumble all your knowledge and make critical thinking difficult, thereby setting you up for potential failure.
I pray to GOD that my bad feelings are wrong and I am soon celebrating too. I took my test on a Friday so this may be the worst 4 days of my life :uhoh21:
GOD is GOOD!!! Thanks you guys for your support and your prayers. I didn't think it would be there on a Sunday but I checked and it was and I passed!!! :rotfl: Miracles do happen. Can't wait to go to work on Monday...ICU here I come!
Chermene, RN (wow...oh my gosh I can't believe it!)
You are a living testament to others. I was told that we need to get 51% in the questions we are tested on. When i took the nclex this summer, i got two questions on herbs and 5 multiple choice questions. Fortunately, i had been studying herbs on my own for the last 15 years, so they were easy. I figured that if i got that many multiple choice questions, i must be passing. None of my classmates i spoke to got those "choose all the apply" quesions. So, i chose to think positively by concluding that i passed. Maybe getting all those difficult "all the apply questions" meant i was above the 50% mark. I am one of the rare people who knew i passed.
I see so many on this thread chose negative thinking. :chair: as students, we tend to do that because school is difficult and we strive for near perfection. Guess what, the real world is not a textbook.
Please please please, start thinking . You all passed school, and you know your stuff. Go into the test with a peaceful state of mind. An anxious state of mind will jumble all your knowledge and make critical thinking difficult, thereby setting you up for potential failure.
You are right, but i don't know i felt like crap when i left out of there. I do realize that i know my stuff but it wasn't that. I felt like i freaked out so much that i wasn't thinking clearly enough to prioritize. And that's all my test was...the entire thing "who would you see first" "who would you call first" "you are the charge nurse and..." i don't know, i freaked and convinced myself that they kept asking me the same questions because i was screwing up even though i knew that i had read in these very forums that these were higher level questions, then after i got the same ? Twice and got what seemed like 10 billion "choose all that apply" i lost it. The next thing i knew bam!! The "blue screen of death". You would think that after working in a trauma icu and cvicu i would be better under pressure, but it was like everything i had learned went out the window. I hope i never doubt myself like that again.
I don't think I've ever been this depressed (or had a headache this bad for that matter) in my life, PLEASE will someone send a prayer out for me. I have been praying, crying, and fretting all day and my head feels like it is going to explode 
Here's hoping for a miracle...
Mimi_C, BSN, RN
18 Posts
Hello,
I'm new...and in need of prayers and encouragement. There is nothing I want more than to be an RN. Well today was "D-Day" for me. My test cut off at 75 questions, I had too many "choose all that apply" questions to count. I suck at these b/c I always leave one thing out or add one thing that doesn't belong. I even had one question twice, all they did was change the ages of the patients in the question. Well, looked it up when I got home...got it wrong both times
I don't think I've ever been this depressed (or had a headache this bad for that matter) in my life, PLEASE will someone send a prayer out for me. I have been praying, crying, and fretting all day and my head feels like it is going to explode 
Here's hoping for a miracle...