NCLEX-RN pass rate increased

labrador4122, RN · Dec 9, 2007

We found out today that the 70 pass rate Florida used to have for NCLEX-RN was not reinstated last week. It was in fact increased to a 76 pass rate. Most of my class was shocked to say the least. Anybody else hear about this new ruling? We also heard that by 2010 they are planning on raising the pass rate to between 80-82. I wonder with such a shortage what the reasoning behind the raise is? I can completely understand wanting competent staff but what exactly does that say about the ones who were allowed to pass with a significantly lower score? I wonder if they are trying to send a message to the medical community about the ACTUAL intelligence level of RN's? Curious indeed.

actually it is a 53% now! it used to be 50% for florida and now it's 53%.

I just passed boards 11/20/07 with min. 75Q

ZASHAGALKA, RN · Dec 9, 2007

I think you have been given bad information about how NCLEX is scored.

1st, there is a national standard and not a "Florida" standard. For the record, the NATIONAL pass rate for RN test takers, as of April 2007, was -0.21 logits.

2nd, the test is scored based on a particular 'logit', or placemarker, within the priority of questions. It is not scored based on a percentage. Since everybody, more or less, gets about 50% of the questions right, and 50% wrong, it is a test that simply cannot be scored based on a percentage. It's not the number of questions you get right or wrong that count, but rather, the DIFFICULTY of the questions you get right, and, the questions you get wrong.

3rd, the NCLEX HAS increased its standards, every three yrs since the CAT - computer adaptive test - has been implemented, which was in 1994. The last time it increased its standards with this past April, 2007. It is not due for another tweaking until 2010.

I suggest you look at ncsbn.org for more information on how NCLEX is scored, if you are interested. There is really some fascinating information about it, made freely available by its creators.

https://www.ncsbn.org/1090.htm

There is a data bank of about 10,000 NCLEX-RN questions, each meticulously verified for difficulty. They are, more or less, ranked in order from hardest to easiest. The CAT exam only seeks to find THAT point on this 'number line' where you are MOST likely to equally get the answer right or wrong. Then, once it is sure of this place, if that place is greater than the place marked -0.21 logits, you pass. A logit is just a unit of measure, in this case, one of 10,000 different measures of difficulty, based on the ranking of the difficulty of the entire database of questions.

It doesn't matter how many questions you get right or wrong; it matters how difficult they are. Unlike almost any test you've ever taken, you aren't being measured against others, such as your classmates; you are being measured against yourself. The test gets more or less difficult based on YOU and your prior answers. THAT is why everybody thinks it's such a difficult test.

The tests might be getting more 'difficult', but the average pass rate has remained the same, at about 87%. Think of it like this: the average high schooler knows more about the workings of the immune system than our top scientists did, 20 yrs ago. As information grows, it demands more attention. Nurses need to be armed with ever more information and priority thinking. Making the test more difficult, over time, is a way to ensure this. In any case, the nursing programs SHOULD be teaching the stuff that amounts to the increase in difficulty. If your programs are keeping up, so should you. The results do reflect this, as average pass rates remain the same, DESPITE increasing difficulty, over time.

~faith,

Timothy.