why do nurses need to be licensed?

CamillusRN, BSN · Feb 25, 2015

Honestly to me (and I know I'll get criticised) but it doesn't matter, as long as I know whoever is taking care of me passed, it doesn't matter HOW many times it took them to pass. Point is they got there and finally proved themselves competant enough. The pace is different for everyone.

Not criticized. Just pitied.

Tenebrae, BSN, RN · Feb 25, 2015

But how to you know how many times your nurse had to take the test to pass? It's not like they're going to advertise or brag about it to patients. "My name is Nurse Susie and I will be your nurse today. Oh, BTW, It took me 20 tries to pass the NCLEX but that doesn't mean I am not as qualified as Nurse Donna who passed on her first try."

Hence why the registration exam should be weeding out those nurses who dont have the basic nursing skills to pass an exam without multiple attempts.

And it wouldnt happen here. A student nurse gets two chances to pass. Unsure what would happen after that as I've never met a RN who didnt pass on the first attempt and met one enrolled nurse who took two attempts to get their license. Everything we do in our course of study seeks to provide the basic nursing skills a novice nurse needs and the knowledge to pass the registration exam

If students are taking five attempts to pass their registration exam, serious questions should be asked of their education provider why the hell are they not giving students the minimum basic nursing skills and the needed academic skills to pass the registration exam.

klone, MSN, RN · Feb 25, 2015

finally proved themselves competant enough..

See, I just have higher standards for care. "Finally proved themselves competant enough" would not be good enough for me. It would make me a little nervous.

elkpark · Feb 25, 2015

Wouldn't it be something interesting that in addition to having our names on our ID badges, there could be a way to identify how many time a nurse tested before passing licensure testing?
If I were the pt and read the badges, I'd be asking for Nurse Susie to be my nurse. Sorry Nurse Donna, no thanks.
OP - what's your preference for care for your kids or parents or yourself? Just curious.

Did you get the names mixed up or did you really intend to say that you would prefer to have the person who took 20 tries to pass rather than the individual who passed on the first try? What's your rationale for that, just out of curiosity?

amoLucia · Feb 25, 2015

Oops. You are correct. I did reverse the names. My preference would be Nurse Donna who did pass her exam on first try. TY for catching the error.

Mea culpa.

OneDuckyRN · Feb 26, 2015

Besides proving minimum competency, I think licensing for nurses, doctors, and other professions also weeds out those with a criminal background. I know that I had to pass a background check both before starting nursing school and before taking the NCLEX. My nursing program came right out and said they required the background check because they weren't going to give a seat to somebody who wouldn't be eligible to sit for the NCLEX anyway. Maybe some schools would still require a background check, but I'm willing to bet there are at least a few who wouldn't screen so carefully.

So it's a matter of public safety in more than one way, in my opinion.

roser13, ASN, RN · Feb 26, 2015

My aunt failed multiple times but finally passed and she's one of the beat nurses I know!
What's a beat nurse?

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Feb 28, 2015

From what I have read so far is that your belief is that all nursing schools are created equal, so why have NCLEX and a state license. The problem is that not all schools are created equal and some schools' sole focus is to make money and not quality nurses. If you are willing to pay the huge tuition, you will get a degree and thus allow you to take NCLEX. Those are the graduates that take NCLEX 5-10 times. The ones that have test anxiety may have to take the test 2-3 times and pass. After a certain number of failures, the problem is not test anxiety but a lack of ability to comprehend and accurately answer the questions correctly on NCLEX (personal critical thinking skills) or lack of content knowledge (school's ability to prepare graduates).

Does your school limit the number of classes that a student can fail before being dismissed from nursing school? Is it your belief that a student who fails a nursing class should be able to take the class as many times as it takes to pass? You could have a student (with unlimited funds) retake every nursing class 10 times and eventually pass each class with "C". Is that graduate competent enough to be a nurse by virtue of guessing enough correct answers in nursing school to be able to graduate?

SierraBravo · Feb 28, 2015

I completely agree with what you are saying and the point u bring up. What i am simply saying is that if it takes a person 10 tries to pass and they finally passed on the 10th time.. Who cares about any times before that it took. Point is they finally passed and at that moment they finally showed they have the competency needed. It just took a little longer to get there

If you think about this from a mathematical standpoint, there is a statistical probability that someone could eventually pass the NCLEX if they took it enough times. Granted, that probability is extremely small, but it still exists. The NCLEX is not a hard test. It tests BASIC and FUNDAMENTAL knowledge and critical thinking ability for a day 1 nurse. If it took someone 5, 10, 20, or more times to pass it then there is a real problem. Like someone else said, 2 or 3 times if someone has test anxiety, but beyond that then the person should really be doing some self reflection if nursing is for them. I know based on your past comments that you said you wouldn't mind having a nurse take care of you that took the NCLEX an inordinate number of times, but quite frankly I wouldn't want to put my life or my family's life in that person's hands. As a rather competent nurse, I can often tell who knows their stuff, who is "faking" it, and who simply should probably not be a nurse.

The NCLEX is the least of a new nurses worries. If someone has trouble passing the NCLEX, how in the world are they going to be able to successfully get through orientation, multitask in a real world busy hospital environment, and practice safely as a member of an interdisciplinary medical team? The answer is... they probably won't. Yes, of course, there will be those people who are great nurses who just plain have trouble with standardized tests. I'm not talking about that small subset of test takers. This is not food service whereby if someone messes up your food order you just get a new meal made, no harm no foul. In the hospital this is life and death.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, just because someone wants to be a nurse doesn't necessarily mean that they can, or should, be a nurse.

smartnurse1982 · Mar 12, 2015

Besides proving minimum competency, I think licensing for nurses, doctors, and other professions also weeds out those with a criminal background. I know that I had to pass a background check both before starting nursing school and before taking the NCLEX. My nursing program came right out and said they required the background check because they weren't going to give a seat to somebody who wouldn't be eligible to sit for the NCLEX anyway. Maybe some schools would still require a background check, but I'm willing to bet there are at least a few who wouldn't screen so carefully.
So it's a matter of public safety in more than one way, in my opinion.

My state still licenses people who have a misdemeanor.

Now finding a job is another matter......

As a matter of fact,none of the nursing schools i attended required a background check.

Altra, BSN, RN · Mar 14, 2015

As a matter of fact,none of the nursing schools i attended required a background check.

I don't dispute your statement, as I have no way of knowing, but this is definitely not the norm.

Reason: Clinical sites which the schools contract with generally require this. As part of the contractual agreement with the school, they require the school to demonstrate that they screen the students who will have access to patients at that facility. This is understood to be a requirement of most state and local laws, and of most accrediting/licensing authorities.

dudette10, MSN, RN · Mar 14, 2015

Let's turn this around from the nursing student perspective. Would you prefer to go to a nursing school that had a 95% first time pass rate on the NCLEX, or would you be ok with a school that had a 50% first time pass rate on the NCLEX. Why or why not? After all, first-time pass rates don't really mean anything about the quality of the nurse, right?