The NCLEX is a joke

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everyone needs to take a review class to learn test stategies for the nclex. hello?

when was anything worth learning taught to a test. material that should be tested is core nursing... not random drugs and diseases.

you are expected to take it shortly after graduation so you don't forget what you've learned, etc. what is the board asking of us? that we memorize a ridiculous amount of material because no brain is willing to regurgitate all of this information forever. i can guarantee that the people that make up these 3,000 + questions would get a good percentage wrong... and they wrote them. there has to be a better and more logical way.

for all of you studying your butts off the pass the nclex, i hope that you get good questions. that's what it boils down to... because since everyone has a random personal test. someone might get common diseases, while your stuck with the obscure!!! sounds rather unfair for the second person in my opinion.

i see so many graduates thinking they are dumb because they didn't pass the first time. ask any nurse about all of the different things that you are expected to know for testing, and they wouldn't be able to do it. they are good at their jobs because they were trained, deal with similiar medications, etc. training on the job (as in older days) starts to make sense...

this test truly is assinine! different study books offer completely opposing rationales. i have found errors in three of them so far. diseases that you've never heard of are tested. there are over 12,000 disease listed by who. think about that?! if you don't know the disease or one of the over 7,000 medication available how can you give an educated response?

here is some advice though... because they are training you to test to the test. so even if some of the questions are downright awful, hopefully this helps.

in prioritizing- who am i going to kill off first if i don't tend to him/her

in situations responding to a client/family- if asking a person what they know is an option, do this. you can't teach before knowing what level they're at.

when asked what you would do- assess before you intervene.

when asked to evaluate- it needs to be measurable not vague.

good luck all! nclex people... this test needs some serious overhaul. just my opinion.

oh, and for those of you that have to take a test to graduate from your college... that too is bs! it is only the passing rates (that look good for them) that they are concerned about.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

And just what do you suggest as a better plan? No NCLEX at all? Just mearly passing school?

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Specializes in psych/medical-surgical.

Although many of the points above are valid, the purpose of the NCLEX is to make sure you are safe... at least in theory... the truth is giving a competency test has become standard for almost anything.

Though the NCLEX may test on diseases we have never heard of or the fact that the test will render 4 years of schooling useless it is passed... the point is simple: test a large number of people's competence in the easiest way possible.

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Specializes in OR.
everyone needs to take a review class to learn test stategies for the nclex. hello?

when was anything worth learning taught to a test. material that should be tested is core nursing... not random drugs and diseases.

you are expected to take it shortly after graduation so you don't forget what you've learned, etc. what is the board asking of us? that we memorize a ridiculous amount of material because no brain is willing to regurgitate all of this information forever. i can guarantee that the people that make up these 3,000 + questions would get a good percentage wrong... and they wrote them. there has to be a better and more logical way.

for all of you studying your butts off the pass the nclex, i hope that you get good questions. that's what it boils down to... because since everyone has a random personal test. someone might get common diseases, while your stuck with the obscure!!! sounds rather unfair for the second person in my opinion.

i see so many graduates thinking they are dumb because they didn't pass the first time. ask any nurse about all of the different things that you are expected to know for testing, and they wouldn't be able to do it. they are good at their jobs because they were trained, deal with similiar medications, etc. training on the job (as in older days) starts to make sense...

this test truly is assinine! different study books offer completely opposing rationales. i have found errors in three of them so far. diseases that you've never heard of are tested. there are over 12,000 disease listed by who. think about that?! if you don't know the disease or one of the over 7,000 medication available how can you give an educated response?

here is some advice though... because they are training you to test to the test. so even if some of the questions are downright awful, hopefully this helps.

in prioritizing- who am i going to kill off first if i don't tend to him/her

in situations responding to a client/family- if asking a person what they know is an option, do this. you can't teach before knowing what level they're at.

when asked what you would do- assess before you intervene.

when asked to evaluate- it needs to be measurable not vague.

good luck all! nclex people... this test needs some serious overhaul. just my opinion.

oh, and for those of you that have to take a test to graduate from your college... that too is bs! it is only the passing rates (that look good for them) that they are concerned about.

from what i've heard, this should get you through most situations.

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From what I've heard, this should get you through most situations.

:D

I thought the test was excellent at evaluating whether one can take limited information and extrapolate from it.

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Specializes in Med-Tele, Internal Med PCU.

In prioritizing- Who am I going to kill off first if I don't tend to him/her

In situations responding to a client/family- If asking a person what they know is an option, do this. You can't teach before knowing what level they're at.

When asked what you would do- Assess before you intervene.

When asked to evaluate- It needs to be measurable not vague.

This sounds as though Marlene Hurst (Hurst Review) is saying it.

There is no way that NCLEX or State Nursing Boards can observe all 200,000 (guess) GNs that graduate every year, then there would be complaining that "she/he made me too nervous", "asked me stupid questions that through me off ...", "she/he didn't like me ...".

A written exam is what we have to pass to prove our competence, know your lab values, positions, core drugs and deseases.

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i agree, yes everything on the test in irrelevant..some disease never will encounter..but..it determines if you will do what any nurse would do in that situation..just like getting a driver's license..you know how to do it..but are you safe..otherwise and though u still have them people doing anything they want without know the standards

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All these reviews really help....thanks for everybodys input!!

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Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Critical Care.

Then there's that very occasional nurse that you meet and can't help but wonder, "how on earth did you pass boards?" :bugeyes:

I think that testing nurses is appropriate, but that many of the questions could be changed. I believe that the random weird diseases you've never heard of shouldn't be included. Prioritizing and common sense should really be the focus. A lot of nursing is still learned after school is completed.

I believe that there should always be some sort of test though to ensure a minimum competence of nurses. But I do feel for those people who are horrible test takers.

Good luck to all of you who still need to take it!

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i think the test is a good idea. just think of it. you read for the nclex more than you read in school because as you said you dont know the questions that you would be getting so that will make you read far and wide and at the end you will know a lot believe me i know some things that i never knew and i just graduated. even cpr( i have a certificate thank goodness no one needed me to save them). i am more confident now. i know diseases that i would never knew even exisisted. i look at people now and automatically can see signs and sx of certain things. all this because i have been reading my b... off getting ready for this test. even the people that got the 'easy' questions read far and wide also and am sure they may have done well also on the 'hard' questions.

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I'm sure most will think I'm nuts but I think they need to do away with the answer based question progression. I simply can not believe that 75 questions (the minimum to pass), no matter how complex or challenging they are, can adequately assess the safety of a graduate nurse.

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