What are considered higher level questions

Nursing Students NCLEX

Published

Specializes in Hem/Onc/BMT.

Hey guys a friend of mine and myself are having a disagreement about NCLEX questions and the nature of higher level questions. So I said let allnurses decide

We all know about priority and delegation,but what about math, SATA, meds, med teaching etc.Also what makes a question difficult?

any info would totally welcome.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Maths I don't think so, medication maybe

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatric critical care.

I had 8-10 math questions, 30 SATAs, a few priority, no delegation, and I passed with 75 questions. Hopes this helps

Oh and I had a ton of meds that I hadn't ever heard of!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Level of difficulty is assigned to a question after it has been given to a number of students as an unscored item and they have a chance to look at how many got it right vs wrong.

There may be certain types that are more likely to be difficult, but you can't accurately estimate the difficulty assigned to any particular item on the NCLEX. In fact, the item in question may not be scored at all.

Try not to overthink this. Focus all of your energy on choosing the correct response to each question, not on how many questions you may receive of each type.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU.

I agree with Eric"nurse" but I would add that (to answer the first posting of this thread question) SATAs may be high level questions. My reasoning is that the odds that you get a SATA question right are very low compared to other types of questions. During my NCLEX experience (I passed with 75 questions) I was getting a SATA after getting right 2-3 difficult questions in row. This is my opinion and I don't have any scientific data to prove it, but it makes sense to me that SATAs may be high level questions, b/c they most appear when the test level is going up. My friend from school who also passed the NCLEX with 75 questions, had 25 SATAs and she told me that she was getting SATAs questions after getting 1-2 questions in a row. I don't know how about other people's experience, but most people who passed NCLEX with 75 questions had at least 10-25 SATAs. However, I saw some postings of people who passed the NCLEX with 75 questions and 0 SATA and 0 math!

To me SATAs, prioritization and delegation may be high level questions.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

SATA questions are only a format style and just with being under that format, does not determine if they are of a higher level or not.

I would not focus on the type of questions as there are 15 that do not even count and we are seeing more and more lately that are not getting any SATAs or only one to two and they are passing the exam.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Hey guys a friend of mine and myself are having a disagreement about NCLEX questions and the nature of higher level questions. So I said let allnurses decide

We all know about priority and delegation,but what about math, SATA, meds, med teaching etc.Also what makes a question difficult?

any info would totally welcome.

An example of a low level comprehension or knowledge based question?

What does the nurse need to do before suctioning a patient?

answer: hyperoxygenate them.

But if that same question gives you some lab values like Ph, Pco2, PaO2 levels and you have to interpret whats happening with your patient, that becomes a high level question eg its phrased as "a pt has the following labs whats the nurses next course of action ?

That is my understanding. If you simply have to spit out facts without having to analyze, then chances are its a low level question.

Hopes this helps a l'lil bit.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment