I took my NCLEX exam on Friday. After it was over I searched and searched for some reassurance that I may have passed but could not find any. I wanted to post something to make anyone who finds themself in my position feel a little more calm and hopeful. I know I was feeling completely lost and hopeless.
Allow me to explain a bit about the NCLEX examination. It is what is referred to as CAT format or Computer Adaptive Testing. This means that the test adapts itself according to how you answer each question. If you answer incorrectly, the computer gives you an easier question and if you answer questions correctly, the computer advances the degree of difficulty, and so on throughout the examination.
Once the computer has determined (using some complicated algorithm I do not understand) that it is 95% certain that you are at or above the standard required OR so far below the required standard that you could not reach the standard even with additional questions, it shuts off.
BAM! Just like that, your test is over!
The minimum amount of questions on the NCLEX for RN is 75, and the maximum number of questions is 265. 15 questions on every test do not count because they are "trial questions" meaning that NCLEX is trying them out to see if they are good questions to include on future examination. So, the theory is that if your examination ends after 75 questions you really know your stuff, or you were really doing so badly that 190 more questions could not help you reach the standard.
Now, I studied for 3 solid months, and trained myself to get the maximum number of questions on this exam. I did not want to allow myself to get psyched out if I was at question 199. I PLANNED to see this test all the way through. To sit for the ENTIRE six hour maximum, and work my way through 265 questions.
I was pretty calm on Friday morning when I arrived at the testing center. I had slight butterflies in my belly but nothing more. I sat down and did my tutorial and when that was over, I closed my eyes, took in a deep cleansing breath and began.
The questions were, in my opinion, low level questions. Instead of getting more difficult as they are supposed to, they kept getting a little easier. I thought back on the tips and tricks about how to pass NCLEX. "Remember, if you see the same question more than once you probably got it wrong. CHOOSE ANOTHER ANSWER," I kept waiting for the questions to get difficult and they weren't.
So, I held my breath when I submitted my answer for the 75th question and when the test went to number 76, I breathed a sigh of relief. I was not so far below standard that the computer kicked me off. I relaxed instantly, feeling I still had a fighting chance and I put in my ear plugs preparing to go the distance.
I answered 76 and moved on to question 77. When I submitted my answer, the color drained from my screen, and from my face as well. I sat there, stunned. I shook my head at the computer. No...no no no no NOOOO! I could not believe it!
I completed the exit survey....did you feel the testing center was professional? Was the computer system user friendly? Etc. I continued to shake my head in disbelief. Then the testing attendant came in, to escort me away from my computer. Tears filled my eyes as I was fingerprinted out of the testing center, as I opened my locker to get my belongings, as I walked through the parking lot.
I spent the remainder Friday in painfully stunned silence. I felt like someone had assaulted me. I knew I had not passed. I KNEW. "The exam is supposed to get more complicated as you answer questions correctly." I had a question about auscultating lung sounds for goodness sake! How complicated is that?
At the same time, I knew I was prepared for this exam. It could not have been nerves because I was really very calm.I knew that I was not incompetent. I was enraged. How could this moronic computer decide after 77 questions that I was not able to reach the standard to pass? If it had only given me 188 more questions! Why can we not go back to paper and pencil? Let me prove myself! How unfair!
I kept trying to have hope that perhaps I had passed, but I kept returning to the same thing. The exam is adaptive. The questions as supposed to get more difficult if you are doing well. Everyone says it was the most difficult test they have ever taken. Most people say there are things on the exam they have never heard of. Therefore, I could not have passed. Period. End of discussion.
This morning, my results were ready. I paid my fee to find out my fate. There is was on the screen before me. "Result: pass" My hands started shaking. I looked away and then back to the screen. Still there... "Result: pass."
Small 'p'. No fireworks. No song. Not even an uppercase 'P'.
I am in total shock at the moment, not because I thought I could not do it, but because of the experience of the NCLEX examination. Those who have not experienced the NCLEX cannot truly understand the magnitude of this examination. It is the single most insane, unrealistic, complicated, crazy exam I have ever encountered. It seems illogical that this is the standard by which a potential nurse is deemed capable or not.
I am not in anyway trying to brag or toot my own horn. I am the least confident or cocky person in the world. I am actually disappointed that I did not truly get to answer anything that makes me feel as though I have proven myself. I just wanted to offer some encouragement to anyone out there who might be wondering if the questions on NCLEX can seem to get easier and still have a passing score.
