Get to Know the NCLEX (RN)

00:01 The NCLEX. Or, if you are being fancy, the National Council for Licensure Examination, which this is actually the first time when I was looking into this that I looked at the actual name of this, and I'm just wondering why it doesn't have the name nursing in it.

00:17 It's weird. Anyway, the NCLEX, as I'm sure you know, is the exam that you take at the end of nursing school that allows you to become a licensed registered nurse. Dun, dun, dun! Very big deal. I know.

00:30 The exam is administered by the National Council of the State Boards of Nursing and their acronym is NCSBN.

00:37 And we'll be moving into a lot of acronym territory now.

00:41 So I just wanted to get you warmed up.

00:43 Be warned, we can do this.

00:45 And I wanted to make it clear that the version of the NCLEX that we are discussing here is the RN version.

00:50 And there's also a version called the NCLEX Pn version that you take at the end of an LPN program to be a licensed LPN or LVN, depending on your state.

00:58 We do have a whole course on LPN, LVN specific things.

01:02 If that interests you, definitely go and check it out.

01:05 So the NCLEX is a national test, meaning that everyone in the United States takes the same test.

01:12 And you don't have to retake it if you move states because it is a country wide exam. You can send the results of the NCLEX to any state board of nursing regardless of where you take it.

01:24 Actually, like if you go to school in Delaware but are moving to Michigan, you can just send the results to Michigan.

01:29 If you can't tell, this was me.

01:30 I did this. The NCLEX is taken at a testing facility, more on that later and what the day looks like overall, and aims to measure your ability to safely provide nursing care.

01:43 Now, I wish I could tell you how long this exam is, but that, along with most things in nursing, it depends.

01:50 The exam is adaptive, meaning that it changes based on how you are answering things. Basically, the more and more you get correct, the more and more challenging the questions get.

01:59 And you have to answer a certain number correctly in order for the exam to shut off and for you to pass.

02:05 Now, this number is going to constantly change, but right now it'll shut off at 75.

02:09 That's the earliest it will shut off.

02:10 And you can take up to 145 questions.

02:13 But again, really, all things with the NCLEX, they're subject to change.

02:18 And I feel like at this point I'm doing an infomercial about the NCLEX, so I really probably should have used my fun infomercial voice.

02:24 So here we go.

02:25 Prepare yourselves. The current type of exam questions you will see on the NCLEX include: multiple choice, multiple response, aka select all that apply, image or hotspot questions that feature an image and ask you to click on the hot spot, Fill in the blank, drag and drop, questions based on images, chart based questions, video and audio based questions. That was enough.

02:46 That was fun. You will have a time limit for this exam.

02:48 Again, this is going to vary and if you are a very lucky duck, you may get some research questions thrown in at you at the end.

02:55 These will not count towards your score, but will help you serve as a research subject for future test subjects.

03:02 I mean. Licensure candidates.

03:03 That's what I meant. Once you complete this experience, you, of course, will not be immediately given the satisfaction of knowing if you passed or not.

03:12 You must wait a few days or bribe Pearson Vue, the testing company, to give you your results a few days earlier by giving them money.

03:20 So that sounds like a great time all around, right? I thought so.

03:24 But wait, there's more.

03:26 Starting in April 2023, the NCLEX is getting a free upgrade to NCLEX Next Generation.

03:34 Stay tuned for the next section to hear all about this exciting and mandatory new offer.