NCLEX Review Course - Which Are Good and More Importantly, Which Aren't!

With more and more people from within the United States and outside of it taking up the NCLEX in a bid to practice the nursing profession in the land of milk and honey, there has also been an increase in the number of online and offline companies offering NCLEX review courses. This is in line with good reason, because the passing standards in the NCLEX had been made even higher and a person wishing to pass the exam would need all the help he or she can get.

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There are several kinds of review courses available online and choosing the right one is a formidable feat in itself. The amount of study effort that would take to pass the NCLEX varies with every person, meaning some may exert more while others may just treat the exam as just another walk in the park. In short, there is no hard-and-fast rule to studying for the NCLEX or more popularly said, "Different strokes for different folks."

For some, too much reading materials for the NCLEX would just tend to clutter the mind and do more harm than good. For others, the more information they could get their hands on, the better. It really depends on the person.

In choosing review courses, one has to evaluate him or herself on what he or she needs. Do you need something that is brief, concise and no additional supplements? Or are you the type of person who wants to cover all the bases?

The next step is making the choice. The vendor of the product should be reputable and backed with a solid track record in providing study materials for the NCLEX. Naturally, it should come from practitioners who have practical and academic knowledge of what they seek to preach.

A good way to gauge the effectiveness of a review course is to ask around. Joining forums on the NCLEX is a big help, especially if the members have already successfully hurdled the exam. Try to ask them what review courses they used. They may be able to tell you the good ones from the bad lots. There is nothing better than an honest testimonial from a true user.

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NCLEX PN Exam Questions and Answers - Knowing What's Coming

  The purpose of the NCLEX is to ensure that a candidate has the required skill and knowledge in order to become a safe and effective practicing nurse. It aims to test those skills for entry-level nurses. It has two sets of exams, and they are NCLEX-RN (registered nurse) and NCLEX-PN (practical nurse).

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One of the differences between the two exams is that in NCLEX-PN, there are only 205 questions and a candidate needs to answer at least 85 of them. It has 15 "pretest" or experimental questions, which will not affect a candidate's score. Pretest questions are there for possible inclusion in future exams.

NCLEX-PN exam questions and answers, like NCLEX-RN, are based on the knowledge and activities an entry-level nurse should have. The test is a computer adaptive one and the sequence of the questions is determined interactively. You are given a computer to work on and you will only use two keys: the space bar to move the cursor and the enter or return key to select your answer.

By experience, the computer is programmed to select a relatively easy first question and bases the selection of the next question based on your answer. For example, if you get the right answer, the next is a bit more difficult. Otherwise, the next question will be slightly easier.

  There is really no time limit for each question, but spending too much time on one is not really advisable. You will know that the exam has come to an end when the computer says so, or when it shuts the exam down. When it ends, it could only mean three things: one, the computer has already determined your ability or competence; two, the time limit for the test has been reached; and three, when all 205 questions have been asked and answered.

During the exam, it is important to know that once you have answered a question, you cannot go back to change it. You also can't skip a question; otherwise you may not be able to move on.

The NCLEX-PN is a pass or fail exam. It can be taken year-round and the results are released by individual State Boards. If you fail, you can take the test again in three months.


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Nursing Education - Passing the NCLEX

The time is going to come for every graduate nurse to sit for their state boards. To become a Registered Nurse, the graduate nurse must pass the NCLEX. This is a comprehensive examination of the skills necessary to practice nursing safely. It is important for the graduate nurse to use all of the tools available to ensure success at passing. Many schools prepare the student nurses early in their curriculum with test questions that mimic the format of the NCLEX.

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This is done to familiarize the students with the type of questions that they will face when they take the NCLEX. Many schools, in addition to in class tests, are also incorporating outside resource testing. These companies offer a wide selection of computerized nursing test bank questions that measure the student's comprehension and application of practice and theory for each nursing course. The student's are required to pass these tests with an acceptable score that is decided by the school that they are attending.

Most of the time, the score that the student tries to achieve is at or above the national average. If the student's score falls below the national average, that student is then required to take the test until their score is acceptable. This can be most bothersome for many nursing students. Although these tests do not add or detract from the student's grade point average, they are mandatory for many schools. Most nursing schools will with hold the student's diploma if the student has not completed all of the necessary required tests. These questions not only help to measure the student's knowledge level in regards to the material covered, but it also acts as a tracking tool. In acting as a tracking tool, student's scores from all participating nursing schools can be compared and contrasted.

These same students are followed up until the end of the program, and then determinations regarding one schools performance over another can be interpolated. Once the student graduates from nursing school, they are further tracked by their mandatory and or voluntary participation in a four day NCLEX review seminar. These seminars are usually offered by the same testing corporation originally used by the school throughout the program and are offered at no extra expense to the student's. The performance of the student's throughout the program can then be interpolated with some degree of confidence on how well they perform on the NCLEX.

Of course all of the tracking and testing statistics can only predict outcomes. Only the student knows how much effort that they need to expend to pass their nursing courses and the state boards. Ask any nursing student, and most will concur that there is a lot of work that goes into getting through nursing school. It is important for the nursing student to look objectively at the numbers and percentages of those who pass the NCLEX. The rumor, that is supposedly based on fact, in, that all "A" and "B" students pass the NCLEX the first time, and all "C" student's fail the first time, is a false assumption, and one which can be detrimental to a "C" student's psyche. The only fact, is that the student must be the final judge of themselves, as far as knowing what they are capable of accomplishing, and not what rumor or statistics reflect.

Student's should be aware that the use of outside practice resources is an acceptable and proven method to increase their chances of passing the NCLEX Nursing student's are encouraged to study not just one NCLEX study guide, but many. Using two or three NCLEX study guides as a reference is a solid strategic plan. Knowledge gained from the nursing program is of course valuable. However, a student cannot possibly remember every little detail. They would have thousands of flash cards to study, if that were the case. So, as the saying goes, "study smarter, not harder" applies.

The NCLEX is scientifically designed and percentages are assigned in respect to different content areas. The student is urged to study how the test is put together and use review material that best supports a similar format. This article will not recommend any study material, but it will impress upon student's to use up to date, current and respected sources. Nursing instructor's are a good resource for suggesting resources. It is a good beginning strategy. Nursing instructor's have a lot of experience and are consistently revising their test bank material to keep current with the latest NCLEX question format.

Student's are encouraged to practice online computer tests as well. Not only does familiarity with computer testing ease the student's anxiety, but it also gives the student the computer skill necessary to maneuver through the test without difficulty. Here is an example, imagine having to drive two thousand miles, and getting into a car. You know the direction to where you are going, but you never drove a car before in your life. How do you think you are going to feel getting behind that wheel, with such a long road ahead, and not being able to anticipate or know what to do when confronting unfamiliar situations.

It is the same thing with navigating the NCLEX. Knowing how to work the controls is very important, and it will save you time and energy that can be better put to use answering questions.

It is important not to go into the test thinking that luck is on your side, without having studied. Luck, may or may not be, but the fact is, most teachers will tell you, that if you didn't study, then you won't do well. The same thing can be said about the NCLEX. Study, is the key. Know what you are facing. There is so much information out there that gives the graduate nurse all the tools that they need to be successful in passing the NCLEX. Remember, it's up to you. So best wishes, on your test, and study, study, study.

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NCLEX Practice Exams - Don't You Want to Pass?

One of the secrets to a successful bout with the NCLEX is to practice on sample exams. Answering them will give you a feel of how it's like to be actually taking the test. That way, you wouldn't be surprised when you see those seemingly unfamiliar questions.
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Practicing for the NCLEX has been proven to be an effective study exercise for the exam. This will surely complement your study guides, review materials, review courses and the like in your quest to be a licensed nurse. Sample questions for the NCLEX work harmoniously alongside your reading materials.

There are many online and offline sources of sample questions for the exam that you can use. These NCLEX practice exams most of the time are developed by nursing faculty and practitioners. It is important that you choose wisely and separate the credible from the dubious sources of these materials.

Once you have your sample exams, then all you need to do is follow your review schedule and answer the sample tests thereafter. It also works as a sort of a diagnostics exam because it will tell you where you should focus your review.

Below are some tips on how to answer those practice exams:

Read the questions very carefully. In fact, you must read every word of a question in order to answer it successfully. Most of the time, qualifying words such as most, least, definitely, probably, except and the like have so much significance in your answer. These small but important words will help you determine the correct answer. Always take time to read the questions in its entirety. Scanning through them is not enough.

Try to avoid careless errors. Sometimes in our haste to move on to the next question, we tend to commit careless mistakes. These mistakes, if you add them up, leads to a substantial number of wrong answers. You wouldn't want to have that in your actual NCLEX exams as it may prove disastrous to your bid in becoming a nurse.

Eliminate evidently wrong answers. The process of elimination will narrow down your choices to a few. Bear in mind that in the NCLEX, there are wrong or right answers. You cannot argue your way out of the exam, like in essay-types of tests.

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A Short Intro to NCLEX Exam Prep

When you are preparing for the NCLEX test, here is a short guide to help you through the exam.

NCLEX Exam prep - what you need to know:

The NCLEX, sometimes referred to as 'Nursing State Board', stands for National Council Licensing Examination. It is a computerized adaptive test that selects questions based on the overall NCLEX content requirements, and your previous answers. Exam database contains thousands of questions, but during the test NCLEX candidates will get from 75 to 265 NCLEX-RN questions for RN applicants, or from 85 to 205 NCLEX-PN questions for PN applicants.

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The purpose of the NCLEX exam is to evaluate the knowledge, skills, expertise and abilities of nursing applicants. The competence of the nurse is evaluated based on the outcome of this exam. All nurses must pass this exam before they can practice as licensed RN's or LPN's in the US.

Nursing students who want to take the NCLEX exam must send a request for a licensure application along with the licensing fee to the Board of Nursing of their choice, and follow the application procedure established by this Board. The fact that nurse licensing rules differ from state to state, and many states do not have residency requirements, gives nursing applicants some flexibility to choose the easier or more economical licensing procedure.

The NCLEX exam covers all areas of nursing. While the exam is a pass/fail only (meaning that candidates do not have to achieve a particular score to pass), a thorough understanding of all fundamental concepts is necessary to pass the exam.

It is important to remember that although the NCLEX test is designed to evaluate the applicant's proficiency with nursing procedures and knowledge they learned at the nursing school; the NCLEX questions are often detached from the real life. Therefore, nursing education alone is insufficient for passing the exam. For example, while in real life the nurse has to care for several patients at the same time, a lot of test questions are written on a "1 nurse - 1 patient" model. This is precisely why preparing for the NCLEX exam is hard even for the best of nursing students. That also explains why nursing students require focused preparation to pass the NCLEX test.

While preparing for the exam, it is important to remember that knowing fundamentals is vital to the passing NCLEX successfully. Question banks alone most likely will not do the trick. This is because the exact questions that are asked on the exam are not available anywhere, and even the best NCLEX style questions are just that - imitations of the NCLEX test questions prepared by people who are prohibited by law from working on the actual exam due to conflict of interests. Furthermore, candidates who work on questions alone are often trying to memorize all the answers, which is nearly impossible to do. That is why it is important to select content based NCLEX reviews that will give you a thorough understanding of the exam material.

With modern technology the online NCLEX review courses have become incredibly affordable and offer the ultimate convenience and comfort for studying. Some reviews even offer students the flexibility to choose specific topics if they feel like they only need to refresh certain areas.

Remember, there are no miracles and no shortcuts! Thorough preparation is the secret to NCLEX success. No one but you can guarantee that you will pass the test Prepare, prepare, prepare!


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