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1.5: Nursing Education and the NCLEX

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    Nursing Education and the NCLEX

    Everyone who wants to become a nurse has a story to tell about why they want to enter the nursing profession. What is your story? Perhaps it has been a lifelong dream to become a Life Flight nurse, or maybe you became interested after watching a nurse help you or a family member through the birth of a baby, heal from a challenging illness, or assist a loved one at the end of life. Whatever the reason, everyone who wants to become a nurse must do two things: graduate from a state-approved nursing program and pass the National Council Licensure Exam (known as the NCLEX).

    Nursing Programs

    If you want to become a Registered Nurse, you can obtain either a two-year associate degree (ADN) or a four-year baccalaureate of science in nursing degree (BSN). Associate degree nursing graduates often enroll into a baccalaureate or higher degree program after they graduate. Many hospitals hire ADN nurses on a condition they complete their BSN within a specific time frame. A BSN is required for military nursing, case management, public health nursing, and school-based nursing services. Another lesser-known option to become an RN is to complete a three-year hospital-based diploma program, which was historically the most common way to become a nurse. Diploma programs have slowly been replaced by college degrees, and now only nine states offer this option.[1] After completing a diploma program, associate degree, or baccalaureate degree, nursing graduates must successfully pass the NCLEX-RN to apply for a registered nursing license from their state’s Board of Nursing.

    NCLEX

    Nursing graduates must successfully pass the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) to receive a nursing license. Registered nurses must successfully pass the NCLEX-RN exam.

    The NCLEX-RN is an online, adaptive test taken at a specialized testing center. The NCLEX tests knowledge, skills, and abilities essential to the safe and effective practice of nursing at the entry level. NCLEX exams are continually reviewed and updated based on surveys of newly graduated nurses every three years.

    The NCLEX-RN is a variable length test that adapts as you answer the test items. The NCLEX-RN examination can be anywhere from 75 to 265 items, depending on how quickly you are able to demonstrate your proficiency. Of these items, 15 are unscored test items. The time limit for this examination is six hours.

    In 2023, the Next Generation NCLEX (NGN) is anticipated to go into effect. Examination questions on the NGN will use the new Clinical Judgment Measurement Model as a framework to measure prelicensure nursing graduates’ clinical judgment and decision-making. The critical thinking model called the “Nursing Process” will continue to underlie the NGN, but candidates will notice new terminology used to assess their decision-making. For example, candidates may be asked to “recognize cues,” “analyze cues,” “create a hypothesis,” “prioritize hypotheses,” “generate solutions,” “take actions,” or “evaluate outcomes.”[3] 

    There will also be new types of examination questions on the NGN, including case studies, enhanced hot spots, drag and drop ordering of responses, multiple responses, and embedded answer choices within paragraphs of text. View sample NGN questions in the following hyperlink. NCSBN’s rationale for including these types of questions is to “measure the nursing clinical judgment and decision-making ability of prospective entry-level nurses to protect the public’s health and welfare by assuring that safe and competent nursing care is provided by licensed nurses.”[4] Use the hyperlinks below to read more information about the NCLEX and the Next Generation NCLEX.

    Note

    Read more information about the NCLEX & Test Plans.

    Review sample Next Generation NCLEX questions at https://www.ncsbn.org/NGN-Sample-Questions.pdf.

    Lifelong Learning

    No matter what nursing role or level of nursing education you choose, nursing practice changes rapidly and is constantly updated with new evidence-based practices. Nurses must commit to lifelong learning to continue to provide safe, quality care to their patients. Many states require continuing education credits to renew RN licenses, whereas others rely on health care organizations to set education standards and ongoing educational requirements.

    1. NCSBN. (2019). 2018 NCLEX examination statistics 77. https://www.ncsbn.org/2018_NCLEXExamStats.pdf↵
    2. NCSBN. (2019). NCLEX & Other Exams. https://www.ncsbn.org/nclex.htm↵
    3. NCSBN. (2021). NCSBN Next Generation NCLEX Project. https://www.ncsbn.org/next-generation-nclex.htm↵
    4. NCSBN. (2021). NCSBN Next Generation NCLEX Project. https://www.ncsbn.org/next-generation-nclex.htm↵

    This page titled 1.5: Nursing Education and the NCLEX is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Ernstmeyer & Christman (Eds.) (OpenRN) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.