Frequently Asked Questions About General NCLEX Information

1. Please explain the difference between the following entities as far as job description and responsibilities (NCSBN, Pearson VUE, Boards of Nursing). NCSBN is an organization that provides oversight for the licensure exam (NCLEX) that is given across the country and in several sites outside of the U.S. The exam is used by individual boards of nursing to make decisions within their own jurisdictions for the purpose of licensing Registered Nurses (RNs) and Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurses (LPN/VNs) for practice within the U.S. and its territories. Pearson VUE is the contracted test service that develops test items under the guidance of NCSBN and maintains test centers where the NCLEX is administered. Individual boards of nursing make up the voting membership of NCSBN. 2. Do you publish the findings from your large-scale survey? Yes, NCSBN publishes the findings from practice analyses in the form of NCSBN research briefs. Practice analyses are available on NCSBNs Website at www.ncsbn.org/1235.htm. 3. Why are practice analyses surveys sent to specialty units? The practice analysis surveys are sent to newly licensed nurses and not to specialty units. If newly licensed nurses are working in specialty units, this information is reflected in the demographic results from the practice analyses. 4. Seeing that practice areas vary widely, how is the validity (across settings) of job functions determined before inclusion in the job analysis? The practice analysis provides information regarding variation in practice across settings. This information is then used to determine what is included in or excluded from the examination. 5. Do practice analyses sample only first-time passers? The sample for practice analyses of newly licensed nurses is drawn from nurses who have passed their licensure examination and does not differentiate between firsttime and repeat test takers. 6. How many newly licensed nurses are contacted/identified to respond to surveys? How many/year? For the 2008 RN Practice Analysis: Linking the NCLEX-RN Examination to Practice, 12,000 nurses were asked to participate in the survey. 7. What is the status of the Post Entry-Level RN and LPN examinations? The Practice Analysis entitled Report of the Findings from the 2005 LPN/VN Post Entry-Level Practice Analysis and the 2006 RN Post Entry-Level Practice Analysis have been completed.
Copyright 2010 National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. (NCSBN) All rights reserved. The NCSBN logo, NCLEX, NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN are registered trademarks of NCSBN.

8. When the NCSBN Board of Directors decides to raise the NCLEX passing standard, is there an anticipated decrease in pass rates? With the increase in the passing standard, there is an anticipated decrease in pass rates. However, over the course of a year or two, the pass rates tend to return to the level prior to any passing standard increase. Please refer to Rates/Statistics. the NCSBN Website for additional information on Pass

9. Why do the NCLEX Program Reports not follow an academic year calendar Sept/Aug or yearly calendar 2008, 2009, etc, Jan-Dec? The April publishing date of NCLEX Program Reports aligns with test plan implementations. This allows education programs to make yearly comparisons on test plan area performance. Education programs may use this information to track trends. 10.Are the PowerPoints from the invitational available online or in some other format? All materials from the NCLEX Invitational are copyright protected. The PowerPoints are not available online at this time; however, much of the information is available online in other formats, e.g., the NCLEX Candidate Bulletin. 11.How does NCSBN take into account associate degree graduates and baccalaureate graduates? The NCLEX-RN examination assesses the competencies of RNs upon entry into practice. There is not a separate examination or passing standard for associate degree, baccalaureate degree or diploma nursing school graduates. 12.Who selected Pearson VUE as the test vendor? The test service for the NCLEX examination is selected by NCSBNs Delegate Assembly as noted by the NCSBN Bylaws prior to 2007. 13.Can you elaborate about TOEFL iBT standards/setting? NCSBN conducted an entry-level nursing English proficiency standard setting workshop using the TOEFL Internet-based Test (TOEFL iBT) in November 2008. Based on recommendations from astandard setting panel and other available evidence, the NCLEX Examination Committee recommended a minimal TOEFL iBT passing standard of 84 overall, with a minimum Speaking score of 26. Please refer to the NCSBN Research Brief A Minimum English Proficiency Standard for the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT) for details about the standard setting process. 14.Are there test questions on your NCLEX review similar to actual NCLEX questions? Should we use your review since you write the test? Is this a conflict of interest? The NCLEX Examinations Department staff does not work on or review the NCSBN Learning Extension NCLEX Review Course. The review course offered by the Learning Extension is written and produced by Learning Extension staff who have access to public information about the NCLEX. There is no conflict of interest. 15.How closely does the content of commercial nursing exams reflect the content of the NCLEX? The NCLEX Examinations Department staff does not review commercial nursing exams and would not be able to comment on other exams. NCSBN does not endorse any other product/examination nor does it release information related to specific content of the examination. All testing agencies/review programs are third-party 2

Copyright 2010 National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. (NCSBN) All rights reserved. The NCSBN logo, NCLEX, NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN are registered trademarks of NCSBN.

from the NCLEX Examinations Department and, therefore, cannot know what items are on the examination. 16.Can you please explain how or if each states licensure exam is different from one another? Each member board of nursing uses the NCLEX examination. There is no difference across jurisdictionsthe same passing standard applies to all candidates from all jurisdictions. 17.Are candidates randomly selected to receive maximum length examinations265 items for the NCLEX-RN examination and 205 items for the NCLEX-PN examination? Items are administered following the principles of computer adaptive testing (CAT). Candidates are NOT randomly selected to receive a designated number of examination items. As a candidate takes the examination, questions are selected based on the candidate's response to previous questions. Testing stops when it can be determined with 95% confidence that a candidate's performance is either above or below the passing standard, regardless of the number of items answered or the amount of testing time elapsed (six-hour maximum time period for the NCLEX-RN examination and five hour maximum time period for the NCLEX-PN examination).

Copyright 2010 National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. (NCSBN) All rights reserved. The NCSBN logo, NCLEX, NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN are registered trademarks of NCSBN.