Minnesota NCLEX Exam

University of Minnesota School of Nursing Grad Gets Nation's Top Test Score - Again

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (April 2006) - For the second consecutive year, a graduate of the University of Minnesota's School of Nursing obtained the highest score in the nation on the national certification examination administered by the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board.

Wendy Clagett Kochevar received the top score on the 2005 exam, which had a pass rate of 77 percent among the nearly 600 pediatric nurse practitioners who took it nationwide. Kochevar completed the School of Nursing's pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) graduate program in December 2004. In 1988, Kochevar earned her master's at the University of Minnesota with a specialization in Child-bearing and Child-rearing Family Nursing.

A native of Mason City, Iowa, Kochevar has served in several pediatric nursing positions at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, since 1981, and recently accepted a position as a pediatric nurse practitioner in otolaryngology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Ohio. Read more...

University of Minnesota School of Nursing Receives $1.5 Million Grant

A $1.5 million federal grant will help the University of Minnesota School of Nursing intensify its focus on interventions that protect, maintain, and restore health from infancy to old age. Since nursing focuses on helping people and families stay healthy in the context of their own communities and environments, nurse scientists are leaders in this field of research. The National Institute of Nursing Research, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, made the five-year award.

The grant supports nurse scientists conducting pilot studies that explore new avenues to health, such as the use of acupuncture to maintain regular heartbeat after heart surgery, and meditation and relaxation to help couples cope with breast cancer. Other projects will help school nurses prevent student obesity and assist individuals with mild cognitive impairment and their families. The grant will also enable new scientists to add to their repertoire of research skills, including methods and statistical techniques for conducting longitudinal studies.

The program will be guided by senior faculty in the school's new Center for Health Trajectory Research, directed by Jean Wyman, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN. "The grant means the school can take a major step forward in contributing to the University of Minnesota's goal of becoming one of the world's top three public research universities," said Wyman. "It's exciting time for our research program."

The University of Minnesota School of Nursing, ranked among the nation's top nursing schools, is a leader in improving health care through research, education and service. Read more...

Minnesota Pass Rates for First-time NCLEX-PN ® Candidates

Minnesota Pass Rates for First-time NCLEX-RN ® Candidates

The NCLEX Exam

NCLEX stands for The National Council Licensure Examination which is a standardized exam used by each state board of nursing to determine if RN or LPN/LVN candidates are competent for entry-level nursing practice. There are two NCLEX tests offered by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN): the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses - NCLEX-RN ® and the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses - NCLEX-PN ®.

To ensure public protection, the United States and its territories require entry into the practice of nursing to be regulated by licensing authorities within each jurisdiction. Each jurisdiction requires all candidates for licensure as entry-level nurses to pass an examination (NCLEX) which assesses the knowledge required to perform safely and effectively.

The NCLEX-RN is for registered nurse candidates while the NCLEX-PN is for practical and vocational nurses. The main difference between the two tests is the number and difficulty of correctly answered questions required to pass the exam. The States and territorial boards of nursing use these exams in making licensure decisions. The NCLEX-RN has 265 questions and the minimum number you need to answer is 75. The NCLEX-PN has 205 questions and the minimum number you need to answer is 85. The NCLEX exams are administered using Computerized Adaptive Testing - CAT. There is a six hour limit for NCLEX-RN and a five hour time limit for NCLEX-PN which includes time for the computer tutorial and breaks.

Using this method (CAT) each NCLEX exam is unique and the questions are retrieved from a database as the exam progresses. The computer measures the ability of the candidate using the answers provided previously and changes the difficulty and topic of the new questions accordingly - if you answer correctly the computer will select harder NCLEX questions and if you are answer incorrectly it will choose easier questions. The NCLEX software estimates your ability every time you provide the answer to a question and with each new answer you provide the estimate of your ability gets more precise.

The NCLEX exam software selects questions that it considers you will have a close to 50% chance of answering correctly - not too hard or too easy for the ability it believes you have. This is done so that a well prepared candidate will be asked more difficult questions thus having a good chance of passing the NCLEX exam by answering the minimum number of questions while less prepared candidates are not forced to guess the answers to questions too difficult for them. The expected number of correct answers is half the total number of NCLEX questions you are presented with because of the adaptive nature of the test.

After you answer the minimum number of questions for the NCLEX exam the software will analyze your performance and it may shut-down the computer. This means that you either passed or failed the exam. The computer will shut-down only when the program running the test has determined with 95% certainty that your ability is either above or below the passing standard.

The only way to get additional NCLEX questions is if you are very close to the passing score - either 2.5% above or 2.5% below it. If this is the case you should not worry about failing but instead should concentrate on answering correctly the next set of questions. You must understand that you are very close to passing the exam if you answer most NCLEX questions correctly from this point on. You must answer the maximum number of questions on the exam only if at the end of each set of questions you are within the 2.5% above or below the passing score. The time you spend on each question is not an important factor with regard to passing but you should answer the required number of questions in the allotted time.

If you are required to answer the maximum number of NCLEX questions and the computer still isn't 95% sure you can pass, the 95% confidence requirement is dropped. If at this point you have a score higher than the minimum required you pass the exam otherwise you fail. If you run out of time and did not answer the minimum number of questions required you fail automatically. If you run out of time but you answered the minimum number of questions required and for the last 60 NCLEX questions your score was never below the passing standard you pass otherwise you fail the exam. This does not mean that you have to answer the last 60 questions correctly but only that at any point during the last 60 NCLEX questions your score was above the minimum required to pass the exam. You can think about it this way: for each correct answer add one to your score while for each incorrect answer subtract one. Adding your scores one at a time for each question answered should never result in a negative score in order for you to pass if you run out of time but you have answered the minimum number of questions required.

The NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN questions are mostly multiple-choice questions with four answers. In some cases the NCLEX exam uses more difficult question formats such as multiple-choice questions that require you to select one or more correct answers, fill-in-the-blank questions or questions that require you to identify an area on a picture. Both exams cover mostly the same topics but the NCLEX-RN is more difficult. 

You must apply to your state board of nursing in order to take the NCLEX examination. That board of nursing will decide whether or not you are eligible for the NCLEX examination. If you are eligible you must register to take the exam using the Authorization to Take the Test (ATT) provided by the board of nursing in your state. They will also provide you with a list of testing centers and instructions for how to schedule and take the licensure examination. After you take the test you will have to wait for the results. The time you need to wait depends on how the results are reported in your state: mail, online, phone or email. If you fail the test you will receive a summary of your test performance indicating topics where you did well and topics that you need to study further. You will be able to take the test again after a mandatory waiting period - usually 45 days.

NCLEX-RN Exam
Kaplan NCLEX-RN Exam 2006-2007 with CD-ROM
Kaplan MCAT Comprehensive Review with CD-ROM
NCLEX-RN Exam Cram (Exam Cram)
NCLEX-PN Exam Practice Questions Exam Cram (Exam Cram)

Nursing Resources

Information about employment opportunities may be obtained from local hospitals, nursing care facilities, home health care agencies, psychiatric facilities, the Minnesota State Board of Nursing, and local offices of the State employment service. For information on nursing schools and lists of accredited programs in other states visit one of the following websites: LVN Schools in California, Nursing Schools in Maryland, New York Nursing Schools, Colorado Nursing Schools and Nursing Schools in Arizona.

The information on Minnesota-Nursing-Schools.com is for general informational and educational purposes only. Minnesota-Nursing-Schools.com makes no representation that the information is accurate, reliable, complete or timely.