And THEN the NCLEX

Finishing nursing school was an accomplishment in and of itself.  Attending the pinning ceremony was awesome.  But NOTHING prepares you for the rigors of the NCLEX.  Oddly enough, other than experiences in nursing school, nothing ties one nurse to another like that horrible exam does.


What it is

It is a multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, select all that apply exam.  (Yes, all those question formats are included.)  You will have a minimum of 75 questions, up to a maximum of 250.  You have 6 hours to finish the exam.  And the computer decides, based on your answers, how many questions to give you.

The Content

Basically, any subject you studied in school is fair game.  Pharmacology.  Anatomy.  Med-Surg. Orthopedics.  Maternity. Ethics.  And the questions aren't straight-forward, either.  The question may be multiple choice, but all of the answers COULD conceivably be correct (if you go by straight book learning).  There's this concept in nursing called "critical thinking", and we are expected to use our critical thinking skills to puzzle out the best answer. And you can spend HOURS studying trying to reason out why one answer is better than another.

Preparation

I decided to take the exam as soon as possible after graduation, so I selected January 30, 2011.  Thankfully, so did my 2 study-buddies, Mary and Sally.  We spent the 4 weeks between graduation and The Day studying at least 5 hours a day.  We each used different approaches, but the time spent was the same.

The Day


Candidates are told to be at the testing center by 0730; exam starts promptly at 0800.  It's a very sterile environment.  You walk in..there's a registration desk to the right, and chairs/lockers to the left.  One at a time, you present your paperwork to the registrar.  She examines it, scribbles something on it, and asks you to place your fingers on a biometric scanner.  (Should you need to leave the center to use the restroom, you place your hand/fingers on the scanner to get back in.)  You are given a number.

And you wait.

Soon the proctor calls for candidate #1, then #2, etc.  Each candidate is escorted into an anteroom where you are asked to pull up your sleeves (so they can ensure you haven't written any notes on your arm), and turn pants pockets inside out. After the proctor is certain you're clean, you are escorted to a cubicle where your computer awaits.  The proctor gives you initial instructions, wishes you good luck, and goes back for the next candidate.


The Exam

I honestly do not remember what my mix of questions was. There were lots of pharmacology questions (figures; that was my weak spot), I do remember that.  I had all the possible test question formats (re-order the answers into correct order, multiple choice, select all that apply, and audio).  As I approached question #75, I started to sweat.  Either the exam would be over, or I'd have to keep going until the computer decided I either knew enough or didn't.  And if the exam ended, it didn't necessarily mean I passed.  It either meant I passed OR didn't know enough.

It shut off at 75.

It was sort of anti-climactic.  You're cruising right along and BAM, there's the 75th question...then a blue screen that says "thank you".  Or something like that.  And you're done.

You leave in a shell-shocked state, that's all I can tell you.  Your brain is fried.  You no longer remember the stages of labor, or how blood flows through your heart.  But it was done.

I left in shock.  Mary had finished first, Sally finished a few minutes after I did.  Mary and I both had 75 questions; Sally had about 100.  Mary was in the hallway in tears, CONVINCED she had failed.  Most of her exam was pharmacology, and even though she was our valedictorian, pharm was her weak point too.  We adjourned back to the hotel I had stayed at the night before to wait.

See, there's an unofficial way to determine with about 95% accuracy that you passed.  In short, you try to re-register to take the exam.  If the process goes all the way to entering credit card information, then you failed.  But if you get some kind of weird pop-up that says talk to the system administrator, then you most likely passed.  It takes about 2 hours for this to work.

We went to lunch together, with my laptop available.  After 2 hours, Mary tried first.

She got the pop-up!!!  Yay!!!

Then I tried.  I got the pop-up.  YAY!!!

Finally Sally did.  We were 2-for-3...could we make a clean sweep?  YES!!!  Sally got the pop-up, too!

Sadly, most of our class did not pass the first, or even second time.  For the most part, I attribute that to the level of maturity of my classmates.  They thought they could get by with study habits like they used in high school, and never bothered to really learn the material.  There were a couple in my study group who had to take it 2 or 3 times.  I think that's because of their preparation; it's a hard exam to prepare for.

So now...I'm officially a registered nurse, with the almost unbelievable letters "RN" after my name.  Next challenge?  Finding a job.  More on that later.