NCLEX passing standard raised due to sicker patients with longer life spans
The amount of care required by hospitalized patients seems to grow every year, and many nurses in the field question whether recently-graduated nurses are sufficiently prepared to take on the demanding task.
This is the issue considered by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, (NCSBN), which recently raised the passing standard on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) to ensure new nurses are sufficiently ready to take on the growing needs of sicker patients.
The higher passing standard was voted on in December 2009 and will go into effect on April 1, 2010. Nurses will be granted a passing grade with a -0.16 logit on the NCLEX-RN logistic scale as opposed to a -0.21. For the NCSBN’s definition of a logit, click here
The higher standard is the result of NCSBN’s regular plans to reevaluate the test and passing standard every three years to ensure both stay current and reflect the care nurses will give their patients.
A PDF of the 2010 test plan is available here.
Source: Advance for Nurses
What is your take on the higher passing standard? Do you think this will help new nurses when they enter the hospital setting? Are there other ways to help recently-graduated nurses be more prepared?
About the Author: Sarah is an Editorial Assistant in the patient safety group at HCPro, Inc. She contributes to two monthly newsletters; Briefings on the Joint Commission and Briefings on Patient Safety, and manages four e-zines; Accreditation Connection, AHAP Staff Challenge, Nurse Manager Weekly, and Healthcare Training Weekly. She also helps research new products for the patient safety and nursing market. She graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2008 where she earned her bachelor's degree in English.
Olga Velez | Jan 11, 2010 | Reply
Raising the score is not a solution. I come from Puerto Rico and our students are requiered to complete a certain amount of hours in a hospital setting with every course. And they are precepted by experience nurses so they can get the experience. When they graduate they do pretty good in the hospitals especially if they go to the ones were they got there practice.
Bob Eck, RN | Jan 12, 2010 | Reply
I agree… rasising the score is not the solution to becoming a nurse or being a nurse….
(1) The NCLEX test is hardly perfect and raising it does not ensure better nurses. It only makes it more difficult for those who have difficulty with tests.
(2) The questions on the NCLEX exam are not real. When taking the exam you have to ask why are the NCLEX examiners asking this particular question? To show what? Instead it should determine the best answer.
(3) While no test is pefect I personally do not believe that the present NCLEX exam highlights critical thinking skills only hidden information.
Susan Dunham | Jan 13, 2010 | Reply
I agree with Olga. The new grads coming out of ADN programs have very little bedside experience and making the NCLEX more difficult will not make them better nurses. What they need is more bedside time to put into practice what they learn from the books. They also need quality preceptors to assist them with the transition from student to beginning nurse.