• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

NCLEX-RN: Inside the numbers

Stressed Out Nurses Weekly, December 18, 2006

It looms large at the end of every nurse's education. It's a daunting, intimidating collection of questions meant to test knowledge on anything, everything, and then some other things.

It is, without further ado, the National Council Licensure Examination.

Or, as you like to call it, the NCLEX®. So, why is the test so scary? Is it the amount of information on it? Is it the reality that, upon successful completion, you are an actual nurse? Or is it simply the fear of failure?

Well, relax, for there is comfort in numbers. Cold, hard statistics can make sense out of anything, and the NCLEX is no different. A quick look at some of the figures from the past 10 years of the RN test might help warm your heart a little this holiday season:

Did you know that 71.88% of everyone (1,253,972 people) who has taken the NCLEX-RN test in the past 10 years has passed it? Not bad, is it? That means more than 7 out of every 10 graduates who step up to the proverbial plate hit a home run. That percentage has dipped below 70 only twice in 10 years (69.4 in 2001 and 68.8 in 2000).

Okay, okay, so some of you are probably thinking "70% isn't so good. That's like a C." But it gets better....

For the rest of the story (plus a whole lot more!), please go to www.stressedoutnurses.com

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive