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Preparing for the national boards begins as soon as a nursing
student begins nursing school. Licensure as a Registered Nurse is
granted upon a student passing the national boards or NCLEX. Passing
scores are based on the amount of questions that the nurse gets correct
in relation to the national average. Therefore there is no discrete
passing grade.
The fact that nursing students are started on
licensure testing preparation so early into their curriculum is a
testimony to those nursing schools with the highest and most numerous
passing scores. Choosing a nursing school should be based on
credentialing and the schools success rate of passing the national
boards. Certain schools that are not accredited will be able to
graduate nurses with an Associate Degree in Applied Science. However,
graduates from these unaccredited schools will not be able to continue
to their bachelors in nursing at an accredited university. The same is
to be said of diploma nurses.
Passing the national boards is
the final culmination of all of the work a student nurse has put into
nursing school. The methods of teaching and the type of questions
students have to answer throughout nursing school are structured to
help them pass the boards. Board exam preparation classes are also
mandatory toward the end of the nursing curriculum.
These NCLEX
preparation classes are offered for a period of four consecutive eight
hour days. There is no extra charge to the students for this
preparation. These classes are usually administrated a few days after
graduation from the program. This intensive preparation is not only
helpful to the students to successfully pass the boards, but boosts the
schools standing and credentialing as well.
As to whether or
not students should seek out extra tutoring for the national board exam
is entirely up to the student, and depends on how much extra
remediation they feel that they need to increase their comfort level.
Many nursing students complain about the way that questions are worded
in their nursing school exams. Instructors will always explain that the
reasoning for this is to help the students develop the analytical
thought process necessary to pass the boards.
The most helpful
study tools for nursing school exams as well as the national boards are
the NCLEX study guides. As students use these guides continuously they
develop the mind set to answer similar questions posed to them in class
and on boards. There are numerous NCLEX guides on the market. It is up
to the student to find the one that helps them the most. Using more
than one guide can also help a student learn to critically think about
questions.
The student should consult with their nursing
department and nursing instructors as to which of the guides out there
will give them the best test preparation. Some teachers will offer
students a private tutoring session for NCLEX review. The student would
be encouraged to take advantage of any nursing instructor willing to
help students out on their own time, even for a fee. These types of
instructors care about their students and want them to be successful.
There are also computerized tests that nursing students must take in
order to graduate. These tests are online and they are timed. The
nursing student's grade on these tests is not added in to their class
grade. These tests are a separate entity altogether. The purpose of
these tests is to measure the student's competency in each of the
fields of nursing curriculum and compare their scores with other
nursing students from their school as well as with the rest of the
nation.
The student gets a print out of their results upon
completion of each competency test. The school also gets the score and
keeps a record of those students who did not pass as well as those who
did. Those students that did not pass the exams are instructed to
repeat the test again until they receive a passing score. The scores
are listed by a number and if the student scores at a level that is
termed, /"unsafe", /then the student must retake the exam. Those
students who do not take these online exams seriously are surprised
that when it comes close to graduation they are prevented from
graduating because they did not finish or repeat the tests with a
passing score.
Nursing school is stressful right at the
starting gate and keeps up the pace up until graduation. All of this
constant bombardment with nursing tests and computerized competency
tests are designed to assist the student pass the national boards.
Learn more about nursing education at www.nurseslearningcenter.com |
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