A New and Improved NCLEX Exam is Coming
The Next Generation NCLEX (NGN) exam asks better questions to help nurses think critically when providing care and make the right decisions. NGN is about protecting the public and achieving the best outcomes for clients, nurses, and institutions.
The new NCLEX exam asks better questions it uses case studies like you would see in the real world to reflect the kinds of critical decisions nurses have to make in a variety of healthcare settings. It focuses on interactions between nurse and client, the client’s needs, and expected outcomes.
The 2013-2014 NCSBN Strategic Practice Analysis highlighted the increasingly complex decisions newly licensed nurses make during the course of patient care. NCSBN is conducting research to determine whether clinical judgment and decision-making in nursing practice can be reliably assessed through the use of innovative item types. This objective is the NGN.
The NGN consists of several phases of research, which are delineated in the model below. If the evidence during any individual step indicates that potential innovations will not support the rigor and quality of the NCLEX, the project will be re-examined at all levels.
Beginning in July 2017, NCSBN started the Special Research Section as part of the NCLEX administration. By participating in the Special Research Section, candidates will be making valuable contributions to the future development of NCSBN examinations as well as to the enhancement of the nursing profession.
The Special Research Section will be given to select candidates taking the NCLEX and will take approximately 30 minutes to complete. This section will be administered following the regular exam and will not count as part of the NCLEX score.
If selected to participate, an introductory screen will indicate the beginning of the Special Research Section. This section will also continue to be numbered in accordance with the completed exam – for example, if your exam ended with question 125, the first question in the Special Research Section will be numbered 126. Despite the consecutive numbering, these new questions will have no impact on your NCLEX scoring or results.
Candidates may take the entire allotted five hours to complete the NCLEX. All questions on the NCLEX examination and the Special Research Section are confidential. 65% of nursing errors are results of poor clinical Decision-making and 50% of those errors involve novice nurses.
NCSBN is dedicated is to assessing and adapting to the rapidly evolving healthcare environment and the next generation of nurses will make more complex decisions about client care to meet today’s client needs Improving the measurement of the nurse’s clinical judgment is critical. For that reason, NSCSB is developing Next Generation NCLEX.
Clinical Judgement is a combination of critical thinking and decision making and to evaluate clinical judgment the NGN exam questions will be measuring Clinical judgment, which will focus on the interaction between nurse and client, the client’s needs, and expected outcomes.
Experts in the latest testing techniques and technology work with expert nurses to provide cutting-edge solutions on how to best create a test around this Clinical Judgment Measurement model. This model is a framework designed for testing that compliments the nursing process and other evidence-based nursing theories or practices.
To best explain the NGN exam, NCSBN simply has to look at the examples of the new types of questions. Once you see the questions it would be very clear on how they reflect real-world nursing care, each uses realistic situations or case studies like you see in typical nurse client interactions and focuses on the types of decisions nurses will have to make in the clinical setting.
New Types of Questions for NGN Exam
- Extended Multiple Responses – will allow you to select one or more answers at a time this is similar to current NCLEX multiple response items however it has more options to choose from.
- Extended Drag and Drop – will allow you to move or place response options in the answer spaces, this is like the current NCLEX ordered response items but not all of the response options may be needed to answer the items, in some items, there may be more response options than answer spaces. Close or drop-down, allows you to select one answer option from a drop-down list of words or phrases and can be found within tables or charts.
- Enhanced Hot Spot – will allow you to select answers by highlighting predefined words or phrases. These types of items allow an individual to read a portion of a client’s medical records and then select the words or phrases that answer the item.
- Matrix/ Grid – will allow you to select one or more answer options for each row and/or column, this type of item can be useful in measuring multiple aspects of a clinical scenario with a single item.
In summary, these types of exams provide the nursing student with a fidelity-based exam reflecting the complexities of clients in a variety of healthcare setting. As you can see the NGN is an enhancement to an already rigorous exam. Using the latest testing techniques and technology to maintain the high level of reliability and accuracy of NCLEX while meeting the changing needs of nursing regulation, public safety, and healthcare. It is all about protecting the public and achieving the best outcomes for clients, nurses, and institutions.
To put it in a nutshell all your learning in nursing theories, practices and regulations will remain the same, it will be just asked in a new and improved way of testing.
Choose Nasya
Choosing Nasya in processing your NCLEX application is the best choice for making the process more convenient and hassle-free. For your review, getting a learning institution of choice for professionals that provide a comprehensive and excellent review program, PEAK Excellence Review Center, Inc. is your partner with over 10 branches in Mindanao and Cebu they provide career advancement and learning opportunities for graduates to enable them to achieve professional goals and become responsive to the needs of the community while enriching their own lives.
Source: NCSBN.ORG
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