North Dakota Nursing Schools

ANA Calls On Policymakers To Act On Nurse Staffing Legislation

Silver Spring, MD - A study published today in the journal Health Affairs provides new evidence that if hospitals invest in appropriate Registered Nurse (RN) staffing, thousands of lives and millions of dollars could be saved each year. Specifically, the study shows that if hospitals increased RN staffing and hours of nursing care per patient, more than 6,700 patient deaths and four million days of care in hospitals could be avoided each year. In addition to the immense societal benefits of adequate nurse staffing, the anticipated financial benefits of savings per avoided patient death or hospitalization may also be significant.

"This new study is important because it highlights the fact that people suffer and die when nursing care is inadequate," said Barbara Blakeney, MS, RN, president of the American Nurses Association (ANA).

"It is the latest study in a growing body of evidence that clearly demonstrates that nurses make the critical, cost-effective difference in providing safe, high-quality patient care," she added. Blakeney pointed to ANA's own report, Nurse Staffing and Patient Outcomes in the Inpatient Hospital Setting released in May 2000.

The study looked at hospital and Medicare data in nine states in five categories of adverse outcomes: length of hospital stay, hospital-acquired pneumonia, postoperative infection, bed sores and hospital-acquired urinary tract infections. All five measures were markedly lower with higher levels of RN involvement in patient care.

Three studies published in 2002, one in the New England Journal of Medicine , one by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and another in the Journal of the American Medical Association , also found direct links between nurse staffing levels and better patient outcomes. Read more...

NCLEX Exam Questions, Answers and Results

NCLEX stands for The National Council Licensure Examination which is a standardized exam used by each state board of nursing to determine if RN or LPN/LVN candidates are competent for entry-level nursing practice. There are two NCLEX tests offered by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN): the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses - NCLEX-RN ® and the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses - NCLEX-PN ®.

To ensure public protection, the United States and its territories require entry into the practice of nursing to be regulated by licensing authorities within each jurisdiction. Each jurisdiction requires all candidates for licensure as entry-level nurses to pass an examination (NCLEX) which assesses the knowledge required to perform safely and effectively.

The NCLEX-RN is for registered nurse candidates while the NCLEX-PN is for practical and vocational nurses. The main difference between the two tests is the number and difficulty of correctly answered questions required to pass the exam. The States and territorial boards of nursing use these exams in making licensure decisions. The NCLEX-RN has 265 questions and the minimum number you need to answer is 75. The NCLEX-PN has 205 questions and the minimum number you need to answer is 85. The NCLEX exams are administered using Computerized Adaptive Testing - CAT. There is a six hour limit for NCLEX-RN and a five hour time limit for NCLEX-PN which includes time for the computer tutorial and breaks.

Using this method (CAT) each NCLEX exam is unique and the questions are retrieved from a database as the exam progresses. The computer measures the ability of the candidate using the answers provided previously and changes the difficulty and topic of the new questions accordingly - if you answer correctly the computer will select harder NCLEX questions and if you are answer incorrectly it will choose easier questions. The NCLEX software estimates your ability every time you provide the answer to a question and with each new answer you provide the estimate of your ability gets more precise.

The NCLEX exam software selects questions that it considers you will have a close to 50% chance of answering correctly - not too hard or too easy for the ability it believes you have. This is done so that a well prepared candidate will be asked more difficult questions thus having a good chance of passing the NCLEX exam by answering the minimum number of questions while less prepared candidates are not forced to guess the answers to questions too difficult for them. The expected number of correct answers is half the total number of NCLEX questions you are presented with because of the adaptive nature of the test.

After you answer the minimum number of questions for the NCLEX exam the software will analyze your performance and it may shut-down the computer. This means that you either passed or failed the exam. The computer will shut-down only when the program running the test has determined with 95% certainty that your ability is either above or below the passing standard.

The only way to get additional NCLEX questions is if you are very close to the passing score - either 2.5% above or 2.5% below it. If this is the case you should not worry about failing but instead should concentrate on answering correctly the next set of questions. You must understand that you are very close to passing the exam if you answer most NCLEX questions correctly from this point on. You must answer the maximum number of questions on the exam only if at the end of each set of questions you are within the 2.5% above or below the passing score. The time you spend on each question is not an important factor with regard to passing but you should answer the required number of questions in the allotted time.

If you are required to answer the maximum number of NCLEX questions and the computer still isn't 95% sure you can pass, the 95% confidence requirement is dropped. If at this point you have a score higher than the minimum required you pass the exam otherwise you fail. If you run out of time and did not answer the minimum number of questions required you fail automatically. If you run out of time but you answered the minimum number of questions required and for the last 60 NCLEX questions your score was never below the passing standard you pass otherwise you fail the exam. This does not mean that you have to answer the last 60 questions correctly but only that at any point during the last 60 NCLEX questions your score was above the minimum required to pass the exam. You can think about it this way: for each correct answer add one to your score while for each incorrect answer subtract one. Adding your scores one at a time for each question answered should never result in a negative score in order for you to pass if you run out of time but you have answered the minimum number of questions required.

The NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN questions are mostly multiple-choice questions with four answers. In some cases the NCLEX exam uses more difficult question formats such as multiple-choice questions that require you to select one or more correct answers, fill-in-the-blank questions or questions that require you to identify an area on a picture. Both exams cover mostly the same topics but the NCLEX-RN is more difficult. 

You must apply to your state board of nursing in order to take the NCLEX examination. That board of nursing will decide whether or not you are eligible for the NCLEX examination. If you are eligible you must register to take the exam using the Authorization to Take the Test (ATT) provided by the board of nursing in your state. They will also provide you with a list of testing centers and instructions for how to schedule and take the licensure examination. After you take the test you will have to wait for the results. The time you need to wait depends on how the results are reported in your state: mail, online, phone or email. If you fail the test you will receive a summary of your test performance indicating topics where you did well and topics that you need to study further. You will be able to take the test again after a mandatory waiting period - usually 45 days. Good luck!

NCLEX PASS RATES 2004-2005 (First Time Candidates)
LPN Programs
Dickinson State University	100.00% (19/19)
North Dakota State College of Science	93.22% (55/59)
United Tribes Technical College	77.78% (7/9)
Williston State College	95.08% (58/61)
NORTH DAKOTA OVERALL PASS RATE	93.92% (139/148)
NATIONAL AVERAGE	89.97%
RN Programs
Dickinson State University (BSN)	88.89% (8/9)
Jamestown College (BSN)	91.30% (21/23)
Medcenter One College of Nsg (BSN)	88.89% (40/45)
Minot State University (BSN)	74.19% (23/31)
Tri-College University (BSN)	89.47% (68/76)
University of Mary (BSN)	84.62% (55/65)
University of ND (BSN)	85.26% (81/95)
NORTH DAKOTA OVERALL PASS RATE	86.05% (296/344)
NATIONAL AVERAGE	86.15%

Useful Books

NCLEX-RN Exam
Kaplan NCLEX-RN Exam 2006-2007 with CD-ROM
Kaplan MCAT Comprehensive Review with CD-ROM
NCLEX-RN Exam Cram (Exam Cram)
NCLEX-PN Exam Practice Questions Exam Cram (Exam Cram)

Nursing Resources

For questions on the NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN exams visit the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Information about employment opportunities may be obtained from local hospitals, nursing care facilities, home health care agencies, psychiatric facilities, the North Dakota State Board of Nursing, and local offices of the State employment service. For information on nursing schools and lists of accredited programs in other states visit one of the following websites: New Mexico Nursing Degrees, Rhode Island Nursing Schools, Tennessee Nursing Programs, Michigan Nursing Degrees and Missouri Nursing Schools.

The information on North-Dakota-Nursing-Schools.com is for general informational and educational purposes only. North-Dakota-Nursing-Schools.com makes no representation that the information is accurate, reliable, complete or timely.