My NCLEX-RN Experience in Canada!

Ah, the NCLEX-RN. What can I say...

Coming from England this type of exam was foreign to me because we don't have any particular licensing exam to at the end of your studies. You simply finish your studies, and on completion (of course you have to pass everything within your course) this makes you then be able to be on the nursing register.

So, imagine my horror coming to Canada and finding out about this NCLEX exam! I'd never seen anything like it. The type of questions that this exam has is nothing that I had been prepared for in my training.

To be perfectly honest, I found the NCLEX to be a very strange exam. Especially as its role is to assess if someone will be a good nurse. I don’t know if anyone else agrees with this. But, personally, I was (and still am) very confused as to how it gauges if you are going to be a good nurse or not. 

But, any hoo, enough complaining about what I think about the exam because that's not going to help anybody. It's just one of those steps that you have to take to get your license here, so let's roll into some details that will hopefully help!

What is the NCLEX?

NCLEX stands for The National Council Licensure Examination. This is an exam for the licensing of nurses.

When can you sit the NCLEX-RN in Canada?

• If you have completed nursing school (at the end of your program)
• For international nurses - once the regulatory body has assessed your application and deemed you are eligible to write the NCLEX-RN, they will inform you and provide you with an Authorization to Test (ATT).
• ** Exception is if you have already completed the NCLEX-RN (e.g. if you completed your nursing training in USA, and are wanting to transfer your license over to Canada - you will not have to retake the NCLEX-RN

Booking the NCLEX-RN exam

First off, you need an ATT which is an Authorization to Test. This will be provided by the licensing body you have applied to. The ATT allows you to register for the NCLEX exam on the NCSBN website.

Once you are signed up within the NCSBN website, you will be able to book a date and time. Within this, I was surprised. There were quite a lot of dates to choose from. Additionally, most days had either morning or afternoon times. This may vary on the country / testing center you book at.

Note: The NCLEX-RN can be taken in a lot of different countries! Look on the NCSBN to see if you are able to sit the exam in your country, or somewhere closer than flying to the country you're planning to work in.

Can you reschedule?

YES! You can, and it is free. As long as you reschedule within the time period noted on the NCSBN website.

I wound up rescheduling a total of 4 times because I couldn't make my mind up when would be best to take it. I even changed testing centers a few times to try and get a 'better' date or time.

How does the NCLEX work?

The NCLEX is a Computer Adaptive Test. This means it is a 'smart' exam and adapts to you. It is difficult to explain, but please check this link https://www.ncsbn.org/1216.htm. It explains the computer adaptive test through text and video.

How Many Questions are there in the NCLEX-RN?

Pre COVID-19, there was a maximum of 265 questions.

Oh my goodness. I literally can't even imagine sitting there completing all of those questions. Total hats off to anyone that has sat through that!

Luckily for me (sort of?) because of COVID-19 they have reduced the amount of questions. I don't know if this is a permanent change but you can always look on the website which all link is here to see what the examination rows are and what the next math questions can be. 

In my particular exam there was a maximum of 145 questions. The minimum is 75 question to pass. This means you can pass or fail from 75 questions.

I was of course hoping for the minimum (75 questions), so I could get outta there!

My heart dropped when it went to 76. I felt really defeated and I think after that my brain switched off as I wasn't paying attention any longer. Before I knew it, a pop up came up on the computer which notified me that it was time for a scheduled break. I leapt at the chance and got up and went to the washroom, had a snack and drank some water just to try and rest. I then went in and finished it! A total of 137 questions.

What are the questions like?

There are different type of questions in the NCLEX that you should be familiar with. The ones that came up in my exam are as follows;

Drag and drop

Multiple choice - and the answers on this are based on what exactly they are asking

Chart / exhibition questions (e.g. identifying a rhythm in an ECG strip)

The dreaded SATA (Select all that apply). My exam had a total of 37 SATA questions (yes, I kept count). Each SATA question I got, my heart dropped a bit more thinking, 'not another one, surely :('.

My NCLEX-RN after thoughts

It was over! I wasn't really sure how to feel. The questions in the NCLEX were very vague. It was hard to tell if I had done well or not.

I honestly left the exam room feeling like I could confidently say I got 10 questions correct. Imagine! 10 out of 137!! Yikes. The wait for the results would most definitely be a rocky road as I clearly was no confident in my test taking.

Results

A frustrating thing about the NCLEX is that you don't know if you passed or failed right away. You have to wait for your results - which I'm sure you already know. The reason I find this frustrating is because it is a computer exam!

• In the US - online you can sign up on the NCSBN website for 'quick results'. The quick results take around 24-48 hours and come at a small fee - $7 if I remember correctly. For the US, another way to check would be to look at your licensing body to see if they have updated you to RN status.
• In Canada - unfortunately, no quick results here. Just the waiting game.

My lack of patience for waiting really got to me. whilst waiting. I was checking the NCBSN website, the licensing body website and my emails C O N S T A N T L Y as soon as I got into my car whole time I waited.

How long did my results take?

My results took 48 hours from when I finished the exam to come through. This of course, doesn't seem like a long time. But, when you license is on the line... it's a big deal!

I searched my name on the licensing boards website and noticed that the limitations of my provisional license were no longer there.

**PANIC MODE**

I was in disbelief. What did this mean?!

Quickly I checked my emails.

AN EMAIL WAS THERE FROM THE LICENSING BODY (BCCNM)

The email was titled: BCCNM - NCLEX Exam Results

Of course I couldn't click on it fast enough. Within the email I had they had congratulated me on passing the NCLEX-RN!

I honestly couldn't believe my eyes. Such relief as the actual exam itself left me feeling so defeated!

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Share your experience!

Please share your experiences of the NCLEX-RN, or the licensing exam you have to sit to be licensed in your country. Let me know in the comments as it will be interesting to find out how it works in other countries!

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Thanks for reading everyone! :)