Drum roll please. . .

Exam Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 at 8:00 AM

Candidate: Callie *******

NCLEX ID: **********

Registration #: **********

Exam: NCLEX-RN: The National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses

Grade: pass

Thank you so much for you prayers! Seriously, I would have been a basketcase on Tuesday had it not been for the fact that I had prayed about the exam and I knew that everyone I loved was praying about it, too. Instead, I was surprisingly calm and I can't believe how focused I was during that test! Normally I'm checking the clock every five minutes, thinking about how hot/cold (usually cold) I am, thinking about what I'm going to do for lunch (of course on Tuesday I was just hoping I'd be done by lunch!), etc. It also helped that the testing center was pretty much perfect. The computers were in little cubicles so we couldn't see each other, the temperature was perfect, there were no clocks, and we weren't allowed to wear watches (though the computer did have a timer so I'd know how much time I had left). It was also very secure. I had to show ID when I arrived, get fingerprinted, and have my picture taken. Then I had to be fingerprinted and show ID every time I entered or left the actual testing room. And the whole thing was video & audio taped. All we could take into the testing room were our IDs and our locker keys. And I had to empty my pockets and turn the hood on my sweater inside-out. Needless to say, I didn't cheat.

I had 75 quesitons, and I'll do my best to explain was that means. The NCLEX is a computer adaptive test. What that means is that the computer judges how well or poorly you're doing while you're taking the test, and it predicts the level of question you get based on your previous answer. For example, it starts off with easier questions (though they all seemed pretty hard to me; there was definitely more than one right answer for every question!). If you get the easier question right, the test will go up a level and the next question will be harder. If you get the harder question wrong, it will go back down to the easier questions. The fewest number of questions you can get is 75, and the most is 265. The test can cut off at any number in between those two. The test will end (without warning!) when you've either answered enough consistenly right or wrong that they know you are or are not competent, when you've answered all 265 questions, or when you've reached the time limit (6 hours). I kept trying to prepare myself to take all 265 questions, but I was so hoping I would only get 75! Also, as you can see from my results above, there's no score; the grade is either pass or fail. So I'm just going to pretend I got all 75 right. ;-)

As I sat in the testing center on Tuesday looking at my driver's license, I just couldn't believe that that 15-year-old girl with braces was about to become a real nurse. Tomorrow I can sign "RN" behind my name instead of "GN" (graduate nurse). Crazy, isn't it?