Registered Nursing State Boards

So you have finally graduated and passed all of your nursing classes, and it is time to take state boards. This can be a terrifying and enjoyable experience, because even though you feel confident that you were able to pass all of you classes, one test will determine if it was all worth it. On top of all that state boards are expensive to take ranging anywhere from 300 to 500 dollars depending on the state. From the first day you started school everyone told you how hard state boards where going to be, and over time you have convinced yourself that you are more likely to fail than to pass, but that just is not true because about 90 percent of people who take the test pass the first time. It is true that the state board of nursing is trying every year to make the boards harder, but they don't want people to fail, this is just there way of making you prepare harder every year.

Boards work on what is called a CAT program, this program is set up so that your questions follow along with how well you are doing on the test. Imagine that there is an imaginary line that is set at the beginning of the test, this is the line that determines if you are going to pass or fail. each question for the test is assigned a point value. These questioning get progressively harder as the test goes on. If you get a one point question right then you will receive a two point question and so on. The most important part of the test is the first ten questions, because these question determine how far above or below that line you are. Board questions are set up so that a person can either take the minimum or maximum number of question usually anywhere from 75 to 225 questions. If a person takes the minimum number of questions it either means that they were above the line for long enough that the program does not require them to take anymore questions, it could also mean that you failed so badly that you need no more questions. Generally, people who take the minimum number of questions have a 95 percent chance of passing. Don't get discouraged though if you do not get the minimum number of questions, this just means that your doing well your just to close to line for a definite pass or fail, also the program can randomly choose certain testers to take the maximum number of questions.
Overall, it is recommended that a person does about 50 question a day from a reputable book or program, these usually cost about 35 dollars, some people have gotten crazy and spent up to 500 dollars for a study guide, but I just do no think that is necessary. If you study hard and work hard your chances of passing are pretty good. There are also classes that you can take, these are basically large study groups, but I have heard that they work pretty well.