A New Era on the Horizon - Challenges and Implications of the NCLEX-RN Exam in Canada

The decision by the Canadian Council of Registered Nurse Regulators (CCRNR) to adopt the American-based NCLEX-RN exam as the new national licensing/registration exam in Canada beginning in January 2015 has wide ranging effects on nursing students, graduates, educators and faculty as they must understand how to successfully prepare for this new exam. This study examines the reasons for adopting the NCLEX-RN as the new licensing exam, how the NCLEX-RN is developed and the use of a computerized adaptive test to administer it. The results of Practice Analyses studies by NCSBN serves as the basis of the NCLEX-RN test plan. As a computerized adaptive test, the NCLEX-RN is psychometrically sound and can be legally defended. Implications for Canadian stakeholders include understanding testing anxiety among nursing students and graduates, the psychological domains measured by the NCLEX-RN, the new test content, and the new computer adaptive test delivery. Research completed by our American neighbors who have twenty years of experience in preparing their students for this computerized adaptive test offers insights for Canadian stakeholders as they face this challenge.