Technology, right? It’s hard enough to keep up with the latest online
banking options, let alone all the new apps that are hip with the kids. With
the change from the CRNE to the NCLEX this year, nursing in Canada has taken
its own technology leap.
If you’re one of those people who thinks that phones are getting a
little bit too smart these days,
maybe the computerized adaptive testing (CAT) used by the NCLEX-RN is a tad
daunting. Or perhaps you’re all for CAT given all the benefits it brings, but you
haven’t yet had a chance to test this new examination frontier.
Either way, PRIMED is here to help prepare you not only for the
questions thrown at you on the NCLEX-RN, but also on how to best interact with
your new robot friend, CAT.
First off, it’s important to understand the differences between CAT and
traditional multiple-choice examinations.
While a paper exam allows you to go back and check on previous answers,
with CAT, that’s no longer an option. Only onwards and upwards!
Equally important is being prepared for the different types of questions
that this new technology allows. Where once there was only paper and pencil,
now there are multimedia elements. Although the bulk of NCLEX-RN questions are
multiple choice, a certain number will be “alternate question types”: multiple
response, hot spots, fill-in-the-blank, charts/exhibits, ordered responses,
audios, and graphic options.
Perhaps the most impressive part of CAT is how it customizes the
NCLEX-RN to each graduate and international nurse sitting it. Every answer
given affects the next question asked. During the two-day NCLEX Prep course
offered by PRIMED, you’ll learn how CAT adapts to you and how to be the most
effective test taker possible.
No matter how you feel about the digital revolution, none of us can
really deny the advantages each technological innovation brings.
Nurses rely on all sorts of technology to help them be more effective
and efficient in their jobs—from cutting-edge therapies right down to digitized
healthcare records. The introduction of computerized adaptive testing to
nursing in Canada is really just another part of this.
Thanks to CAT, the better prepared you are for your NCLEX-RN, the
shorter your exam is likely to be—with the possibility of answering as few as
75 questions, compared to the CRNE’s set 200. By getting PRIMED ahead of your exam
appointment, you could find yourself in that NCLEX-RN hot seat for a lot less
time than you ever imagined.
