A comparison of RN licensure test plans: the United States and China with implications for the Chinese nursing licensure exam
-
Ting Yao
,
Cheryl Frutchey
Abstract
Objectives
The purpose of this paper was to compare test plans between the National Council Licensure Examination-Registered Nurse (NCLEX-RN) in the United States and the National Nursing Licensure Examination (NNLE) in China, to discuss the influence of passing standards and critical thinking in the test plans on candidates and nursing education, and to provide implications to improve the NNLE test plan.
Methods
After reading the 2019 NCLEX-RN test plan and the 2019 NNLE test plan, a side-by-side comparison was done to evaluate both test plans.
Results
In the NCLEX-RN test plan, a periodical RN practice analysis provides fundamental principles for the development of test content based on the Client Needs framework. Item writing and coding is guided by the theory of Bloom’s taxonomy. The passing standard for the NCLEX-RN is based on a criterion-referenced method to assess candidates’ competencies as newly licensed nurses. In the NNLE test plan, test content comprises primary nursing tasks, nursing knowledge, and knowledge of common diseases. The standard score, a norm-referenced method, is used as the passing standard. The NNLE test plan does not present information concerning principles used in the development of test content, and the guidance related to item writing and coding.
Conclusion
The NCLEX-RN provides systematic and evidence-based procedures to determine and evaluate test content and passing standards as compared with the NNLE. The standard score used in the NNLE disadvantages candidates of secondary nursing education. The lack of principles to guide item writing and coding in the NNLE fails to foster students’ critical thinking. To improve the NNLE test plan, further research should be conducted to improve test content, item writing, and examination evaluation methods.
Research funding: None declared.
Author contribution: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
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© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Editorial
- A note of gratitude
- Research Articles
- Assessing baccalaureate nursing students’ knowledge and attitudes of social determinants of health after a health equity simulation
- Use of phenomenography in nursing education research
- A comparison of RN licensure test plans: the United States and China with implications for the Chinese nursing licensure exam
- From practical nurse to bachelor of nursing student: bridging the transition
- A caring model for nursing education
- Nurse and midwife educators’ experiences of translating teaching methodology knowledge into practice in Rwanda
- Nursing student-patient relationship – a 10-year comparison study in Finland
- An educational intervention to promote civility in nursing: a pilot study
- Self-compassion in undergraduate nursing: an integrative review
- Seeking transformation: how students in nursing view their academic writing context – a qualitative systematic review
- Assessing knowledge of genomic concepts among Canadian nursing students and faculty
- Nurse students’ attitudes toward the nursing profession after witnessing workplace violence
- The effectiveness of scenario-based learning to develop patient safety behavior in first year nursing students
- Impact of an extracurricular, student-led journal club on evidence-based practice among baccalaureate nursing students
- Nursing students’ engagement and experiences with virtual reality in an undergraduate bioscience course
- Concept-based curriculum: design and implementation strategies
- Assessing the impact of mentorship on nurses’ and midwives’ knowledge and self-efficacy in managing postpartum hemorrhage
- Teaching evidence-based nursing practice to student nurses in developing countries: strategies for novice nurse educators
- Nursing students’ perceptions of and experiences coping with stress in clinical practice
- Unpacking the hidden curriculum in nursing education: clinical placements abroad
- Facilitating and hindering experiences to the development of humanistic caring in the academic and clinical settings: an interpretive phenomenological study with nursing students and nurses
- Resilience in first and second semester baccalaureate nursing students
- Clinical stress among undergraduate nursing students: perceptions of clinical nursing faculty
- The potential for learning within hospital learning communities: the interplay between nursing practice and education to support research ability
- Embracing evidence-based nursing and informational literacy through an innovative undergraduate collaborative project
- The effect of linguistic modification on English as a second language (ESL) nursing student retention
- Perceived stress, physiological stress reactivity, and exit exam performance in a prelicensure Bachelor of Science nursing program
- A Comparative Analysis of Teaching and Evaluation Methods in Nurse Practitioner Education Programs in Australia, Canada, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands and USA
- Gett’n on the bus: evaluation of Sentinel City®3.0 virtual simulation in community/population health clinical placement
- Intentional learning: a student-centered pedagogy
- Journey to simulation program accreditation
- Effect of a rapid e-learning module and brief interprofessional simulation event on medical and nursing student collaborative attitudes and behaviors
- Using Participatory Action Research to Explore the Nursing Academic Work Environment
- Theoretical Approaches to Studying Incivility in Nursing Education
- Students’ Self-assessed Competence Levels during Nursing Education Continuum – A Cross-sectional Survey
- Re-imaging Clinical Education: The Interdependence of the Self-Regulated Clinical Teacher and Nursing Student
- Effect of an Educational Intervention Delivered to Senior Nursing Students to Strengthen Spiritual Care for People with Chronic Illness
- A Description of the Characteristics and Behaviors of Master Teachers in Nursing
Articles in the same Issue
- Editorial
- A note of gratitude
- Research Articles
- Assessing baccalaureate nursing students’ knowledge and attitudes of social determinants of health after a health equity simulation
- Use of phenomenography in nursing education research
- A comparison of RN licensure test plans: the United States and China with implications for the Chinese nursing licensure exam
- From practical nurse to bachelor of nursing student: bridging the transition
- A caring model for nursing education
- Nurse and midwife educators’ experiences of translating teaching methodology knowledge into practice in Rwanda
- Nursing student-patient relationship – a 10-year comparison study in Finland
- An educational intervention to promote civility in nursing: a pilot study
- Self-compassion in undergraduate nursing: an integrative review
- Seeking transformation: how students in nursing view their academic writing context – a qualitative systematic review
- Assessing knowledge of genomic concepts among Canadian nursing students and faculty
- Nurse students’ attitudes toward the nursing profession after witnessing workplace violence
- The effectiveness of scenario-based learning to develop patient safety behavior in first year nursing students
- Impact of an extracurricular, student-led journal club on evidence-based practice among baccalaureate nursing students
- Nursing students’ engagement and experiences with virtual reality in an undergraduate bioscience course
- Concept-based curriculum: design and implementation strategies
- Assessing the impact of mentorship on nurses’ and midwives’ knowledge and self-efficacy in managing postpartum hemorrhage
- Teaching evidence-based nursing practice to student nurses in developing countries: strategies for novice nurse educators
- Nursing students’ perceptions of and experiences coping with stress in clinical practice
- Unpacking the hidden curriculum in nursing education: clinical placements abroad
- Facilitating and hindering experiences to the development of humanistic caring in the academic and clinical settings: an interpretive phenomenological study with nursing students and nurses
- Resilience in first and second semester baccalaureate nursing students
- Clinical stress among undergraduate nursing students: perceptions of clinical nursing faculty
- The potential for learning within hospital learning communities: the interplay between nursing practice and education to support research ability
- Embracing evidence-based nursing and informational literacy through an innovative undergraduate collaborative project
- The effect of linguistic modification on English as a second language (ESL) nursing student retention
- Perceived stress, physiological stress reactivity, and exit exam performance in a prelicensure Bachelor of Science nursing program
- A Comparative Analysis of Teaching and Evaluation Methods in Nurse Practitioner Education Programs in Australia, Canada, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands and USA
- Gett’n on the bus: evaluation of Sentinel City®3.0 virtual simulation in community/population health clinical placement
- Intentional learning: a student-centered pedagogy
- Journey to simulation program accreditation
- Effect of a rapid e-learning module and brief interprofessional simulation event on medical and nursing student collaborative attitudes and behaviors
- Using Participatory Action Research to Explore the Nursing Academic Work Environment
- Theoretical Approaches to Studying Incivility in Nursing Education
- Students’ Self-assessed Competence Levels during Nursing Education Continuum – A Cross-sectional Survey
- Re-imaging Clinical Education: The Interdependence of the Self-Regulated Clinical Teacher and Nursing Student
- Effect of an Educational Intervention Delivered to Senior Nursing Students to Strengthen Spiritual Care for People with Chronic Illness
- A Description of the Characteristics and Behaviors of Master Teachers in Nursing
