Oh Canada . . . Oh Canada!
What’s up all my Canadian nurse brothers and sisters?
I have to be honest . . . I know very little about Canada, but we got a question from one of our readers asking that we discuss passing the NCLEX as a Canadian nursing student.
NCLEX Pass Rates in Canada vs US
Between the months of January and June of 2015, after replacing the CRNE with the NCLEX, Canada saw overall NCLEX pass rates of nearly 10% lower than US pass rates:
- Canada: 70.6%
- USA: 78.3%
Imagine being a student going through nursing school and finding out that the test you HAD been preparing to take for four years was no longer the exam that your entire career rested on. Imagine being taught nursing by Canadian standards and having to take a test based on USA nursing standards . . .
It’s crazy to even think about honestly.
How To Raise Canadian NCLEX Pass Rates
- Start teaching to the test – I hate to even suggest this because, as you know, I don’t even appreciate the weight that is placed on the NCLEX in the first place. Too many students already tie their self worth to their NCLEX score . . . and that is just too bad. But, given the situation, if nursing schools start to cater their teaching to the exam . . . I think Canada will see higher pass rates overall.
- Understand the NCLEX – You’ve got to know your enemy. It’s important that students understand exactly what the NCLEX is and how they can prepare for it. We have an indepth article on how to answer NCLEX questions HERE. The NCLEX is going to test you on 8 core topics . . . know these areas.
Source: NCSBN.org
- What would a safe nurse do? – You’ve got to think safety when looking at the NCLEX. The main goal is to insure that you aren’t going to kill a patient within your first 2 minutes on the floor . . . patient safety first.
- Focus on weaknesses – This is a hard one because by human nature we want to see ourselves succeeding. We don’t want to look at our failures. Take a zillion practice questions and focus on your weaknesses.
Resources from NURSING.com
Listen . . . we want all of our Canadian nursing buddies to pass the NCLEX . . . the more the merrier. Here are are few of the resources we have created at NRSNG to help you pass.
Finding your weak areas is easy. With advanced statistics by category you know exactly where you need to focus.
Did you know we send out weekly nursing school cheat sheets? Yep all you have to do is sign up at: NURSING.com/freebies
NURSING.com
We have put together a complete program to not only get you through nursing school and pass the NCLEX but also help you to be an amazing nurse at NURSING.com.
MedMaster Course
MedMaster Course is designed to teach current and future nurses all about pharmacology. It is the most complete online pharmacology course you will ever find. . . I’m pretty damn proud of it. Visit MedMasterCourse.com
Here are a couple of things to help study mentioned in the podcast:
Have You Taken the NCLEX in Canada?
Source: CCRNR.ca
Listen . . . this episode is LOADED with information. . . but I wanna hear from you! Have you taken the NCLEX in Canada?
