The NCLEX-PN test is administered through the individual State Boards of Nursing. The aim of this exam is to determine the safety of allowing an entry-level practical or vocational nurse to start practicing. The National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses is saddled with the responsibility of protecting the general public from ineffective and unsafe nursing care. Each State Board of Nursing is responsible for the regulation of nursing practices within their state.

The minimum number of questions the candidates can answer are 85 while the maximum is 205. Regardless of the number of questions you answer, you will be required to answer 25 experimental questions, which do not count towards your total scores in the exam. They are designed to test future questions in the test. As there is no general number of questions for the students, there is also no general time duration for the completion of the exam. However, the maximum duration any individual can have is 5 hours. The timing includes a tutorial at the beginning of the exam. There is no compulsory break in-between but one can decide to take a break after 2 hours of writing NCLEX-PN. Another break is allowed after another 90 minutes of writing the test.

The NCLEX-PN test consists of four categories and eight sub-categories. The content of the exam focuses on various aspects ranging from medical, pediatric, obstetric, surgical to psychiatric and others. The exam questions are majorly multiple choice with four likely answer options. There are also alternative question formats, which include multiple response, hot spots, fill-in-the-blank, drag and drop, and chart/exhibit. All these questions are based on integrated nursing content.

The students will have to stop the exam if any of the four scenarios occur:

• They have correctly answered 85 questions.
• They have not been able to demonstrate minimum competency after answering 85 questions.
• They have used up the 5 hours’ duration.
• They have answered the maximum questions of 205.

The NCLEX-PN exam is in the format of a computer adaptive test. This is an interactive testing format that brings up questions based on your responses. It ensures that you don’t have too hard or too easy questions at any particular time. The first question that comes up will be relatively easy and if you answer correctly, the computer will give you a more difficult question. If your answer is incorrect, the computer will give you an easier question. As you continue to answer these questions, the computer will be able to determine your level of competence.