hypocaffeinemia

Those of you that know me know that I’m a big advocate for increasing the professionalism in our…erm… profession. That’s why I’m a bit bothered to report that many states have no limit on the amount of times one is allowed to sit for the NCLEX exam- the national test required to obtain a nursing license.

Additionally, if you search around the net you will find many supporting those taking the test for their 6th, 7th, and even 8th time! That’s insanity!

The most common excuse given is that the repeat fail-er suffers from “test anxiety”. Test anxiety is a very real problem some people have, but the term is quite frankly overused and appears to be claimed by anybody who does poorly on a test, regardless of actual affect from their anxiety.

Further, while test anxiety may apply the first or even the second time you must take a weirdly formatted test at a distant and unknown testing center, by the 5th time around you should be a pro at it.

The NCLEX is necessary to ensure that licensed and registered nurses are minimally competent at what they are doing- this is a good thing for our patients and our profession. At what point do we stop encouraging the guy that’s failed it 7 times already to try again in the hopes that he might squeak by and start protecting our profession by encouraging somebody unable to pass to repeat a nursing program or seek out a different line of work?

Would anybody in their right mind go to a doctor who barely passed the USMLE exams only after a half-dozen attempts?