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	<id>https://wiki.xmethod.app/index.php?action=history&amp;feed=atom&amp;title=NCLEX-RN_Exam_Blueprint</id>
	<title>NCLEX-RN Exam Blueprint - Revision history</title>
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	<updated>2026-11-08T12:37:18Z</updated>
	<subtitle>Revision history for this page on the wiki</subtitle>
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	<entry>
		<id>https://wiki.xmethod.app/index.php?title=NCLEX-RN_Exam_Blueprint&amp;diff=136&amp;oldid=prev</id>
		<title>Docmoates: Use 2026 subcategory name Safety and Infection Prevention and Control consistently in prose</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://wiki.xmethod.app/index.php?title=NCLEX-RN_Exam_Blueprint&amp;diff=136&amp;oldid=prev"/>
		<updated>2026-09-09T11:02:42Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Use 2026 subcategory name Safety and Infection Prevention and Control consistently in prose&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;background-color: #fff; color: #202122;&quot; data-mw=&quot;interface&quot;&gt;
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				&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; style=&quot;background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;← Older revision&lt;/td&gt;
				&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; style=&quot;background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Revision as of 11:02, 9 September 2026&lt;/td&gt;
				&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot; id=&quot;mw-diff-left-l61&quot;&gt;Line 61:&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot;&gt;Line 61:&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;|}&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;|}&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;−&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;The practical takeaway is that Physiological Integrity as a whole is the largest block of the exam, and within the remaining categories Management of Care and Safety and Infection Control carry substantial weight. Pharmacology, safety, and management of care together account for a large share of items.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;The practical takeaway is that Physiological Integrity as a whole is the largest block of the exam, and within the remaining categories Management of Care and Safety and Infection &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;Prevention and &lt;/ins&gt;Control carry substantial weight. Pharmacology, safety, and management of care together account for a large share of items.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;== Integrated processes ==&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;== Integrated processes ==&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot; id=&quot;mw-diff-left-l125&quot;&gt;Line 125:&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot;&gt;Line 125:&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;== Study strategy ==&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;== Study strategy ==&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;−&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;&#039;&#039;&#039;Study the blueprint, not just the textbook.&#039;&#039;&#039; Map practice questions back to the eight content areas and find the ones where performance is weakest. Weight study time toward Physiological Integrity, Management of Care, and Safety and Infection Control.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;&#039;&#039;&#039;Study the blueprint, not just the textbook.&#039;&#039;&#039; Map practice questions back to the eight content areas and find the ones where performance is weakest. Weight study time toward Physiological Integrity, Management of Care, and Safety and Infection &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;Prevention and &lt;/ins&gt;Control.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Practice with rationales.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Read the rationale for every option, including the ones not chosen. The goal is to learn why a distractor is wrong, which is the same skill the exam tests.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Practice with rationales.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Read the rationale for every option, including the ones not chosen. The goal is to learn why a distractor is wrong, which is the same skill the exam tests.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;

&lt;!-- diff cache key xmethod_app_wiki:diff:1.41:old-131:rev-136:php=table --&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Docmoates</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>https://wiki.xmethod.app/index.php?title=NCLEX-RN_Exam_Blueprint&amp;diff=131&amp;oldid=prev</id>
		<title>Docmoates: Update to 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan (effective April 2026): subcategory rename, case study/stand-alone item counts, exam composition, 0.00 logit passing standard, refreshed NCSBN citations</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://wiki.xmethod.app/index.php?title=NCLEX-RN_Exam_Blueprint&amp;diff=131&amp;oldid=prev"/>
		<updated>2026-09-09T11:02:25Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Update to 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan (effective April 2026): subcategory rename, case study/stand-alone item counts, exam composition, 0.00 logit passing standard, refreshed NCSBN citations&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;background-color: #fff; color: #202122;&quot; data-mw=&quot;interface&quot;&gt;
				&lt;col class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; /&gt;
				&lt;col class=&quot;diff-content&quot; /&gt;
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				&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; style=&quot;background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;← Older revision&lt;/td&gt;
				&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; style=&quot;background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Revision as of 11:02, 9 September 2026&lt;/td&gt;
				&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot; id=&quot;mw-diff-left-l1&quot;&gt;Line 1:&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot;&gt;Line 1:&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;−&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;The &#039;&#039;&#039;NCLEX-RN&#039;&#039;&#039; is the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses, developed and owned by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) and used by boards of nursing in the United States and its territories to make licensure decisions for entry-level registered nurses (NCSBN, &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2023&lt;/del&gt;). This article is a general study overview.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;The &#039;&#039;&#039;NCLEX-RN&#039;&#039;&#039; is the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses, developed and owned by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) and used by boards of nursing in the United States and its territories to make licensure decisions for entry-level registered nurses (NCSBN, &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2026a&lt;/ins&gt;). This article is a general study overview.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;−&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;Important caveat&lt;/del&gt;.&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;NCSBN revises &lt;/del&gt;the NCLEX-RN &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;test plan on a recurring cycle of roughly three years&lt;/del&gt;, &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;and item types&lt;/del&gt;, &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;category percentages&lt;/del&gt;, &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;exam length&lt;/del&gt;, and the &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;passing standard can change between editions&lt;/del&gt;. &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;Nothing &lt;/del&gt;on &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;this page &lt;/del&gt;should &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;be treated as authoritative or current. Candidates must &lt;/del&gt;download the free official &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;&#039;&#039;&#039;NCLEX-RN Test Plan&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;/del&gt;and the current candidate bulletin from ncsbn.org and &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;use &lt;/del&gt;those &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;documents &lt;/del&gt;as the definitive source.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;&#039;&#039;&#039;&lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;Current edition&lt;/ins&gt;.&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;The test plan in effect is &lt;/ins&gt;the &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;&#039;&#039;&#039;2026 &lt;/ins&gt;NCLEX-RN &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;Test Plan&#039;&#039;&#039;, effective April 1&lt;/ins&gt;, &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2026 through March 31&lt;/ins&gt;, &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2029&lt;/ins&gt;, &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;and this article reflects that edition (NCSBN&lt;/ins&gt;, &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2026a). It replaced the 2023 plan &lt;/ins&gt;and &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;is built on &lt;/ins&gt;the &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2024 RN practice analysis (NCSBN, 2025)&lt;/ins&gt;. &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;NCSBN revises the test plan &lt;/ins&gt;on &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;a roughly three year cycle, so candidates &lt;/ins&gt;should &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;still &lt;/ins&gt;download the free official &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;test plan &lt;/ins&gt;and the current candidate bulletin from ncsbn.org and &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;treat &lt;/ins&gt;those as the definitive source.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;== Purpose of the exam ==&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;== Purpose of the exam ==&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot; id=&quot;mw-diff-left-l17&quot;&gt;Line 17:&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot;&gt;Line 17:&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Management of Care.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Directing nursing care that protects clients, families, and health care personnel. Typical content includes advance directives, advocacy, informed consent, case management, client rights, collaboration with the interdisciplinary team, concepts of management, confidentiality and information security, continuity of care, establishing priorities, ethical practice, legal rights and responsibilities, performance improvement, referrals, and, prominently, &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;assignment, delegation, and supervision&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Management of Care.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Directing nursing care that protects clients, families, and health care personnel. Typical content includes advance directives, advocacy, informed consent, case management, client rights, collaboration with the interdisciplinary team, concepts of management, confidentiality and information security, continuity of care, establishing priorities, ethical practice, legal rights and responsibilities, performance improvement, referrals, and, prominently, &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;assignment, delegation, and supervision&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;−&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;&#039;&#039;&#039;Safety and Infection Control.&#039;&#039;&#039; Protecting clients and staff from health and environmental hazards. Typical content includes accident and injury prevention, fall precautions, seizure precautions, restraints and safety devices, emergency response planning and triage, ergonomic principles, standard and transmission-based precautions, surgical asepsis, handling hazardous and infectious materials, home safety, security plans, and reporting incidents, errors, and events.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;&#039;&#039;&#039;Safety and Infection &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;Prevention and &lt;/ins&gt;Control.&#039;&#039;&#039; Protecting clients and staff from health and environmental hazards. Typical content includes accident and injury prevention, fall precautions, seizure precautions, restraints and safety devices, emergency response planning and triage, ergonomic principles, standard and transmission-based precautions, surgical asepsis, handling hazardous and infectious materials, home safety, security plans, and reporting incidents, errors, and events.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;=== 2. Health Promotion and Maintenance ===&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;=== 2. Health Promotion and Maintenance ===&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot; id=&quot;mw-diff-left-l39&quot;&gt;Line 39:&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot;&gt;Line 39:&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;=== Approximate distribution ===&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;=== Approximate distribution ===&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;−&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;The following percentage ranges &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;were &lt;/del&gt;published in the &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2023 &lt;/del&gt;NCLEX-RN test plan. &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;Verify against &lt;/del&gt;the &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;current official test plan&lt;/del&gt;, &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;since these ranges are revised periodically&lt;/del&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;The following percentage ranges &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;are those &lt;/ins&gt;published in the &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2026 &lt;/ins&gt;NCLEX-RN test plan &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;(NCSBN, 2026a). They are unchanged from the 2023 edition&lt;/ins&gt;. &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;Because &lt;/ins&gt;the &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;exam is variable length&lt;/ins&gt;, &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;the content distribution of any individual examination may differ by up to plus or minus 3 percent in each category&lt;/ins&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;{| class=&amp;quot;wikitable&amp;quot;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;{| class=&amp;quot;wikitable&amp;quot;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot; id=&quot;mw-diff-left-l46&quot;&gt;Line 46:&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot;&gt;Line 46:&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;| rowspan=&amp;quot;2&amp;quot; | Safe and Effective Care Environment || Management of Care || 15 to 21%&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;| rowspan=&amp;quot;2&amp;quot; | Safe and Effective Care Environment || Management of Care || 15 to 21%&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;|-&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;|-&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;−&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;| Safety and Infection Control || 10 to 16%&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;| Safety and Infection &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;Prevention and &lt;/ins&gt;Control || 10 to 16%&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;|-&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;|-&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;| Health Promotion and Maintenance || || 6 to 12%&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;| Health Promotion and Maintenance || || 6 to 12%&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot; id=&quot;mw-diff-left-l72&quot;&gt;Line 72:&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot;&gt;Line 72:&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Teaching and learning:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; facilitating the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that change behavior.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Teaching and learning:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; facilitating the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that change behavior.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Culture and spirituality:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; the interaction of the nurse and client that recognizes and respects the client&amp;#039;s beliefs, values, and preferences.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Culture and spirituality:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; the interaction of the nurse and client that recognizes and respects the client&amp;#039;s beliefs, values, and preferences.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-side-deleted&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;* &#039;&#039;&#039;Clinical judgment:&#039;&#039;&#039; the observed outcome of critical thinking and decision making, listed by NCSBN as an integrated process in its own right and measured directly by the case study and stand-alone clinical judgment items described below.&lt;/ins&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;== Clinical judgment and the Next Generation NCLEX ==&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;== Clinical judgment and the Next Generation NCLEX ==&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;−&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;The Next Generation NCLEX (NGN) changes took effect in April 2023 and added item types designed to measure clinical judgment more directly (NCSBN, &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2023&lt;/del&gt;). The underlying framework is the NCSBN Clinical Judgment Measurement Model, whose six cognitive steps are:&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;The Next Generation NCLEX (NGN) changes took effect in April 2023 and added item types designed to measure clinical judgment more directly (NCSBN, &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2026a&lt;/ins&gt;). The underlying framework is the NCSBN Clinical Judgment Measurement Model, whose six cognitive steps are:&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;# &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Recognize cues.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Identify the relevant and important data in a client scenario.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;# &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Recognize cues.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Identify the relevant and important data in a client scenario.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot; id=&quot;mw-diff-left-l85&quot;&gt;Line 85:&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot;&gt;Line 86:&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;NGN content appears in two forms: &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;unfolding case studies&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;, in which a client scenario develops across a series of items that follow the six steps, and &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;stand-alone items&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; such as the bow-tie item and the trend item.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;NGN content appears in two forms: &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;unfolding case studies&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;, in which a client scenario develops across a series of items that follow the six steps, and &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;stand-alone items&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; such as the bow-tie item and the trend item.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-side-deleted&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;&lt;/ins&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-side-deleted&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;Under the 2026 test plan, clinical judgment is measured explicitly by &#039;&#039;&#039;18 case study items&#039;&#039;&#039;, that is three case study sets of six items each, plus &#039;&#039;&#039;approximately 10 percent stand-alone clinical judgment items&#039;&#039;&#039;, selected depending on exam length. Because clinical judgment is an integrated process, case study items span multiple content areas and are counted independently of the eight content area percentages (NCSBN, 2026a).&lt;/ins&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;== Item formats ==&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;== Item formats ==&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot; id=&quot;mw-diff-left-l113&quot;&gt;Line 113:&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot;&gt;Line 116:&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Computerized adaptive testing (CAT).&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; After each scored item, the exam re-estimates the candidate&amp;#039;s ability and selects the next item targeted near that estimate. Because items are selected to be maximally informative, candidates typically answer roughly half of the items correctly regardless of ability, so the perceived difficulty of the exam says nothing useful about whether the candidate is passing.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Computerized adaptive testing (CAT).&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; After each scored item, the exam re-estimates the candidate&amp;#039;s ability and selects the next item targeted near that estimate. Because items are selected to be maximally informative, candidates typically answer roughly half of the items correctly regardless of ability, so the perceived difficulty of the exam says nothing useful about whether the candidate is passing.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;No skipping and no going back.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Every item must be answered, and answers cannot be reviewed or changed once submitted.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;No skipping and no going back.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Every item must be answered, and answers cannot be reviewed or changed once submitted.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;−&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;* &#039;&#039;&#039;Variable length.&#039;&#039;&#039; Under the &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2023 &lt;/del&gt;test plan the exam ranges from a minimum of 85 items to a maximum of 150 items, with a maximum appointment time of five hours including the tutorial and &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;optional &lt;/del&gt;breaks. &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;Verify &lt;/del&gt;the &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;current numbers &lt;/del&gt;in the &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;official candidate bulletin&lt;/del&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;* &#039;&#039;&#039;Variable length.&#039;&#039;&#039; Under the &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2026 &lt;/ins&gt;test plan the exam ranges from a minimum of 85 items to a maximum of 150 items, with a maximum appointment time of five hours including the tutorial and &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;all &lt;/ins&gt;breaks. &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;On a minimum-length exam the 85 items break down as 52 items drawn from &lt;/ins&gt;the &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;eight content areas &lt;/ins&gt;in the &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;stated percentages, 18 clinical judgment case study items, and 15 unscored pretest items&lt;/ins&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;−&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;* &#039;&#039;&#039;Unscored pretest items.&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;A number of &lt;/del&gt;items on every &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;exam &lt;/del&gt;are being pilot-tested and do not count. &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;Candidates &lt;/del&gt;cannot identify them&lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;, so &lt;/del&gt;every item should be treated as scored.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;* &#039;&#039;&#039;Unscored pretest items.&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;There are 15 pretest &lt;/ins&gt;items on every &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;examination. They &lt;/ins&gt;are being pilot-tested and do not count &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;toward the result&lt;/ins&gt;. &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;They are identical in style and format to scored items, so candidates &lt;/ins&gt;cannot identify them &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;and &lt;/ins&gt;every item should be treated as scored.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;−&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;* &#039;&#039;&#039;Case &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;study placement&lt;/del&gt;.&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;Under the 2023 plan the &lt;/del&gt;exam includes &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;a set of &lt;/del&gt;unfolding case study items in &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;the first portion of the exam&lt;/del&gt;, in addition to stand-alone items.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;* &#039;&#039;&#039;Case &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;studies&lt;/ins&gt;.&#039;&#039;&#039; &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;Every &lt;/ins&gt;exam includes &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;three &lt;/ins&gt;unfolding case study &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;sets, 18 &lt;/ins&gt;items in &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;total&lt;/ins&gt;, in addition to &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;roughly 10 percent &lt;/ins&gt;stand-alone &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;clinical judgment &lt;/ins&gt;items&lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;.&lt;/ins&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-side-deleted&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;* &#039;&#039;&#039;Passing standard.&#039;&#039;&#039; NCSBN sets a criterion-referenced standard on a logit scale and reevaluates it every three years. The NCLEX-RN passing standard is &#039;&#039;&#039;0.00 logits&#039;&#039;&#039;, upheld through March 31, 2029 (NCSBN, 2026b)&lt;/ins&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Stopping rules.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; The exam ends when the measurement is confident that the candidate is above or below the passing standard, when the maximum number of items is reached, or when time expires. Ending at the minimum number of items is neither good nor bad news by itself.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Stopping rules.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; The exam ends when the measurement is confident that the candidate is above or below the passing standard, when the maximum number of items is reached, or when time expires. Ending at the minimum number of items is neither good nor bad news by itself.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Registration.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Candidates apply to a board of nursing for licensure, register with the testing vendor, receive an Authorization to Test, and schedule at a testing center. Unsuccessful candidates receive a Candidate Performance Report showing performance relative to the passing standard in each content area, and may retest after the waiting period the board and NCSBN require.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Registration.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Candidates apply to a board of nursing for licensure, register with the testing vendor, receive an Authorization to Test, and schedule at a testing center. Unsuccessful candidates receive a Candidate Performance Report showing performance relative to the passing standard in each content area, and may retest after the waiting period the board and NCSBN require.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot; id=&quot;mw-diff-left-l155&quot;&gt;Line 155:&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-lineno&quot;&gt;Line 159:&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;== References ==&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;== References ==&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;−&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (&lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2023&lt;/del&gt;). &#039;&#039;&lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2023 &lt;/del&gt;NCLEX-RN &lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;test plan&lt;/del&gt;&#039;&#039;. National Council of State Boards of Nursing. https://www.ncsbn.org&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (&lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2025&lt;/ins&gt;). &#039;&#039;&lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2024 RN practice analysis: Linking the &lt;/ins&gt;NCLEX-RN &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;examination to practice&lt;/ins&gt;&#039;&#039;. &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;NCSBN. https://www.ncsbn.org&lt;/ins&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-side-deleted&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot; class=&quot;diff-side-deleted&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;National Council of State Boards of Nursing&lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;. (2026a). &#039;&#039;2026 NCLEX-RN test plan&#039;&#039; (effective April 2026). NCSBN&lt;/ins&gt;. https://www.ncsbn.org&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;−&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (&lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2023&lt;/del&gt;). &#039;&#039;&lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;Next Generation &lt;/del&gt;NCLEX&lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;: Clinical judgment measurement model&lt;/del&gt;&#039;&#039;. https://www.&lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;ncsbn&lt;/del&gt;.&lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;org&lt;/del&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (&lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2026b&lt;/ins&gt;). &#039;&#039;NCLEX &lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;passing standard&lt;/ins&gt;&#039;&#039;&lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;. NCSBN&lt;/ins&gt;. https://www.&lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;nclex.com/passing-standard&lt;/ins&gt;.&lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;page&lt;/ins&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;−&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (&lt;del style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2023&lt;/del&gt;). &#039;&#039;NCLEX examination candidate bulletin&#039;&#039;. https://www.ncsbn.org&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot; data-marker=&quot;+&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (&lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;2026c&lt;/ins&gt;). &#039;&#039;NCLEX examination candidate bulletin&#039;&#039;&lt;ins style=&quot;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;. NCSBN&lt;/ins&gt;. https://www.ncsbn.org&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;National Council of State Boards of Nursing and American Nurses Association. (2019). &amp;#039;&amp;#039;National guidelines for nursing delegation&amp;#039;&amp;#039;. https://www.ncsbn.org&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;diff-marker&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;National Council of State Boards of Nursing and American Nurses Association. (2019). &amp;#039;&amp;#039;National guidelines for nursing delegation&amp;#039;&amp;#039;. https://www.ncsbn.org&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;

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		<author><name>Docmoates</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>https://wiki.xmethod.app/index.php?title=NCLEX-RN_Exam_Blueprint&amp;diff=64&amp;oldid=prev</id>
		<title>Docmoates: Create Nursing Education wiki structure</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://wiki.xmethod.app/index.php?title=NCLEX-RN_Exam_Blueprint&amp;diff=64&amp;oldid=prev"/>
		<updated>2026-09-09T10:52:35Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Create Nursing Education wiki structure&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;New page&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;The &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;NCLEX-RN&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; is the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses, developed and owned by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) and used by boards of nursing in the United States and its territories to make licensure decisions for entry-level registered nurses (NCSBN, 2023). This article is a general study overview.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Important caveat.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; NCSBN revises the NCLEX-RN test plan on a recurring cycle of roughly three years, and item types, category percentages, exam length, and the passing standard can change between editions. Nothing on this page should be treated as authoritative or current. Candidates must download the free official &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;NCLEX-RN Test Plan&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; and the current candidate bulletin from ncsbn.org and use those documents as the definitive source.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Purpose of the exam ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The NCLEX-RN is a criterion-referenced licensure examination, not a ranking or admissions test. It measures whether a candidate demonstrates the minimum competency required to practice safely and effectively as a newly licensed entry-level RN. Candidates are not compared with one another, and there is no curve. The result is reported as pass or fail only, with no numeric score.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The content of the test plan is derived from a periodic practice analysis of newly licensed RNs, which surveys the activities that new nurses actually perform and how critical and frequent those activities are. This is why the exam emphasizes safety, prioritization, delegation, and judgment rather than recall of isolated facts.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Framework: Client Needs ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The test plan is organized around four major &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Client Needs&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; categories, two of which are divided into subcategories, for a total of eight content areas. Every scored item is classified into one of the eight.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=== 1. Safe and Effective Care Environment ===&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Management of Care.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Directing nursing care that protects clients, families, and health care personnel. Typical content includes advance directives, advocacy, informed consent, case management, client rights, collaboration with the interdisciplinary team, concepts of management, confidentiality and information security, continuity of care, establishing priorities, ethical practice, legal rights and responsibilities, performance improvement, referrals, and, prominently, &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;assignment, delegation, and supervision&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Safety and Infection Control.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Protecting clients and staff from health and environmental hazards. Typical content includes accident and injury prevention, fall precautions, seizure precautions, restraints and safety devices, emergency response planning and triage, ergonomic principles, standard and transmission-based precautions, surgical asepsis, handling hazardous and infectious materials, home safety, security plans, and reporting incidents, errors, and events.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=== 2. Health Promotion and Maintenance ===&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Content addressing the expected stages of growth and development and the prevention and early detection of disease. Typical content includes the aging process, ante-, intra-, and postpartum care, newborn care, developmental stages and transitions, health promotion programs, health screening, high-risk behaviors, lifestyle choices, self-care, and techniques of physical assessment.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=== 3. Psychosocial Integrity ===&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Content addressing emotional, mental, and social well-being. Typical content includes abuse and neglect, behavioral interventions, chemical and other dependencies, coping mechanisms, crisis intervention, cultural and spiritual influences on health, end-of-life care, family dynamics, grief and loss, mental health concepts, religious and spiritual influences, sensory and perceptual alterations, stress management, support systems, and therapeutic communication and therapeutic environment.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=== 4. Physiological Integrity ===&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Basic Care and Comfort.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Comfort and assistance in the performance of activities of daily living: assistive devices, elimination, mobility and immobility, nonpharmacological comfort interventions, nutrition and oral hydration, personal hygiene, and rest and sleep.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Pharmacological and Parenteral Therapies.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Administering medications and parenteral therapies: adverse effects, contraindications, interactions, blood and blood products, central venous access devices, dosage calculation, expected actions and outcomes, medication administration, parenteral and intravenous therapies, pharmacological pain management, and total parenteral nutrition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Reduction of Risk Potential.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Reducing the likelihood that clients will develop complications from existing conditions, treatments, or procedures: changes and abnormalities in vital signs, diagnostic tests, laboratory values, potential for alterations in body systems, potential for complications of diagnostic tests and treatments, potential for complications from surgical procedures and health alterations, system-specific assessments, and therapeutic procedures.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Physiological Adaptation.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Managing and providing care for clients with acute, chronic, or life-threatening physical health conditions: alterations in body systems, fluid and electrolyte imbalances, hemodynamics, illness management, medical emergencies, pathophysiology, and unexpected response to therapies.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=== Approximate distribution ===&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The following percentage ranges were published in the 2023 NCLEX-RN test plan. Verify against the current official test plan, since these ranges are revised periodically.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{| class=&amp;quot;wikitable&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
! Client Needs category !! Subcategory !! Percentage of items&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
| rowspan=&amp;quot;2&amp;quot; | Safe and Effective Care Environment || Management of Care || 15 to 21%&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
| Safety and Infection Control || 10 to 16%&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
| Health Promotion and Maintenance || || 6 to 12%&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
| Psychosocial Integrity || || 6 to 12%&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
| rowspan=&amp;quot;4&amp;quot; | Physiological Integrity || Basic Care and Comfort || 6 to 12%&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
| Pharmacological and Parenteral Therapies || 13 to 19%&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
| Reduction of Risk Potential || 9 to 15%&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
| Physiological Adaptation || 11 to 17%&lt;br /&gt;
|}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The practical takeaway is that Physiological Integrity as a whole is the largest block of the exam, and within the remaining categories Management of Care and Safety and Infection Control carry substantial weight. Pharmacology, safety, and management of care together account for a large share of items.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Integrated processes ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Several processes are woven through all eight content areas rather than being tested separately:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Nursing process:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; assessment, analysis, planning, implementation, and evaluation.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Caring:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; the interaction of nurse and client in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Communication and documentation:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; verbal and nonverbal interaction and accurate recording of events.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Teaching and learning:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; facilitating the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that change behavior.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Culture and spirituality:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; the interaction of the nurse and client that recognizes and respects the client&amp;#039;s beliefs, values, and preferences.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Clinical judgment and the Next Generation NCLEX ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Next Generation NCLEX (NGN) changes took effect in April 2023 and added item types designed to measure clinical judgment more directly (NCSBN, 2023). The underlying framework is the NCSBN Clinical Judgment Measurement Model, whose six cognitive steps are:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
# &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Recognize cues.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Identify the relevant and important data in a client scenario.&lt;br /&gt;
# &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Analyze cues.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Link the data to the client&amp;#039;s clinical presentation and determine what it means.&lt;br /&gt;
# &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Prioritize hypotheses.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Rank the possible explanations by urgency and likelihood.&lt;br /&gt;
# &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Generate solutions.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Identify expected outcomes and the actions that could achieve them.&lt;br /&gt;
# &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Take action.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Implement the highest-priority interventions.&lt;br /&gt;
# &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Evaluate outcomes.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Compare observed to expected outcomes and decide what to do next.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
NGN content appears in two forms: &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;unfolding case studies&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;, in which a client scenario develops across a series of items that follow the six steps, and &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;stand-alone items&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; such as the bow-tie item and the trend item.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Item formats ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Candidates should expect a mix of formats. Traditional formats include:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Multiple choice, single response.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; The most common format.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Multiple response, select all that apply.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Choose every correct option.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Fill in the blank calculation.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Numeric answer, usually a dosage, intake and output, or intravenous flow rate. Follow the rounding and unit instructions in the item exactly.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Ordered response or drag and drop.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Place steps or priorities in the correct sequence.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Hot spot or graphic.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Click a location on an image, such as an auscultation site.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Chart or exhibit.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Interpret a simulated medical record with multiple tabs.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Audio and graphic option items.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Interpret a sound such as breath sounds, or select an image.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
NGN formats include:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Extended multiple response,&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; which may award partial credit.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Extended drag and drop,&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; matching responses to categories or a sequence.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Cloze, or drop-down,&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; completing a sentence or a table by selecting from embedded menus.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Enhanced hot spot, or highlight,&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; selecting the relevant words or phrases in a passage of text such as a nurse&amp;#039;s note.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Matrix or grid,&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; marking each row against columns such as indicated, contraindicated, or nonessential, or anticipated versus not anticipated.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Bow-tie,&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; placing the client condition in the center and dragging actions to take, parameters to monitor, and potential conditions into the surrounding boxes.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Scoring on NGN items may use dichotomous scoring, partial credit with a penalty for incorrect selections, or rationale-based scoring that links a condition to its supporting evidence. Traditional items are scored dichotomously.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Format and administration ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Computerized adaptive testing (CAT).&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; After each scored item, the exam re-estimates the candidate&amp;#039;s ability and selects the next item targeted near that estimate. Because items are selected to be maximally informative, candidates typically answer roughly half of the items correctly regardless of ability, so the perceived difficulty of the exam says nothing useful about whether the candidate is passing.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;No skipping and no going back.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Every item must be answered, and answers cannot be reviewed or changed once submitted.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Variable length.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Under the 2023 test plan the exam ranges from a minimum of 85 items to a maximum of 150 items, with a maximum appointment time of five hours including the tutorial and optional breaks. Verify the current numbers in the official candidate bulletin.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Unscored pretest items.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; A number of items on every exam are being pilot-tested and do not count. Candidates cannot identify them, so every item should be treated as scored.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Case study placement.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Under the 2023 plan the exam includes a set of unfolding case study items in the first portion of the exam, in addition to stand-alone items.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Stopping rules.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; The exam ends when the measurement is confident that the candidate is above or below the passing standard, when the maximum number of items is reached, or when time expires. Ending at the minimum number of items is neither good nor bad news by itself.&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Registration.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Candidates apply to a board of nursing for licensure, register with the testing vendor, receive an Authorization to Test, and schedule at a testing center. Unsuccessful candidates receive a Candidate Performance Report showing performance relative to the passing standard in each content area, and may retest after the waiting period the board and NCSBN require.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Study strategy ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Study the blueprint, not just the textbook.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Map practice questions back to the eight content areas and find the ones where performance is weakest. Weight study time toward Physiological Integrity, Management of Care, and Safety and Infection Control.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Practice with rationales.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Read the rationale for every option, including the ones not chosen. The goal is to learn why a distractor is wrong, which is the same skill the exam tests.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Learn the priority frameworks cold.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* Airway, breathing, circulation, then disability and exposure.&lt;br /&gt;
* Maslow&amp;#039;s hierarchy, with physiologic needs generally before psychosocial needs.&lt;br /&gt;
* Assessment before intervention, unless a life-threatening problem with an established protocol is present.&lt;br /&gt;
* Acute or unexpected findings before chronic or expected findings.&lt;br /&gt;
* Least stable client first when choosing whom to see.&lt;br /&gt;
* Safety first when choosing among interventions.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Master delegation and assignment.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; These items are predictable once the Five Rights of Delegation and the LPN/LVN and unlicensed assistive personnel scope boundaries are known.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Do not memorize brand-name trivia.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Learn drug classes, suffixes, mechanisms, key adverse effects, monitoring parameters, and the antidote or reversal agent where one exists.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Recognize the abnormal.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Know common laboratory values, expected vital sign ranges, and the findings that require immediate provider notification.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Answer as the ideal nurse in an ideal setting.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; The exam assumes adequate staffing and resources and expects textbook practice, not workplace shortcuts.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Practice therapeutic communication.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Correct options acknowledge feelings, use open-ended prompts, and stay with the client. Options that give false reassurance, ask &amp;quot;why,&amp;quot; change the subject, or give advice are distractors.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Simulate the format.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Complete timed blocks of practice items, including NGN case studies, so that pacing and the newer item types are familiar before test day.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Manage the day itself.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; Confirm the identification requirements in the candidate bulletin, plan travel, sleep, and take the scheduled breaks. Fatigue is a real threat on a five-hour appointment.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== See also ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* [[RN Scope of Practice]]&lt;br /&gt;
* [[RN Delegation and Supervision]]&lt;br /&gt;
* [[RN Advanced Skills (IV Push, Blood Product Administration, Central Lines)]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== References ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (2023). &amp;#039;&amp;#039;2023 NCLEX-RN test plan&amp;#039;&amp;#039;. National Council of State Boards of Nursing. https://www.ncsbn.org&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (2023). &amp;#039;&amp;#039;Next Generation NCLEX: Clinical judgment measurement model&amp;#039;&amp;#039;. https://www.ncsbn.org&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (2023). &amp;#039;&amp;#039;NCLEX examination candidate bulletin&amp;#039;&amp;#039;. https://www.ncsbn.org&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
National Council of State Boards of Nursing and American Nurses Association. (2019). &amp;#039;&amp;#039;National guidelines for nursing delegation&amp;#039;&amp;#039;. https://www.ncsbn.org&lt;br /&gt;
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[[Category:Registered Nurse (NCLEX-RN)]]&lt;br /&gt;
{{Disclaimer}}&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Docmoates</name></author>
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