The National Council Licensure Examination, or NCLEX-PN, is an examination qualifying you to pursue a career as a licensed practical nurse or LPN. An LPN provides bedside care, but does not treat, educate or diagnose patients as an RN does. Before caring for patients, for instance assisting with bathing, the practical nursing student must complete the NCLEX-PN. A graduate has approximately 5 hours to complete the licensing examination. The format consists of multiple-choice questions.
An RN candidate must also complete a multiple-choice test. The NCLEX-RN differs from the licensing examination a practical nurse takes. It is only for a nursing graduate seeking to become an RN -- an LPN cannot take this licensing examination rather than the NCLEX-PN. An applicant has approximately 6 hours to complete the NCLEX-RN examination, as opposed to 5 hours for an LPN exam.
Each licensing examination tests a candidate's basic knowledge and understanding of the nursing practice. The NCLEX-RN exam consists of 75 to 265 test questions. An LPN candidate completing the NCLEX-PN examination answers 85 to 205 test questions. Thus the licensing examination for a RN requires answering more questions for a test that is an hour longer. Another difference between the exams involves the number of pretest questions, though the answers are not included in the final score. The RN test has 15 pretest questions and the LPN's 25.
The NCLEX-RN and the NCLEX-PN covers four major client needs categories. The licensing exam for a practical nurse covers health promotion and maintenance, safe and effective care environment, physiological integrity and psychosocial integrity. The test may also cover questions related to requesting information from RNs and delegating tasks to nursing assistants.
The NCLEX-RN exam also covers the four categories, but they are broken down into other topics. The NCLEX-RN's safe and effective care environment category consists of questions on coordinated care, safety and infection control. Also, the NCLEX-RN includes questions about assigning tasks to LPNs and nursing assistants while prioritizing patients.