National Certification Exam Candidates

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  • 1.  Welcome to Week #4 of our online study group

    Posted 06-09-2023 05:00

    Welcome to Week #4 of our online study group!

         Our online study group is moving ahead to Chapter 4 in the Selekman/Cogan School Nursing Certification Review book.  This chapter focuses on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and comprises approximately 20% of the possible NCSN exam questions.   Let's continue the discussion this week as we continue to work through the texts and the questions.

     

    Chapter 4 – Health Problems and Nursing Management

    1. Emergency Care
    2. Acute, Episodic, and Chronic Conditions

    Be sure to do the questions at the end of the chapter. Try answering the questions before you review the text to see how you did.

    Selekman, Shannon and Yonkaitis School Nursing: A Comprehensive Text 3rd Edition Chapters 19, Chapters 21 – 29

    Chapter 19 Students with Acute Illness and Injury

    Chapter 21 Students with Chronic Conditions

    Chapter 22 Students with Allergies

    Chapter 23 Students with Chronic Respiratory Illnesses

    Chapter 24 Students with ADHD and Specific Learning Disorders

    Chapter 25 Students with Diabetes

    Chapter 26 Students with Neurodevelopmental Disorders
    Chapter 27 Students Who Are Overweight

    Chapter 28 Students with Seizures and Epilepsy

    Chapter 29 Students with Other Chronic Conditions


    Here are a few more multiple-choice test-taking strategies taken from 11 Test Taking Tips & Strategies For Nurses * Nurseslabs :

    1. Identify Similar Options

    When an item contains two or more options that are similar in meaning, the successful test taker knows that all are correct, in which case it is a poor question, or that none is correct, which is more likely to be the case. The correct option usually will either include all the similar options or exclude them entirely. For example:

    When teaching newly diagnosed diabetic clients about their condition, it is important for the nurse to focus on:

    1. Dietary modifications
    2. Use of sugar substitutes
    3. Their present understanding of diabetes
    4. Use of diabetic nutritional exchange lists

    Options 1, 2, and 4 deal only with the diabetic diet, involving no other aspect of diabetic teaching; it is impossible to select the most correct option because each represents equally plausible, though limited, answers to the question. Option 3 is the best choice because it is most complete and allows the other three options to be excluded. As another example:

    A child's intelligence is influenced by:

    1. A variety of factors
    2. Socioeconomic factors
    3. Heredity and environment
    4. Environment and experience

    The most correct answer is option 1. It includes the material covered by the other options, eliminating the need for an impossible choice, since each of the other options is only partially correct.

    1. Identify Answer (Option) Components

    When an answer contains two or more parts, you can reduce the number of potentially correct answers by identifying one part as incorrect. For example:

    After a cholecystectomy the postoperative diet is usually:

    • High fat, low calorie
    • High fat, low protein
    • Low fat, high calorie
    • Low fat, high protein

     You know, for instance, that the diet after cholecystectomy is usually low or moderate in fat, you can eliminate options 1 and 2 from consideration. If you know that the cholecystectomy client usually is overweight, you can eliminate option 3 from consideration. Therefore option 4 is correct.
    ____________________________________________________________________

    Don’t forget to check out NBCSN’s other Exam Prep offerings at https://www.nbcsn.org/ncsn/the-exam/exam-prep/ and take advantage of NurseBuilders free Test Taking Strategies Course at https://ecourses.nursebuilders.net/courses/test-taking-techniques-a-guide-for-nursing-certification-exams

    Have a great week, and as always, enjoy the process.  Learning or re-learning material serves as a great refresher to elevate our school nursing practice. I look forward to hearing about your progress.



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    Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN
    New Jersey NASN Director
    School Nurse Camden City School District
    Faculty Rutgers-Camden School of Nursing
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  • 2.  RE: Welcome to Week #4 of our online study group

    Posted 06-09-2023 07:07
    This was wonderful. Thank you so much.





  • 3.  RE: Welcome to Week #4 of our online study group

    Posted 06-12-2023 12:29

    Can you please explain the scoring for the exam.  How many points is each question worth and what is the highest score?  I am aware that the passing grade is 620.  Thank you!!



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    Beth Bermingham
    East Islip, NY United States
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  • 4.  RE: Welcome to Week #4 of our online study group

    Posted 06-12-2023 12:51

    How many questions do you have to get correct to pass the exam?

     

    That is a question that is not easily answered. The passing score is determined by a psyhometric formula and is different for every exam.  The number of correct answers is converted to what is known as a "scaled score" which for our exam is 620, but it is not a consistent percentage or number correct.  One of the FAQs on our website which I have copied below may help.  I hope you find this info helpful and good luck on the exam.

    Because of the number of candidates who sit for the NBCSN exam, the testing company cannot "pre-equate" the test questions. This means the "cut score" (i.e., passing score) cannot be determined until all of the candidates have taken the exam throughout the entire testing window.

    Questions that did not perform as expected are analyzed and a determination is made as to how a particular question will be handled in regard to scoring. All of those questions are reviewed by a group (usually 5) of subject matter experts (SMEs) during a formal "problem item notification" (PIN) meeting with a test development specialist from the testing company. SMEs are nationally certified school nurses who have passed the NCSN exam and who have volunteered for the opportunity. NBCSN works very hard to get a panel of school nurses who have diverse educational, clinical, and geographical backgrounds and who have practiced for a number of years and are certified.

    Questions that come up during the PIN call might be handled in a number of ways.

    • A question may be discarded, either to be archived (no longer to be used) or to be rewritten to go back into the new question or a pretest category. In that case, the question would not be counted for or against a candidate. The situations where this might happen are:
      • a question for which candidates chose two choices almost equally as often;
      • a question for which high performers did poorly and low performers did well; and
      • a question for which very few chose the correct answer.
    • In some cases, the panel looks at question that has been chosen for review and determines that it is, in fact, appropriate and it will not be changed.

    Once the fate of the questions being reviewed has been determined, the "cut score" (i.e., passing score) is set and score reports can then be produced and sent to candidates.



     

    Warm regards,

     

    Pat

     

    Pat Krin, MSN, MS, RN, FNP-BC-Retired, NCSN-E, FNASN

    Executive Director

    NBCSN

    nbcsnexec@nbcsn.org

    www.nbcsn.org

     






  • 5.  RE: Welcome to Week #4 of our online study group

    Posted 06-13-2023 08:20

    Pat, I have read this but now that you get your score immediately and not at the end of the testing window it should be updated.

    What if I fail because of say 2 questions and then they get thrown out-- do they contact me later and say just kidding you passed? 



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    Sarah Casteline, RN , BSN
    Middle School Nurse
    Union County, NC
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  • 6.  RE: Welcome to Week #4 of our online study group

    Posted 06-13-2023 09:07
    Sarah, I guess this needs to be revised again. This was written before we went to pre-equated exams. I should have read it more closely.


    Sent from my iPhone
    Pat Krin




  • 7.  RE: Welcome to Week #4 of our online study group

    Posted 06-13-2023 09:09
    Sarah, I also want to apologize for providing incorrect information.

    Sent from my iPhone
    Pat Krin





  • 8.  RE: Welcome to Week #4 of our online study group

    Posted 06-12-2023 14:06

    Good afternoon,

    As always, the information here is most useful and encouraging.



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    [Cynthia] [Samuel] [PhD, RN]
    [School Nurse]
    [Irvington BOE]
    [Irvington], [New Jersey] [USA]
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