Comparative analysis of NLN NCLEX-RN readiness exam performance: BSN versus ADN

This well-argued paper focuses on the success rate of National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) and the importance of passing this examination. While the author illuminates presumably one aspect of the US system of nursing education, as an outsider it is difficult for me to understand what the different measurements and/or instruments are or why so much importance is attached to this licensure examination. The importance of ensuring licensure is, apparently, undisputedly important; however, Jeffereys (2007) identifies the risk related to the self-esteem of an individual student in the case of failure to pass the licensure examination as something educators need to bear in mind in terms of attrition. From a European perspective (and some US perspectives) nursing education fits within a nursing philosophy. The contextuality of the educational approach appears lacking in this article. It appears as though rote learning is advocated to pass the NCLEX-RN test and that this becomes the focus of the nursing programme, rather than teaching students to nurse. Previous authors have gone so far as to challenge the concept of standardised examination for nurse education (Wellard, et al., 2007