Hundreds of practice questions mapped to all client needs categories on the NCLEX-PN exam, including unfolding case studies. Questions include worked explanations with full solution steps.
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Covers Next Generation NCLEX (NGN) item types alongside traditional multiple-choice: unfolding case studies with linked questions, drag-and-drop, cloze drop-down, matrix/grid, and enhanced hot spot.
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An LPN is preparing to administer metoprolol 25 mg PO to a patient with hypertension. Before administration, the nurse assesses an apical heart rate of 54 beats per minute. What is the MOST appropriate action?
An LPN is working on a medical-surgical unit with a UAP. Which task is MOST appropriate for the LPN to delegate to the UAP?
An LPN is caring for a patient in contact isolation for Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) infection. A family member arrives and asks to visit. What should the LPN do FIRST?
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Continue practicing for freeNational Council Licensure Examination — Practical Nurse is a CAT exam of 85–150 (computer-adaptive) questions over 5 hours (breaks included).
8 practice areas in the NCLEX-PN question bank, each with its own questions and analytics.
Every question in the bank is written in one of these formats.
The NCLEX-PN is the licensure examination for licensed practical nurses (LPNs) in the United States, called licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) in California and Texas. Like the NCLEX-RN, it is developed by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) and delivered on computer at Pearson VUE test centers. Since April 2023 it has been the Next Generation NCLEX (NGN), with unfolding case studies and item types that measure clinical judgment as well as recall.
The PN exam is written to the practical nurse's scope of practice. Under the direction of a registered nurse or provider, the practical nurse contributes to the plan of care, carries out interventions, collects and reports data, and reinforces teaching. That scope shapes the whole test plan. Coordinated Care replaces Management of Care as the largest category. Pharmacology questions focus on administering and monitoring, with no titrating. Priority questions ask what the practical nurse should do or report first. The practice bank on this page follows the same eight NCSBN categories so that what you drill matches what is weighted.
Source: NCSBN NCLEX-PN Test Plan (current edition, revised by NCSBN every three years)
| Client needs category | Share of exam |
|---|---|
| Coordinated Care | 18–24% |
| Safety and Infection Control | 10–16% |
| Health Promotion and Maintenance | 6–12% |
| Psychosocial Integrity | 9–15% |
| Basic Care and Comfort | 7–13% |
| Pharmacological Therapies | 10–16% |
| Reduction of Risk Potential | 9–15% |
| Physiological Adaptation | 7–13% |
Percentages are the ranges NCSBN publishes. The midpoints sum to 100%. Compared with the RN plan, the PN plan gives more weight to Coordinated Care, Psychosocial Integrity, and Basic Care and Comfort, and less to Pharmacological Therapies and Physiological Adaptation. NCSBN revises the test plan on a three-year cycle, so confirm the edition in force on your test date.
The NCLEX-PN is pass/fail and computer-adaptive. Each item is calibrated for difficulty, and after every answer the computer re-estimates your ability and picks the next item near that level. The exam ends under one of three rules: the 95% confidence rule (the computer is 95% certain you are clearly above or clearly below the passing standard, which can happen as early as item 85), the maximum-length rule (you reach 150 items and the final estimate decides), or the run-out-of-time rule (the 5 hours expire, in which case the final estimate decides if you have answered at least the minimum number of items, and otherwise you fail). The PN passing standard is separate from the RN standard and is re-evaluated by the NCSBN Board of Directors every three years.
Traditional items score 0 or 1. Next Generation items (the case studies and standalone matrix, drop-down cloze, highlight, and bow-tie items) use polytomous scoring, which gives partial credit for partially correct responses. The minimum-length exam is 85 items, 15 of which are unscored pretest items. They are indistinguishable from scored items. Every exam includes three case studies of six items each that follow one client through the Clinical Judgment Measurement Model: recognize cues, analyze cues, prioritize hypotheses, generate solutions, take actions, and evaluate outcomes.
Practical nursing programs are shorter than RN programs, and so is the recommended preparation window. The plan below assumes 12 to 15 hours a week for 8 weeks and begins with Coordinated Care, the heaviest category.
Most PN distractors are actions that sit on the wrong side of the practical nurse's scope. Starting from the correct answer, the writer adds the option that changes the plan of care when the plan belongs to the registered nurse, the option that is clinically sensible and belongs to the provider, the option that reinforces teaching nobody has given yet, and the option that acts on a finding the practical nurse should have reported. All of them read as good nursing. Only one of them is the practical nurse's job at that moment. PassExams explains on every question and every plan why the option you chose looked right, which is where scope stops being a vague rule and turns into something you can apply under time pressure.
On Pro each wrong option carries its trap type (reading trick, scope overreach, rule swap, partial answer, right action by the wrong person), and the analytics group those by category. What usually shows up is a concentration. Coordinated Care misses cluster in scope decisions while Pharmacological Therapies misses cluster in dosage arithmetic, and the two need different practice. The variant engine rewrites a missed item around a new client and a new set of reported findings, so the retry tests the decision and not your memory of the scenario. Hints take the most tempting option off the table first and send you back to who is responsible for the call. Coordinated Care is 18 to 24 percent of the exam, so the shortcut to a better score is mastering your own common mistakes there.
Start with scope. Most Coordinated Care items, the largest category on the NCLEX-PN at 18 to 24 percent, turn on what a practical nurse may do alone and what must go to the RN or provider. Build your practice mix from the PN test plan instead of an RN question bank, and treat each six-item case study as one linked set of decisions. Keep a short dosage-calculation set running daily, because fill-in-the-blank items give you nothing to guess from. Where the exam stops between 85 and 150 items tells you nothing about your result, so answer at full effort to the end.
Between 85 and 150. The exam is computer-adaptive and stops when it is 95% confident of your result, when you reach 150 items, or when the 5 hours expire. The minimum 85 items include 15 unscored pretest items.
Five hours. That includes the tutorial and two optional breaks, and break time counts against the total.
There is no percentage. The exam is pass/fail depending on whether your estimated ability is above the NCLEX-PN passing standard, which NCSBN sets on a logit scale and reviews every three years. The PN standard is separate from the RN standard.
It is a different exam for a different scope of practice. It is no lighter version of the RN exam. Both are adaptive and feel difficult by design, because items are served near your ability. The PN exam has its own passing standard and its own test plan weighting, and NCSBN publishes pass rates for each exam separately.
The version in use since April 1, 2023. It kept the eight Client Needs categories and the adaptive design and added three six-item case studies per exam plus new item types (matrix, drop-down cloze, highlight, bow-tie, and trend) that are scored with partial credit.
Coordinated Care is the PN category and Management of Care is the RN equivalent. Coordinated Care covers the practical nurse contributing to and carrying out a plan of care with an RN or provider: client rights, confidentiality, continuity of care, referrals, and knowing what to report and when. Management of Care adds RN-level responsibilities such as delegation and case management.
After 45 days under NCSBN policy, up to eight times in a 12-month period. Your board of nursing may set a longer wait or a lower cap. The Candidate Performance Report tells you which categories were below the standard.
Yes, an on-screen calculator is provided for dosage and IV-rate calculations. Personal calculators, phones, smartwatches, and other devices are not permitted in the testing room.
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