Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 May-Jun;46(3):143-148.
doi: 10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000001391. Epub 2025 Feb 27.

Predictors of NCLEX-RN Failure in Prelicensure Nursing Students

Meagan Rogers  1 , Cynthia Koomey, Rachael Fontenot
Affiliations

Predictors of NCLEX-RN Failure in Prelicensure Nursing Students

Meagan Rogers et al. Nurs Educ Perspect. 2025 May-Jun.

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to identify predictors of NCLEX-RN® failure and guide nursing program support and resources for at-risk students.

Background: Prelicensure nursing programs have adopted stringent admission and progression policies and often delay student testing based on known predictors of NCLEX-RN success. Students also delay scheduling the exam based on their perceived level of test readiness. There is a gap in the literature associated with predictors of NCLEX-RN failure.

Method: A retrospective predictive analysis was conducted on 3,396 graduates for the period 2018 through 2022 using demographic characteristics and academic metrics as variables.

Results: Students who were men and students with increased lag time to take the NCLEX-RN (>45 days between graduation and initial attempt) were significantly more likely to fail.

Conclusion: Nursing programs using only known predictors of success for admission and progression decisions exclude students who could be successful if given the opportunity.

Keywords: Baccalaureate Nursing Education; Diversity; Failure; Licensure; NCLEX-RN; Nursing Workforce.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Abshire D. A., Graves J. M., Roberts M. L., Katz J., Barbosa-Leiker C., Corbett C. F. (2018). Student support in accelerated nursing programs: Gender-based perspectives and impact on academic outcomes. Nursing Outlook , 66(1), 84–93.e3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2017.08.010 - DOI
    1. Al-Alawi R., Oliver G., Donaldson J. F. (2020). Systematic review: Predictors of students’ success in baccalaureate nursing programs. Nurse Education in Practice , 48, 102865. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2020.102865 - DOI
    1. Alicea-Planas J., Kazer M. W. (2019). Perceptions of campus climate on program satisfaction for accelerated nursing students. Journal of Nursing Education , 58(7), 409–416. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20190614-05 - DOI
    1. American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2023a). Enhancing diversity in the nursing workforce [Fact sheet]. https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Fact-Sheets/Enhancing-Diversi...
    1. American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2023b). Accelerated baccalaureate and master’s degrees in nursing [Fact sheet]. https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Fact-Sheets/Accelerate-Progra...

LinkOut - more resources