I don't understand the CPR report

Question

I reviewed my Candidate Performance Report after failing the NCLEX, but it’s not very helpful. It doesn’t tell me if I struggled with specific areas like cardiovascular or pediatrics—just these broad categories like “management of care.” What does that even mean? Which care? Which disease?

Answer 1

Great question! The NCLEX and nursing education as a whole have shifted from a medical-diagnosis focus (like cardiovascular or pediatrics) to a more holistic, functional approach called the Client Needs Framework. This focuses on how nurses provide care across various settings and situations, rather than specific diseases or specialties.

Each category on your Candidate Performance Report (CPR) represents a broader area of nursing practice. For example, Management of Care focuses on how you prioritize, delegate, and coordinate care as the nurse managing the patient’s overall needs.

Here’s an example: If a question asks what labs or assessments you should review before giving furosemide (Lasix) intravenously, that could fall into several categories:

1. Management of Care (coordinating the plan for safe medication administration).
2. Pharmacological and Parenteral Therapies (understanding how the medication works).
3. Reduction of Risk Potential (watching for complications like low potassium or low blood pressure).
4. It could also be tied to the Clinical Judgment Measurement Model (CJMM), which guides how nurses make decisions—for example, recognizing and analyzing cues like lab results.

Unfortunately, the CPR doesn’t break things down into specific topics, so it can be tricky to figure out what to focus on. My best advice is to think back on the areas you struggled with in nursing school and use NCLEX practice questions, along with your textbooks, to build up your knowledge. Working with a tutor can also help you connect these broader concepts to real-world scenarios so you feel more confident next time!