Table 1.

Summary of recruited literature.

Authors/Issuance entity	Year	Country	Language	Research design/type	Themes
Wong et al. [9]	2012	China	English	Review of literature and policy documents	Development of nursing education in China
Zhang and Wang [10]	1994	China	Chinese	Descriptive analysis	Pilot of China's nursing licensure examination
Tang and Jiang [11]	2015	China	Chinese	Comparative study, review of literature and policy documents	Comparison on the test guidelines for RN licensure examination in China and the United States
MOH of China, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security [12]	2010	China	Chinese	Policy document	Measures for the National Nursing Licensure Examination
Zhao and Zhang [13]	1997	China	Chinese	Descriptive analysis	Content, format, and management of the NNLE
NCSBN [14]	2018	United States	English	Policy document	Information for registrations and scheduling of NCLEX appointments
NCSBN [15]	2018	United States	English	Policy document	Requirements for eligibility to take the NCLEX and to get a license/registration
California Board of Registered Nursing [16]	2018	United States	English	Policy document	Steps to become a California registered nurse
Health Human Resources Development Center [17]	2018	China	Chinese	Policy document	Information for taking the NNLE
The NNLE Committee [18]	2017	China	Chinese	Policy document	Cut Scores for the NNLE
Chen [19]	2016	China	Chinese	Descriptive analysis, review of policy documents	Design and future development of the NNLE
Fan and Xiao [20]	2017	China	Chinese	Review of literature	Teaching of internal nursing science based on the NNLE
Wang [21]	2017	China	Chinese	Treatment-control study	Nursing education reform and nursing students' performance in the NNLE
Yang [22]	2017	China	Chinese	General introduction	Nursing education reform based on the NNLE
Zhang et al. [23]	2011	China	Chinese	Review of policy documents	History, role, and future development of the NNLE
MOH of China [24]	2008	China	Chinese	Policy document	Regulation on nurse practicing and registration
Su [25]	2018	China	Chinese	Review of policy documents and literature	Reform of the NNLE and development of nursing education
Zhuang [26]	2014	China	Chinese	Review of policy documents	Nursing care of infectious patients in the NNLE
Yang and Yang [27]	2015	China	Chinese	Review of policy documents and literature	Nurse licensure and continuous management
Yi et al. [28]	2011	China	Chinese	Review of policy documents and literature	Development tendency of the NNLE and coping strategies