Reply With QuoteOne way to approach your tests is act as if it were State Boards. 2 questions are 'wrong'., and you need to decide which of the remaining 2 are the most correct.
'Cat'
I am so discouraged about the grades I get on tests in school.. I study alot and get in there to take the tests and then always end up right on the edge, being in the low 80's or maybe even a little bit below it. We have to maintain an 80 to continue on.. I always feel too that my instructors think I am dumb and probably don't belong in the nursing program. Can anyone give me some insight or encourageent?
One way to approach your tests is act as if it were State Boards. 2 questions are 'wrong'., and you need to decide which of the remaining 2 are the most correct.
'Cat'
As I said to another person who posted here recently - The best thing is to study toward an understanding of the material rather than just memorizing for the test. Also get an NCLEX book I reccomend Lippincot&williams and study the questions in the area you are testing. So much of the questions center around being able to think critically. You have to be able to see 1. What the question is asking. 2 What answers are available 3. Which answer is most appropriate.
When you pick an answer test it by using the Nursing process by identifying the problem, the solution and the rationale.
Hope this helps
Hppy
Insight; Please, don't spend time worrying about what you think your instructors think about you. First, you might be wrong, or I say so what! It does not matter what an instructor thinks regards to if you belong in the nursing program. As long as your safe, then only you know if nursing is your calling.Originally Posted by practicern
Encouragement; I hated those nursing exams, but our program had a high NCLEX success rate. IMHO, nursing exams are like no other college exams. The exams require so much. Don't read into the question, prioritize to the best possible answer given for that particular question, and always remember your ABCs... airway, breathing, and circulation. BTW, like previously mentioned critical thinking is the key.
Plus, a final thought; I've never heard a patient ask a nurse or doctor for their GPA.
Cary James Barrett, RN, BSN
Hey practicern, I hear ya...I'm in nursing school too, and I feel that there are always questions on every exam that we never covered in class and that I don't remember from the readings. I did figure out a few things, though, which I'd like to share.
There are a couple of things that have helped me with exam-taking. Saunders' NCLEX-RN review book by Linda Silvestri describes 10 strategies for test-taking (I tried to attach a document with notes on the strategies, but the doc is too big =( ). I've found the strategies pretty useful, and recommend peeking in Saunders to look them over if you see it at the bookstore.
For Med-Surg I also bought another NCLEX book to use as a quick reference. It's called Medical-Surgical Nursing, by Hogan and Madayag, published by Prentice Hall. I found it very useful in Med-Surg because it gives a brief summary of the pathophys and etiology, s/sx, focused assessment, primary nursing dx, interventions, and outcomes for each disease, as well as nursing duties regarding equipment such as chest tubes and traction. It doesn't go into a ton of detail, but it hits the highlights (like Cliff Notes for nursing students =) ). It also notes which items are likely to be NCLEX questions, which helped me get an idea of what might appear on our class exams. More than once, stuff I crammed from that book helped me out on the exams! I don't know which class(es) you are worried about or if Med-Surg is one of them, but I bet there are similarly useful books out there for any of the nursing courses.
Whatever points I miss in the theory portion of my classes, I make up for in the clinical - I ask lots of questions (but not so many that I never give the instructor a break) and work hard. I also make sure I'm prepared with all the information I can look up on my own before going to the instructor with a question or asking him/her to supervise me with a procedure, so that I can show that I know my stuff (or at least show that I'm well-prepared). The clinical instructors notice and appreciate those kinds of things and word gets back to the theory instructors when it comes time for evaluations.
Finally, when I find myself stressing over grades, I remind myself that my first clinical instructor didn't get stellar grades in nursing school - in fact, he barely passed one of his classes - and yet he wound up being a nurse practitioner and a nursing school instructor (and he still knew his stuff). That shows that grades aren't everything...
Good luck with school and chin up - you'll make it!
:luck:
Thanks so much for replying to my post. I have the saunders book and will look at that section. I also bought one that is called Test taking techniques for beginning nursing students. But you still have to know the material and these strategies don't always work. keep me posted as to how you are doing. I am supposed to get my test back today and don't think I passed which would be at least an 80% .... Oh well better luck next test!!
Hi there,
I am feelin' ya too! Four months to go for me and sometimes I really fall for the obvious "dousies!" Mostly all of our exams are set up to get us acclimated to the NCLEX-RN as was mention here.
Two are dead wrong, two are similar enough that if you do not read it right or think critically you may miss it. OH! Do not overanalyze then you risk "reading" into them.
There is indeed a lot riding on this for us and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves. We want those minimums from our programs to be high...we might be patients one day!!
Best,
Gennaver :luck:
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