Getting through Nursing School, Study notes of Nursing

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Getting through Nursing School

How to Study for Nursing Exams leading to success

on the NCLEX:

January 2017

Purpose of NURSING EXAMS

 Test knowledge of content from course

objectives

 Test ability to ANALYZE & APPLY concepts

learned to care for clients in various

situations

 To develop a PROFESSIONAL NURSE who

is SAFE when providing care

 To develop CRITICAL THINKING required

to make judgments/decisions based on

EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICE

 To PREPARE the student for the NCLEX and

to PASS ON THE FIRST TRY

Why are Nursing Exams Different?

 COMPARING STUDYING Science

Courses and Nursing Courses

Science Courses Nursing Courses

Reading Heavy Heavy

Preparation Involves Understanding and Memorization

Involves Understanding and Application

Cognitive level (how difficult are the questions?)

Knowledge/Unders tanding

Analysis Application

BLOOMS TAXONOMY (revised

version)

CREATING

EVALUATING

ANALYSING

APPLYING

UNDERSTANDING

REMEMBERING

What does this mean?

 You cannot MEMORIZE to be successful

 You need to UNDERSTAND material and be

able to RECOUNT it back in your own

words

 You need to be able to take what you’ve

learned and APPLY to various patient

situations

 You need to become familiar with HOW to

answer NCLEX style questions

 HOW DO YOU DO THIS? PRACTICE

PRACTICE PRACTICE!!!

HOW TO DO THIS?

 Understand what the course objectives are

 Understand the Learning Outcomes from each chapter you are

assigned to read

 READ before coming to class

◦ Identify questions about content

 TO GET THE MOST FROM READING:

◦ Read the summary at the beginning of the chapter

◦ Scan through the chapter

◦ Make note of BOLDED words, charts, boxes, graphs, highlighted points

◦ Outline the content using bullets of info, not full sentences

 S&S of disorder, what to do for the patient, complications, how to detect them

◦ At the top of each section FORMULATE A QUESTION

 TAKE NOTES IN CLASS:

 Key points that instructor says  NOT EVERY WORD

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

 Make sure you identify ALL THE DATA IN THE QUESTION

 Try to visualize the patient situation when reading

 USE CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS ONLY IF they are identical

to the THEORETICAL CONTENT.

 DO NOT USE DEVELOPMENTAL milestones from your

own memory of your own children, use it from the book

 Think about the PATHOPHYSIOLOGY of the problem

presented in the question

 Be able to identify how you know there is a

COMPLICATION

 Think about the nursing care specific to the problem

 ALWAYS THINK THERE IS A PATIENT ASSOCIATED WITH

THE QUESTION

Test Taking Strategies – AND

EXAMPLE

 When reading the question:

◦ Identify what the question is asking? Rephrase the question in

your own words. Do not look at the options until you have

rephrased the question

◦ Look for KEY WORDS

◦ RULE OUT the options. Say YES, NO, MAYBE

QUESTION:

A client has a problem with sleeping at night. The nurse

encourages the client to do which measure to best enhance

nighttime sleep?

A. Drink a glass of milk

B. Eat a large bedtime snack

C. Eat a snack with spicy ingredients

D. Avoid caffeine products 1 hour before sleep

INGREDIENTS OF THE

QUESTION - EXAMPLE

 CASE EVENT – heart of the question, gives the information you need to think about to answer the question

 QUESTION QUERY – asks you something specific about the CASE EVENT

 OPTIONS – ANSWERS

EXAMPLE

Case Event: The health care provider prescribes an

intravenous (IV) antibiotic to be administered in 50

ml 0.9% normal saline and to infuse in 30 minutes.

The drop factor for the IV tubing is 15 gtts/ml

Question Query: The nurse should set the flow

rate of the infusion at how many drops per minute?

MULTIPLE SELECT EXAMPLE

Think of these as TRUE OR FALSE QUESTIONS

A client who has had abdominal surgery complains of feeling as though

"something gave way" in the incisional site. The nurse removes the

dressing and notes the presence of a loop of bowel protruding through

the incision. Which nursing interventions should the nurse take?

Select all that apply.

 1. Contact the surgeon.  2. Instruct the client to remain in bed quietly resting.  3. Prepare the client for wound closure.  4. Document the findings and actions taken.  5. Place a sterile saline dressing and ice packs over the wound.  6. Place the client in a supine position without a pillow under the head.

PRIORITY SETTING QUESTIONS -

EXAMPLE

GROUPING #1: Airway, Breathing, Circulation

GROUPING #2: Infection, Environmental

Safety

GROUPING #3: Pain, Teaching, Psychosocial

EXAMPLE -

Order the following:

__Pt needing instructions on colostomy care

__Pt crying because of new cancer diagnosis

__Pt trying to get out of bed when disoriented

__Pt who has a fever of 102 degrees F

__Pt with a BP of 80/

STRATEGIC WORD/PHRASES that

indicate the Need to Prioritize

EXAMPLES of STRATEGIC WORDS indicating all

options are CORRECT – necessary to prioritize to

select the correct option

 Best

 First

 Initial

 Immediately

 Most likely/ least likely  Most appropriate/least appropriate

 Highest/lowest priority

 At lowest risk/highest risk

 Best understanding

NEGATIVE EVENT QUERY

QUESTION

 The nurse instructs a client taking a

potassium-retaining diuretic about foods

high in potassium that need to be avoided.

The nurse determines that the client needs

further instruction if the client states that

which food is high in potassium?

 1. Kiwi

 2. Celery

 3. Oranges

 4. Dried Fruit

QUESTIONS INVOLVING STEPS

OF NURSING PROCESS

 Followed in order

◦ Assessment (data collection) – first step

◦ Evaluation – last step

 EXCEPTION to the rule:

◦ IF THE SITUATION IS LIFE-THREATENING

EMERGENCY

 There may be an intervention as the first action