NCLEX lab values, therapeutic dose medication

Nursing Students NCLEX

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Specializes in trauma, ortho, burns, plastic surgery.

Hi all! I have a trouble related to remember all lab values and therapeutic dose range for medication (NCLEX exam). They are so many and also each of them is: for infants, for children, for women, for man, .....

Please, if one of you deal with them and may be found a strategy or a memo strategy , please give me a hand.

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HI, I took the NCLEX in June and the only way I found to remember lab values and therapeutic drug levels was to use note cards and do them over and over again. The NCLEX will not ask you in great detail about the correct dose for an infant, child, male or female, just learn the major therapeutic levels of medications and your important labs (e.g H/H, BUN, Creat and so on). Hope this helps! :nurse:

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Specializes in Clinical exp in OB, psy, med-surg, peds.

Thats exactly what I did, I made my own drug card, and lab values card, all the best to you

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Specializes in PEDS ~ PP ~ NNB & LII Nursery.

I had the same problem (still do with pharm r/t all the different meds out there). I googled normal lab values, found several different lists and made an 'average' that was easy to remember for me so that I would recognize something out of the norm on the test (i.e. Ph is constant 7.35-7.45 so... PaCO2 35-45; Hct 35-45; Na+ 135-145 etc. Some are actual other's I've averaged out, but all allow me to see when a lab is off. Usually knowing the 'general range' will let you 'see' the abnormal result. For the NCLEX it allowed me to use the process of elimination. See the one's I know are right, keep or remove depending on what the question is asking. It truly helped me!

Hope that helps. I am currently working on trying to figure out what meds I should really focus on. I just wish the NCLEX would tell us 'why' someone is on a med every time or list the meds as ACE inhibitors or Beta Blockers :jester: instead of just giving the name of the med in the question as it seems to like to do. That would certainly help! :rotfl:

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Specializes in n/a.

This is how I remembered them....kinda goofy...

Potassiom....3.5 - 5.0 Number of bananas I eat a day

Chloride.....70 - 110 Reminds me of chlorine in a swimming pool....on a hot 70-110 degree day

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Specializes in PEDS ~ PP ~ NNB & LII Nursery.
This is how I remembered them....kinda goofy...

Potassiom....3.5 - 5.0 Number of bananas I eat a day

Chloride.....70 - 110 Reminds me of chlorine in a swimming pool....on a hot 70-110 degree day

That's funny! I like that... :yeah:

rags

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Specializes in Psych, Skilled Nursing.

what i did was reread my MEDS, Lab Values and Doses before I go to bed and did that for a week and It really helped me remember. Also, I printed out a page full of normal values.

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thanks

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Specializes in critical care, PACU.

isnt it okay to just memorize what is specifically stated in the test plan? or do we still have to memorize other things above and beyond?

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I have not seen a test plan that specifically states anything?? The NCLEX test plan I have seen listed areas that are tested like apllication, assessment, intervention, etc. Am I missing something..something really great!?

isnt it okay to just memorize what is specifically stated in the test plan? or do we still have to memorize other things above and beyond?
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Specializes in critical care, PACU.

I already made a list with lab values from the test plan for my friends and I

you can download it here: http://roadtonursing.com/labvals.doc

The lab values to know are on the detailed test plan, page 38 (the page 38 printed on the page, not page 38 of the pdf)

Please let me know if you see any errors

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Never had questions dealing with med dosages. Lab values needed to be able to recognize way out of range values, so exact values not necessary, just the general normal range.

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