Nursing Student Struggles

[IanTeig1982]

Hey everyone,

Need to vent a little and I need some advice.

I'm currently a 1st semester nursing student. I'm very intelligent. I have background in the mental health field and IT defect prevention. I have very strong analytic & critical thinking skills. Additionally, I am understanding the material very easily; and I do enjoy learning about this stuff. However, I'm just making the grade so to speak; barely passed Fundamentals/Concepts.

What I'm really getting frustrated about is the subjective nature of these questions. The vast majority of questions that I end up getting wrong are questions that I just happen to analyze differently; the other component is that my instructors acknowledge my answer & analysis are not wrong, but they rarely can tell me why their answer is better. No amount of extra studying would have necessarily changed my mind to my thought process.

I understand this notion to be one of the major frustrations of nursing school: here's 4 right answers, which one is best? But I'm really getting my ass kicked with these questions. I've also noticed these types of questions get posted around nursing website and forums, and rarely is there a consensus; usually an argument/discussion over the top 2 choices.

I'm really worried that I'm not going to be able to pass these courses, even though I feel like I have the ability, skill set, compassion, and attitude to be a good nurse.

Please, any advice how I can get better at this or tips how to get into my instructor's heads to figure out what they are looking for, would be more appreciated.

Thank you and regards,

Ian aka Mr. Free-Time

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

The NCLEX exam is full of questions from which you have to pick the "most correct" answer. In real-world nursing, you will have to consider what your pt needs. You will have to pick the "most correct" nursing intervention, and even know the "most correct" medical intervention...especially if you end up working in a teaching hospital w/ residents and realize they need some pointing in the right direction.

It is a learning curve. I say that as one who is more left-brained myself. But these types of questions are helping you to learn to think like a nurse.

Do you discuss the exam as a class after it's finished? (When I was in school, the instructor went over it and gave rationales for the questions we were confused as to why we got wrong.) If so, my advice is to ask your instructors to explain why the correct answer is "the most correct." HUMBLY and with an OPEN MIND.

I also love GrnTea's suggestion to get an NCLEX review book w/ rationales.

You clearly have the intellectual capabilities, and being a nurse definitely requires intellectual capabilities. But it's a different way of thinking than what you're used to. Keep at it, enjoy the challenge of learning, and you'll get it!

[ICURNBSN]

The questions will get easier with time. For now, I suggest prioritizing. Start with ABCs and follow Maslows the rest of the way. Always think of it as if you could do only one thing and walk out of the room. Also, try to determine exactly what the question is asking. Does it require you to gather more information before you can do something for the pt.? Or is there something you can do first? Rarely do you choose "call the physician" because most likely there is something you can do as the nurse first. Hope this helps, good luck!

[TiredKitten]

I agree with GrnTea. Practice NCLEX style questions. I breezed through my intro fundamentals class with the easier NCLEX style questions and thought school wasn't going to be as hard as I thought. Had a family and was working 20-60 hours a week between two jobs because my hubby had been in an accident and couldn't work. Then I started adult 1 and wanted to cry by the end if the semester. I struggled with the harder questions. I could easily get it down to two, but always seemed to pick the wrong one. I talked to my schools retention socialist who recommended downloading NCLEX 4000 and started practicing questions in study mode.

Once I started doing that, and reading the detailed rationales of why the right answer was right and the wrong answers were wrong, my grades jumped and I started doing very well on the tests. Saunders Comprehensive Comprehensive and Davis' Q and A really helped too. I also listened to the instructors about prioritizing needs using both Maslow hierarchy and the nurses human needs priority bullseye. Seeing the visual bullseye with oxygen in the center helped reinforce that as the most important. As my instructors said, which answer can kill the

patient.

[la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN]

It sounds like you already know your problem - too much analyzing. I second the advice to practice as many questions as you can. If you can stay mindful of when you start doing too much analysis, stop yourself and re-read the question plainly as it is written. The more you do it, the more you will be able to control yourself and just see the question and the answer options as they are and not how you can manipulate them into being. Also, if you can practice SATA that is really going to hone your self-control and really help you master the nursing concepts.

[WalterWho]

From my experience so far, the types of questions that professors give you on test are the same style as NCLEX, which is the ever frustrating "which is the best right answer" type of testing. What I did that seemed to help: I purchased an NCLEX prep book for fifty dollars at my local book store. Seeing as how you and I are still in school, we don't necessarily need to review the entire book... yet, but the "test strategies" portion of these books have REALLY helped me. It will break down the intent of different styles of test questions, while illustrating the best process to use when determining the correct answer. It's worked great for me so far, and has really made me "nursing process" and priority oriented. Hope this helps, good luck to you!