Advice with Nclex RN Questions

[Someday2bRN]

Hi!

Do you have any advice with priority questions? Kaplan's Strategies works well with the harder application/analysis questions but I can't get the hang of it. It doesn't work for me. Plenty of people say it does work to pass the test. Is there a better way of handling those strategies? Do I just need to do alot of practice questions and apply it to every single questions?

I get stuck with which client is unstable and needs to be seen first. I'm usually down to 2 answers.

thank you

[Maliffy]

Remember your ABC's before anything else, then look for expected versus unexpected outcomes...what would you expect to see or happen and what would you not?

Your patient with an infection is probably going to have a fever, that would not constitute a priority over say...a patient who is post knee surgery and whose JP drain will not stay compressed. So it should go...

Airway/Breathing

Circulation

Unexpected Outcome

Pain

Good luck...you can do it!

[caliotter3]

You might get help dealing with this type of question by reading the Priorities book by Linda LaCharity. Good luck with your upcoming test.

[Someday2bRN]

I bought that book. Did it work for you? The test doesn't usually have the same system scenario in the answer. It has different systems that require your attention and picking the best answer. At that point do you think kaplan's strategies work?? It really doesn't work for me. I end up trying to figure out which strategy will work and then when I can't figure it out, I panic and take too much time on one question. Is it just a matter of doing plenty of questions and practice?

thank you for all the advice.

[pawpaw_75]

NCLEX is not really easy but it is not that impossible or extremely hard. Try practicing with Kaplan trainer and NCLEX 3500 I owned several reviewers and at the last minute a good Filipina nurse shared me her Kaplan CD and it did help a lot. If you have time, go to bookstores and browse through other NCLEX reviewers. Just dont get caught up with it by buying the book or confusing yourself more. What I did was look at the practice questions and tried answering it. One experience nurse saw what Im doing and she thought it was not a good idea to see several materials when doing the review. I guess it worked for me and there is no real standard like just study 2 books. Of course, at least you should have adopted one reference and covered all the areas before seeing other materials. Some books offer more ideas and techniques.

[PEBBLES1]

Look for the patient who is the most unstable. In kaplan, pain is considered psychosocial, so pain is rarely the answer. Also in priority questions look for safety, ABC 1st.