ATI Predictor Test Advice!

charli_appleRN · Nov 28, 2012

What semester are you in? If you've been reading the ATI book and using their online study tools, you should be fine. The ATI books are pretty much the only books I read. With that book, I've passed all classes and both of the ATI exams we've taken so far. ATI books have been so helpful for me, I'm tempted to not buy anymore $300 text books.

melissa0 · Dec 2, 2012

I am in my 6th (last) semester and the predictor test is to "predict" the chances of you passing your nclex on the first time. I have the books and I'm obviously going over them, just wondering if anyone who has taken it had any specific advice!

Thanks!

Double-Helix, BSN, RN · Dec 3, 2012

Do the practice tests and other NCLEX/ATI style practice questions. Practice carefully reading the question and make sure you know what the question is asking before you choose an answer. Many of these questions are worded in a way that you can easily miss the answer if you don't read the question.

Example (from my head)

The nurse is providing discharge teaching to a client diagnosed with Type II Diabetes Mellitus. Which statement from the client indicates that the teaching was ineffective?

A. If I feel sweaty and dizzy my blood sugar is probably too high.

B. I can drink diet soda without affecting my blood sugar.

C. I will throw away used insulin needles in an laundry detergent container.

D. I should rotate injection sites on my abdomen and thighs

If you just read the question quickly, you might miss the key word in the question. That key word is ineffective. That one word points you to the right answer- you're looking for the statement that is wrong. If you don't carefully read and understand the question you might look for an answer that is right, and choose incorrectly.

Take your time. You likely are given much more time to take the exam than you will need. Don't rush, and think carefully before moving on because once you answer a question you cannot go back to it.

Answer select-all-that-apply questions by thinking of each possible option as a true or false question. If it's true, choose it. If it's false, don't. Don't worry about how many options you've chosen. Select all that apply questions can have just one correct answer or all 5 options may be correct.

Birry · Dec 9, 2012

Do all the practice tests on ATI that you can. My school provided me with a couple dozen practice tests, some fundamantal and comprehensive, and some focused/targeted. Do them multiple times.

We also had a learning module called Nurse Logic. That one teaches you how to take nursing tests. If it seems like a knowledge question that you don't specifically know, there are some tools you can use to help you make the best judgment on an answer. ATI focuses first on SAFETY, then ABCs. Ask yourself with each question, "Which answer is the safest for the patient?" then prioritize using ABCs. If neither of those apply, ATI also uses Maslow's heirarchy of needs. Familiarize yourself with those. There are more, but those three are the most common. Knowing them will really help you. A big clue that your question is asking for one of these prioritizations is when you find yourself saying, "What the heck, they're ALL the right answer!"

Remember, you don't have to know all the facts. By asking the questions in the way they do, ATI is attempting to also guage your decision-making and critical thinking and judgment skills.

I hope this helps. I just took the Predictor for the first time last week and passed with a 99% predicted probability. It was very very hard and I thought I failed.

PatMac10,RN, RN · Dec 9, 2012

I am finishing my 4th out of 5 semesters of nursing school.

I hate the comp predictor! And ATI in general! I've struggled with the ATI nursing subject tests. We have to make a level 2 for it to be considered passing, but the standardized tests can't get you "kicked out" of school. Our policy is that you must retake until you get a level 2. If you have to retake it more than twice you pay $25 every retake after that. I've passed some on the first try (like maternal child, mental health, and med Surg) but had to retake my fundamentals and Peds.

My advice is too not let that test dictate to you your success on NCLEX. If you've gotten as far as you have, you MUST know something. Computer Adaptive testing is a different type of standardized testing that many people struggle with at first. We took the Comp Predictor practice test as a class last week and I got a 63.3, and that commutes to about a 75%to 79% chance of passing NcLEX most of my class got in the 80% of passing range. I felt bad, kinda. Everyone in my class has had to retake at least one ATI test. I went home and pulled up 75 randomized questions in my ATI iPhone app and got a 73%! That told me I could not only pass NCLEX, but do so in 75 questions. The comp predictor is 150 questions and I didn't read all if the answer choices or skimmed through a question.

I am glad that this practice showed me that if I do t slow down and calm down I will screw myself over in the real comp predictor, which we'll take twice next semester, and the NCLEX! Learn from the experience, it meant to tell tell you where you are and where you can improve, and my area of improvement is in testing skills, more so than knowledge.