Critical Thinking is a Problem for Me...How Do You Do It?

The best advice I ever got was this: when you read a question, you MUST decide if you need to get more info(assessment) versus doing something (intervention). Often if a question has very similar answers, then the similar answers are not correct. Then you need to decide if the answer will solve or help you answer the question. A temp won't help you improve or determine someone's oxygenation, for example. Expect to be slow at first, and just skip the questions that you need a LOT of time to figure, and come back, answer the ones you know......But you BETTER go back to them. Hope this helps!

As locolorenzo22 said you first have to decide what the question wants, an intervention, assessment, client teaching. Some questions are priority questions so that all answers are correct, but you have to decide which is the most important. I like to look at those questions and ask my self what is the one thing I have to do for my patient or what do I have to do before I can do anything else?

Another advice is to, without reading the possible answers, imagine that you are that nurse and imagine what would you do in that situation. If your answer is one of the choices you have a good chance that that is the correct answer.

And my final advice is to go with your instinct and don't change your answer. I have done that many times and found that my first choice was correct. And on the NCLEX you can't go back, so it's good practice. Good luck!

1. Read entire quesiton

2. Decide what they want, (an intervention, and thought, a priority, etc)

3. Go back through and look for the NON normal findings, (v/s, heart rate, resp rate, loc, whatever)

4. Then, go from there, but first, make sure you know WHAT THE QUESTION IS ASKING! And eleiminate info that willnot assist you in making that descision.

Hope this helps.

Oh, one more thing, get with classmates who got the question correct, ask them why they chose that answer and tell them the answer you chose and ask them to explain why they DIDNT choosee your answer, that will maybe see how THEY are thinking about the item, and the way YOU should next time think about the item.

I feel that I could have the same problem. I found a book Strategies for NClex test taking success. I ordered the most recent and will not be available unitl September through amazon.com There are other books that teach strategies for test taking success.