Didnt do well on my First Test =(

Rylee2008, ASN, RN · Sep 19, 2009

I'm in my last year of nursing school and I believe most of our class flunked the first Fundamentals test. If your book has a CD use it because their are alot of NCLEX questions on it. When I studied for that course I concentrated on Table, Charts and also interventions. Also look for key words like first action, priority or most. Good luck.

melmarie23, MSN, RN · Sep 19, 2009

I had the same answers as Darcicat and Mi Vida Loca, using the same rationales, so I am not going to repeat those answers.

Anyways, if I learned anything last semester from Med-Surg is to go with your gut. Once you find yourself reading too much into a question and/or wanting to change your answer, don't! Just move on to the next.

I cannot tell you how many times I took practice ATI's and my first answer was always the right one. So when I went in for my proctored exam, I was hyper-aware of when I'd want to change an answer and instead forced myself to move on. It made all the difference. I scored the highest out of my class.

The thing with these questions is that usually two are wrong and plainly so. That leave two right answers with one being more right. Learning how to think critically and/or how to answer these questions is key. It really is a learning curve.

May I suggest Saunders NCLEX review? It really helped me and it has all the rationales. It literally was my savior for Med-Surg.

Then practice, practice, practice!!! It really does make a difference.

GL on your next exam!

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Sep 19, 2009

Wow Darcicat and Mi Vida Loca. All of the answers you guys picked were right.... I am very impressed. Those are excellent rationales and make complete sense. I wish I can think like that "/
Here is what went on in my mind and I'll use question 43 as an example. I picked B for my answer. For answer A, I knew being fired for not documenting once was a bit extreme so I knew it wasnt the right answer. And for answer B, I took as, the faculty found out that the nurse forgot to document and therefore was filed for negligent care which seemed like it would happen in a hospital setting. For answer C, I thought the client ratted out the RN to the faculty but it didnt seem like a big issue. As Darcicat said about the client never seeing his or her chart, I never knew they never see it. And I didnt understand D at all whatsoever. So thats why I picked B =(. I feel as if... I HAVE to have had experience in the hospital in order to know some of these questions.
For question 25
"A client voiding after cath removal is very important information, vitals can change so much so quick it's something that can be looked in the chart to see what they were but you will be doing your own vitals anyway, and those vitals were in the normal range. The clients demeanor is great info but again can change and you will reasses" This is also very good thinking and never even bothered to cross my mind "/
And also There was one question about a client diagnosed with Hepatitus Mellitus and it was asking what I should do: Wash between toes and dry it, soak in warm water, and forgot the other 2 answers. I didnt know we had to know what Diabetes Mellitus was, it wasnt in our fundamentals book neither in our study outline. To tell you the truth I dont know anything about any diseases..
And agian, thank you everyone for the replies and especially Darcicat and Mi Vida Loca thank you very much for taking the time to do each question. These helped me understand the questions a lot.
I will post up the rationales that were given so anyone reading this can compare.
1. A nurse forgot to document care provided to a client and returns the next day to complete the documentation. Upon review of the nurse's progress notes section of the record, the nurse sees that a space was left for her documentation. What should the nurse do?
A. document in the space provided.
B. draw lines through the space and sign her name
C. leave the blank area alone and document at the end of the section, out of sequence.
D. write and explanation of why she didn't document in the blank area and draw arrows to her entry about the client's care.
RATIONALE
1) A space should never be left for another nurse to chart. Blank spaces require a line through it. The nurse should state. "Late Entry"
8. An example of a task that can be delegated to an unlicensed assistive person would be:
A. documenting nursing process on the nursing notes.
B. Taking vital signs every 15 minutes on a patient receiving a blood tansfusion.
C. administering routine tylenol to a patient.
D. a routine physical exam of the patient.
RATIONALE
8) An unlicensed person may take vital signs every 15 minutes. Even if the patient is recieving blood. The RN is responsible for assessment of the vital signs. The RN remains accountable for the delegated act.
14. The RN is planning the assignments on a client-care unit of the hospitol. The nurse checks to see which nurse and nurse aids are scheduled to work the shift. Why did the nurse do this?
A. to make sure the work is evenly distributed.
B. to give the nurses extra time to document.
C. to plan for a meal break.
D. to match the clients needs with the knowledge of the staff.
RATIONALE
14) It didnt give me a rationale for this one but the correct answer is D
25. Which type of information would be the most informative and should be given in a shift report?
A. vital signs are BP 120/80, pulse 72, respiration 16
B. Client is alert and in good spirit.
C. chest x-ray taken 2 days ago and was negative.
D. client voided 400cc of yellow urine 4 hours after the urinary catheter was removed.
RATIONALE
25)Data needs to be significant and relevant. In this case, this was an evaluation of client's voiding after removal of the foley and emphasis is on safety.
43. You are working as a home health care nurse and forgot to document that you changed your client's catheter. This would most likely result in which of the following?
A. being fired from your job.
B. an incident report filed agianst you for negligent nursing care.
C. a client complaint.
D. appropriate reimbursement for services being denied. (i didnt understand this answer)
RATIONALE
14) It didnt give me a rationale for this one either but the correct answer is D

It sounds like you read to much into the questions which is really common and will just take practice. All you can do is stick to the information you were given. We had a book called Fundamentals Success second edition and it came with a CD that was recommended and it is really good, it's not expensive but would probably help you a lot. It is broken down into all the sections you come across in Fundamentals.

Did your school require you to have Pathophysiology before hand? I am surprised they would expect you to know what hepatitis mellitis is without prior education on it.

I have done well on the Fundamentals up until yesterday LOL, I don't have my grade yet but their were a lot of questions regarding body positions and I completely drew blanks on those. So it's my own fault, we learned them in A&P and I took that like 4 years ago but I sat their dumbfounded. Not excited to get that grade. You're not alone though, a lot of people have trouble with these and all you can do is go off the information that was given (don't make up scenarios in your head with info not their), and practice.

jnw8606 · Sep 19, 2009

Im a fourt semester student and i too failed my first fundamental exam,and most of class did too. My advice a good study group and practice NCLEX style questions.