Durg book on NCLEX

[justjohnthomas]

i am lucky enough to be able to study for a few hours a night while i am at work (the perks of working graveyard in a psyc unit), and when ever i come across drug questions i ask the rn's i work with what they would answer after i complete the question. most of them have not seen or have maybe only heard of some of the medications in questions. this makes me wonder, if the purpose of the nclex is to make sure you have the minimal competency to practice safely wouldn't the safe thing to do is look up medications you are not familiar with? i have no problem calculating medication dosages and am becoming familiar with a lot of medications while studying, but when a question gives you an ordered dose and says what should the nurse do, or says the nurse if reviewing the following medications knowing the pt is taking it because, or the nurse should instruct the pt to watch for s/s of, it boggles my mind because anyone has access to a drug book, the wonderful internet, and you can even get epocrates on your cell phone. so if the nclex is testing out minimal competency to practice safely shouldn't the safe thing be to look up medications you are unfamiliar with, or even those you are? they provide a button for a calculator, shouldn't it be obvious to provide a button for a drug book to show you have the competency to safely administer medications. maybe i should start consulting our pharmacist to see what resources they use and how often they use them rather than relying on memorized information.... rant over, now back to studying because if i have to take this test too many more times i'm going back to school for diesel mechanics or engineering...

[lavender59]

NCLEX prepares us to be safe and knowledgeable of med administration. If drug references are available in the exam, many of us will not exert an effort to heartily know the drug we are going to give.

[caliotter3]

You are not allowed to use any references while taking the test. You know the drugs they ask about or you don't.

[thecool1Nscrubs2no]

TO HAVE THE BEST CHANCE OF PASSING KNOW YOUR CORE CONTENT such as med surg, renal, endo, resp, GI, GU, cardio, dieases, labs, delegation, priority, study select all that apply ...LOOK AT THE NEW FORMAT FOR THE 2011 NCSBN. MED SURG IS THE BACK BONE SINCE THERE IS SOMETHING GOING ON IN ALL THE QUESTIONS. Touch over ob/and peds(complications). DON'T STUDY STUFF YOU KNOW WELL...THAT IS WASTING YOUR STUDY TIME. Its up to you as the nurse to attack the questions direct. USE THE SAUNDERS BOOK WITH THE CD if you don't have something already. Go over the sections and do 60 questions a day from each body system. Read the sections in the saunders helps to fill in the grey areas along with the cd. Talk out your concepts aloud to get them in your head so you can pull them back up when you take your exam. Know basic pharm tie that in with disease can help you remember it better...same goes for labs. Remember just because you have a nurse floating to the floor with 10 yrs exp....she or he stills needs the most stable patient. RN can only do teaching so remember that when you look at discharge and admissions....in the nclex hospital. NO GOOD QUESTIONS on NCLEX(SOMETHING HAPPENING IN ALL OF THEM)....PROBLEMS YOU NEED TO FIX. READ CAREFUL, LOOK FOR KEYWORDS. THINK WHAT IS THE BEST, SAFE, AND WILL CORRECT THE PROBLEM WHEN YOU ATTACK THE QUESTION. Remember we want to correct a problem in the early signs of distress or whatever before they get to the point of the might not make it phase. THEY ARE LOOKING FOR NURSES THAT WILL HELP THE PATIENTS, PROTECT THEMSELVES AND THE PUBLIC.....ALONG WITH LOOK FOR ABUSE. Becareful with labs just because its wnl of the high or low...red flag for new nurses. Goal is to get as many questions right on that exam as you can. Look for keywords read the questions slow. THE SAME WAY YOU MISSED TEST QUESTIONS IN SCHOOL BECAUSE YOU READ THE QUESTIONS TO FAST...CAN HAPPEN HERE SO READ SLOW. DON'T GIVE YOUR ANSWERS AWAYS BECAUSE YOU ARE READING TO FAST....SLOW IT DOWN ON THIS. Ask yourself does my choice make sense....and if so WHY...KNOW THE WHY TO YOUR RIGHT ANSWERS AND THE WRONGS...OR WHAT MADE THEM WRONG . SO REVEIW RATIONALS WHILE YOU PRACTICE FOR YOU EXAM. It often helps you get other key pieces in your head. KEEP POSITIVE, KEEP FOCUSED. You can do it. Also look at select all that apply questions. Hurst review is nice too. Don't get yourself so focused on medications that you don't look at other parts of the test. Its not a pharm test. REVIEW MEDS THAT GO WITH EACH SYSTEM...remember you are loooking for complications(major). So basic meds. Don't hang yourself up here....make sure you know that med surg and all thoses systems well.