EKG Interpretation Test for Employment

toomuchbaloney · Apr 18, 2014

study

lookingrn · Apr 18, 2014

Well, duh.

Any suggestions about the best ways to study? I suppose it's too much to hope that someone who has taken the test knows what's so tricky about it. Is it just that nurses don't know EKG rhythms very well, or is it something about this test that is difficult?

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Apr 18, 2014

Of course people have failed it, any test can be failed. Most facilities will let you retake it.Thinking 2 years experience should cover you for an employment check.

Have you already moved.. for a contingent position?

I've taken many EKG tests. All of them touched base on the basic rhythms, no trick questions.

Do you feel confident in your telemetry interpretation? If not, you know which rhythms you need to study.

The heart blocks were always worth reviewing.

Good luck, let us know how it's going.

toomuchbaloney · Apr 18, 2014

Well duh.

The best way to study is to identify your own professional weaknesses in the subject and focus there. EKG interpretations is a pretty finite area of focus in the scheme of things.

calivianya, BSN, RN · Apr 18, 2014

Google Skillstat ECG if you are not feeling competent. They have a fantastic ECG simulator with a review option and then a game option, which sees how many rhythms you can correctly identify in 60 seconds. I used it to study for my med/surg class when we were covering rhythm strips and rhythms have been very easy for me since then. The game part really ingrains the rhythms in your mind. I have taken many telemetry tests since then and I have yet to get less than 100% on one. Good luck!

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Apr 18, 2014

.....

lookingrn · May 17, 2014

Just a final update on this. I used a couple sites to study, including skillstat.com, and practicalclinicalskills.com, both of which have great EKG strips and quizzing software that makes it easy to practice. I practiced pretty much every day, though sometimes only for 5 or so minutes. I got really good, and was sure I'd pass the test with 95-100%, because that's the kind of results I was getting on the sites.

I did pass (YAY), but it really was a weird test. Some of the strips were just odd-looking and I don't know what the right answer was. I know I got it wrong, because they'll show you what you got wrong, but not the right answer. I ended up with an 86%, and needed a 77 to pass, so it's all good. It's weird to me that I got so confident in my EKG skills, and feel like I can recognize even some less common things like AV reentry nodal supraventricular tachycardia, but missed several on the test.

I start hospital orientation on Monday!

klone, MSN, RN · May 17, 2014

Oh! I remember having to take that test! I didn't take it very seriously, though, because I was being hired into L&D and my thoughts were that they weren't TRULY going to rescind the offer based on something that has no bearing on my job. In L&D, the only time we use EKG is for about 20 minutes after a patient comes back from a C/S. And all we are really required to know is "Is this a sinus rhythm?" which I can do.

I think I wrote "torsades de pointe" on most of the weird ones. But actually, I couldn't remember the term, just that it was French and had three words, so I actually wrote "cris du chat". I failed miserably. But as I suspected, they did not rescind their offer.

lookingrn · May 17, 2014

Really? I was SO nervous. I'm in oncology, so I don't use this stuff much, but it does still come up. I would not have passed without practice, that's for sure. I put Vfib on the weirdest one (it was multiple choice), what else could it have been? Torsades? It wasn't big enough, I thought, but obviously I thought wrong.

If they'd rescinded their offer, I'd be so screwed. I moved here from Idaho in a snowstorm, got caught in Wyoming for 2 nights -- the whole thing has been a mess.

klone, MSN, RN · May 17, 2014

oh, they've changed it! it didn't used to be multiple choice