Eric? Maybe you can answer this?

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Since the NCLEX is a "thing" of yours , maybe you'll know something about this. My Kaplan instructor promised to get me "the answer", but she hasn't, and I'm running out of time!

I noticed in my Kaplan content review book that there was information in the newborn/infant area that was, well, WAY out of date. Regarding breastfeeding, there was specific info that was a good 9 years out of date, and introduction of solids, also at least that long (according to La Leche League and the AAP, both reliable sources on this!).

Anyway, the Kaplan quizzes and tests relied on the out of date information as bases of their questions. Needless to say, I got them "wrong" because this happens to be a keen area of education for me. ;)

I asked my instructor if it was just KAPLAN that was obsolete here, or was the NCLEX equally antiquated when it came to this? I happened to find a Lippincott question, purely by coincidence that was virtually identical to one from Kaplan, and THEY gave the "right" answer with correct rationale. Of course, I got it "wrong" because I assumed at that point that all the info for the NCLEX must be out of date in this area. Guess not. It was current.

Since asking her, I also found another breastfeeding-related question that was based on old info....also, about ten years old.....and so I decided to answer it as if I were doing this test 15 years ago, lol....and got it right.

So, where I'm going with all this babbling is, how can I know how often NCLEX updates the validity of their questions? Ironically, everything on ortho and neuro sure looks current, but boy, when it comes to "baby stuff": obsolete, no longer best practice.

Any help for me??? I test next week!!

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The NCLEX questions are updated all of the time, the issue is with the resource for the rationales, not the actual exam. As you said, one book had current information, and the other did not.

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The NCLEX questions are updated all of the time, the issue is with the resource for the rationales, not the actual exam. As you said, one book had current information, and the other did not.

Thank you for responding :)

Since none of us can go back and "see" which ones we got right or wrong, it's hard to know any of this for sure. Kaplan, of course, assured me that they update their book all the time; when I showed the instructor the errors in the book AND printed material that proved it wrong, I heard "well, I guess that must have been missed in the update." For nine years??

Anyway, so it's reasonable to assume that if I answer an NCLEX question based on current info and practice (assuming, too, that there's a choice between that and what was once a correct answer, but now is out of date), that I would get that question correct?

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Could you please share with us what exact mistakes Kaplan did?I used their preparation material also.Thank you.

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Could you please share with us what exact mistakes Kaplan did?I used their preparation material also.Thank you.

Sure. The book has expressed breastmilk storage guidelines in a table format; the information in that grid has been out of date since 1997 that I'm aware of. That's when I had my first son and got info from La Leche League (and the hospital where I delivered) that had new info. Things like "48 hours is the max time in a refrigerator" when it's actually 7 days, freeze on the 8th. Or the old info that says "2 months in a deep freeze"; it's actually six. These guidelines (correct) were even posted on the fridge in the newborn nursery in the hospital I did my OB rotation.

Infant nutrition: there's a kaplan question in the Q-bank that says the mother of a newborn asks the nurse when she should start her baby on solids. If you relied on the coursebook, you'd choose the answer that said "Rice cereal is usually the first solid food and is started between 4-5 months" (forget for a minute that the mother didn't ask WHAT to start, just WHEN). There WAS another choice for that question that said "Infants are usually started on solid foods at about 6 months of age". THAT was the correct response, no matter what Kaplan said. The AAP's guidelines (also from 1997 and unchanged since) clearly state that solid foods should be started 'in the second half of the first year of life'....elsewhere it says 'around six months of age'. Also, part of Kaplan's rationale for their answer being correct is that breastfed babies may be started later than the recommended 4-5 months; even if you accepted that infants are started at different times depending on whether they are formula-fed or breast-fed (and they aren't supposed to) nowhere in the stem does it say HOW that baby was being fed.

There's a question in Q-bank that asks you to identify the correct way a woman should "prepare" her breasts for breastfeeding. Two of the answers were downright stupid; the other two left had a choice of "exposing to air for 20 minutes a day" (would do nothing) and "wash with water then rub with a towel". Hmm....that was what was recommended over a dozen years ago, so....I chose that, lol! For what it's worth, it hasn't been recommended for an expectant mother with "normal" breasts to do ANYTHING to "prepare" for breastfeeding. What was found was most women rubbed themselves to the point of irritation / inflammation: NOT a good way to begin their breastfeeding experience. Oh, and the rationale for that being correct? That it would "stretch" the skin around the nipples in a similar action to breastfeeding....uh, yeah. :uhoh3:

Those stand out for me, because it isn't a conflict between what the book says and what the online questions say (which is ANOTHER problem they have, but that's Kaplan's problem only). In those cases, I just try to figure out which is correct: the book or the computer ;) No, for THESE situations, I was more worried that this kind old info would BE testable....and, like the Kaplan quizzes, I wouldn't know how the heck to answer them!

If Suzanne is correct, the NCLEX should be current. And, I'd hope anyway, the questions and answer choices would be a heckuva lot clearer than Kaplan tends to be.

I found misprints in the text about where you can best hear a fetal heartbeat; at least, I BELIEVE they are misprints (so did my instructor) because the test online had it differently, and that one made sense.

Lots of things about Kaplan are GREAT: planning strategy, prioritizing, etc. It's the mechanics of the course materials that are ticking me off!

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Specializes in Telemetry & Obs.

RNs2BRwe, where is your NCLEX?? I can't wait for you to take it so you can see how you're tormented over things that more than likely won't be on it.:p

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RNs2BRwe, where is your NCLEX?? I can't wait for you to take it so you can see how you're tormented over things that more than likely won't be on it.:p

I test on wednesday :)

But you know, they might be on mine. Or not. But it does kinda burn me that brandy new nurses are learning obsolete information, believing it to be true, and then go on to "teach" new mothers. I know it's a sore spot with me, but I used to be shocked at how poor information could be given out so freely in maternity--now I see how :(

There was another breastfeeding question in there, where the book info was about 15 years out of date, and the computer quiz was more current but still 10 years out! Thing is, THIS is the info that new mothers are told by supposedly current nurses, because they've just graduated. Unless, of course, you were lucky enough to get a very current instructor who had the time. :uhoh3:

Personally, I hope there ain't NUTHIN' on my exam about ANY of this, lol...so it WON'T aggravate me then!

I'll have enough to sweat about, lol...

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From what we were told in our review (it was an instructor that actually writes for NCLEX), she said that NCLEX keeps the same questions in their "bank" for 4 years. they are just now (next year) going to change their bank of questions. so they have info from at least 4 years ago in their bank of questions. At least that is what she said. For instance, she said that if we get a question about syrup of ipecac, that is the right answer because in the "NCLEX world" that is what we use for ingestions (except for corrosives).

Anyone else heard that? About the 4 year thing?

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From what we were told in our review (it was an instructor that actually writes for NCLEX), she said that NCLEX keeps the same questions in their "bank" for 4 years. they are just now (next year) going to change their bank of questions. so they have info from at least 4 years ago in their bank of questions. At least that is what she said. For instance, she said that if we get a question about syrup of ipecac, that is the right answer because in the "NCLEX world" that is what we use for ingestions (except for corrosives).

Anyone else heard that? About the 4 year thing?

I've heard there's a few years' lag, and four years wouldn't be a big deal. This was more like a decade ( :eek: ) so I was alot more concerned. I'm guessing, from what I'm hearing, that it's Kaplan's problem, not the NCLEX's.

None of these things I'm worried about has changed in four years :)

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Specializes in Neuro/ Tele;home health; Neuro ICU.
From what we were told in our review (it was an instructor that actually writes for NCLEX), she said that NCLEX keeps the same questions in their "bank" for 4 years. they are just now (next year) going to change their bank of questions. so they have info from at least 4 years ago in their bank of questions. At least that is what she said. For instance, she said that if we get a question about syrup of ipecac, that is the right answer because in the "NCLEX world" that is what we use for ingestions (except for corrosives).

Anyone else heard that? About the 4 year thing?

same from review instructor, just took it last month, and really same info.

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RN3BRwe, thank you a lot for answering and giving your information. I think we should check cases you've mentioned in Kaplan and Mosby.

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