Failed my first test of senior year!!!!

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Sep 24, 2012

Sure. Run, do not walk, to your psych faculty and ask how to do better on these questions. Recognize that your last year is going to be harder than your earlier ones; as they say in the ads for investment firms, "Past results are not necessarily predictive of future performance." Remember that yes, it is possible to flunk out in your last semester. This is your wake-up call.

ddunnrn · Sep 24, 2012

Do your instructors do a post-test review? Examine your answers to see what points of information or judgment you are missing. Unfortunately, common sense, real world psych, and "book-learning" psych often differ. If you want some help from an old coot RN with 27 years experience, please feel free to email me.

brillohead, ADN, RN · Sep 24, 2012

I ditto asking the instructor for advice on "how to read the questions" and "how to prioritize the answers".

Another good option is reading psych questions in NCLEX review books that include the rationales for the answers. I find that reading the rationales is an excellent way to learn how to read the question and compare the answers to figure out which one is best. Psych is the course that seems to "defy all logic" in the way the questions are answered -- it seems totally different from how we answered questions in every other class.

Read the NCLEX books, read the answers with rationales, and try to figure out some commonalities.

Safety always trumps -- safety of the patient, safety of other patients in the milieu, safety of staff.

Other than that, you have to determine whether the patient needs to be bossed around a little (like a depressed patient who needs to be prodded to get OOB and see to ADLs) or whether the patient is trying to manipulate and split the staff, or whether the patient has the right to refuse tx/meds, etc.

Talk to your instructor, and read Q&A with rationales.

JKrawl4LO · Sep 25, 2012

But being that this is representing 15 percent of my grade, you guys dont feel that it is to much to come back from? Did any of you guys bomb any of your nursing tests and turn it around and pass the class?

brillohead, ADN, RN · Sep 25, 2012

Do the math.... it's recoverable.

JKrawl4LO · Sep 26, 2012

So my test was scored incorrectly and I actually got a 72 instead of a 56!!!! They marked 8 questions wrong that I actually got right!!! F-yeah!

~passionateSN~ · Sep 26, 2012

my first psych test is tomorrow and I just wanted to say I feel the same way as you. It's such a gray area and no matter how much I study it feels like I know nothing! talk to your teacher and see If he/she will go over some things with you. Best of luck!! And Atleast you know what to expect now as far as formatting.

JKrawl4LO · Sep 26, 2012

I would say to always be mindful of safety and feelings when answering the questions. Also, know your meds and what you will teach the patient/family about the side effects, ect.

nurse2b013 · Sep 26, 2012

You can definitely recover from this! I agree with what everyone said...go see your teacher, review your test to see where you went wrong (I do this with every single test, even the ones where I've only missed a few questions) and practice, practice, practice test questions from an NCLEX book!

Hang in there!

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Sep 26, 2012

Learn and deeply understand the rationales. Rationales, rationales, rationales are critical. Every critical thinking question you ever see-- and that includes when you have already passed NCLEX and are at work-- requires you to know the WHY every bit as much as the WHAT.