I'm so excited to get into the program, i had all my books ready and now i'm starting to buy items i'll be using during the clinicals. I know fundamentals is common sense but here's our dilemma....our quizzes....we read 4-5 chapters and our quiz questions only have 15....believe me when i say that i use my "common sense" while answering the quiz but for some reason i keep picking the wrong answer! the passing is 75% so that's 12 points...i got 6 on the 1st quiz, 7 on the 2nd, and 8 on the 3rd (yeah its progressing but bot as much as to give me at least a "C")...i still have 7 more quizzes to go....and i'm starting to stress...i use my textbooks, i use the cd, i use the online practice, and i even use 2 more books but i just can't pick the right answer....by the way i work full time so i can't read for the first 8 hrs. on weekdays....
Can anybody recommend the best pocket guide for clinicals?
Anybody give me some advice please...i really do need it....
I don't believe Fundamentals is "common sense" at all. I guess the things you learn may be concerned "common sense" but the quizzes/tests/HESIs/ATI questions are absolutely not just "common sense." You need to study hard and PRACTICE takings these types of questions. These questions are totally different than any pre-req class you've had. From experience (just finished Funds/Pharm) get the Fundamental Success book (off Amazon) and the Pharm Success book... they have one for each nursing class and I found the rationales in the back after you answer the quizzes to be EXTREMELY helpful. I definitely think this book is the reason I made it through Funds. :)
Good luck to you!! :) Keep trying and study hard... it'll all make sense eventually! :)
I just finished my second week of nursing school and have my first test on Monday so I might not be too much of help. But we did have a test taking lecture on friday and they gave us some great tips on how to take a nursing test:
- Underline the question. Find out what the question is asking and underline it.
- Highlight the key words. Ex: best, early, first, immediately.
- Cross out the distracters.
- Circle the issue or the event.
Avoid asking you self.."well, what if?"
Focus ONLY on the information in the question and read EVERY word and make a decision about what the question is really asking.
Read EVERY answer choice.
Trust yourself, don't second guess your answers.
Get Fundamentals Success by Nugent and Vitale. Its great so far.
I just finished my second week of nursing school and have my first test on Monday so I might not be too much of help. But we did have a test taking lecture on friday and they gave us some great tips on how to take a nursing test:
- Underline the question. Find out what the question is asking and underline it.
- Highlight the key words. Ex: best, early, first, immediately.
- Cross out the distracters.
- Circle the issue or the event.
Avoid asking you self.."well, what if?"
Focus ONLY on the information in the question and read EVERY word and make a decision about what the question is really asking.
Read EVERY answer choice.
Trust yourself, don't second guess your answers.
Get Fundamentals Success by Nugent and Vitale. Its great so far.
Good luck to you and everybody else!!
These are great tips and wish I read them before my exam. My biggest problem was that I kept asking "what if...?" I kept over analyzing the questions especially the ones that I felt didnt have enough detail. But thats the point, questions that dont have too much detail require you to answer the question based off of the info provided, do not add your own data, thats what got me on my 1st exam.
Ditto on the Fundamentals Success book, it was very helpful, some of the questions from the book would even show up on our nursing exams. I am using the Maternal Newborn book from the same series this semester.
NICURN2013
88 Posts
I don't believe Fundamentals is "common sense" at all. I guess the things you learn may be concerned "common sense" but the quizzes/tests/HESIs/ATI questions are absolutely not just "common sense." You need to study hard and PRACTICE takings these types of questions. These questions are totally different than any pre-req class you've had. From experience (just finished Funds/Pharm) get the Fundamental Success book (off Amazon) and the Pharm Success book... they have one for each nursing class and I found the rationales in the back after you answer the quizzes to be EXTREMELY helpful. I definitely think this book is the reason I made it through Funds. :)
Good luck to you!! :) Keep trying and study hard... it'll all make sense eventually! :)