Help with NC5!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eager2bRN · Jun 30, 2007

Just use the Excelsior Content guide paying close attention to conditions listed just before the suggested reading and items in parenthesis after required reading.

txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN · Jul 2, 2007

you go directly through ec for the practice exams. good luck to you i hear ec 5 is a bugger...

hi all!
long time no post. i have taken my ec exams starting with life span and all the thru nc4. all this time i have gotten a's and b's. i take nc5 and get a d. i buy the practice exam to get ready to retake and i fail the first one. i am really shook. i need some guidance. also how do i use the practice exams to help me study?
please help
thanks
god bless!

Editorial Team / Moderator · Jul 2, 2007

also how do I use the practice exams to help me study?

Each question on the EC practice exam tells you the test area to which it pertains ... for example, I just took the NC2 practice exam, and I missed the most questions in the area of Nutrition. So I'm going back and reading the Nutrition chapter again before I test tomorrow!

It would be helpful if EC would provide a breakdown of percentage by area like they do on the real exam, but they don't. You just have to look over your test and figure it out on your own. I find that the EC practice exams are helpful because not only do they provide the rationales for the correct answer, they also tell you why the others aren't correct.

Good luck!!

Firemedic7 · Jul 4, 2007

Each question on the EC practice exam tells you the test area to which it pertains ... for example, I just took the NC2 practice exam, and I missed the most questions in the area of Nutrition. So I'm going back and reading the Nutrition chapter again before I test tomorrow!
It would be helpful if EC would provide a breakdown of percentage by area like they do on the real exam, but they don't. You just have to look over your test and figure it out on your own. I find that the EC practice exams are helpful because not only do they provide the rationales for the correct answer, they also tell you why the others aren't correct.
Good luck!!

Can I take that to mean that if it is not mentioned on the practice exam that it is not on the exam...or is that oversimplifying things?

Editorial Team / Moderator · Jul 4, 2007

Can I take that to mean that if it is not mentioned on the practice exam that it is not on the exam...or is that oversimplifying things?

Well, the practice exams aren't identical to the finals, but they have sample questions from the various subject areas. For example, the free EC content guide tells you that NC5 covers Behaviorial Responses (50%), Regulatory Mechanisms (25%), and Metabolic Mechanisms (25%). Each practice question tells you which area it falls under, so if you're constantly missing questions in the area of Metabolic Mechanisms, you need to beef up that area of study. (I think this might be why people find NC5 difficult -- some of the earlier exams cover more topics and the percentages aren't so large in each subject area. Yikes.)

txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN · Jul 6, 2007

maybe you could take one of the nursing concept online conferences that ec has. you can take one for any concept and they are $175 a piece. they last 2 months and that just night help you to pass. i have never taken one but they couldn't hurt.