How do i approach Priortization questions on Nclex?

Convex · Feb 20, 2017

What would kill the patient first? Followed by your A, B, C's. If you're really weak at them, try LaCharity's book. That seems to be the go-to for most people when it comes to prioritization/delegation.

NorthernNurse BSN,RN · Feb 20, 2017

Prioritization can be tricky. Are you using any resources right now, like kaplan? Kaplan has a 30 question test on priorities that helped me prepare for NCLEX.

ABCs (Airway 1st, breathing 2nd, circulation 3rd) should be your first consideration when tackling these priority questions. If it doesn't apply, then think worst case scenario for each outcome.

Look for key words or phrases like "burns to the chest and face", "uncontrolled pain," shock signs and symptoms, suicidal ideation, and anything that hints towards a medical emergency.

You have to know what is expected for the disease presented. For example, is it normal for a chemo patient to feel nauseous and vomit or is it normal for an 8 week pregnant woman to be spotting? Yes, although both require further investigation, these probably won't be your "killer" answers.

You need to know normal labs also, if they present to you four labs and only one is really abnormal then it is most likely the answer for which patient you should see first. If you don't know labs then you're just guessing which ones are normal.

Know an actual problem vs. a potential problem. An example: Who would you see first?

A patient complaining of shortness of breath and pressure in the chest area OR a patient with a blood pressure of 90/60 and apical pulse of 120? Both need intervention, but a low bp and high pulse indicate shock while the other patient may have a potential problem, shock patient is having an actual problem.

Practice as many prioritization questions as you can, most of my NCLEX was prioritization and I just took it a few weeks ago. The more rationales you read, the more you will understand the way you need to think in order to pass.

b33110 · Feb 20, 2017

I felt like about 85% of my questions were prioritizations. What helped me the most with answering those was Uworld. I found uworld is a lot more difficult than actual NCLEX

michellelreck · Feb 21, 2017

A helpful way to approach prioritization questions is to think about it this way: "If you walk into the room and can only do 1 of the options and then walk out, which one would be most helpful to the patient?"