How to disect tricky test questions?

[CrystalClear75, BSN, RN]

Hi,

I'm in my 3rd semester of nursing and the tests are SO much trickier(for me anyways, lol). Could you please help me find a good book, website, or whatever to help me to be able to disect these questions. I always feel that i'm right about alot of answers(although they are wrong:chuckle ) and would like some help if you could lead the way please, somehow, i'm kinda failing right now. I got a 71% on my first test(class average 70%) and a 72% on the 2nd(class average 73%) and i'm studying my BEHIND off here. It was on a lot of material though but I really felt confident. Please help.

I have a lot of nclex books but I did come accross a website about an NCLEX prep course (forget the name) but it sounded real good and it's supposed to help one with disecting questions. I did get 8.5 out of 10 on my first quiz and a 10 out of 10 on the 2nd. She adds up all of the quizzes and it will equal out to ONE test score. There will be six. Do you think those quizzes helped my average? Does anyone know how to figure that out? Sorry for all the questions but I'm just a lil depressed.

[DSplendid]

Hi, here is what I know...

1st how many tests are you going to get this semester? If you have 4

(3 plus 6 quizzes = 4) Then you know, you'll have one more test plus the quizzes, to get up to, the passing grade. Which is my next question:

What is the passing grade? Is it 75%?

If it is, then -

71% + 72% + quiz grade + last test grade = your overall grade.

As for the questions...I don't have much advise other than; one of our professors, who taught at Kaplan, gave us a crash course on how to answer nursing questions...this was her advice.

1. Read the question.

2. Re-read the question

3. Put it in terms you can understand. What are they asking?

4. Look at each answer - and put a yes, no or maybe, on each one.

For example, yes, that could be true or no that is definitely not true, or maybe.

Once you cross out the no's,

Then you just think about what you do know.

5. Always use ABC's, example, who cares if the patient isn't eating, if they can't breath type of thing.

6. Next is least invasive procedure to invasive.

It's much more less invasive to sit the patient up first, if they have trouble breathing, then to intubate. lol

7. Then use Maslow and Pysch social

If a patient says she is a burden, it would be more therapeutic to say, What makes you feel this way, rather then..Oh don't say that.

She also told us, that in her opinion Kaplan's Nclex book, really was great when it came to learning how to answer questions. I hope that helped, I'm a student too, but once I started using that method, it really helped me out.

Good luck -

[CrystalClear75, BSN, RN]

Thank you so much! I will use that method for the next test!:wink2:

We have 6 tests and 6 quizzes and she drops the worst quiz. 75% is passing. I figured(without including these quizzes) that i'll need an 82% on this next test to be in the "passing" zone, so I'm studying my butt off! Thanks again!