How should I answer SATA if I'm not sure??

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I took my nclex for the first time, had 265 questions 20+ sata, 6 math and 4 EKG....failed.

But I'm over my grieving and ready to get back at it! I took Kaplan before, now I signed up to take the ncsbn review. I do ok figuring out what the question is asking and getting the answer but when I get a sata question I turn into panicky dope.

I have a huge problem with answering sata questions 100% correct. On every question there are always at least one option where I have no idea if it is correct or not and I don't know what to do, this happened to me alot on the nclex, I had options that I had no idea if they were right or wrong, so sometimes I would answer them while other times I did not...

Is there a way with figuring out if the answers are correct without me reading an entire med surg and pharm book before I test again??

Thanks!!

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

My advice: look at the first answer choice. Decide if it's a correct answer or not. If it is, mark it; if not, don't mark it.

Then move to the next answer choice and do the same. Then the next answer choice. And the next...until you've looked at all the answer choices.

DO NOT overanalyze things, such as fretting if you only picked 1 or 2 answers when the other SATAs you've come across had you picking almost all of them. There's no relation between SATA questions--look at each question individually. Also don't stress over the number of answers a SATA has. Not every SATA has all of them correct, or only an even number of them correct.

Last, SATA means that one or more answers are correct...and yes, that does mean that a SATA could have only one correct choice. SATAs with only one answer aren't common but are possible. So if you have a SATA where you see only one clearly correct answer and the rest don't even come close, don't try to force a second answer just because it's a SATA.

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Can you give an example of the whole "looking at the answer and determine if it's true or false"?

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

Look at the question. Then start with choice #1 and ask yourself, "could this choice answer the question correctly?" Don't look at choice #1 compared to the other choices. Focus only on if/how choice #1 answers the question. Then do the same for each of the other choices.

Don't compare the choices to each other. Don't think that because you selected the first three choices that number four must be correct as well. Consider the question and each choice individually.

Does that help explain it better?

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Definitely. Thanks!

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So can SATA have one answer?

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Most SATA will have more than 2 answers but not usually all will be correct per Hurst Review instructor. I can't imagine it being only 1.

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My instructor said she spoke with an NCLEX lady and was told that if a question only had one answer it would be a multiple choice question, and rarely will all of the answers be correct. So it's most often going to be between 2 answers and 1 less than all, but it could be all of them.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
So can SATA have one answer?

Technically, yes: they can have only one answer.

In practice, it's not common to see them. But I have encoutered one-answered SATAs in nursing school, Kaplan tests and other NCLEX practice tests, so I woudn't doubt that one may sneak onto the NCLEX.

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