I had my first major nursing exam.

Guest20074 · Sep 11, 2003

Thanks for the advice! I'm taking my first test today and I think I'm going to do okay, but I'm still a little bit nervous.

Hooligan · Sep 11, 2003

Way to go!! A 90 is a B in my program and an 80 is a pretty low C... I got a 72 on my first test and am only 2 percentage points away from an F...

My first test didn't go as well as yours...I'm actually really embarrasses because I've never gotten below a B on anything I've studied for. I always wavered between two answers and ended choosing the wrong one. I was thinking too much into them...Oh well...you live and you learn. I won't let it happen again!

~Bean

Jen2 · Sep 11, 2003

My first BIG ONE is next friday. The second year students are having a ball telling us horror stories. We were told that we would want to quit on the first day. We all love it.

rngrad2009 · Sep 11, 2003

well, my first BIG ONE will be on the 22nd. Our teacher showed us a video on test taking tips. the video was great. I will share some of the tips i learned.

1. get a good night's sleep the night before

2. do not drink alot of caffeine

3. eat a good meal that morning

4. do something relaxing before u take the test

5. stay away from crowds and frantic people

1. Read the case scenerio.

2. Highlight all of the key words that's in the question(all, most appropiate, only, entire, totally, etc.)

3. Try to answer the question before looking at the options.

4. once you have answered the question in your mind, find the answer below that matches your answer.

5. Pick the most complete answer

I wish everyone luck on their first and future exams. Do not listen to those 2nd year students :rolleyes:

Mandylpn · Sep 11, 2003

HI: I just wanted to say I agree not to listen to the students ahead of you, because I got into this habit with a friend of mine who is in her last semester. She tells me how hard the tests are, how many have dropped out, etc. I was really psyching myself up and actually the tests she said were hard were easy for me. All I can say is, avoid whatever you can that will freak you out. you need every bit of your sanity.

FarmgrrlRN · Sep 11, 2003

I missed a question because I missed a key detail on my first exam yesterday. I sometimes read too fast and that's what happens! Other than that, our first one was much easier than many of us expected. We had a study-group review for 2 hours the night before and it really helped!

Our instructors do something very interesting and fun... After we finished the exam we broke into groups of 6-7. We then took the exam as a group, each of us with our original exams (many of us had our answers circled), and filled in the answers on a fresh scantron. These then get graded, and if we, as a group, get an A we get so many bonus points and so on for a B or C. It provided us with an opportunity to see our mistakes and to discuss why we were wrong or right. We also got to count how many we got wrong... a little preliminary grade. (I think I got a 92.5....woo hoo if its true!). I'll find out Monday how I really did.

Oh, and we are all freaking out now because we all now think that the first exam was a "gimme", and we'll all be in for it for the second exam which is only two weeks away!

Ortho_RN · Sep 12, 2003

I agree with the horror stories being passed around... But sometimes those Nursing 1 students come up to higher up students asking them about tests. I tell them the truth... If they didn't want to know they wouldn't ask.... The same was done to us.... Tests they thought were hard I thought were fairly easy...

Everyone is different...

Jennerizer, ASN, RN · Sep 12, 2003

It's amazing how different the grading scales can be from school to school. An 80 average would be kind of depressing at my school since a 78 is the lowest you can get before failing. 78 is a C, 77 is an F. There are no D's.

Good job on your first exam. Keep up the great work.

I'm a second semester student & we just had our first exam. Everyone passed! My instructor is amazed. Lowest grade was a 78, highest was a 94. I got an 88 & I'm happy.

Farm...I like the way your instructor allows bonus points. That is interesting. We had to take quizzes in first semester to get bonus points. Now in second semester, we get quizzes, but no bonus points. They add the 10 quizzes up at the end of the semester & count it as a test grade. Booooo! :)

Definitely take the time to read the entire question.......find out what they are looking for in an answer before you even look at the answers. Reading too fast is a common mistake & you end up missing important information.

FarmgrrlRN · Sep 13, 2003

Jennerizer,

Our instructors told us that they learned that at a workshop. It really is supposed to help the students understand their mistakes as a group (vs. the instructors being questioned by 100 students!)

I don't know what our class would do with quizzes, I can see many of them freaking out, more anxiety that we don't need!!!

PilotJim68 · Sep 14, 2003

Originally posted by Jennerizer
It's amazing how different the grading scales can be from school to school. An 80 average would be kind of depressing at my school since a 78 is the lowest you can get before failing. 78 is a C, 77 is an F. There are no D's.

Jen...its the same at my school. Actually 79.9 is failing and > 92% is an A. You have to have an avg. of 80% overall on everything to pass. They don't round up either, you get what you get. I was a little upset that I did so "poorly" on my first exam...88% when I really studied hard for it. But now I know some of my mistakes and how the testing style is and I can better prepare myself for it.