I need some advice, 72 On first Exam :(

[MegRN14]

Ok so here is my situation. I was in nursing school last year and didn't make it had to drop my grade was a few points away from a c which is what I had to have to advance, I was also working Full time and had a lot of stress in my life, its been a year I worked two jobs all summer and also got two scholarships to help me financially this year, for my first exam I studied effectively or so I thought I felt so confident about knowing the info, but just got my raw score and its a 72 I'm so dissapointed I know I knew the info I'm just guessing I've made mistakes when analayzing the questions NCLEX Format, So I need all the study advice I can get this is my second go through so I should be doing much better than that! I'm so crushed that is discouraging and. Before I felt so confident but not nnow

[misskaydee77]

Look for what I refer to as "qualifiers" in the question. These are phrases or words that help you sort out the MOST correct answer from several correct answers. Look for phrases like:

"What would you do FIRST?"

"Using the NURSING PROCESS,"

"Which would you be MOST concerned about?"

A lot of the NCLEX style questions in our program are what we call "common sense" questions. These are things that halfway intelligent non-medical personnel would probably be able to do or figure out on their own, without training. When my classmates get these wrong, it's usually because they read too much into the question. It helps me to relate the process to troubleshooting eletronics. If you walked into the room and your TV would not turn on, common sense would tell you to check and see if it's plugged in before you call tech support or start trying to take it apart. Similarly, if you have a patient that is complaining of chest pain, you wouldn't start with bypass surgery. You would ask them to show you where the pain is, rate the pain, and describe the pain, before you did anything else. When I have to answer these questions, I don't necessarily try to remember what the book said. The book is not going to tell you what to do in every situation, and NCLEX wants nurses who can figure things out. Instead, I picture myself in the room with the patient, and ask myself what I would do in real life. It's usually the right answer.

I hope that helps some. Good luck! :)