NCLEX 2nd time in 8 days kaplan frustrating sometimes

[diverguy]

ok I took NCLEX 45 days ago and failed and I am taking again in 8 days. nervous.....uh yes..VERY. been working through the Kaplan QT and so far scored #1 65.5%, #2 72%, #6 62%, #7 58%. QB cumulative is about a 59%. Sample test 1 is 64%.

my scores scare me but I also see from other post that my scores are close to a lot of others that have passed. and I am not worrying so much about scores but reading rationales of every question when done.

the rest of this week is devoted to HURST review of content.

my most frustrating thing about Kaplan is their rationales. they are hard to figure out sometimes. like the rationale is the writers opinion. I've heard it said over and over to

assess first then implement. then I get a question with three implements and one assess and BAMM you do an implement first. that's frustrating. or 2 assess and 2 implement and its an implement. so that's confusing to me. I'm just trying to not kill my pt.

anyone else feel this way?

well just had to take a break and rant for a few min. back to the studying....

[swansonplace]

I am in the same boat. I understand what you are saying. For every rule, there seems to be an exception. If I don't know the content right off the back, I would go with the rules. The rules will not work 100% of the time, but 75% chance is not too bad.

Also, it's real important to make sure the answer matches the question, and not some question from the past. One word changes the whole thing.

Just wondering if Kaplan is helping? I have only weeks to go, and am considering purchasing. I bought before, but my time ran out.

[swansonplace]

Your scores look good. Are you working on test taking strategies? and Is it helping?

[diverguy]

I'm not 100% sure its helping. seems to frustrate me more than help, but my scores are getting better.

just had a question about a guy returning from surgery with a drain and no drainage noted by nurse. what should she do.

I chose check vitals but answer was check drain for kinks. NOW I understand this rationale but the rule is check pt before equipment. so I checked pt first. then BAMMM no check the equipment. FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!

[swansonplace]

What are possible issues with no drain coming from drainage? I quess depends on type of drain.

For some reason there is no drainage. If no drainage is not expected, I could check to make sure the drain is working.

If I checked the vitals what would it do for the patient? Would it make him/her more safe, would it fix the problem, would it handle a physiologic issue? Also, would the vitals give you any more info that would be helpful?

What are the implications if the drain is not working? Could it mean there is a decrease in vitals? If not, then back to looking at drain tubing. I think this is the exception rather than the rule.

I see your point on this. It is frustrating. Sometimes they are expecting a certain answer, and you don't know unless you have seen it before.

[swansonplace]

Post or PM when you have questions you can't break apart.

[KimberlyRN89, BSN, RN]

I had the same issue with Kaplan too. It was questions like that in which you can't solely rely on the "decision tree" but you must know the content & interventions specific to the disorder. For example, Kaplan said "don't pass the buck (I.e., call the Dr.) but in some of the questions, the correct response was to call the Dr. So basically, it is important to know when to assess, when to implement, when to call the dr, and when to delegate. Good luck on the nclex :)

[vbarger28, BSN]

I used Kaplan, and graduated from there, the qbank is hard. It's structured like nclex, if you have a drain, remember is there for a REASON. Not just to look pretty, so if it's there, and nothing is coming out post-op, that's probably an issue :)