NCLEX Priority Questions- nclex-rn 2015

[bonniekate89]

Hi!

I take the NCLEX on Thursday and I've read that there will likely be quite a few priority questions.

Any tips and pointers on these questions? I struggle with them sometimes.

It's Safety, Maslows, ABCs. Correct?

What were your tactics for beating priority questions? What about SATA?

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Honestly, the only 'tactic' for success with ANY kind of question is to understand what's being asked, and answer appropriately. No magic answer, really, just know what it is that's in front of you, and what the best course of action would be in ANY given situation.

As for SATA, approach them like True/False questions: ask yourself of each and every option presented if that would be TRUE in that situation. If it is....it's one of the correct choices. Don't let it overwhelm you, just go with T/F and you'll be fine.

[thocat1989]

I agree with RNsRWe in regard to the only way to really answer a question is to understand what it is asking. SATA is basically true/false so go down the answers like that and make sure they answer the question. Read the question 3x if you have to and pay attention to key words such as "first," "needs additional teaching," "understands," "needs clarification," etc. I did Kaplan questions mostly and used their decision tree as best I could. First you ask yourself what the question is asking you, then figure out if it requires an assessment or intervention then proceed with Maslow (is it physical or psychological), then do ABC's, and then ask yourself is the outcome to each answer what I would expect/want. A tip for me during priority is if an elderly pt or an infant is there and dehydrated, vomiting, or have diarrhea for the past couple days they are high priority... I'm not saying this applies in every case though because there could be a pt who is more acute than they are, but just a general "fact" to know.

[CT Pixie, BSN, RN]

One hint/tip I can think of is this...

KNOW what the question wants from you. If it asks what you'd teach the patient..do NOT pick a nursing intervention and if its asking for an intervention, do NOT pick a patient teaching answer :)