i need RN advice PLEASE..

MauraRN · Jul 14, 2009

I took NCLEX/RN today and feel that I passed with 75 questions. (did the Pearsonvue trick, can't register again).

When you sit down at the computer at Pearson to test go thru the tutorial so that you know how to operate the calculator, drag and drops. Then take your eraseboard and write down the following; common lab values, i.e. Na, K+,

BUN creatine, pH, hct and hgb, etc. If math scares you, write out 2 or 3 common equations, ie., 1000ml x 15 gtt factor/minutes. I had 2 of those. Write down this acronym in CAPS; ADPIE (assess, diagnose, planning, intervention, evaluation) otherwise known as the NURSING PROCESS. Next draw a triangle and fill in Maslow's hierachy. Last, acronym ABCD airway, breathing, circulation, disability (neuro).

If you are clueless on an answer ask yourself; if priority question ABCD airway is always FIRST. example is priority Nsg DX; Ineffective Airway Clearance, or, Ineffective Coping. Go with the airway.

Maslow's basic physiological needs come before love, belonging, self-esteem, so an effective airway is more important than self-esteem.

If you don't know an answer but the question is asking about interventions of some sort, remember ADPIE.

And if you write lab values down before the first question pops up, the lab values won't jump out of your head before you need them!LOL

You can't possibly know all meds, but know cardiac catergories, the betas, end in "pril" etc.

Insulin; clear before cloudy.

BP 70/40, resp 24 apical 150 start thinking Fluid Volume Deficit as primary dx.

Sorry if I am all over the place here, just typed as info entered my seriously fried brain.

I did Saunders, Exam Cram and some NCLEX 3500 and can honestly say I likely would have passed anyway, most of the questions were directly related to my LPN work in sub-acute care or as my role of Mom to cleft-palate kid, yes I got a pediatric cleft-palate question!!!

Hope this points you in a direction to streamline your studying.

Maureen GN

RNindmaking · Jul 14, 2009

I took NCLEX/RN today and feel that I passed with 75 questions. (did the Pearsonvue trick, can't register again).
When you sit down at the computer at Pearson to test go thru the tutorial so that you know how to operate the calculator, drag and drops. Then take your eraseboard and write down the following; common lab values, i.e. Na, K+,
BUN creatine, pH, hct and hgb, etc. If math scares you, write out 2 or 3 common equations, ie., 1000ml x 15 gtt factor/minutes. I had 2 of those. Write down this acronym in CAPS; ADPIE (assess, diagnose, planning, intervention, evaluation) otherwise known as the NURSING PROCESS. Next draw a triangle and fill in Maslow's hierachy. Last, acronym ABCD airway, breathing, circulation, disability (neuro).
If you are clueless on an answer ask yourself; if priority question ABCD airway is always FIRST. example is priority Nsg DX; Ineffective Airway Clearance, or, Ineffective Coping. Go with the airway.
Maslow's basic physiological needs come before love, belonging, self-esteem, so an effective airway is more important than self-esteem.
If you don't know an answer but the question is asking about interventions of some sort, remember ADPIE.
And if you write lab values down before the first question pops up, the lab values won't jump out of your head before you need them!LOL
You can't possibly know all meds, but know cardiac catergories, the betas, end in "pril" etc.
Insulin; clear before cloudy.
BP 70/40, resp 24 apical 150 start thinking Fluid Volume Deficit as primary dx.
Sorry if I am all over the place here, just typed as info entered my seriously fried brain.
I did Saunders, Exam Cram and some NCLEX 3500 and can honestly say I likely would have passed anyway, most of the questions were directly related to my LPN work in sub-acute care or as my role of Mom to cleft-palate kid, yes I got a pediatric cleft-palate question!!!
Hope this points you in a direction to streamline your studying.
Maureen GN

Thanks for sharing! i'm sure these would really help. Congratulations in advance! No doubt,u'll pass!

shoegalRN, RN · Jul 14, 2009

I passed NCLEX with 75 questions and there were a few questions on the test I had not a clue about.

What I did FIRST was write down ALL my lab values on that erasable sheet. And there was alot of questions that directly related to lab values, normal vs abnormal.

One thing I knew for sure is if I got a critical lab value in the stem of the question and it was CLEAR the patient was crashing, there was no need for me to do an assessment. I had to DO something. So, I had to intervene, and if the answer of "call the doctor" was there, I selected it ONLY because my patient was crashing. I only had a couple of those.

If it was something where the patient was crashing, and the answer of "call the doctor" was NOT there, then I still had to DO something. So I had to intervene and I would select the answer that promoted the best outcome for the patient and was also the safest. For example, if the stem of the question said the patient was having difficulty breathing, elevated HR, what would I do FIRST? I would raise the head of the bed. Why? Because of the ABC's. Raising the head of the bed promotes easier breathing.

I also knew that physical needs come BEFORE pyshcosocial needs. I don't care if the patient has low self esteem if they are having trouble breathing. I do not want to "express feelings" if they are dehydrated. I'm gonna want to push fluids.

Also, when delegating to a RN from another unit, remember to give the most STABLE patient with the best possible outcome. If a peds nurse is being floated to the ICU, I would give the most stable patient who is being transferred to a step down unit. Why? They are stable enough to be transferred out of the ICU.

Also, do not delegate a patient who is being discharged to the LPN, because the RN has to do discharge teaching. I know they are the most stable patient with the best possible outcome, but the RN does teaching, not the LPN.

These are things I can remember from the top of my head.

soon2bRN516 · Jul 14, 2009

I am going to make this as short and sweet as possible.....I have severe test anxiety, and amazingly I did not have any anxiety once I sat down to take my exam.....crazy.....I told myself from the time I started studying that I could do this, so I basically convinced myself through positive self talk that I could do it, and I would pass....I did almost 5000 question, which i know is a little OCD, but I wanted to make sure that i had used every resource to its fullest value...plus, I didn't want to be thinking, what if I would have done this/or that...SO, The day of the test, I got up early, ate some breakfast let an hour ahead of time, got to the facility and sat in the sun until the doors opened...Once inside, we went through the registration process, then I entered the testing room....Once I sat down, put my ear plugs in I never even glanced over my shoulder until the computer shut off.....As I came upon each question I was sure to read it twice(fortunately they were not as wordy as Kaplan), after reading the question I chose 2 answers that were wrong right away...then I just sat there and thought about each of the answers and how they would effect the client with this disease/or problem...then I choose whichever one made more sense....When I came to ones I did not know which were some med questions, i simply looked that the suffix to see ifI could figure anything out by that....if I drew a blank i wrote the word down, hoping some recall would work, if it didn't then I went back to the answer choices to see if they would give away what they were asking....once figured out, or not figured out I used the ABC's and safety concerns to make my final judgement and choose and answer...I started at about 8am, and I walked out the door at 9:30 after answering 75 questions....Yay!!! I felt good after the test, which was odd because of the way others have responded in a complete horrific manor...anyhow...I passed, so my thought process was right atleast for that test that day and time...haha...So my suggestion is to go with your gut, don't second guess yourself, and before your test work on trying to take up to 265 questions so that you have the endurance for it if you need it...Good luck to you

PS....take your time, you have 6 hours!!!!

RNindmaking · Jul 15, 2009

thanks for sharing your expiriences and helpful tips! i'm sure i'm not the only one who will benefit from your pieces of advice. no doubt,you deserve to pass. any additional tips/advice from those who passed would be gladly appreciated..

god bless!

drugstorecowgirl214 · Jul 15, 2009

I took the NCLEX on July 10th. To calm my nerves the night before I told myself two things:

It can be done! and

It's just another test.

I passed with 75 questions. I did utilize Kaplan which for me worked out well. I had about 8-10 SATA's, lots of infection control, delegation and priority, pharmacology (some I had no idea...couldn't even put it into a classification) and several diabetes questions. No math what-so-ever. When I left that afternoon I just didn't know how to feel. Finally, on Sunday, I couldn't take it and paid the $7.95 to get my results from Pearson Vue.....PASS! Heck, I even had to check it before I went to bed that night to make sure what I had seen earlier was true!

Good luck to you!