Need tips for NC2!!

Spazzy Nurse, RN · Nov 30, 2004

Congrats on your 'B'--- that really is something to be proud of! These exams aren't easy.

But as far as "tips" go...... if someone were to give you tips, whether it be blunt and saying "this is what is on NC2" or even just something more general like, "concentrate on this......" that would be considered academic dishonesty and that person could get nailed by EC, who surely monitors this site and all other sites like it. Please be careful with what you say----- and with what you ask other people to say.

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Nov 30, 2004

Yeah, the word "tips" used to mean suggestions, ideas, encouragement, direction. Now it means "what's on the test."

If you haven't already, you should join the yahoo group called nontradnurses. The files section is divided into the various exams, and each exam's file has a lot of notes, practice tests, etc.

When I was studying, I saved that stuff to my hard drive to it's own little folder, and then I read (and actually corrected spelling, grammar, and format along the way) and what I didn't know was absolute fact, I looked up online, usually using google.

I learned a lot that way and basically had a great basis for the largest library ever.

Good luck!

kesneysmom · Nov 30, 2004

Congrats on your 'B'--- that really is something to be proud of! These exams aren't easy.
But as far as "tips" go...... if someone were to give you tips, whether it be blunt and saying "this is what is on NC2" or even just something more general like, "concentrate on this......" that would be considered academic dishonesty and that person could get nailed by EC, who surely monitors this site and all other sites like it. Please be careful with what you say----- and with what you ask other people to say.[/
QUOTE]
Thankyou for your advice. I didn't mean it that way at all. I wouldnt be sinking money into RUE if I was trying to be dishonest. Never thought of it that way. I was just wanting a general comparison on how hard the exam was. You know since I made a B on NC1 is it similar to NC2 as far as tuffness and study time? I studied 4 weeks for NC1 and am aiming the same for NC2.Just wanted to know if that is realistic. Sorry I will be more careful. Again thanks It never even crossed my mind that it sounded that way:stone

Spazzy Nurse, RN · Nov 30, 2004

I'm sure you weren't trying to be dishonest, but there are people out there who are and I don't want you to be mistaken for one of them. Rumor has it that people get nailed by EC for some of the things that they have said on these boards, so I have always been overly paranoid about it.

If studying for NC1 for 4 weeks did it for you, then maybe it'll work again for NC2. Maybe you'll get into it and find that you are absorbing the info faster and it'll take only 3 weeks, or maybe you'll find that you need some extra time with this one. A lot of it depends on your background, too. I have worked psych and neuro, so that material didn't take me quite as long as say the CV system.

How hard is NC2 compared to NC1? I thought they were all equally as tough, with the exception for Occupational Strategies (which is now called something different and I just can't think of the new name!!). I actually kind of liked that exam.

Good luck and let us know how you do on NC2. :)

Thankyou for your advice. I didn't mean it that way at all. I wouldnt be sinking money into RUE if I was trying to be dishonest. Never thought of it that way. I was just wanting a general comparison on how hard the exam was. You know since I made a B on NC1 is it similar to NC2 as far as tuffness and study time? I studied 4 weeks for NC1 and am aiming the same for NC2.Just wanted to know if that is realistic. Sorry I will be more careful. Again thanks It never even crossed my mind that it sounded that way:stone

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Nov 30, 2004

Passed my NC1 today. I made a B!! Studying for NC2, I am using a RUE study guide. Can anyone give me some insight? I would really appreciate it.:) No details just a general comparison on tuffness? You can rate from 1-10. I rate the NC1 about a 4. Not to easy but not to bad.

Go to this site and join: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rnstudygroup/

then ask for an invite to the NC2 study group. I was a member of this group before EC went to NC tests, they were still ABC then, anyway, I can't tell you how much support and encouragement I received being a part of the group. They can support you all the way through. I've been an RN for 3 years and I truely don't know if I could have done it without them. Good Luck and Congrats on passing the test!

P.S. I didn't use any study guides other than those provided free by EC. Saved alot! Learned alot!

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Nov 30, 2004

I didn't mean it that way at all. .... Sorry I will be more careful. Again thanks It never even crossed my mind that it sounded that way :stone

No need to be sorry, we are just encouraging caution, that's all.

The first time I found a "tips" file in one of the yahoo groups, I was eager to see it. Just like you, "tips" meant maybe terms, direction, etc. Sort of like a file of what might transpire in a study group, ya know? What I found quickly turned out to be "this is what is on the test."

I was horrified. I was appalled and aghast. (Can you be those things simultaneously??? I was.)

Since I was the moderator of the group at that time and therefore had some responsibility for what was on the site, and since it was clear that this violated EC's honesty policy, not to mention the obvious right versus wrong issue, I deleted the files and posted a brief explanation to the membership.

Well, let's just say you could have done a huge C&S on what hit the fan, OK? Fortunately, I did have some vocal supporters, and the uprising was put down. But boy, howdy, I'm here to tell you, the ones that wanted access to actual items were out for blood for a while.

It's a hot issue, and maybe that's what's coming across in our collective tone. So, don't be :stone , just know that as alums, we are protective of those coming through the program, and that includes you, OK? :)

Now, as to relative "toughness," I do remember that material from the previous exams seemed to pop into the later ones, and that might even have included NC-2. I don't mean factual questions, like what's a normal BP, although that might be something you would have to remember in the context of something like being at high risk for stroke or falling.

I mean that for some questions, you had to remember what you learned about, say, sleep deprivation, when you studied about, say, pain. Those are just "off the top of my head" examples. (Keep in mind I am blond.... :rotfl: )

So while you probably can pass the tests and not retain much, you want to work toward learning, rather than passing (as is so often our temptation, especially when we are in a hurry), and then, having really learned the material well, you will pass. (I always thought it was kinda nice, how that worked....)

kesneysmom · Nov 30, 2004

Thanks guys for all of the encouragement and advice. I dont want to Just Pass. I learn from repeativeness. I have to read something a 100 times before I understand it. My background is LTC and School Nursing. I guess I related well with the material on NC1 but I am not experianced at all in the hospital setting. I was a Restorative Nurse for 2 years so that helped me alittle as far as nutrition and restraints ect. Anyways thanks again. I plan on doing NC2 then start with my pre-reqs. I have all of them to take so I will be here for a LONG time. Thanks Again to you all.

Laurie888 · Dec 1, 2004

Passed my NC1 today. I made a B!! Studying for NC2, I am using a RUE study guide. Can anyone give me some insight? I would really appreciate it.:) No details just a general comparison on tuffness? You can rate from 1-10. I rate the NC1 about a 4. Not to easy but not to bad.

I think it depends on your strong areas. Memorizing is not mine and it seems there is more of that for this one. I got a D on it the first time (but have been treated for ADD since -- I couldn't focus on the exam, would forget the question before I finished reading the answers!) Maybe I'm wrong or maybe I'm just approaching it wrong, but when things make sense to me they make sense and I remember, I had a B average in nursing school and I frankly rarely studied, just paid attention and listend to what was going on around me.

For me, I'd put them in order from easy to hard NC1, NC4, NC3, NC5, NC2. Haven't seen 6 or 7 yet. Based on what I've retained/learned through the years.

What seems easier/harder for some isn't the same way for everybody! NC2 scares me.

What's on the test is what's in the content guide, right? Don't they redo the exams every October?

BBFRN, BSN, PhD · Dec 1, 2004

Kesneysmom- if you PM me your email addy, I will send you some NC2 study materials (notes and a practice test).

I had the hardest time with NC5...don't remember how hard NC6 was, but NC7 was very cut & dry.

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Dec 1, 2004

I think it depends on your strong areas. Memorizing is not mine and it seems there is more of that for this one. I got a D on it the first time

I've noticed that what I know, seems easy. What I do not know, or have not thoroughly learned, seems hard. My husband is an engineering genius, has been "into" electricity in a big and technical way since he was about three. He has taught math classes on stuff I can barely pronounce and cannot grasp even the gist of. BUT, he is clueless about this nursing stuff. Even with gentle explanation. (Clue to my occasional mild mischief, I love trying to explain this and watch that blank look just slide across his face..... [teeny tiny lol])

...but have been treated for ADD since -- I couldn't focus on the exam, would forget the question before I finished reading the answers!

Be very careful of this. If you did not have the s/s of ADD before you were 7, you cannot have it now. That's the way the disorder is. You may be distracted by anxiety, you may be over tired, you may be a lot of things, and the treatment for ADD (stimulants) will keep you focused. But the stuff is addictive, and if you do not have the disorder, you do not have the disorder. (Be grateful if you don't. It's very hard to live with. If you research this further, be careful of sites written by drug companies like Lilly. You know what their motive is.) Drug companies make a lot of money off ADD meds--that's a big reason why so many kids are on it today. If they can hook adults, so much the better. And don't kid yourself, they are only too happy to cater to whatever they need to to sell a pill.

For me, I'd put them in order from easy to hard NC1, NC4, NC3, NC5, NC2. Haven't seen 6 or 7 yet. Based on what I've retained/learned through the years. What seems easier/harder for some isn't the same way for everybody! NC2 scares me.

Don't let this scare you! NC-2 looked pretty straight forward to me, and the units that addressed cardiac issues and electrolytes, whatever that one was, were like Greek--until I learned the material. Just dive into the NC-2 info, google everything you do not know, read and read, and take the practice tests, including the one at the back of the study guide, and I suspect you might find the info fascinating and graspable. (If you aren't already a member of the yahoo group nontradnurses, join it. The files sections are chock full of good stuff.)

What's on the test is what's in the content guide, right? Don't they redo the exams every October?

The material in the units stays essentially the same. But items are constantly being rewritten and updated. One of my professors here in the Dallas area has written some from time to time--these are those extra items on the exam that don't count for or against us, they are being reviewed for inclusion in later exams. Just curious, though..... why October?

Good luck to you. You seem to have the seriousness and comittment that this method of learning requires.

Laurie888 · Dec 1, 2004

Be very careful of this. If you did not have the s/s of ADD before you were 7, you cannot have it now.

****

I know a lot, a whole lot, about ADD. My son was diagnosed about 6 years ago, the funny thing when I was reading about it I kept thinking "that's me" especially the adult stuff, the bankruptcies from not paying bills from mail that was lost before it was open, the house that won't get cleaned no matter how much I dislike the clutter that seems to accumulate, the whole list of adult ADD symptoms. And it really has been a lifelong thing for me, I was born scatterbrained. It wasn't until I taking these exams that I finally sought treatment (very successfully so far) mostly I just made adjustments and feel that to a certain extent it is just another way of thinking/doing things. But when I can't focus long enough to take a 3-hour exam (even though the longest was 90 minutes my time) I figured it wouldn't hurt to try treatment. The med that made my son psychotic has made me functional in a way I never dreamt possible. And I definitely spent my early years "not living up to her potential."

Unfortunately, my son is not ADHD he is bipolar, so he got worse before he got better, now that he's on the right meds things are looking up quite a bit.

I don't know if I'm serious but I AM determined. I studied like crazy for NC2 and am sure I've gone through all the material 100 times I just kept blanking out. Next time I have a whole day off I'll try the practice exam from EC ... I am sure that's what helped me ace NC4 and pass NC6, and I need whatever I can get to get over this mental block for NC2. I inquired about NC2 study group in yahoo yesterday but missed my email and a session last night -- if it is weekly then I'll still have the opportunity for 2 before I test.

October... dunno. Don't all the content guides have a statement on them about using only if you are taking the test before... September 30. Might not be every year. I took NC6 the first week in October though and from what I could see the content guide didn't actually change, so it is likely just to make sure you watch in case it does. Over the years inevitably some must have changed a little, maybe not in content but definitely in what the reading assignments are.