New member/PBDS

I'm so happy to see this, and so recent! I am a new grad and just got hired into a new grad program. I was just informed that we have to take the PBDS test in TWO days! At first I wasn't very concerned but once I googled it, I started reading horror stories that basically scared me. And I feel like they gave us virtually no time to prepare! Needless to say, I am freaking out!

Oh wow! Are you going to take the OB PBDS, or a general med/surg? I can't see it being fair at all for you to take a test based on an area you are just starting in. I do know they account for your level of experience when grading. From what I have read and heard, new grads usually do a lot better than experienced nurses! If this "old-timer" can do it, so can you!! Wishing you the best of luck, and please let me know when you pass!

I hope you're right! It's for med-surg telemetry. In my second interview they asked about my ability in reading telemetry strips and I told them quite frankly I needed more training in it. I have very limited experience in that area, but they seemed to be perfectly ok with that.l, stating it will be covered in orientation. This test pretty much came out of left field and I have no clue what to expect. I've read online the importance of reviewing common complications such as CHF, CVA, RF, dig tox, etc. but I feel there's more to it than that and I just want to get my bases covered.

I can give you a general picture of what mine was like, but I know my scenerios won't be on yours. WARNING: this will be long! Travelers/Agency nurses generally take an abbreviated assessment. The first section was the must do (within 15 min), should do (within 1 hr), and could do (before end of shift). You only had to provide an intervention for the must do's. Example: pt. calls out and says my water just broke. The monitor shows fetal heart rate in the 50's. This would be a must do because there is a chance that the umbilical cord prolapsed with the water breaking. I clicked on must do, and in the blank box for interventions, I typed: immediately perform vag exam to determine prolapsed cord and push presenting part off cord if present. This was kind of tough because the directions said to list only 1 intervention. If the situation was should or could, you clicked on the appropriate choice and moved on. The next part was the videos. I was given a packet with one page for each video. It had pt info, V/S, recent labs. You clicked watch video, and you saw a 1-3 min segment of a pt with a changing condition. example: the paper in the packet says pt X was dx with a fetal demise 1 week ago. Admission labs( platelets very low), and current V/S were listed. The video starts- a pt in bed, looks tired, has IV. She looks down at her IV, and there is blood oozing from the site. She calls for the nurse and the video ends. A screen pops up- think of a sheet of blank paper, turned sideways. There is a narrow box at the top, and the rest of the page has a line down the middle. In the box, you type what the problem/condition is. In the example, I would type DIC. The left side of the paper (screen) is for interventions, and the right side is for rationale for those interventions. You don't have to use complete sentences, so I used bullets. Random example:

*turn pt to side. *to icrease

uteroplacental

efficiency

There were around 10 videos. You can only watch them once, although you can go back and review/edit what you typed. A tip I received from an un-named sorce: my last intervention/rationale for every scenerio:

*pt support and education provided throughout/to decrease anxiety and involve pt in POC. Never put follow protocol! You can get around that by listing in the interventions: anticipate orders for: and list any lab work or meds you know will be needed. I'm sorry this is so long, but I hope it helps a little. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Well I took it today and it sucked! I'm glad I prepared for it because that helped me to suck less. I was unable to finish a couple if sessions because I just ran out of time. ? I'm just glad it's over with. They claim we don't have to take it again and that it was just a one time thing to see where we are at and where we need help in what areas.

It's over! Thank goodness your employer is using it as it was meant to be used. Good luck with the rest of your orientation!!