PBDS???

Is it for a staff position or a travel position? This "test" and I use the term loosely, has a notorious repuatation. Some facilities use it to guide new employee orientation while others use it as a tool to fire agency/contract nurses if they don't "pass" it. The test itself was never intended to be used a firing tool for nurses.

I have taken the critical care one. Basically, it asks you to think like a doctor in reviewing certain situations on videos then writing about what you see and what you'd order.

If you google it, you should have some websted pop up that will have testing hints and review information. I won't work again at any facility that requires it...but that being said,I have many facilites in my area to choose from. Good luck in whatever you decide.

Im applied for an SNP position but the wording in the postion description makes it sound as if I MUST pass it

Cool, some of that seems IMC in nature

I am very familiar with PBDS. It is not an inexpensive computer-generated quickie test. Organizations who use it are making a serious investment in patient quality.

The PBDS assessment does make nurses very anxious. It requires you to actually type in ALL of your responses. There are no True-False, Multiple Choice, Matching type questions.... everything must come from your own brain. For nurses who have been raised in a "the answer is there somewere, so I have a 50/50, 25%, etc. chance of guessing right" -- all that blue screen can be a fearsome thing.

The assessment is rated by actual human beings who evaluate your responses based on pre-determined criteria. The entire focus of the assessment is "can you keep the patient safe??". You have to:

1. Realize that there is a problem and make a reasonable guess as to what it is - if you can't do this, there is really no where else to go, is there?

2. Write down what you would do for this problem - be sure to list everything, because the raters are not mind readers - they won't know whether you skipped a step or just didn't know something was supposed to be done. For instance, if you say you are going to call the physician... be sure to list specific things that you witll tell or ask her

3. Connect the dots... base # 2 on a logical progression. For instance, if you say that the patient is having poor urine output due to dehydration, lasix probably wouldn't do any good even tho it would be appropriate for other causes of low output

4. Prioritize - what needs to be done first. You can indicate this simply by saying you are going to do something 'STAT' or 'immediately'

Trust me - extremely high level thinking is not required. Just attention to detail and following the directions. The raters will also take into account your level of experience and work history - part of the demographic info that is collected. If you are a new grad, you aren't expected to anticipate orders or be very familiar with what a physician is likely to do, but an experienced nurse is.

Take a deep breath. You're going to do fine.