Priority questions on nclex

Wongwise885 · Jan 21, 2016

It is an amazing book and I have tried kaplan, hurst and saunders.

loving2024, BSN, RN · Jan 21, 2016

I had a question similar to this on my last med surg exam and the professor said "never play with K when it comes to answering nclex question" but in reality, I will pick sodium but this is Nclex

Maja3699 · Jan 21, 2016

Exactly! I was trying to think between real

life and NCLEX. I picked K but wanted to see what everyone thought of this question...

mdkilburn · Jan 23, 2016

Hello, I just took my NCLEX in Ma on Jan 21st and had the same types of questions as you. And was also unsuccessful. Following this post because all the material I spent time studying was not really on the exam. It was mostly questions about receiving your assignment and which patient to see first or if floated from a different unit (saw a lot of floated from pedi/maternity to a med/surg floor) which patient should be assigned or even some non-specific teaching questions where you had to choose which statement indicated teaching was effective but they never specified what you were teaching about. Looking for some direction as to where to go from here as well.

We will get through this! Keep trucking along!

starminks, BSN, RN · Jan 23, 2016

I would definitely pick Sodium because look how far that value deviates from the normal range! Yes, abnormal K+ is not something you want to take lightly, but it's only 0.1 below the normal range. That will not be lethal to your patient compared to a Na+ level that is 10 points below the range. While you prepare to take your NCLEX, make sure you create a new/revised study plan and stick to it. I found the Kaplan's Qbank to be extremely helpful. I also had a free trial of questions on UWorld and loved their informative rationales, but I didn't pay the $50~ monthly subscription. NCLEX 4000 is also a helpful source for questions to help refresh your memory on Nursing topics. Best of luck!

Wongwise885 · Jan 23, 2016

Hi mdkilburn, Try Lacharity! It's mainly about delegation, prioritization and management. You will find the questions such as which patient to delegate to floating nurse or for lpn or UAP.

Wongwise885 · Jan 23, 2016

I took my test on the 14th and passed and had the same question that you had.

Maja3699 · Jan 23, 2016

Good tips on what material is helpful to use for studying. Thanks!

With the K and Na question. A lot of people are saying K while others are saying Na. I wish I could find it in one of my old nursing books. I know Na is extremely low compared to K that's only .1 but in school they always told us to never ever ignore K. I don't know...

AceOfHearts<3 · Jan 24, 2016

They gave you that question because everyone always wants to go for the K+. A K+ of 3.4 would mean oral replacement and monitoring at my facility. It's low, but just outside the normal range. As was stated the sodium was way outside the range of normal, so that person would be evaluated for the reason behind it- either they are over hydrated and the low sodium is dilutional or they could be extremely dehydrated with low sodium. The concern with sodium is seizures, but raising the sodium level too quickly is also dangerous.

I think you will be in good shape with the La Charity book. I used it and found as I worked my way through it I started getting more and more questions right.

Maja3699 · Jan 24, 2016

Thanks so much for your input!

enileg · Jan 25, 2016

I would think that hyponatremia is the right answer cause that requires immediate attention (now: brain cells swell) since it's way out of range. Compared to hypokalemia which is only 0.1 away from the normal 3.5-5.0. You would still monitor but does not require immediate administration of potassium.

%D#2 · Jan 25, 2016

Potassium.