JMederich

Is there an actual place for printing out the questions? Or are you talking about the review at then end of the practice test?

I also have a very difficult time taking those ATI test. I don't know if you know about those tutorials on the ATI website that you can work through after taking the test. (they are long and boring but helpful). One thing that I did this semester for my final was read through the book and did a ton of practice questions, however, you can't look up answers in the ATI book it's all critical thinking questions. It kind of put a light bulb in my head to read between the lines. With this information how will you apply it to the nursing profession? Luckily my program doesn't fail you when you take the ATI it is however added to our grade. I got my first level one this semester and I was devastated but I still received an A in the class. One thing they do emphasize is that if you fail these ATI tests you probably won't do well on the NCLEX and that really is frightening. I hope you get to continue on with your program! Just because you did bad on one test doesn't mean you will always do bad. In fundamentals if anyone got a level one on the ATI final they had to write out a study plan and prove to the staff how they will do better.

On the ATI website there are practice exams you can take. Go to my eLearning and there are three tabs click the tutorials tab and its under review or something like that. There should be a couple on there. Also, read your ATI book! These are tough test! good luck!!

We do a lot of ATI test at my school as well. There are practice questions on the site that are very helpful. Under my eLearning, there's three tabs (Practice assessments, proctored assessments, and tutorials), under tutorials click on Learning system RN. Also, you should be able to look at your results from your proctored exam you took in class. I like to print them off and re-read those chapters it tells me I'm weak in. (Sometimes it tells me to refer back to my fundamentals book) yikes! That med surg book is huge and it helps break it down. I'm about to take a maternal ATI test for our final this Thursday and you are right they are much harder than the questions your teachers make. However, I'm a firm believer if you can pass these ATI test with a level 2 or higher.. then you can pass the NCLEX. Good Luck!!

I'm also a nursing student and I have to say I have had a wonderful experience in school and at clinical. One thing that makes our class great is that everyone that has made it this far is really excited to learn. I've had a wonderful experiences with the nurses I am around (sometimes there are the grumpy ones that treat you like a student), but I just go in there and kill them with kindness. A big mistake some of my fellow classmates make is asking a nurse a million questions instead you should go and look it up first!.. Then ask your instructor. If you need to talk to a nurse don't start out with "I'm sorry to bug you but,..." because now your bugging them. Make eye contact when talking. When you are doing something be confident in yourself you know what you are doing. If a nurse asks you to go get coffee for a patient in 304 (even though they are not your patient) do it like the nurse just asked you to go start a Foley or an IV in 304. If you feel like these nurses have a bad attitude you can set an example as a student that your not an idiot and you are here to stay (sometimes they see it but sometimes they don't). We just finished up our first year at the hospital and my instructor asked for some feedback from the nurses and they said we were a great group and that they are confident we will make great nurses. They also thought we were seniors and we are freshman. I hope you are still finding nursing as a rewarding career. It also may be the hospital you are doing your clinical, maybe a transfer is needed. It's actually a good thing you are experiencing a "cold" nurse. Now you know what not to be like. Don't get burnt out yet!

Try to reassure yourself that you are okay when observing. Have you actually tried to do one yourself yet? I lost sleep the nights before my first clinical week. I was terrified of doing one myself because it wasn't making me feel good. So I started to eat a good size breakfast (cereal or oatmeal is my favorite) and I take a multivitamin and a B12. I also practiced on an orange and then on my mom. The first time I was able to do an IV in front of my instructor I felt completely prepared. Maybe, it's not the blood and the needle stick thats making you faint maybe it's the fear that you will have to do that by yourself soon. Assisting is one thing but actually doing your own can make you sick.. I felt so sick the night before knowing that I might have to do one. I hope this helps. I've just learned that whenever your teacher says "do you want to go start an IV?" go for it! Oh, maybe sit down and get comfortable when starting one (my teacher taught me that one).

Thanks for your help. I have already turned in my paper and I do think his priority nursing diagnosis was risk for infection r/t impaired skin integrity and also r/t his underlying diseases. I had a very similar patient the week before (pt in renal failure) and since I'm only in my first year we haven't gone over a lot of these symptoms yet and my last care plan came back with a lot of pen marks on them. So I came here for help. I don't appreciate people posting and accusing me of having you do my homework for me. But thank you to the people who did send some great advice and remind me how to look farther into my assessment data to make a nursing diagnosis. I was able to make a care plan that my teacher approved of.

This may seem obvious to most people, but I'm curious to know what you think. During clinical today I had a patient post op hip surgery. He also was Diabetic, in renal failure, and had diarrhea. He goes to dialysis 3x a week. What would be a priority nursing diagnosis? I'm starting to get used to these care plans but my teacher didn't like my care plan last week on a very similar patient. Also, can a person in renal failure increase fluids? (Wouldn't they just retain the fluid)? This has been my most complex patient yet and I would appreciate your help.

I was put on the waiting list and when I went down to talk to the dean she had told me I was number 2 on the list!! I prayed and prayed 2 people would decide to go somewhere else. Anyway, my mom is a nurse and a faculty member at the school and she had told the dean about how she was 11th on the waiting list. She never got her acceptance letter but my mom showed up to the class anyway, because by the 2nd day there was plenty of people that dropped and my mom got to stay. The dean told my mom that she just thought that is the funniest story. So I said, "Oh good, cause if all else fails that's what I'm doing." I still called every day asking for an update. Tears of joy when she finally said yes!

I'll never not go again because the same thing did happen to me the next week. I couldn't sleep. But for some reason as soon as I got to the hospital I was wide awake and ready to go! I have finally conquered my fears.. I hope.. I've done a Foley and an IV (these were terrifying to me) but as soon as I did it and was successful my confidence went through the roof. It's so funny how I'm proud of myself, but I try not to gloat about it. this stuff is hard and scary! I exercised last night and tried to do some yoga and that really did help me feel exhausted! I like to read a little before bed too.. And for the first time I fell asleep at a decent hour. But guess what, it's a snow day! Now I have to motivate myself to study today!!!

I just finished my paper today using the purdue OWL website. It really did help. I'm not to worried about this one so much, hopefully I will get some good feedback and learn from my mistakes because I will have more of these in the future. My nursing test are where most of my grade comes from.

I have to write a paper on Geriatric nursing... in APA format! Does anyone know how to do APA? Basically what I'm wondering is; do you quote something in parenthesis always? ex. According to Perry & Potter, "Geriatric is the blah blah..." Or simply write a paragraph and then quote it? Or do both work for APA style? I did MLA all throughout high school and I remember my teachers saying, "You'll never see APA." lies!

Thanks for all of your advice! I tried it all the night before this weeks clinical (I took benadryl, drank milk, and reviewed what I was most nervous about). I finally fell asleep at 1:30 but I sucked it up in the morning by having breakfast, coffee, and a B12. I felt pretty good all day and felt way more confident. Close to the end I was asked to start a Foley (something I hadn't reviewed), and I confidently said, "Yes!" My instructor was very helpful during the whole procedure and I successfully inserted it! I did get very warm and red :) but I was very happy that my hands weren't shaking and I didn't forget anything.. which is my fear that keeps me up at night. Hopefully now my mind can rest at night knowing that it really isn't that bad. I still haven't started an IV (The biggest fear) but next week I get to go to the ER and I have a feeling I will. AHHHH!! It's exciting, but a little nerve racking.

I'm a first year nursing student and we just started doing rounds in the hospital. We all have to make a care plan for our patient as homework. I feel very lost when is comes to making a nursing diagnosis because I feel like it's the wrong answer. Your example was very helpful! I tried not looking at the answer right away and I guessed, "difficulty breathing." I know it just comes with experience to get a DUH answer. However, am I wrong? could the diagnosis be difficulty breathing R/T impaired gas exchange? or would it be impaired gas exchange R/T low O2 sat? I've only ever done one care plan so far! And I find it very hard.

HI! I am a first year nursing student and I just started my first clinical rotation at the hospital. I am having a lot of trouble falling asleep at night. Example, Last night I didn't fall asleep until 4am after going to be at a reasonable hour. I needed to be up at 5am to get to the hospital in time (! hour of sleep.. maybe). After being so frustrated that I couldn't fall asleep I decided the safest thing was to not go to clinical. I cried and cried because I love school and learning. I hate that I missed today, but I'm so confused on how to fix this problem. (This isn't the first time this has happened). I'm not happy with myself about missing today and it's making me even more anxious. Is there any other nursing student that can relate? I think I'm just scared but how do I get over it?