CCRN14

I am a Critical Care RN. I love what I do - HOWEVER - physically I can not keep doing bedside nursing. I have physical disabilities that are only getting worse and I need to be out of the heavy lifting/pushing/pulling. Especially since patients seem to be getting larger, and the staffing smaller in number to assist with lifting the pounds. I have my BSN. I am not sure if I should peruse Adult NP and try for doctors office, or try for DNP and do research, or what. I don't know what other options there are that will allow me to make the same amount of money I do now, or close enough to it, and not have to be in the hospital bedside setting. Can anyone give me some ideas?

Hello everyone. I am getting ready to move from the MICU to the Neuro surgical ICU. I really want a good book to learn about the neuro basics that will help supplement my three month orientation period of learning all this neuro. I actually really like the LLW made incredibly easy books, but they do not offer a neuro one. I thought about getting the neuro coloring book as a second book since I'm a very hands on visual learner to help my memory tie the anatomy to the rest of it all. Any suggestions ons on a good book for me to start out with and learn the neuro basics? And by basics I don't mean how to do a neuro assessment, as I have to do those head to toe q2 on my current patients. But things like learning the parts of the brain. What's what with the various strokes and the things that get affected by damage from different area. Common neuro drugs. Anything about bolts and ventrics. Stuff like that :)

As already stated, it really dosent matter what publisher you chose to go with to study if you don't know the why behind why you failed. Did you misread questions. Did you not understand content to apply the questions. Do you not know how to apply well enough. You can read books all day long but it won't matter if you can't pick out the topic and decide what the question wants. It might be a priority or a first. Big difference in the answer. Look up the Kaplan decision tree and how to use it. That might help you tackle test questions and how to apply the rational behind how to answer them. Goodluck!

Well don't count yourself out of the game until you get the official results. So let's look at how you prepared for NCLEX. Have you heard of Kaplan? They are (in my opinion) harder then NCLEX. The goal is to make 60-65% on their tests. They offer a "Decision Tree" and you can take a live online review with a instructor and other students. They walk you through how to use the decision tree and that may work for you. It also may not. I never found the Kaplan tree helpful. But I think that's because I already had good test taking ability. PM your email and I'll send you over the PDF of the Kaplan Tree.

Kaplan is a good way. Do the question trainers 5,6,7. Those are most like NCLEX (or so I have heard others say). good luck!

Those scores are absolutely fine. Kaplan is harder than NCLEX, in my opinion. Heck some of my senior semester nursing class tests were harder than NCLEX was. I would do some destressing the day before the NCLEX. You you have worked hard for this and your just psyching yourself out.

If you got "the good popup" and you finished in 75, I'm sure you passed. You would have to really tank it to fail at 75 questions. If you search for the poll on here you will see that 3,000+ got the good popup with 75 questions and passed while only in the hundreds didn't. My guess is those people tanked it. Im in sure you know this, but NCLEX adapts the test as it goes along to how your doing. The only way it would shut off at the minimum is if A) you did good and the computer knows your competent - and remember this is a MINIMUM competency exam or B) you did so bad on the 75 questions the computer thinks you can't recover even with 265 questions. According to the Kaplan people: You start at your baseline and if you get one passing level right you go one above the line. If you get one wrong you go below the line. Think of a line graph like that. So if you get a ton wrong in a row and dig yourself a hole under baseline the computer basically thinks you blew it and you can't recover to not only get back to baseline but to then get enough passing levels right to go above baseline. Makes sense to me. So with all that said congrats