..Ok im just reading my saunders book (again), the first time i skipped the first few chapters on "how to take the nclex", i just read the "content" stuff (which is alot, the book is HUGE)
anyway, it says when answering questions on NCLEX use MASLOW for priority. i got one of the sample questions wrong becasue i put SAFETY first..we were CONSTANTLY drilled in nursing school safety first. but according to the NCLEX its second ??? maslow "physiologic" needs are first ?-
soo,
1. What would be the priority for a nurse to take when he/she sees a malnourished homeless man in the street with oncoming traffic coming his way.
A. counsel the man on his behaviour
B. call the Doctor (sorry, couldnt help myself there)
C. Offer him a ham sandwhich to eat
D. Move him out of oncoming traffic
--well, i guess im just gonna offer him a ham sandwhich then. cause MASLOW says physiological need comes before safety ??!! (huh)
sooo according to that- i now know that i missed alot of those priority questions on the NCLEX..cause i was taught pt safety first.
Dude (as Chichimitchi calls you), you can't take the cop out of the nurse! I'm thinking safety has been drilled into your head. Your posts crack me up, and I'm wishing you all the best :).
Maybe you were expected to lure the guy out of traffic with the ham sandwich?
Move him out of harms way and give him the sandwich to make sure he will eat it. If you give him the sandwich first, he may get kill by a car; therefore, wont be able to eat the sandwich.
Thing are not difficult with the exam, ABCs always come first. And in that order. As I have stated over and over again, you need to understand what the exam is looking for in an answer, and why the rationales are so very important.
But you did not wish to listen the advice that was being given to you.
The exam is also based on priority-type questions, and again ABCs win out every time over who Maslow in what is the first thing that you need to do.
And sorry, airway is always going to come first over feeding someone.
haha, the question i posted ISNT the real quesiotn, i made that one up as a joke..to "over simplify" my point, I cant post the real question from the book cause i dont want to violate any rules. but yeah, that question was made up by me, to prove a point.
I know how to answer nursing questions, i passed nursing school, but WANNBERN2 has my point right, test us like school--nclex is not like school, --
i know i just have to think like the ncelx test writers, "in a perfect world"-i will pass this test,
1. What would be the priority for a nurse to take when he/she sees a malnourished homeless man in the street with oncoming traffic coming his way.
A. counsel the man on his behaviour
B. call the Doctor (sorry, couldnt help myself there)
C. Offer him a ham sandwhich to eat
D. Move him out of oncoming traffic
?
Any ER nurse knows you can't kill a homeless guywithout a cement block and a catapult, so I think he's perfectly safe so long as he's drunk enough to weave in and out of traffic. My honest-to-goodness first thought was, "where am I standing that I can see some guy about to be plowed down?" Second thought was "do I know him?" and third, "am I upwind?"
I'm totally serious- and you'll note that none of the above are options on the test. The ham sandwich sounds good though, because if he gets hit it's a good bet that someone will be calling me to come in and help at work, and there will be no chance to eat.
I was told a simple way to figure it out was to consider if ABCs, airway, breathing, circulation were involved, then next comes safety... so in your example you'd move him out of traffic... food is necessary, but he's not going to die if you do not feed him that second...
Another tip I was given for priority questions was what could kill this person? Like if your person is experiencing resp distress with low sats... your first step is to apply O2... right now safety is a lesser concern, because your patient could die if the resp is not brought under control, yes, you need to call the doctor, but you would apply O2 first, then call...
I don't remember all of Maslow's but I followed this hierarchy when taking my NCLEX:
Airway
Breathing
Circulation
Safety
If the ABCs are WNL, then think safety, then comes food, etc..
I think it covered about all the questions I had & I passed... I hope this helps & GOOD LUCK!!!
wishiwereanurse, BSN, RN
265 Posts
to answer this question, I would ask myself:
how will the homeless man eat the sandwhich I'm about to offer him if he's gonna be dead right in front of my eyes??