I'm new to this sight, my friend told me that it was really great. I graduated from an ADN program in May and begin my new position in an Oncology department on June 16th. I am taking the NCLEX on June 24th (the first local date available). I am a bundle of nerves. I am studying endlessly and am beginning to think that I know NOTHING! Does anyone have advice on how to focus my studying or control my nerves?
My biggest recommendation is to (again) do lots of questions, BECAUSE A) you can't possibly know everything about every disease/medication/procedure, and B) most of the time the actual QUESTION they ask has little to do with the background story.
Very fake example:
You have a patient with NCLEXitis who is on a RNamine drip at 125 cc/hr. What is your priority intervention at this time?
1. keep pt npo
2. make sure pt gets a bath in the morning
3. monitor HR, RR, O2 sat
4. have a cup of coffee.
Again, obviously very fake question. But the point is, when you read the question, your eyes (at least mine did) might key in on the disease and drug you've never heard of, and the risk of panicking over "OMG I don't know what that is!!" can distract you so much that you pick a wrong answer. Obviously ABCs come first.. they ALWAYS come first. And you don't need to know a darn thing about NCLEXitis in order to know that.
So to sum up, don't get caught up in the story. Look for the QUESTION and answer that, which usually has something to do with safety, ABCs, prioritization, etc.
Thanks for all of the support! I just started orientation on the 16th and haven't had a moment to go over NCLEX questions. I am not worried now.... too many other things to think about. It is probably good that orientation is this week cause I was drowning in NCLEX for 6-7 hours a day! I'm going to go deep from Friday through Monday and then just throw my future to the wind and get a good nights sleep. It is really great to hear that I'm completely normal. I will let everyone know how things go on Tuesday!
Megsd, BSN, RN
723 Posts
My biggest recommendation is to (again) do lots of questions, BECAUSE A) you can't possibly know everything about every disease/medication/procedure, and B) most of the time the actual QUESTION they ask has little to do with the background story.
Very fake example:
You have a patient with NCLEXitis who is on a RNamine drip at 125 cc/hr. What is your priority intervention at this time?
1. keep pt npo
2. make sure pt gets a bath in the morning
3. monitor HR, RR, O2 sat
4. have a cup of coffee.
Again, obviously very fake question. But the point is, when you read the question, your eyes (at least mine did) might key in on the disease and drug you've never heard of, and the risk of panicking over "OMG I don't know what that is!!" can distract you so much that you pick a wrong answer. Obviously ABCs come first.. they ALWAYS come first. And you don't need to know a darn thing about NCLEXitis in order to know that.
So to sum up, don't get caught up in the story. Look for the QUESTION and answer that, which usually has something to do with safety, ABCs, prioritization, etc.