Suggestion for studying needed

thanks for the reply, where do you find the daytonite critical thinking sheets is it something i could pick up at barnes and nobel.

i am here on allnurses. here is my critical thinking flow sheet for nursing students which you can click on, open, copy and print out to use in studying any medical disease or condition.

you should also read the information and view the weblinks on this thread: https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-student/looking-test-taking-224581.html - looking for test taking strategies. always do a de-briefing with your instructor after a test to discuss the questions you answered incorrectly to help you understand where your critical thinking went wrong so you can correct yourself the next time.

many times the multiple choice questions on tests are what are called application type questions which involve pulling knowledge of a number of different subjects into answering correctly. what makes this complicated is that you are not told what subjects to consider in answering. in general, consider:

• the medical disease involved, it's normal pathophysiological progression and the signs and symptoms associated with the pathophysiological changes. learn the progression of symptoms as they go from mild to serious to fatal. this helps you determine priorities of care.
  
• priorities of care are also determined by maslow's hierarch of needs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs
  
• know the medical tests and treatments that the doctor is going to order. know which tests and treatments fit which each sign and symptom (again this helps determine priority if you get asked which to get done first). some of these tests and treatment will impact the nursing care you will give.
  
• know the steps of the nursing process. there are five of them. know which order they come in and what goes on in each step: assessment, determining problems, planning care, implementation and evaluation. each step of the nursing process is a link in a chain; ask yourself if the question is placing you in one of the link of events on the chain of the steps of the nursing process and what would be logically happening on that step.
  
• there are many kinds of principles behind nursing actions (i.e., principles of asepsis, principles of osmosis, infection process, etc) that you need to know and sometimes pull into determining the answer to a question. this is where you sometimes cannot discount the science or math you learned before. something as simple as heat coagulates protein helps you to know that it is the underlying principle of steam sterilization in the killing of bacteria.
  
• read the root or stem of a multiple choice question very carefully. i've read some of the instructors manuals on how to write these questions. they deliberately give you answer choices designed to distract you from what was originally asked because it naturally draws your attention to it. a mediocre student or a student who isn't thinking will opt for these distractive answer choices. if you've done your reading and studying you should be putting two and two together. nursing involves a process of logical thinking, not guesswork. if you are narrowed down to two possible answers, try to figure out from the stem of the question if pulling in knowledge of the nursing process or the disease process is going to help you make your final decision.
  
• think about previous test questions you missed and why you missed them. teachers use the same techniques that "gotcha" to answer incorrectly before over and over again which is why you should always review your tests when you get them back and correct your reasoning for picking wrong answer choices.
  
• bottom line. . .you always have to be thinking "why". why would this situation a question poses be happening to the patient? why would the doctor order some particular treatment? why would a nurse do what a question is asking? why? why? why? answer that, and you are closer to answering the question correctly.
  

good luck on your next test!