Sweating Bullets

Thunderwolf, MSN, RN · Nov 25, 2005

I'm sorry to hear about your struggle. To help you better, could you give some topic examples so our members could be more assistive to you?...otherwise, a general question only gives you general answers which may not be helpful.

Also, I encourage you to check out our Nursing Student Assistance Forum to post there if you wish (it is there for student assistance such as this).

You can access it here: https://allnurses.com/forums/f205/

Wolfie

Nurse Ratched, RN · Nov 25, 2005

Are there general categories of questions (r/t certain illnesses or diagnoses) that seem to be giving you the most problems? Are the "What do you say to this patient next" questions getting you?

stutl2ep · Nov 26, 2005

Thank you both for your replies...Thunder, I'll see what I can do to get some example questions. And Nurse Ratched, the areas that tend to give me the most problems are Depression, Schizophrenia, and Anxiety those three areas seem gray and confusing. Especially when choosing the most therapeutic response, or those questions that are the most therapeutic intervention. When we are given a Dx, and a list of prioritized interventions with 10 or more choices to do for the patient, the professors will put the 4 answers that are usually at the bottom of the list and not the most important interventions on our test for the answers. We aren't told to study the interventions in order/priority, we are just told to understand/know them.

Thunderwolf, MSN, RN · Nov 26, 2005

Now we are getting a little more specific, for psych is a very broad field.

To start off, depression and anxiety are considered mood disorders, where Schizophrenia is believed to be a thought disorder. Mood disorders have alot of overlap. However, each syndrome has certain core elements which help differentiate them from one another. Give us some examples or questions that are not your homework per se, but are questions that you have which seem to stump you as a student learning this field and these diagnoses. We would be more than happy to help you broaden your personal knowledge base.

IE...diagnosis...what is this syndrome?

.....assessment?...what do I assess for?

.....therapeutic nursing interventions?

.....current medications?

Just some examples.

Let us know.

Nurse Ratched, RN · Nov 26, 2005

If the prioritzation in other areas of nursing is always ABCs (airway, breathing, circulation), in psych practice your first priority always has to be the patient's safety. I would suspect a lot of what they think should be your first priority would hinge in determining any immediate threats to the patient. If someone is hearing voices, what are the voices saying (are there commands to harm self? Harm others?) Is the depressed pt contemplating suicide? Can s/he contract not to harm self?

Essentially, any question/intervention that assesses for safety risks and determines ways to reduce them are the number one priority in psych practice. Try and apply this criteria in the psych questions in your study books/CD's and hopefully the makers of NCLEX agree.

lucianne · Nov 27, 2005

I seem to remember that my NCLEX review book had rationales for answers--that might be a good source. The best therapeutic responses are usually the ones that reassure the patient of their safety, show the patient he or she is being heard and is respected, encourage the patient to communicate, and don't offer false reassurance or minimize the patient's concerns. I have an exercise from a psych clinical I taught that I will send to you via PM. I'll send the answers in a separate PM so you can check your answers.

stutl2ep · Dec 6, 2005

I just wanted to say thanks to all of you who responded and helped. I took the final today, whether I passed or not only GOD knows. The results are supposed to be posted tomorrow, I'm praying that I did not miss more than 24 questions on this miserable test. This test was tough. I did get some help from a website that I'd like to share with other students(www.prenhall.com/hogan). I got that from another classmate who did well last semster by using it. There are alot of questions on that site for all aspects of nursing. In order to get on, you must purchase a book out of their series but it was very very helpful. I recommend the site to anyone who is having difficulty w/any aspect of nursing. Thanks again for all your help.

stutl2ep

stutl2ep · Dec 7, 2005

Passed the final!!! Yes...now on to the last semester, finally...whew I'm so glad that's over with for now anyway. Thanks to each of you for your help.

stutl2ep

Nurse Ratched, RN · Dec 7, 2005

Congratulations!!!

lucianne · Dec 7, 2005

Wonderful news! The next semester will fly by.

Thunderwolf, MSN, RN · Dec 8, 2005

Wonderful news!