Test Taking Strageties...

i have the same problem...here are a couple ideas that one of my instructors told me...they have helped me out.

1. look at the 2 choices and make a decision....does one require a RN and one not....always remember that HESI and NCLEX-RN and standarized NURSING tests that require REGISTERED nursing knowledge and judgement

2. is either of the choices a "feel good" option? if so do not choose that one...Remember: "keep patients well before you keep them happy, if not then your patient may die happy."

3. which of the final two options requires a registered nurse's knowledge, assessment, teaching, judgement?...remember that other medical people can assess (LPNs and student specifically); but on a RN standardized test, the RN canNOT delegate nursing assessment or teaching.

4. When you eliminate options and are facing the 50/50 decision, congratulate yourself on being able to determine the two most likely answers...then, look at the two choices from several angles and make your final selections of the "most correct" answer from the choices available.

5. if necessary repeat 25 times: "i can make the correct choice because i have been taught good nursing knowledge; i will make the correct choice because i have good nursing judgement."

6. when choosing the most correct or priority answer remember that the "sickest" or the most "at risk" patient is the priority, not the easiest so that you can get it over with.

If you otherwise understand and know the material, then it may be a matter of looking at the test through the test-writer's eyes. In order to make the right answer not too obvious, it seems that some test writers end up without a clearly and definitively best answer of the choices. That is, there may be another choice that can be argued to be the best. In that case, your knowledge of the material is no longer being tested and your ability to figure out the test itself is what is being tested.

The best think I think is to look at some NCLEX review books that give tips about how to interpret questions and see if that might help you get a better grasp on to interpret test questions and the answer choices.

In general, think back on previous tests... is there any trend in the correct answers? Maybe your instructor tends to emphasize assessment or nursing autonomy or pain management and if two answers sound just as good, go for the one that sounds more like other, previously correct answers. Are there any key words that point to the correct answer? Perhaps two choices in the situation are good but only one of them correlates with the wording of the question... such as "what would you do for the patient"? If the choices are reposition or assess, that might be telling you that the best answer might be reposition because it matches the question better. Is that always the case? No, but it can sometimes to help to look at the questions from a different perspective.