Last year when I took the test, i studied day an night for 2 straight months right after i graduated.
turned of my cable, twitter, fb, instagram and all that jazz!!!
I devoted my time to study. Had little to no time for family and friends, but i made them understand how much i needed to pass it.
All that aside, on the testing day, i felt confident yet nervous, excited but scared.
I felt that I was gonna pass as i answered the questions until...
the computer started asking me TRIAGE QUESTIONS!!!!!
IN:
-select all that applies
-who do you see first
-who do you see last
-alternative type questions
All repetitively and constantly coming at me!
I was sweating bullets.
I cant remember a single question but i know it went something like this:
"someone's dying, someones bleeding to death, someone is an inch from death, someone is about to jump into traffic and kill himself.
WHO DO YOU SEE FIRST?"
I am not exaggerating. This is how intense every question was:
"someone's having a heart-attack, someone's foot is severed, someone's having a respiratory depression, someone's has a stiff neck with headache. [This time while there is a tornado, a fire, a train-wreck, a tsunami, a fire on the 5th floor while you're in the 9th floor] Who do you see first?"
OR:
"They're all calling from home, who do you call back first?!"
I swear I AM NOT EXAGGERATING!
They used every possible disaster scenario in at least 40% of the test [i took it upto 185 questions, i think].
To be honest I was confused, because mostly all my options are correct and it's hard to pick out the "best" answer when all your patients are dying and in need of immediate medical attention. Why can't there be an option that says "pick one patient and call 3 other nurses to take care of the other 3 patients?"
Why can't I have questions like "a patient has these lab values, what do you do next?" or "a patient is experiencing nausea and has a low blood pressure, and lithium levels reveal that the patient is toxic, what color lipstick should she wear?" idk. lol
Anyhoo... wow this makes me feel better expressing all the bottled up frustrations.
I'm not bitter, it just felt unfair. reviewing again now, everything seems easier with a few "oooh i didn't know that"s. I also found religion again, so prayers and daily affirmations are definitely working! xoxo
PS:
I cant find a book or website or even a blog that is dedicated on answering "prioritization" or triage in the hospital, clinic or disaster, because i'm sure that prioritization in those places are different. or not? Anyone know of any?
