understanding words the nclex asks you

purplegen1 · Feb 8, 2016

How do you do on nclex mastery? Maybe you should try to take as many questions as you can and read the rationales really well. Nurse lab has free question that are good for review. Here is an example, not a great one though. A nurse would need to reinforce teaching if a client says he/she isn't going to finish taking their antibiotics. If I come across a question like that on the app maybe I can help more.

vickyextras · Feb 8, 2016

ok , thank you ! what about follow up ? do you have a good example of what you think follow up means ?

jinki · Feb 12, 2016

EDIT: I just noticed that you're taking the NCLEX-PN rather than the NCLEX-RN. The examples I'll be giving are most likely out of your scope of practice, but I think it might still be helpful-- if not for you, then for someone else who's having the same difficulty.

When a question asks you which of the options you should follow up on, it wants you to pick the option/s that indicate

1) a possible reason for why something is wrong

2) that something is seriously wrong

3) that something could go seriously wrong if you don't do anything

Examples

The parent of an 8-month old infant states that the baby has become weak and increasingly difficult to feed despite mixing some honey to the baby's formula to make it taste better. You need to follow up on this because generalized weakness and difficulty feeding could be a symptom of botulism, which the baby might have due to eating honey. You follow up on this by making sure to report the infant's honey consumption, along with the presenting symptoms, to the HCP.

Post-op patient's urine output for the last three hours total 54 mL. You need to follow up on this because urine output

Patient on clopidrogel states that he plays football. You need to follow up on this because patients on the antiplatelet clopidrogel should avoid playing contact sports. He/she may need more teaching.

Speaking of teaching, "to reinforce", in the context of patient education, means to remind the patient about teaching points that have been covered with the patient. This may or may not result in the patient doing what you tell them to. With few exceptions (involuntary psychiatric holds come to mind), you shouldn't force patients to do what they explicitly don't want to do.

However, reminding the patient the reason why it's important to do what you ask them to usually makes them do it.