What the heck is up with nursing school tests??!!

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OK, I just had my first test of my second semester of nursing school. I was thinking that maybe things will be new and the faculty will learn how to write a decent, straight forward test this time, but no......I studied 12 hours last night for the test (they did include a test matrix to guide study) and thought I had everything down pat. Wrong! I missed 21 out of 62 questions! Other people in the class many questions also, ranging from 15-27. One girl did only miss 7. And as you guys may already know, a 75 is passing...and I made a 66. This was a common occurrence last year where the questions were badly written (as in not leading to a clear answer) and the rationales in the key made no sense. Thankfully, I made it through last semester with all As and 1 B, which made me think that maybe I had it down. Wrong! I'm going to need a minimum 6 questions nullified just to pass. And I was thinking I was going to get a least a mid B. :crying2:

Long story short: does anyone else have his problem in their nursing program where the questions to your exams make you go "huh?" And on top of that, included typos and rationales that don't even match up with the supposed correct answer? And then include stuff that you hardly went over in class or in reading? Please don't tell me school has messed up testing skills. Even if they aren't the only, that's still pretty bad.

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Specializes in ICU.

My first semester I had one instructor who I felt was not very skilled at writing tests. Similar to what you are mentioning, I thought her rationales were sometimes weak and even faulty. Like she was trying to use a question she had seen before, but in trying to accomadate it to the material she was testing on, missed the reasoning behind it. I feel comfortable in making that assessment because after each test, she would drop anywhere from 3-6 questions (out of 40 - 50) because she didn't like the way she worded it. That or she would give credit for two answers since they both could work.

But...

There is a difference between a teacher who writes bad tests and students who struggle with nursing/NCLEX/critical thinking type tests. Do your instructors say they use NCLEX style questions? If so, check out an NCLEX review book, but don't just read the sample tests. Focus on the rationales provided in the beginning and really get an understanding of why these tests are written they way they are. I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on NCLEX-style questions, but after I read a review book, it definately helped me out even more and now I almost prefer that type of testing over the usual memorize and regurgitate type exams we've all had up until this point :)

One of my instructors recently made a comment that I'm starting to agree with more and more. She said that sometimes teachers write poorly written questions and most of the class will get it wrong because of that. BUT, just because most of the class missed a question, does not mean it was a bad one.

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Specializes in Home Care.
.I studied 12 hours last night for the test (they did include a test matrix to guide study) and thought I had everything down pat. .

Why did you wait until the day before the exam to study?

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Specializes in Maternity.

i agree with the above. i hate the way the exams are written and people always try to argue their rationales with the instructors, insisting that they (the students) are right.

the fact is, this is old news. find a more effective way to study for these types of exams.

good luck.

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It seems the tests in nursing school require you to apply what you have learned in a different way then what most people are use to. Its not always a matter of an answer for a question being found in the text but its more of how you would apply the principals taught in the situation described.

I takes a bit of getting use to for sure.

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Yea, I know I'm supposed to study way in advance anyway, but usually that doesn't matter in that I can study like nilch and still pass a test. Usually I do get started a few days in advance, but since I had a Christianity test and nursing presentation also due that week, it kinda got left behind. The material felt like review, so I thought I was covered. Still no matter when the person who missed 7 started studying only 2 days before. It all depends on personal studying preferences and results.

But when a question and the answers have grammatical errors and misspelling, and you have to guess at what they mean, something's wrong. Or when you are tested over things you barely went over in class and its not even in your text book, so were not given the correct info to study anyhow, something is wrong. When everybody in the class except 1 person in the class fails the final, something is definitely wrong! Outrage!

How can someone apply something they never learned?

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In our school if 60% or more of the students miss the question it gets thrown out as it means it wasn't covered correctly in our books &/or by our teachers.

Also, we are allowed to dispute any questions we feel are worded wrong.

You may want to inquire on your school's policy for these things.

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Specializes in Home Care.

If the tests are that bad you should take the issue up with the dean.

You can prep for the unexpected on a test by reviewing questions from the appropriate section in an NCLEX review book such as Saunders.

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I really prefer NCLEX-style tests over rote memorization tests and have done well on them...until last week. We had a crazy test last week by an instructor who is basically new to us this semester; the questions were random, some of which were over information she expressly told us we did not need to memorize, and it was full of type-o's, misspellings, etc. The policy at this school is that we have 5 days to review the test and rationales in the computer lab. We do not discuss the test questions in class nor have opportunity to "argue" them.

I really like this policy since once thing I have always detested is a drawn-out argument between an instructor and students who did not do well on a test ... worse yet are those who miss only one or two questions and want to waste my time arguing about those!

So, what to do? Hope for better on the next test and resign myself to the fact that an A is going to be out of my reach in this class this semester. The world will not stop spinning.

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I do need to buy a NCLEX review book. My school recommends the one from EVOLVE since we have to take the Exit HESI and since it's the same authors, it's more efficient. However, NCLEX questions seem easier to me than teacher exams. :confused: Bah!

I have to agree with some of ya'll. I think it may be institutional. It's their way of weeding people out so we can maintain the 100% 1st time passing rate on the NCLEX. Geez, we already lost some people since last semester. I understand that nursing is an important profession. Who wants a nurse that barely squeaked through school? I just don't like the jumping through hoops and riddles part.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Why did you wait until the day before the exam to study?

Oh is this bad :p LOL Sorry the procrastinator in me wrote that :D

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I always wait til the night before to study too. No worries. Pretty much everyone in my class does.

I would also try talking to someone "higher up" about it. My teachers (I have 3) are all horrible test writers as well. Idk what the deal is? They always apologize for it after the fact.

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