These application/analysis questions are retarded and any answer is easily justified by writing a short rationale for it.
Anybody of Native American descent will never be on time for their appointment because they live "in the present"... well I live in the 21st century and the Native Americans I've known have watches and cell phones.
Kaplan's decision tree does not always work, and the way I use it on one question might be completely different than the next person.
Cut the perfect world/perfect patient crap, this is not a perfect world and there are no perfect patients.
There is no way that this test can accurately measure one's competency to be a nurse- it measures your competency to write checks and take tests.
Granted, most of the review material and resources have been great- but every once in a while you get that one question or rationale where it just seems like the question writer got tired or frustrated themselves.
I have no problem going through this "rite of passage", every other RN out there has done it. I'm confident that I'll pass... it's just frustrating.
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Although I didn't feel this way when the test shut off. I didn't find the NCLEX to be that hard. I have met some people that I wonder how they ever passed nursing school, let alone NCLEX. But the actual test I didn't feel was as ridiculous as some of the practice questions. I feel it was more a mental game then anything and I didn't feel it was really off base. Or if it was it was easy to figure out what they wanted you to put.
Again, I didn't feel like this at the time because I was so mentally psyching myself out. But in looking back, the questions weren't that difficult. If you had a good program and you can keep yourself calm, I think you will do fine. Before I tested I came and read this forum for about an hour, I RAN out of here. I was getting way to freaked out seeing these posts. Now that it's all done I want to yell at most of the posts here to calm down and go take the test. Especially the ones where they are putting it off for months. I had a day and a half to prepare. I am far from a 4.0 student, I didn't do well on the practice questions at all and I did decent on the Hesi tests. Well except Pharm. I rocked the Pharm hesi, (as in I got a 99.99%) but got a C in the class. LOL A lot of the practice questions for NCLEX I did the day 1/2 I had I was getting very frustrated and discouraged. Instead I decided to just read the rationales so it jogged my memory on a lot of the stuff I forgot.
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Ughh...I feel your pain. I just finished a question and spouted every expletive I know when I read the ridiculous rationale. The question was about a client with liver cancer and decreased LOC. Then it gave seven (yes, SEVEN) assessment items/interventions and asked you to put them in order of priority. I actually followed and agreed with the first four. After that, two of the choices were "check electrolyte levels" and "check serum ammonia levels." (Needless to say, I put them in the wrong order.) So what was the rationale for one being more important than the other?
And I quote..."Electrolyte and ammonia levels are relevant data for this patient, and abnormalities in these parameters may be contributing to change in mental status."
THAT STILL DOESN'T TELL ME WHY ONE IS MORE IMPORTANT!!!!!
Argh. Vent over; back to studying. T-minus 3 days until NCLEX. *sigh*
Was ammonia before F&E? I am just curious because of a patient I had in real life.
I already took the NCLEX and just find this post hilarious! I totally feel for what you're going through! Don't get caught up in details -- you wont see them anyway!!! Just understand the big picture. YOU KNOW THIS STUFF!!!
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I already took the NCLEX and just find this post hilarious! I totally feel for what you're going through! Don't get caught up in details -- you wont see them anyway!!! Just understand the big picture. YOU KNOW THIS STUFF!!!
Best of luck! It wasn't so bad!
Exactly, you see a lot of posts giving all this study stuff and it's tons of detailed stuff. I shake my head and want to yell DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW ALL THAT.
Was ammonia before F&E? I am just curious because of a patient I had in real life.
I picked ammonia because I thought it was more pertinent to the liver issue. They said that was wrong (though, of course, there was no good rationale).
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I picked ammonia because I thought it was more pertinent to the liver issue. They said that was wrong (though, of course, there was no good rationale).
So it was F&E first? Had a patient in Liver Failure, he was so bad the bilirubin was staining the catheter tubing. Anyway he started acting really wonky and so the Doc checked his ammonia levels and sure enough, they were sky high.
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Although I agree with a lot of frustration concerning NCLEX I don't think the test should be thrown out. You will always have people slip through the cracks, but there should be some minimum level of competency to obtain a license, as there is for any lic. Graduating school I don't feel should be enough as many programs vary so much, it's a lot easier to slip through school then it is NCLEX. A lot of schools have terrible NCLEX passing rates. (I saw some in the 50%) so obviously these students aren't being prepared well. Etc. Etc. so I do think some sort of standardized testing should remain in place. Imagine how many more terrible nurses there would be if there was no testing in place? JMO
Maybe I will feel differently after the test, but I totally get where you are coming from.. Sometimes I answer a question based on a rational from a different question only to get that question wrong.. I have noticed it a lot while studying from differnet books too. Sometimes I think it's just to mess with your mind.. That's all the NCLEX really is.. yes you have to be minimally competent.. but it mostly tests how calm and confident you can be under pressure.. You can study your butt off but if you go in there a hot mess.. dun dun dun.
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Maybe I will feel differently after the test, but I totally get where you are coming from.. Sometimes I answer a question based on a rational from a different question only to get that question wrong.. I have noticed it a lot while studying from differnet books too. Sometimes I think it's just to mess with your mind.. That's all the NCLEX really is.. yes you have to be minimally competent.. but it mostly tests how calm and confident you can be under pressure.. You can study your butt off but if you go in there a hot mess.. dun dun dun.
It is primarily mental. Don't get yourself worked up if you are getting practice questions wrongs. Read the rationales and let the stuff you have gone over for 2 years (or longer) and forgot be refreshed. I did terrible on the practice questions. I passed the test in 75 mins under an hour from start to finish. Remember, after this you have your license and you are golden. You won't ever have to take it again as long as you keep your self active. Good luck to you :)
So it was F&E first? Had a patient in Liver Failure, he was so bad the bilirubin was staining the catheter tubing. Anyway he started acting really wonky and so the Doc checked his ammonia levels and sure enough, they were sky high.
Yep, F&E was supposed to be first. My thinking was that ammonia could lead to hepatic encephalopathy (like your guy), but they wanted electrolytes first. Oh well.
Although I agree with a lot of frustration concerning NCLEX I don't think the test should be thrown out. You will always have people slip through the cracks, but there should be some minimum level of competency to obtain a license, as there is for any lic. Graduating school I don't feel should be enough as many programs vary so much, it's a lot easier to slip through school then it is NCLEX. A lot of schools have terrible NCLEX passing rates. (I saw some in the 50%) so obviously these students aren't being prepared well. Etc. Etc. so I do think some sort of standardized testing should remain in place. Imagine how many more terrible nurses there would be if there was no testing in place? JMO
Oh yeah, I totally agree with some sort of standardized requirement for practice. I just get frustrated with some of these "review materials" that are so incredibly outlandish and hard that they only serve to frustrate and make people doubt themselves. I'm all for challenging myself, but some of these rationales seem like they were written to match the answer that was desired, and not the other way around. Maybe their thought is that after these practice questions, we will think, "Gee! NCLEX was a breeze!"
Don't get me wrong, the majority of questions I've seen are decent, but then you get these doozies (where the rationale is just convoluted or wrong) and you think, "Am I STUPID?!" (I'm learning to just throw these out and move on...)
Oh well. Enough ranting for me...three more days...
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Turd Ferguson
455 Posts
The frustration continues.
Granted, most of the review material and resources have been great- but every once in a while you get that one question or rationale where it just seems like the question writer got tired or frustrated themselves.
I have no problem going through this "rite of passage", every other RN out there has done it. I'm confident that I'll pass... it's just frustrating.