What I've learned while studying for NCLEX

IMOKAY, BSN · May 30, 2011

"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."

Yes!!! This is exactly my complaint! I hate these vague questions where every answer given could be supported by evidence, every one! Its BS. And I feel like the main emphasis of nursing school is how to pass the tests, and only a person who can read the mind of the test creator knows the answer for sure.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · May 30, 2011

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...

Well be prepared, most likely you will walk out of NCLEX feeling the same way. I have no patience for long tests, a few really long ones we had in school it took all my might not to walk out because I was just done. So my fear was getting all 265 questions because I didn't know if I would have the stamina to do it all. 75 was more then enough for my attention span. Well of course when it shut off at 75 I wanted to shake the screen and yell NOOOOOOO Give me some more questions. You can't determine I am a bad nurse with only 75 questions. Never have I wanted MORE QUESTIONS. Of course I felt like there is no way I passed, I felt like I was confident on like 5 of them. A lot like everyone said. It wasn't until I did the PVT trick and got the good pop up I was able to sit back and really think about how the test was and stuff. Make sure you enjoy the day before and don't do questions. You either know it or you don't at this point. So take a day or two to let lose, or do some retail therapy. I drove to WY where I took the test the day before and went shopping and went to my hotel and watched some movies. You got this!

Turd Ferguson · May 31, 2011

So far today, I've learned that you always assume you have an order for a medication, except when you don't have an order for the medication (no discernible difference in the wording of the questions).

Is it me or are Kaplan's qbank questions a lot harder than the ones on their q-trainers and diagnostic tests?

dudette10, MSN, RN · May 31, 2011

So far today, I've learned that you always assume you have an order for a medication, except when you don't have an order for the medication (no discernible difference in the wording of the questions).
Is it me or are Kaplan's qbank questions a lot harder than the ones on their q-trainers and diagnostic tests?

From what our Kaplan instructor said, QTrainers 6 and 7 and all QBank questions are "above the line" type questions, so they would probably seem more difficult.

I'm starting to vary widely on my results, so I am getting practice test fatigue. Bad sign, seeing as that I'm taking NCLEX tomorrow. Ugh.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · May 31, 2011

From what our Kaplan instructor said, QTrainers 6 and 7 and all QBank questions are "above the line" type questions, so they would probably seem more difficult.
I'm starting to vary widely on my results, so I am getting practice test fatigue. Bad sign, seeing as that I'm taking NCLEX tomorrow. Ugh.

If you're taking NCLEX STOP DOING QUESTIONS TODAY. Go have fun and enjoy yourself and give your brain a break. Nothing you do today is going to make or break tomorrow.

Turd Ferguson · May 31, 2011

I'm starting to vary widely on my results, so I am getting practice test fatigue.

Me too... I'm doing questions in groups of 20 just to break the monotony throughout the day. I did fine on my diagnostic, qtrainers 1-7, and readiness test; I'm averaging 40-60% on my qbank tests... it seems like the more I study, the worse I do... my confidence is moving in the wrong direction!

Here's a good one I learned:

-If a client comes in for a regular checkup, the first thing you should do is bring up the death of their spouse that happened a couple of months ago.

monkeesilly · Jun 1, 2011

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.

I was always taught ammonia would be the first thing to check.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Jun 1, 2011

I was always taught ammonia would be the first thing to check.

That's what I would have guessed too but apparently it wasn't.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Jun 1, 2011

For the record, I scored bad on the practice questions from the KAPLAN book. (was like 68% the first time I did it) and the other site I did. But I passed in 75 questions on the exam. I wouldn't read to much into it.

Tree525 · Jun 1, 2011

Dude this thread is hilarious, I'm gonna try to add what I find to be ridiculous as I come across it.

Turd Ferguson · Jun 2, 2011

Second to last day of studying... I'll update on what I learned later.

Turd Ferguson · Jun 2, 2011

Today, I learned that if there is an RN, two LPN's, and a nursing assistant on a floor, they will each be assigned one patient. The nursing assistant will be assigned a patient that they are responsible for all by themselves, because the RN and LPN's are unable to take more than one patient at a time.