What to do when you have two answers left on an exam?

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I realize saying "I'm a horrible test taker" is an excuse but it is true. LOL I find when I take nursing exams for lecture, I always have two answers that are left and end up making a guess as to which one is correct. Is there anyone that has been in the same situation and did you do anything that has helped you choose the correct answer? Any info that is helpful would be appreciated because I'm at a loss. :confused:

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Specializes in None.

I posted a couple of replies under the Critical Thinking post on the Student Nursing Asistance board that may be helpful to you!

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then you sit there and re-read the question over and over until you figure out what it's REALLY asking. maybe the question is asking what would be BEST to do? or what would you do FIRST? or is it asking what assessment you would do, or intervention? look for key words or phrases. and never ever answer a question with the words or phrases "never" or "always" in it.

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If I am stuck I will dissect the question again like the previous poster said--is it what do you do first, last, best, most important, priority, etc. Are they asking about safety and one of the "correct" answers is about labs, etc. If that doesn't help I think again about my ABCs (airway, breathing, circulation) and ADPIE--should I be assessing before I do the other "correct" answer, which is intervening. Then I think "okay, if I could only do one of these things, which one could I get away with not doing?"

I remember one question was about what you would do if a patient was having a seizure on their way to the bathroom. There were two clearly wrong answers, and then the other two were like "gently guide the patient to the floor" and "talk to the patient in a calm voice". I was like "well I'd gently guide the patient to the floor while talking to him in a calm voice". Obviously I could get away with not talking to the patient in a calm voice, but if I didn't safely guide him to the floor, well, that would be bad. Those were the questions that used to get me a lot, I would just overthink them.

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Specializes in Wound Care, LTC, Sub-Acute, Vents.
i realize saying "i'm a horrible test taker" is an excuse but it is true. lol i find when i take nursing exams for lecture, i always have two answers that are left and end up making a guess as to which one is correct. is there anyone that has been in the same situation and did you do anything that has helped you choose the correct answer? any info that is helpful would be appreciated because i'm at a loss. :confused:

use priority. abcs, maslow's.....

edit to add: i also recommend you buy the book by lacharity. i am using it to study for my nclex and it is extremely helpful in situations you have problems with.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I realize saying "I'm a horrible test taker" is an excuse but it is true. LOL I find when I take nursing exams for lecture, I always have two answers that are left and end up making a guess as to which one is correct. Is there anyone that has been in the same situation and did you do anything that has helped you choose the correct answer? Any info that is helpful would be appreciated because I'm at a loss. :confused:

There usually are 2 answers left after narrowing the ones it cant be. (except, in the more than one answer can apply ones)

Remember your ABC's in picking between the 2, if not an ABC issue remember Maslows hierarchy of needs, and remember the nursing process. Always assess first if it's not an emergent situation.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
use priority. abcs, maslow's.....

edit to add: i also recommend you buy the book by lacharity. i am using it to study for my nclex and it is extremely helpful in situations you have problems with.

oops i should have read the other responses first.

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that was one of the first tips i got when i started. i always underline the keywords in both the questions and the answers.

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SOMEtimes, it may be, which one of these things just doesn't belong, which one of these things is not like the other ones? *singing in my head*. When you look at the answers and they seem similar, look at the one that's out of sync with the rest. Understand the answer, what it's saying, and see if it actually applies. Sometimes that's your answer.

And for the select all that apply questions, if I take each possible answer as a true/false, then I usually get all the right ones.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

Good advice above. Also look whether one of the answers encompasses the other answer already in a broader sense.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

I would also recommend getting an NCLEX book for practice questions. I bought Mosby's Illustrated Study Guide for the NCLEX-RN Exam and it has really helped me look at questions critically to see what is actually being asked. It also helps to go through each answer and make a choice individually if it is right or not, instead of looking all of the answers over to see which one is right.

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Thank you all so much for your replies!! I will definitely look into the advice you've given me. :)

And yep, I overthink all of the time. Argh! Thanks guys!

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