Your tips for answering "select all that apply" questions

[freedom22]

I am preparing for NCLEX and have completed almost 2000 questions already. I think I have gotten almost every "select all that apply" question wrong. Either I select too many or too few.

Please share your tips that you used to anser these questions to pass NCLEX.

Thanks!

[cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN]

In the same way you answer all the questions. You read the answer, decide if it's right or wrong using the same techniques that you've learned for all the other questions.

I think I only had 1 or 2 of those on NCLEX.

[freedom22]

Ive been doing these questions the same way I do regular multiple choice questions but am getting all of them wrong.

Any other tips???

thanks

[llg, PhD, RN]

Ive been doing these questions the same way I do regular multiple choice questions but am getting all of them wrong.

Any other tips???

thanks

Ahhh... there's your problem. They are NOT multiple choice problems. They are actually a series of True/False questions. Treat each possible answer as a separate question. Look at the first possible answer and ask yourself, "Is that correct or not?" and answer that question. Then look at the next possible answer and do the same thing. etc. etc. etc.

Trying to consider them together and/or look for the "best" answer among the choices only gets you into trouble. The possible answers are not connected. The correctness or incorrectness of possible answer A does not in any way relate to whether or B is also correct. It's not about which is the "best" answer or about how the answers compare to each other. Each is a totally separate question. Is that item correct or incorrect? It's just that you don't get credit for the question unless you answer all parts of it correctly.

I hope that helps.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

Ahhh... there's your problem. They are NOT multiple choice problems. They are actually a series of True/False questions. Treat each possible answer as a separate question. Look at the first possible answer and ask yourself, "Is that correct or not?" and answer that question. Then look at the next possible answer and do the same thing. etc. etc. etc.

Trying to consider them together and/or look for the "best" answer among the choices only gets you into trouble. The possible answers are not connected. The correctness or incorrectness of possible answer A does not in any way relate to whether or B is also correct. It's not about which is the "best" answer or about how the answers compare to each other. Each is a totally separate question. Is that item correct or incorrect? It's just that you don't get credit for the question unless you answer all parts of it correctly.

I hope that helps.

You gave THE BEST way to look at those type of questions. What I did when I got them was to look at 4 choices at a time, consider each one and then move to the next ones. I guess that something went right for me to pass NCLEX with minimal questions, but seeing it the wonderful way you illustrated this would have calmed me down because I had about 7 or 8 of them in a row.