Hey all.  I'm an EMT-B at a large Level 1 ER.  I've been in health care, some aspect or another, since 1991.  It's been my goal to be an ER nurse for years, although I worked halfway through paramedic school before changing.  I work FT and have a high GPA.  It's something I've always been proud of.

I took my third test of Nursing Skills today (it's the kind of "pre-class" before we start nursing school...I go into nursing school in two weeks) and made a 72 on it.  Failed it by one question.  I should be OK, as I have to maintain a 75% average and my first two were 96 and 88.  I am taking this very, very hard.  I reviewed the questions and can't believe why I find it so difficult to do well.  The possible "two right" on the nursing tests are very difficult for me.  I actually cried and made an appointment with the tutor for Thursday.  My instructor even thinks I'm overreacting.  Overall, skills, I'm doing great, but these damn written tests are just driving me insane.  I don't know if I'm not reading the questions thoroughly all the way through or just misinterpreting.  This has been a real wake up call and I have my Final on Tuesday.

Anyone else experience this frustration and despair?  I can't believe this shit. 

Katie

Thanks Shonna, you made me feel better.  lol

Shonna hit it on the head.

When taking these exams, passing them is a mix of smarts and speed.  Part of speed is to eliminate the obviously wrong ones first.  That will knock off 1-3 answers (out of 4-5 poss. answers). 

If you start to freak, mark the best two and come back.  You waste a lot of time looking at a question when your brain is frozen.  Move to the next one and the next one.  Either along the way or when you come back, the better of the two will probably be obvious (assuming you studied).

When you study, do not assume that you are taking a multiple choice test.  Real-life (as you already know) is fill-in-the-blank or narrative.  Study with this kind of thinking and you will know the answer before you finish the question. 

Which is another problem, make sure you read what the question says and not what you think it says.  I have had bad questions on a test and the teacher has had to accept 2 answers because they had not validated their test (it's great to hear a teacher whining, but you know what I meant).  Do not assume the teacher is perfect. (Can you tell that I have pissed-off my share of teachers?)

Just some advice that I wish I had for my first 2 years of college.

Katie,

I can totally relate, I found that I was reading to much into the question.  I found that answering just what they ask for and not going deeper made alll the difference.

Hope that helps.

Hi Katie! 1st Congrats on getting into nursing school! I am going into my final semester, I graduate in December! I feel your pain. I agree with everyone else. They gave a lot of good tips. I am a good student, by no means am I a solid "A" student, but definitely not a "C" student. I just missed a "B" by 2 points last semester. I felt very deflated, the tests last semester felt grueling. I had to keep telling my self that I was great at what was most important, taking care of the patients. If we got specific grades for the clinical portion I would always get an "A". I am very good with people and very comfortable taking care of patients. During clinical last semester I detected a JVD on a patient during my morning vitals. ( I was proud of myself and it re-enforced what kind of nurse I will be.) The tests are set up to prepare you for the NCLEX. The questions are frustrating because you get down to 2 answers that are both right and you have to choose the best one. Here is an example of a question that haunted my class from our very 1st semester. A woman lives alone and is incontinent what is she at risk for. The 2 we got down to were: 1. Risk for impaired skin integrity or 2. Risk for falls. Most of class including myself chose impaired skin integrity. The answer was risk for falls. My instructor explained that risk for falls was because the woman was constantly running to the bathroom and she might fall. After reviewing the question many times in my mind, I figured out that I missed the key words " lives alone"  because of that risk for falling is more of a concern. What I do to study is practice NCLEX questions that pertain to the subject we are on. I type them up out of my book and continually go over and over them and I belong to a study group where we ask the questions and work on knowing which one is better. If you don't already have an NCLEX practice question book I would get a couple, some people in my class have flash cards there is even apps. for smart phones. Just make sure that the questions also have the rationale's ( It will explain why the right answer is the best one.) You will get through this! You may not get and keep an "A", but remember the goal is to pass! Good luck! I know that you will do great! Take a deep breath it will all be ok!

Betty :)

P.S. I would personally rather have a nurse that knows what to look for AND is comfortable taking care of patients, instead of a nurse who memorized books but has no idea how to apply the knowledge that they have learned.