Success!!

 Challenge  Muscle relaxation

negative thoughts  Imagery
 Controlled  Over prepare
breathing  Exercise
 Desensitize

yourself to the
fear response
 Read the material prior to lecture
 This is essential to know what the instructor is
going to talk about
 Tape lecture – listen and
 Star concepts on power points you don’t
understand for further study
 Listen to taped lecture with open book and class
notes
 Flag or Tab your notes – stay organized
 Organize study with pathophysiology of
disease/system
 Signs and symptoms (including labs)
 Nursing Diagnosis
 Goals
 Specific Implementation plans
 Patient teaching
 Concentrate on the simple before the
complex.
 Make educated guesses.
 Never leave a question blank.
 Maintain a positive attitude.
 Check your answers and answer sheets.
 Has 2 parts
 1st part: stem – the statement that asks a
question.
 2 parts: 1) information about a clinical event,
topic, concept, or theory; 2) asks for a response
 2nd part: possible responses called options
 When walking, a patient becomes weak
and the patient’s knees begin to buckle.
What should the nurse do?
 Which is an example of a patient goal?
 Before administering medication for
pain, what should the nurse do first?
 Underline the important words
 Do not add information from your own
mind
 Do not make assumptions (read between
the lines) about the information present in
the stem
 Read all the options before choosing the
correct answer
 Refer back only to the words that you
underlines as being important in the stem
 Do not add information to an option
 Relate an option to just what is being asked in
the response part of the stem
 Do not focus only on your experiences, which
may be too narrow for a point of reference
 Recognize
 Ask

 Critically analyze

 Eliminate
 RECOGNIZE
 what information is in the stem.
 Recognize key words in the stem.
 Recognize who the client is in the stem.

 Recognize what the topic is about.

 ASK
 what is the question asking?
 Ask what are the key words in the stem that

indicate the need for a response.

 Ask what the question is asking me to do.
 CRITICALLY
 analyze the options in relation to the question
asked in the stem.
 Critically scrutinize each option in relation
to the information in the stem.
 Critically identify a rationale for each
option.
 Critically compare and contrast the option
in relation to the information in the stem
and their relationships to one another
 ELIMINATE
 as many options as possible.
 Eliminate one option at a time.
 If any part of the distracter is wrong it is all
wrong.
Suggestions for success
 Know the parts of a test question.
 Multiple choice questions.
 Item: the entire question

 Stem: the statement that asks the question

 Options: possible responses

 Options: one is correct, the remaining are distracters.

 Part of the distracters may be correct.
 Read the question carefully before looking
at the options:

 Identify Key Words in the Stem

 (Stem) Mr. Jones blood pressure is
240/120. The nurse would recognize he is:
A. hypertensive
B. hypotensive
C. normal
D. likely to have orthostatic hypotension
 Identify the Theme of the Item,
and base it on information provided in
the stem.

Don’t assume information that is

not given.
 Answer difficult questions by eliminating
the obviously incorrect responses first;

 Select the BEST of the remaining options.

 Cross out incorrect pieces of the

distracters
 Write rationales
 Select Responses that are:
 Therapeutic
 Show respect
 Communicate acceptance
 Eliminate Responses that:
 Are bizarre
 Inappropriate
 Punitive
 Know the Basic Principles that Guide the
practice of Nursing.
 Nursing Process
 Assessment, analysis/Nursing Diagnosis,
Planning, Implementation, Evaluation
 Maslow’s Hierarchy
 Physiological needs first: Airway, Breathing,
Circulation, Disability
 Safety second
 Prioritization
 Look for patterns in Your Performance and
Flaws in Your Thinking.
 Analyze your test-taking behaviors, then
establish strategies to correct these
problem.
 Did not recognize or remember information
 Did not understand subject matter
 Did not recognize item idea
 Did not recognize principle or rationale for
correct answer
 Missed key word
 Did not read all distracters carefully
 Did not understand question
 Read into question
 Used incorrect rationale for selecting
response
 Changed the answer
 Manage your time effectively during Test-
taking.
 Do not change answers without
 Good reason
 Sound rationale
 Choose options that are within the realm of
nursing.
 Be able to differentiate the need for nursing
judgment from the need for physician judgment.
 Identify key words in the stem that indicate
negative polarity: except, not, never,
contraindicated, unacceptable, least,
avoid

 Identify key words in the stem that

set a priority: best, first
 Identify clues in the stem (extra
explanations)
 Identify patient-centered options
 Identify specific determiners in options
(increased in 2 options, decreased in 2
options)
 erroneously indicate
 contraindicate anticipate
 violate strategies
 ensure perception
 rationale determine
 mandatory disrupted
 appropriate reveal
 Identify opposites in options (hypotensive,
hypertensive)
 Identify equally plausible or unique options
 Identify duplicate facts in the options (some
options have one part that is true and another
that is false)

 IF ANY PART IS WRONG IT IS ALL WRONG!!!!!!

 Identify options that
 deny patient feelings,
 concerns
 needs
 Use multiple test-taking techniques
KNOWLEDGE
COMPREHENSION

APPLICATION

ANALYSIS
 Require you to recall and/or remember
 normal
adult
 a. 50 to 65
 b. 70 to 85
 c. 90 to 105
 d. 110 to 125
 to answer this question correctly, you have
to know the normal range of a radial pulse
 Require you to understand information
 a. pushes the client face forward, ahead of
him into the elevator
 b. raises the footplate before transferring
the client into the wheelchair
 c. positions the client as far forward as
possible in the wheelchair seat
 d. positions the chair ahead of him when
going down an inclined ramp
 Require you to use information
a. keep the knees and ankles straight
b. strengthen the knees and bend at the waist
c. place the feet together with the knees bent
d. position the feet apart with one placed
forward
 Require you to interpret a variety of data
and recognize the commonalties, differences
and interrelationships among presented
ideas
 a. low salt and high in fat
 b. low in salt and low in calories
 c. high in salt and high in protein
 d. high in salt and low in carbohydrates
 HAVE CONFIDENCE

 KNOW THAT YOU CAN BE SUCCESSFUL

 YOU MADE IT THIS FAR.

 RELAX

 ASK FOR ASSISTANCE WHEN YOU NEED IT

AND SOMETIMES WHEN YOU DON’T.