February 20, 2024 • 10 mins
This episode is a goldmine for anyone aiming to conquer the NCLEX, infused with strategies that will morph your test-taking from tentative to triumphant. Nurse Lauren doesn’t just offer advice; she offers a mindset overhaul, arming you with critical thinking skills that will make you the Sherlock Holmes of the nursing exam world.
Join us for a riveting session where we don't just preach theory but put it under the microscope with a real-life practice question. Nurse Lauren puts you in the hot seat, simulating the pressure-cooker situation of a nursing scenario, and teaches you to dissect the question and prioritize like a pro. You'll emerge from this episode not merely ready but raring to face your next nursing exam with the precision of a seasoned veteran, your instincts sharpened and aligned with the wisdom of Nurse Lauren's exam-room tactics.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
is the nursing student coach, giving you the
strategies you need the most.
Hey everybody, welcome back.
This is Nursing Student Coach.
I'm your host, nurse LaurenChapnick, and, as I discussed
last week, I am going to focusthis podcast exclusively on how
(00:24):
to rock those nursing exams.
We are going to go through tips, strategies for success when
you answer each and everyquestion, because the language
of nursing exams is tough andyour job, between now and the
day you pass your NCLEX, is totake a series of multiple choice
(00:48):
exams and I want you to lovethose exams.
I want you to master takingthose exams.
So today's episode is calledThink, but Don't Overthink Now.
Last week, my advice was to readthe question and determine.
Ask yourself what is thisquestion asking?
(01:11):
What is this question asking me?
And today we're going to takeit a step further.
Once you know what it's asking,I want you to stop and I want
you to think critically.
Think like a nurse for just aminute, less than a minute, 30
seconds.
Think what are the potentialanswers here.
(01:32):
Read the question, know whatit's asking you and think.
All right, before I even lookat those answers, and if you are
allowed a piece of paper inthere or you can use your hand,
hold it up against those answerchoices.
Don't even look at them.
Think for a minute.
What am I looking for?
(01:53):
What are some?
What do I know?
List everything you possiblyknow about what the question is
asking.
You either write it down or, inyour head, think about the
answer before you even look atthat list.
And then I want you to read theanswer choices.
Read them through one at a timeand pick the answer based on
(02:16):
how you thought critically.
Did you think of the answerbefore you even saw it?
No, of course, you're not goingto be able to do this with
every question.
Sometimes you just don't knowand you're going to figure it
out by looking at the answerchoices.
But I'm just giving youstrategies this can work based
on if you, if you can listthings about the question that
(02:38):
you already know, look for theanswer that you thought of.
Think.
Now here's the second part.
Don't overthink.
Pick your answer.
Pick your answer based on yourcritical thinking, what you
already know about what it'sasking.
You Trust your instincts.
(02:59):
You know that my number one doand my number one don't.
My number one do when it comesto exams is read the question
twice.
My number one don't is don'tchange your answer.
Trust your instinct.
Your first instinct is almostalways correct.
You will get it wrong if youstart second guessing yourself.
(03:21):
So it's a bit of a dance thatyou have to just maneuver and
figure out, and that takes timeand that takes practice.
You have to think, you have tothink critically about what the
answer is, and once you'vepicked it, once you've landed on
it, you have to not overthink.
(03:41):
Okay, trust your instincts, beconfident and move on to the
next question.
Don't beat yourself up,overthink things.
Think about what the potentialanswers are and then look at
those choices.
Read them all twice, pick theone that you feel is the correct
(04:07):
answer, based on your criticalthinking, and don't think about
it too much.
After that, pick it, trustyourself and move on.
Let's do one.
Okay, let's do a practicequestion together.
I'm going to bring this one uphere.
For those of you watching, youcan see it.
For those of you listening,I'll read it to you.
A nurse is admitting a clientwho has reported recent weight
(04:29):
loss, night sweats and bloodysputum.
Which of the following actionsis priority?
I'm going to read it again.
A nurse is admitting a clientwho has reported recent weight
loss, night sweats and bloodysputum.
Which of the following actionsis priority?
There's a lot to unpack here.
(04:49):
First of all, what is thisquestion asking?
Okay, what is this questionasking?
Which of the following actionsis priority?
That means, what is the mostimportant thing that you, as the
nurse, can do Now?
Nursing school questions aretesting, safety, right.
(05:11):
So what this question is reallyasking is what is the safest
thing, the most important thingthat will keep you and the
patient safe in this instance?
So that's what we're going tobe looking for.
But let's look at the stem ofthe question.
A nurse is admitting a clientwho has reported recent weight
(05:32):
loss, night sweats and bloodysputum.
Well, what does that sound liketo you?
Do those signs and symptomssuggest anything to you?
For those of you who maybedon't know, okay, but let's
think about it Is anythingjumping out at you with these
three signs and symptoms?
(05:52):
Well, it is suggestive oftuberculosis.
So, knowing that, what would youthink would be the safest thing
you can do for your patient?
And start listing them.
What would you do for somebodywith tuberculosis?
What do you know about TB?
So let's look at the answersand then let's think our way
(06:16):
through it.
And then let's land on ananswer and not overthink it.
Would you initiate airborneprecautions.
Two administer antibiotictherapy.
Three initiate contactprecautions.
Or four teach the client aboutsymptom management?
I'm gonna read through theanswer choices again and I want
(06:39):
you to pick the one, based onwhat you know about TB, that you
feel is the correct answer andtrust your instincts.
Number one initiate airborneprecautions.
Two administer antibiotictherapy.
Three initiate contactprecautions.
Four teach the client aboutsymptom management.
(07:00):
Do you have your answer, whatyou would choose.
Let's land on it and let's beconfident.
The answer is you wannainitiate airborne precautions.
Tb is very contagious.
You want to initiate airborneprecautions.
You'd also wanna put the clientin a negative pressure room,
(07:21):
but based on the answers here,you would initiate airborne
precautions.
It is not contact precautions.
That's there to try to throwyou off.
So this question is reallyasking you two things.
First of all, can you identifythese signs and symptoms?
What does this clientpotentially have?
Tb, and maybe it's notdiagnosed yet, but that's
(07:44):
suggestive.
So you wanna take precautionsto protect other patients from
getting this highly contagiousdisease.
You wanna protect yourself.
So that's what the answer hereis.
So we want to read a question wewant to ask ourselves what is
this question asking me?
Then you wanna think criticallythrough what you know, what do
(08:07):
you already know, before evenlooking at the answers.
Let's not get distracted bylooking at the answers and start
getting confused and panicked.
Let's think what do I knowabout TB?
And let's say all of yourknowledge was thrown out the
window.
You forget, you're nervous,whatever.
Then you can look at youranswer choices and think
(08:27):
critically through those, butfirst stop and think.
Stop and think critically for amoment.
It's asking you the priority.
What is your priority?
What is the most importantthing?
And when a nursing exam isasking what is the priority,
what is the most important, it'sreally saying what could kill
your patient or what is going tokeep your patient safest?
(08:51):
You wanna protect your patientat all costs.
You do not want your patient tobe harmed.
So what is going to protectyour patient?
What's going to protect theirairway, their breathing, their
circulation?
What's going to preventbleeding?
What's going to prevent a fall?
Look through that list of whatthey're giving you, based on
(09:13):
what's happening with yourpatient.
What is the worst case scenariohere?
That's what it's asking,because in the end, the NCLEX
nursing exams.
They want you to be a safenurse.
So in this case, with TB, youwould want to initiate airborne
precautions.
So that's it for today, guys.
(09:34):
Tune in next week for anothertip, another strategy to help
you nail those nursing exams.
You can follow me on Instagram.
I'll be posting more tips andadvice and practice questions
that are not on the podcast.
That is, at Nursing StudentCoach, and, as always, it is my
personal mission to help putmore great nurses into the world
(09:55):
, and we will do that onequestion at a time.
So I hope you nail your nextexam.
I want you to be confident.
I want you to trust yourself.
Do not change your answer Onceyou have landed on the one that
you feel is the correct answer,based on everything that you
know.
I wish you the best.
(10:16):
I want you to be the best nurseyou could possibly be.
I'm so excited for you anduntil next time, have an amazing
day Bye-bye.
Thanks for tuning in to theNursing Student Coach podcast.
is the nursing student coach, giving you the
strategies you need the most.
Hey everybody, welcome back.
This is Nursing Student Coach.
I'm your host, nurse LaurenChapnick, and, as I discussed
last week, I am going to focusthis podcast exclusively on how
(00:24):
to rock those nursing exams.
We are going to go through tips, strategies for success when
you answer each and everyquestion, because the language
of nursing exams is tough andyour job, between now and the
day you pass your NCLEX, is totake a series of multiple choice
(00:48):
exams and I want you to lovethose exams.
I want you to master takingthose exams.
So today's episode is calledThink, but Don't Overthink Now.
Last week, my advice was to readthe question and determine.
Ask yourself what is thisquestion asking?
(01:11):
What is this question asking me?
And today we're going to takeit a step further.
Once you know what it's asking,I want you to stop and I want
you to think critically.
Think like a nurse for just aminute, less than a minute, 30
seconds.
Think what are the potentialanswers here.
(01:32):
Read the question, know whatit's asking you and think.
All right, before I even lookat those answers, and if you are
allowed a piece of paper inthere or you can use your hand,
hold it up against those answerchoices.
Don't even look at them.
Think for a minute.
What am I looking for?
(01:53):
What are some?
What do I know?
List everything you possiblyknow about what the question is
asking.
You either write it down or, inyour head, think about the
answer before you even look atthat list.
And then I want you to read theanswer choices.
Read them through one at a timeand pick the answer based on
(02:16):
how you thought critically.
Did you think of the answerbefore you even saw it?
No, of course, you're not goingto be able to do this with
every question.
Sometimes you just don't knowand you're going to figure it
out by looking at the answerchoices.
But I'm just giving youstrategies this can work based
on if you, if you can listthings about the question that
(02:38):
you already know, look for theanswer that you thought of.
Think.
Now here's the second part.
Don't overthink.
Pick your answer.
Pick your answer based on yourcritical thinking, what you
already know about what it'sasking.
You Trust your instincts.
(02:59):
You know that my number one doand my number one don't.
My number one do when it comesto exams is read the question
twice.
My number one don't is don'tchange your answer.
Trust your instinct.
Your first instinct is almostalways correct.
You will get it wrong if youstart second guessing yourself.
(03:21):
So it's a bit of a dance thatyou have to just maneuver and
figure out, and that takes timeand that takes practice.
You have to think, you have tothink critically about what the
answer is, and once you'vepicked it, once you've landed on
it, you have to not overthink.
(03:41):
Okay, trust your instincts, beconfident and move on to the
next question.
Don't beat yourself up,overthink things.
Think about what the potentialanswers are and then look at
those choices.
Read them all twice, pick theone that you feel is the correct
(04:07):
answer, based on your criticalthinking, and don't think about
it too much.
After that, pick it, trustyourself and move on.
Let's do one.
Okay, let's do a practicequestion together.
I'm going to bring this one uphere.
For those of you watching, youcan see it.
For those of you listening,I'll read it to you.
A nurse is admitting a clientwho has reported recent weight
(04:29):
loss, night sweats and bloodysputum.
Which of the following actionsis priority?
I'm going to read it again.
A nurse is admitting a clientwho has reported recent weight
loss, night sweats and bloodysputum.
Which of the following actionsis priority?
There's a lot to unpack here.
(04:49):
First of all, what is thisquestion asking?
Okay, what is this questionasking?
Which of the following actionsis priority?
That means, what is the mostimportant thing that you, as the
nurse, can do Now?
Nursing school questions aretesting, safety, right.
(05:11):
So what this question is reallyasking is what is the safest
thing, the most important thingthat will keep you and the
patient safe in this instance?
So that's what we're going tobe looking for.
But let's look at the stem ofthe question.
A nurse is admitting a clientwho has reported recent weight
(05:32):
loss, night sweats and bloodysputum.
Well, what does that sound liketo you?
Do those signs and symptomssuggest anything to you?
For those of you who maybedon't know, okay, but let's
think about it Is anythingjumping out at you with these
three signs and symptoms?
(05:52):
Well, it is suggestive oftuberculosis.
So, knowing that, what would youthink would be the safest thing
you can do for your patient?
And start listing them.
What would you do for somebodywith tuberculosis?
What do you know about TB?
So let's look at the answersand then let's think our way
(06:16):
through it.
And then let's land on ananswer and not overthink it.
Would you initiate airborneprecautions.
Two administer antibiotictherapy.
Three initiate contactprecautions.
Or four teach the client aboutsymptom management?
I'm gonna read through theanswer choices again and I want
(06:39):
you to pick the one, based onwhat you know about TB, that you
feel is the correct answer andtrust your instincts.
Number one initiate airborneprecautions.
Two administer antibiotictherapy.
Three initiate contactprecautions.
Four teach the client aboutsymptom management.
(07:00):
Do you have your answer, whatyou would choose.
Let's land on it and let's beconfident.
The answer is you wannainitiate airborne precautions.
Tb is very contagious.
You want to initiate airborneprecautions.
You'd also wanna put the clientin a negative pressure room,
(07:21):
but based on the answers here,you would initiate airborne
precautions.
It is not contact precautions.
That's there to try to throwyou off.
So this question is reallyasking you two things.
First of all, can you identifythese signs and symptoms?
What does this clientpotentially have?
Tb, and maybe it's notdiagnosed yet, but that's
(07:44):
suggestive.
So you wanna take precautionsto protect other patients from
getting this highly contagiousdisease.
You wanna protect yourself.
So that's what the answer hereis.
So we want to read a question wewant to ask ourselves what is
this question asking me?
Then you wanna think criticallythrough what you know, what do
(08:07):
you already know, before evenlooking at the answers.
Let's not get distracted bylooking at the answers and start
getting confused and panicked.
Let's think what do I knowabout TB?
And let's say all of yourknowledge was thrown out the
window.
You forget, you're nervous,whatever.
Then you can look at youranswer choices and think
(08:27):
critically through those, butfirst stop and think.
Stop and think critically for amoment.
It's asking you the priority.
What is your priority?
What is the most importantthing?
And when a nursing exam isasking what is the priority,
what is the most important, it'sreally saying what could kill
your patient or what is going tokeep your patient safest?
(08:51):
You wanna protect your patientat all costs.
You do not want your patient tobe harmed.
So what is going to protectyour patient?
What's going to protect theirairway, their breathing, their
circulation?
What's going to preventbleeding?
What's going to prevent a fall?
Look through that list of whatthey're giving you, based on
(09:13):
what's happening with yourpatient.
What is the worst case scenariohere?
That's what it's asking,because in the end, the NCLEX
nursing exams.
They want you to be a safenurse.
So in this case, with TB, youwould want to initiate airborne
precautions.
So that's it for today, guys.
(09:34):
Tune in next week for anothertip, another strategy to help
you nail those nursing exams.
You can follow me on Instagram.
I'll be posting more tips andadvice and practice questions
that are not on the podcast.
That is, at Nursing StudentCoach, and, as always, it is my
personal mission to help putmore great nurses into the world
(09:55):
, and we will do that onequestion at a time.
So I hope you nail your nextexam.
I want you to be confident.
I want you to trust yourself.
Do not change your answer Onceyou have landed on the one that
you feel is the correct answer,based on everything that you
know.
I wish you the best.
(10:16):
I want you to be the best nurseyou could possibly be.
I'm so excited for you anduntil next time, have an amazing
day Bye-bye.
Thanks for tuning in to theNursing Student Coach podcast.
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