Test-taking Strategies

1. Test-taking Strategies Success!!

2. Reduce Anxiety • Challenge negative thoughts • Controlled breathing • Desensitize yourself to the fear response • Muscle relaxation • Imagery • Over prepare • Exercise

3. Test Prep… the most important step • 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

4. continued • Organize study with pathophysiology of disease/system • Signs and symptoms (including labs) • Nursing Diagnosis • Goals • Specific Implementation plans • Patient teaching

5. Techniques • 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.

6. The Multiple Choice Question • 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

7. Information part – boldresponse part - italicized • 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?

8. When reading the stem: • 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

9. When reading the options: • 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

10. RACE MODEL • Recognize • Ask • Critically analyze • Eliminate

11. RACE MODEL • 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.

12. RACE MODEL • 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.

13. RACE MODEL • 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

14. RACE MODEL • ELIMINATE • as many options as possible. • Eliminate one option at a time. • If any part of the distracter is wrong it is all wrong.

15. Suggestions for success RULES FOR TEST TAKING

16. Rule #1 • 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.

17. Rule #2 • Read the question carefully before looking at the options: • Identify Key Wordsin the Stem

18. Sample • (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

19. Rule #3 • Identify the Theme of the Item, and base it on information provided in the stem. Don’t assume information that is not given.

20. Rule #4 • 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

21. Rule #5 • Select Responses that are: • Therapeutic • Show respect • Communicate acceptance • Eliminate Responses that: • Are bizarre • Inappropriate • Punitive

22. Rule #6 • 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

23. Rule #7 • Look for patterns in Your Performance and Flaws in Your Thinking. • Analyze your test-taking behaviors, then establish strategies to correct these problem.

24. Common Errors • 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

25. continued • Did not read all distracters carefully • Did not understand question • Read into question • Used incorrect rationale for selecting response • Changed the answer

26. Rule #8 • Manage your time effectively during Test-taking.

27. Rule #9 • Do not change answers without • Good reason • Sound rationale

28. Rule #10 • Choose options that are within the realm of nursing. • Be able to differentiate the need for nursing judgment from the need for physician judgment.

29. Techniques • 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

30. continues • Identify clues in the stem (extra explanations) • Identify patient-centered options • Identify specific determiners in options (increased in 2 options, decreased in 2 options)

31. Some Words to Know • erroneously indicate • contraindicate anticipate • violate strategies • ensure perception • rationale determine • mandatory disrupted • appropriate reveal

32. SPECIFIC TEST-TAKING TECHNIQUES • 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!!!!!!

33. continued • Identify options that • deny patient feelings, • concerns • needs • Use multiple test-taking techniques

34. COGNITIVE LEVELS OF NURSING QUESTIONS • KNOWLEDGE • COMPREHENSION • APPLICATION • ANALYSIS

35. KNOWLEDGE QUESTIONS • Require you to recall and/or remember

36. What is the normalrange of a radial pulse in an 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

37. COMPRENHENSIVE QUESTIONS • Require you to understand information

38. Which of the following demonstrates wheelchair safety? • 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

39. APPLICATION QUESTIONS • Require you to use information

40. To prevent self-injury when lifting a heavy patient higher in bed, the nurse should: 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

41. ANALYSIS QUESTIONS • Require you to interpret a variety of data and recognize the commonalties, differences and interrelationships among presented ideas

42. A patient has dependent edema of the ankles and feet and is overweight. Which diet should the nurse expect the doctor to order? • 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

43. You Can Do It! • 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.