NCLEX-RN For Dummies with Online Practice Tests

Patrick R. Coonan, Rhoda L. Sommer

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781119692829
• eBook ISBN: 9781119692690
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Nursing

Ace the NCLEX-RN exam with this comprehensive guide

The rigorous NCLEX-RN nursing exam can be painful—and many don't pass on the initial attempt. So why not beat the odds and drastically improve your chances of acing your first time with NCLEX-RN For Dummies, 2nd Edition with Online Practice?

This fully updated and revised edition is tracked to the latest NCLEX-RN exam, and comes complete with deep content review, study tips, and top test-taking strategies. You also get access to online flashcards and two practice exams with answer explanations to flesh out your technique and study.

• Practice with hundreds of test questions
• Go online for vocabulary flashcards and practice exams
• Find full coverage of the medical, surgical, pediatric, psychiatric, and obstetric subjects schools require for the test

Written by an instructor with 38 years of hands-on nursing practice under her belt, this popular, plain-English exam prep is best-in-class and will deliver the results you want—the first time.

Part 1

Demystifying the Complexity of the NCLEX-RN

IN THIS PART …

Come to grips with the basics of taking the NCLEX-RN.

Determine when to take the exam and get everything in order for your testing appointment.

Brush up on client needs. Get a handle on the variety of question types on the NCLEX.

Put together a strategy for taking the exam. Use important concepts such as Maslow’s hierarchy and question keywords to answer test questions.

Chapter 1

Meet the NCLEX-RN: Your Ticket to Getting a License

IN THIS CHAPTER

Recalling nursing basics

Understanding this type of test

Approaching the NCLEX-RN with a plan

Handling the aftermath — both good and bad

Congratulations! You graduated from nursing school and you’re almost ready to start practicing as a “real nurse.” Only one thing stands in your way: the NCLEX-RN, which is prepared and administered by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) to every nursing school graduate in the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands).

A passing grade on this exam is your ticket to a new career; without it, you can’t practice nursing. From your current vantage point, passing the NCLEX-RN may look like a huge obstacle — one you may be afraid you can’t overcome.

Take heart! I’m here to give you the confidence and knowledge you need to conquer the NCLEX-RN. In this chapter, I familiarize you with the test plan, talk about computer adaptive testing, and share what the NCLEX-RN really wants from you. I also tell you how to identify the correct answers to test questions by recognizing keywords and figuring out what the question is asking and give you an idea of what to expect after the exam.

The Big Deal behind the Big Exam

The NCLEX-RN has only one objective: to determine whether you can safely operate as an entry-level nurse in the state in which you’ve chosen to practice. It isn’t a test of your IQ or how fast you can start an IV. It is looking at your clinical judgment: Do you know what to do in clinical situations? In other words, can you think critically? The NCLEX-RN doesn’t predict how successful your nursing career will be or whether you’ll become a nurse leader. All you have to do is demonstrate that you have the clinical knowledge and judgment necessary to provide safe and effective care necessary to meet the needs of the types of clients you’ll encounter in the healthcare workplace. And in order to get your license, you must pass the test.

NCLEX-RN: THE NEXT GENERATION

You may have heard of the Next Generation NCLEX (NGN), a new version of the exam the NCSBN is developing in an attempt to better test the complexities of clinical judgment new nurses encounter. As part of this process, some candidates receive an extra, completely voluntary section on new question types at the end of their NCLEX exam. You can read more about the NGN at www.ncsbn.org/next-generation-nclex.htm.

Sometimes students think that the NCLEX-RN is a certification examination; it’s not. A certification examination is one that certifies a certain body of knowledge by an organization that’s accredited to do so. In the case of the NCLEX-RN, you’re tested on your ability to practice as a nurse. When you pass, you’re issued a license by the state, and once you’re licensed, you can go out and get the job of your dreams.

Here’s a little-known secret: If you graduated from a school of nursing, you can pass the NCLEX-RN. Nursing schools are evaluated on how well their graduates perform on the exam, so they’re reluctant to graduate students who can’t demonstrate potential for success on the NCLEX-RN. So if you graduated, you have what it takes. Kudos!

The NCLEX-RN is much less complicated than most exams you’ve taken in school, less difficult than most of your clinical rotations, and far less time-consuming than all the papers you’ve written, care plans you’ve devised, and other requirements you met in order to even be eligible to take this test.

The NCSBN actually conducts a study every three years to determine what entry-level nurses do, what responsibilities they’re given, where they work, and what type of care is required to meet the needs of the client. In this way, the council can tailor the test questions to reflect what new nurses actually experience in their first jobs.

The people who write the NCLEX-RN questions are looking for basic safety, competent decision-making, and logical prioritizing. Keep those topics foremost in your mind!

You Must Remember This: Nursing Basics to Know by Heart

If nursing were just inputting data and outputting care plans, computers could replace live people. But nursing is much more than applying the nursing process to a disease process; it involves the care, feeding, and nurturing of people. The NCSBN, in its somewhat convoluted way, has broken these principles down into what it calls integrated processes. (Yes, it’s a fancy name for something basic, but after years of nursing school, you should be used to that.) What these four integrated processes — caring, communication, documentation, and teaching — boil down to is really very simple:

• Caring: Caring puts people above equipment or paperwork. Look at your patient before you look at machines, lab results, or even nursing processes. See the person first.
• Communication: Therapeutic communication skills help you immeasurably in dealing with everyone from your patients to lab technicians. Never underestimate the power of effective communication while working as a nurse; failure to communicate well may not only harm your patient but also make your life miserable. (Check out Chapter 8 for more on therapeutic communication.)
• Documentation: Documenting care given and the patient’s response to it is both a legal requirement and one of the major communication methods between healthcare workers.
• Teaching: As a nurse, you teach patients, their caretakers, and other team members every day.

You can be a good technical nurse without integrating these concepts into your nursing care, but nursing is more than curing sick people; it’s caring for them, communicating with them, and teaching them.

The four integrated processes appear on the NCLEX-RN in the form of practical applications. Keeping in mind all the theories and practices that you know from nursing school, you should recognize the following themes in exam questions:

• Patient safety is always a top priority.
• Remembering the client’s ABCs (airway, breathing, circulation) is essential.
• Physiological needs should be met before other needs.
• Doing what it takes to meet patient needs comes before other tasks.
• A thorough assessment is necessary before undertaking other steps of the nursing process.
• Part of the first step in the nursing process is assessing the patient’s emotional status.
• Assess the patient’s readiness to learn before des...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Part 1: Demystifying the Complexity of the NCLEX-RN
• Part 2: Testing Your Knowledge of Client Needs
• Part 3: Just What You Were Looking For: A Full-Length Practice Test
• Part 4: The Part of Tens
• Part 5: Appendixes
• Index
• About the Authors
• Advertisement Page
• Connect with Dummies
• End User License Agreement