6 Easy Steps to ABG Interpretation
Easy. Accurate. Fast. There are 6 Easy Steps for interpreting arterial blood gases correctly.
Case Study: CCRN?
Jaime was hesitant about taking the CCRN exam. She was a 15-year veteran of the ICU whose expertise was counted on in orienting new staff and precepting students.
Form a Virtual Study Group
Do you know some people from your institution who are also studying for certification exams? Ask them to join in a Virtual Study Group. Students often tell me that they cannot form a study group because their friends work different shifts or live in different directions. One way to resolve the dilemma is to join …
Review Your Answer Choices
Once you have completed the exam, go back over your answers to make sure you answered all the questions. The exam software should alert you to unanswered questions. If you have no idea what the question is asking, answer anyway. Even if flipping a coin, you will have a 25% chance of being correct. After …
How to Study for Certification When You’re Busy
No one has free time to study for certification. If there is extra time in your day, someone will fill it for you if you have no free time but have certification as a goal you will need to find opportunities to study. Fortunately for you, studying in small short chunks is more effective than …
Watch Out for Similar Terms
Nursing uses prefixes hyper and hypo frequently when referring to blood pressure, electrolytes, and even bowel sounds. The problem is that hyper and hypo sound alike, especially when connected to a suffix. For our purposes, hyper and hypo also read-alike, making discerning the two difficult. Add in the stress of an exam, and you could …
Certification Tips: Analyzing the Stem
Test-takers may think they know what the question is asking before reading it and skip right to the answer they think is correct. This can be a mistake because the author may have written the question to trick those who are not careful. Certification exams include such items to be sure you are thorough in …
Changing your answer while taking certification exams?
Your initial thought on certification exams is usually correct. You may have heard it before as “going with your gut.” Instead, you are going with your initial impression of the material and the question. If you read the question carefully, then your first response should be correct. As nurses, we were taught to collect data …
Trick Questions
Students often refer to trick questions. While writing exam questions, faculty do not refer to some items as trick questions but rather to some questions as difficult. Why are difficult questions perceived as being trick questions? The answer lies in individual perception. In many cases, the exam writer will include answers that are almost correct …
Managing Shuffled Content
Multiple-choice exam questions will be randomized and presented in no particular order. That means that you could be answering a question on professional caring and ethical practice with the next question about the treatment of heart failure. To answer the question on professional caring, you thought of all the rules of ethics and caring. Now …
Evaluation Anxiety
Certification exams can be perceived as a method to judge your nursing care. Failure on the exam is perceived as a failure in your ability to provide quality care. Detaching the exam from bedside competence is an essential step toward success. The more you project personal skill on the exam, the higher the level of …
Tip #1: Read the Question
Read the entire certification question before looking at any of the answers. This practice allows you time to think about what the question is asking prior to answering. Use a piece of paper or your hand to cover the answers. Now, read the question and formulate an answer in your mind prior to selecting an …