National Certification Exam Candidates

Welcome to Week #3 of our online NCSN Study Group! Thank you to all who contributed to last week's discussion!

The application window for Spring 2025 testing is open now, and the window closes on February 1, 2025. The Spring 2025 testing window is from March 1-31, 2025.

Suggested Reading for Week #3:

Review Book Chapter 3 - Health Appraisal

1.    Principles of Health Appraisal

2.    Screening

3.    Health History

4.    Physical Assessment

Corresponding chapters in Selekman, Shannon, and Yonkaitis School Nursing: A Comprehensive Text 3^rd Edition - Chapters 14-18

These topics account for approximately 26% of the exam.

This Week's Contribution:

What are some common challenges you face when conducting health appraisals, screenings, and physical assessments in a school setting, and how do you address these?

One common challenge I experienced in conducting health appraisals and screenings was managing time efficiently, especially with large student populations. To address this, I rely on a well-organized schedule and prioritize students with known or suspected health concerns. Having all necessary supplies prepared and easily accessible also helps streamline the process.

Test Taking Tips (Part 2!):

As promised, here are more nursing test-taking strategies for multiple-choice questions (retrieved from 11 Test Taking Tips & Strategies For Nurses * Nurseslabs)

1.    Pay Attention to Specific Details

a.    The well-written multiple-choice question is precisely stated, providing you with only the information needed to make the question or problem clear and specific. A careful reading of details in the stem can provide important clues to the correct option. For example:

b.    Example: A male client is told that he will no longer be able to ingest alcohol if he wants to live. To effect a change in his behavior while he is in the hospital, the nurse should attempt to:

                                               i.     Help the client set short-term dietary goals

                                             ii.     Discuss his hopes and dreams for the future

                                            iii.     Discuss the pathophysiology of the liver with him

                                            iv.     Withhold approval until he agrees to stop drinking

                                             v.     The specific cause to effect a change in his behavior while he is in the hospital is critical. Option 2 is not really related to his alcoholism. Option 3 may be part of educating the alcoholic, but you would not expect a behavioral change observable in the hospital to emerge from this discussion. Option 4 rejects the client as well as his behavior instead of only his behavior. Option 1, the correct answer, could result in an observable behavioral change while the client is hospitalized; for example, he could define ways to achieve short-term goals relating to diet and alcohol while in the hospital.

2.    Eliminate Clearly Wrong or Incorrect Answers

a.    Eliminate clearly incorrect, inappropriate, and unlikely answers to the question asked in the stem. By systematically eliminating distractors that are unlikely in the context of a given question, you increase the probability of selecting the correct answer. Eliminating. obvious distractors also allow you more time to focus on the options that appear to be potentially sound answers to the question. For example:

b.    Example: The four levels of cognitive ability are:

                                               i.     Assessing, analyzing, applying, evaluating

                                             ii.     Knowledge, analysis, assessing, comprehension

                                            iii.     Knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis

                                            iv.     Medical-surgical nursing, obstetric nursing, psychiatric nursing

                                             v.     Option 1 contains both cognitive levels and nursing behaviors, thus eliminating it from consideration. Option 4 is clearly inappropriate since the choices are all clinical areas. Both options 2 and 3 contain levels of cognitive ability; however, option 2 includes assessing, which is a nursing behavior. Therefore option 3 is correct. By reducing the plausible options, you reduce the material to consider and increase the probability of selecting the correct option.

Don't forget to check out the free Test Taking Strategies from Nurse Builders at https://ecourses.nursebuilders.net/courses/test-taking-techniques-a-guide-for-nursing-certification-exams

Need Test Prep Materials? https://www.nbcsn.org/ncsn/the-exam/exam-prep/

Enjoy the process, nurses are life-long learners, it is in our DNA.  I am looking forward to hearing all about your experience.  Please share your comments this week in this thread.

Welcome to Week #3 of our online NCSN Study Group! Thank you to all who contributed to last week's discussion!

The application window for Spring 2025 testing is open now, and the window closes on February 1, 2025. The Spring 2025 testing window is from March 1-31, 2025.

Suggested Reading for Week #3:

Review Book Chapter 3 - Health Appraisal

1.    Principles of Health Appraisal

2.    Screening

3.    Health History

4.    Physical Assessment

Corresponding chapters in Selekman, Shannon, and Yonkaitis School Nursing: A Comprehensive Text 3^rd Edition - Chapters 14-18

These topics account for approximately 26% of the exam.

This Week's Contribution:

What are some common challenges you face when conducting health appraisals, screenings, and physical assessments in a school setting, and how do you address these?

One common challenge I experienced in conducting health appraisals and screenings was managing time efficiently, especially with large student populations. To address this, I rely on a well-organized schedule and prioritize students with known or suspected health concerns. Having all necessary supplies prepared and easily accessible also helps streamline the process.

Test Taking Tips (Part 2!):

As promised, here are more nursing test-taking strategies for multiple-choice questions (retrieved from 11 Test Taking Tips & Strategies For Nurses * Nurseslabs)

1.    Pay Attention to Specific Details

a.    The well-written multiple-choice question is precisely stated, providing you with only the information needed to make the question or problem clear and specific. A careful reading of details in the stem can provide important clues to the correct option. For example:

b.    Example: A male client is told that he will no longer be able to ingest alcohol if he wants to live. To effect a change in his behavior while he is in the hospital, the nurse should attempt to:

                                               i.     Help the client set short-term dietary goals

                                             ii.     Discuss his hopes and dreams for the future

                                            iii.     Discuss the pathophysiology of the liver with him

                                            iv.     Withhold approval until he agrees to stop drinking

                                             v.     The specific cause to effect a change in his behavior while he is in the hospital is critical. Option 2 is not really related to his alcoholism. Option 3 may be part of educating the alcoholic, but you would not expect a behavioral change observable in the hospital to emerge from this discussion. Option 4 rejects the client as well as his behavior instead of only his behavior. Option 1, the correct answer, could result in an observable behavioral change while the client is hospitalized; for example, he could define ways to achieve short-term goals relating to diet and alcohol while in the hospital.

2.    Eliminate Clearly Wrong or Incorrect Answers

a.    Eliminate clearly incorrect, inappropriate, and unlikely answers to the question asked in the stem. By systematically eliminating distractors that are unlikely in the context of a given question, you increase the probability of selecting the correct answer. Eliminating. obvious distractors also allow you more time to focus on the options that appear to be potentially sound answers to the question. For example:

b.    Example: The four levels of cognitive ability are:

                                               i.     Assessing, analyzing, applying, evaluating

                                             ii.     Knowledge, analysis, assessing, comprehension

                                            iii.     Knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis

                                            iv.     Medical-surgical nursing, obstetric nursing, psychiatric nursing

                                             v.     Option 1 contains both cognitive levels and nursing behaviors, thus eliminating it from consideration. Option 4 is clearly inappropriate since the choices are all clinical areas. Both options 2 and 3 contain levels of cognitive ability; however, option 2 includes assessing, which is a nursing behavior. Therefore option 3 is correct. By reducing the plausible options, you reduce the material to consider and increase the probability of selecting the correct option.

Don't forget to check out the free Test Taking Strategies from Nurse Builders at https://ecourses.nursebuilders.net/courses/test-taking-techniques-a-guide-for-nursing-certification-exams

Need Test Prep Materials? https://www.nbcsn.org/ncsn/the-exam/exam-prep/

Enjoy the process, nurses are life-long learners, it is in our DNA.  I am looking forward to hearing all about your experience.  Please share your comments this week in this thread.