NCLEX-RN For Dummies with Online Practice Tests

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.

Patrick Coonan EdD, RN, CNAA (Garden City, New York) is the former Dean of the College of Nursing and Public Health at Adelphi University.

Rhoda Sommer RN MSN Ed (Indianapolis, IN) has 38 years of nursing experience. She worked in patient care for 28 years before teaching fundamentals, medical surgical and NCLEX review. Today she is a private NCLEX tutor. Her pass rate for NCLEX students for the past 3 years is 90%.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 2

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 3

Part 1: Demystifying the Complexity of the NCLEX-RN 5

Chapter 1: Meet the NCLEX-RN: Your Ticket to Getting a License 7

The Big Deal behind the Big Exam 7

You Must Remember This: Nursing Basics to Know by Heart 8

The NCLEX-RN — Not Your Average CAT Scan! 9

Thinking the NCLEX-RN Way 10

Getting to the root of the question 10

Navigating the grand inquisition, or the integrated exam 11

Avoiding test-taking missteps 12

Finding the real question behind the long scenario 13

Keeping your cool when answering select-all-that-apply questions 13

When All Is Said and Done 14

Hey, nurse? Yeah, you! 14

So, you failed — it’s not the end of the world 14

Chapter 2: Preparing for T-Day: Paperwork and Whatnot 17

How Long Should I Wait after I Graduate? Deciding When to Test 17

Applying to Take the NCLEX-RN 18

Completing the application process 18

Paying your dues 19

Hitting a bump: Potential problems with the licensure application 19

Scheduling the Time and Place 21

Planning Ahead for the Big Day 22

Help, My Car Won’t Start! Rescheduling the Test 24

Chapter 3: The NCLEX-RN Blueprint 25

Considering the Four Main Categories of Client Needs 25

Client need #1: Safe and effective care environment 26

Client need #2: Health promotion and maintenance 28

Client need #3: Psychosocial integrity 28

Client need #4: Physiological integrity 30

Queuing Up Question Types 32

Putting knowledge into action: Application questions 33

Becoming an assessor: Evaluation questions 34

Slipping into Sherlock’s shoes: Analysis questions 34

Getting creative: Synthesizing and creating questions 35

Exercising individuality: Alternate test questions 35

Chapter 4: Buffing Up: Study Tips and Test-Taking Strategies 43

Setting Up an NCLEX-RN Study Schedule 44

Identifying Your Weak Points and Hitting the Books 45

Remembering Dear Maslow and His Needs 47

Applying the Nursing Process in Test Questions 48

Assessing the situation 49

Analyzing the situation 51

Planning your actions 52

Implementing care 54

Evaluating your actions 55

Dissecting the Questions and Finding Keywords 57

Pinpointing the keywords 58

Putting the keywords in context 59

Developing Critical-Thinking Strategies 60

Knowing the expected outcomes 60

Finding the elusive question topic 61

Making an educated guess 62

Picking the best answer when you’re completely clueless 62

Knowing how to prioritize when all the answers are right 64

Avoiding Test Question Pitfalls 67

Don’t read into the question 67

Read the whole question and reword it 68

Eliminate wrong answers 68

Try not to predict answers 69

Part 2: Testing Your Knowledge of Client Needs 71

Chapter 5: Management of Care 73

First Things First: Knowing Your Patient’s Rights 73

You must heed prearranged treatment options 74

All lips must remain sealed 75

Information and technology changes 76

Nothing happens without informed consent 76

Ethical decisions don’t require your opinion 77

Rallying the Troops: Managing Care 78

Assuring the quality of patient care 78

Prioritizing when your hands are full: Group care 79

Tailoring care for each patient: Case management 80

Collaborating with other medical team members 81

Getting others to lend a hand: Delegation 82

Recognizing Legal Rights and Nursing Responsibilities 84

Knowing Where to Get the Support You Need 86

Keeping up with education and training 86

Expecting adequate supervision 87

Making referrals 88

Chapter 6: Safety and Infection Control 89

Preventing Accidents and Injuries 89

Using electrical equipment safely 90

Keeping clients from falling 91

Disaster Planning and Emergency Response 92

Sounding the alarm: When fires break out 93

Responding to terrorism or bioterrorism 95

Keeping Infectious Bugs at Bay 95

Maintaining medical and surgical purity 95

Differentiating among the types of infection precautions 97

Handling hazardous and infectious materials 100

Keeping Clients Down in a Way That Lifts Them Up 101

Accidents Happen: Knowing the Next Steps and Preparing an Incident Report 103

Code Pink: Understanding the Protocol for Infant Abduction 104

Chapter 7: Health Promotion and Maintenance 107

Surveying the Stages of Growth and Development 107

For children 108

For normal pregnancy and the birth of newborns 110

For older adults 111

To Your Clients’ Health! Promoting Well-Being 111

Creating and Implementing Care Plans 112

Assessing your patient’s physical condition 112

Teaching patients from the moment of introduction 114

Understanding and explaining screening tests 116

Handling High-Risk Behavior and Alternate Lifestyle Choices 117

Preparing Patients to Leave Your Care 118

Helping patients take care of themselves 118

Embracing the family system 118

Chapter 8: Psychosocial Integrity 121

Looking beyond the Surface: Factors That Influence Behavior 121

Behavioral basics: Important development theories 122

The spice of life: Cultural and family diversity 123

Coping, Counseling, and Crisis Intervention 124

Dealing with defense mechanisms 125

Talking through troubles 126

Teaching stress management 128

Helping Patients through Grief and Loss 129

Caring for Patients with Abuse Issues 130

Recognizing different types of abuse 130

Identifying stages of substance abuse 131

Chapter 9: Basic Care and Comfort 133

Giving Patients First What They Need Most 133

Ensuring Adequate Nutrition and Hydration 134

Identifying the building blocks of nutrition 135

Modifying your patient’s diet 135

Recognizing malnutrition 136

Administering tube feedings 138

Hydrating your patient 138

Resting Easy, Sleeping Soundly 139

Keeping ’em Clean: Personal Hygiene 140

Understanding the Process of Elimination 142

Measuring your patient’s urinary health 142

Keeping bowels healthy 144

Wading through Irrigations 145

Providing Holistic Care with Alternative and Complementary Medicine 147

Decreasing Pain without Pills 148

Helping Patients Get Around (and What to Do if They Can’t) 149

Training patients to use crutches, walkers, and canes 149

Avoiding complications from immobility 150

Chapter 10: Meditating on Meds: Pharmacological and Parenteral Therapies 153

Remembering the Factors You Must Verify before Giving Meds 153

Medicating Patients Safely 155

Assessing before medicating 155

Calculating dosages 156

Recognizing the effects of meds 159

Answering questions about unfamiliar meds 161

Using Medicine to Manage Pain 162

Giving Meds and More with a Stick and a Poke: Parenteral Therapy 165

Solving the puzzle of solutions 165

Providing med therapy all in vein 168

Hanging blood and blood products 169

Chapter 11: Reduction of Risk 173

Interpreting Lab Results without a Hitch 173

Separating the oozing red stuff 174

Looking closely at immunity defenders 178

Examining pee (ha-ha) 179

Recognizing the Main Diagnostic Assessments 180

The daily routine: Checking vital signs 180

Respiratory tests 181

Cardiovascular tests 183

Gastrointestinal tests 184

Musculoskeletal tests 184

Neurological tests 184

Being Ready for the Bumps: Complications with Testing and Treating 185

Taking stock of diagnostic risks 186

Preventing postsurgical complications 186

Taking a Load Off: Therapeutic Procedures and Diagnostic Tests 190

Administering Conscious Sedation Safely 193

Chapter 12: Physiological Adaptation 195

Understanding What’s Normal So You Know What Isn’t 195

The water of life: Accounting for fluid 196

Getting the right pH: The key to acid-base balance 198

Keeping an eye on respiratory health — the sum of water and pH 199

Monitoring hemodynamics 201

Anticipating the Results of Imbalance 202

Knowing what to do when the body systems are out of whack 202

Looking down the road to infection 204

Pathophysiology: Recognizing and Managing Illness and Disease 205

Houston, we have a problem: Focusing on microsystems 206

Doing damage control of the medical kind 208

Taking a Patient for Tests and Therapy 208

Facing an MRI, the hot potato of medical tests 209

Handling therapies, from dialysis to radiation 209

Part 3: Just What You Were Looking For: A Full-Length Practice Test 213

Chapter 13: A Story of Blood, Chills, and Pain: A Practice NCLEX-RN 215

Chapter 14: The Answers to All Your Questions (and Explanations to Boot) 257

Answers and Explanations 258

Answer Key 284

Part 4: The Part of Tens 287

Chapter 15: Ten Myths about the NCLEX-RN 289

Length Matters 289

Every Question Counts 290

Computer Savvy Is Essential 290

You Can’t Stop ’til You’re Done 290

The Test Plays Off Your Weakness 290

You Have to Wait Eons to Retake a Failed Test 291

Your First Instinct Is Probably Wrong 291

The Same Question Popped Up Twice 292

Your Test Schedule Chooses You 292

Choice (3) Is the Magic Answer, and Other Multiple-Choice Fails 292

Chapter 16: Ten Common Phrases Found in NCLEX-RN Questions 293

Assessment and Priority 293

Diagnosis 294

Planning and Assigning Care 295

The Teaching Plan 296

Outcomes and Goals 296

Best Response 297

Priority Action 298

Interventions 298

Further Teaching 299

Chapter 17: Ten Rules to Remember When Prepping for the NCLEX-RN 301

Read Each Question in Its Entirety 301

Don’t Read into the Question 302

Answer Questions with the Ideal Situation in Mind 302

Avoid Changing Your Answers 302

Don’t Call the Doctor until You’re Sure You Need To 303

Avoid Answers That Make You Choose All or Nothing 303

Don’t Memorize Facts, Questions, or Other Useless Trivia 303

Don’t Think You Can Be Ready without Hard Work 304

Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses 304

Be Kind to Yourself 305

Part 5: Appendixes 307

Appendix A: Additional Info about Exam and Licensing Logistics 309

Identifying Individual State and Territory Licensing Requirements 310

Testing and Licensing Information Arranged by State and U.S Territory 310

Alabama 311

Alaska 311

American Samoa 312

Arizona 312

Arkansas 312

California 313

Colorado 313

Connecticut 314

Delaware 314

District of Columbia 315

Florida 315

Georgia 316

Guam 316

Hawaii 316

Idaho 317

Illinois 317

Indiana 318

Iowa 318

Kansas 319

Kentucky 319

Louisiana 320

Maine 320

Maryland 321

Massachusetts 321

Michigan 322

Minnesota 322

Mississippi 322

Missouri 323

Montana 323

Nebraska 324

Nevada 324

New Hampshire 325

New Jersey 325

New Mexico 326

New York 326

North Carolina 327

North Dakota 327

Northern Mariana Islands 328

Ohio 328

Oklahoma 328

Oregon 329

Pennsylvania 329

Puerto Rico 330

Rhode Island 330

South Carolina 330

South Dakota 331

Tennessee 331

Texas 332

U.S Virgin Islands 333

Utah 333

Vermont 333

Virginia 334

Washington 334

West Virginia 335

Wisconsin 335

Wyoming 336

Appendix B: Information for International Nurses Moving to the United States 337

Following the Two-Step Process for Becoming Eligible to Take the NCLEX-RN 338

Getting a VisaScreen certificate 338

Securing a CGFNS certificate 338

Getting the NCLEX-RN go-ahead without a certificate 340

Taking the NCLEX-RN Abroad 340

Navigating Nursing Roles in the U.S 342

Forming partnerships with clients 342

Teaching and instructing 342

Providing care 343

Working with other professionals 343

Getting Accustomed to U.S Cultural Values 343

Communicating Therapeutically 344

Practicing therapeutic communication 344

Steering clear of nontherapeutic techniques 345

Applying U.S Nursing Know-How to the NCLEX-RN 347

Appendix C: Glossary of Nursing Terms 351

Index 371

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