NCLEX-RN For Dummies with Online Practice Tests

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