NCLEX Simplified

Pressure ulcers are wounds that develop in a patient's skin, mostly where weight is distributed on a surface. There are a large number of factors that can make a patient vulnerable to pressure ulcers: Immobility, such as that related to bedrest Poor nutrition, because patients who don't eat, don't heal Confusion or an uncooperative patient Incontinence Excessively moist or excessively dry skin Age Smoking Diabetes or other circulatory diseases All pressure ulcers begin as non-blanchable erythema. This means that the area is reddened and, when pressed, does not lose its color. Healthy skin will blanch, meaning it temporarily turns pale or even white. The fact that skin does not perform this color change means that it is a Stage 1 ulcer. Note the following stage descriptions: Stage 1:  Non-blanchable, no open skin Stage 2:  Open skin blister, no depth, may be drainage Stage 3:  Full-thickness tissue loss, some depth and possible tunneling S

The NCLEX is a test that will destroy the confidence of any test-taker. Apart from its targeted questioning varying in number, select-all-that-apply questions that never seem to end, and the wide-open prairies of information you have to know, you'll pass it no problem. Unless you don't. By the time you pay for another ATT to reschedule, your confidence is most likely in the toilet. Not only did you attempt this beast of a test, but you failed. You failed . Losers fail. People who should be attempting other careers fail. Stupid people fail. Wrong! Not with this test. Let's curb your self-pity in its tracks. 1. For a test that's supposed to be an evaluation of minimum competency of nurses, the NCLEX is a crappy predictor of who will make a good nurse and who won't.  I cannot even begin to name the names of all the LPNs and RNs I know who failed the NCLEX at least once if not multiple times. Some of them are my mentors, some of them are my colleagues, but my

Yep, it happens. Don't listen to anyone who would tell you otherwise or say "Oh, well sometimes patients joke," because it absolutely happens. Because nursing is a traditionally female-occupied profession (not to say it is anymore!), sexual harassment of nurses has a long and dirty history that roots all the way back to medieval battlefields where healers with herbal concoctions pressed onto wounds were being told "You have beautiful eyes. Would you like to have your evening meal with me?" Then there are all of the incredibly unhelpful media images as nurses as something sexy (insert Halloween costume here) or that all nurses want to marry doctors or at least do them in on-call sleeping areas. Damn you, Grey's Anatomy! The only positive thing is that we now generally wear scrubs instead of the cute little dress, hat, and stockings ensemble. But even for those that still do, fear of sexual harassment should not be stopping them from wearing what t

One of the most important issues in nursing is falls. Now I realize that, as nurses, we all hate doing fall assessments, post-fall notes, and post-fall neuro checks. And we don't hate them for the sake of patient safety (of course we realize they're important and need to be done!). We hate them because they add more work onto our already substantial workload. When completing an assessment on any patient, look for reasons that they would fall. This can include advanced age, altered gait, and disease processes that affect balance and coordination such as Parkinson's disease and Multiple Sclerosis. Not all patients who fall are high risk... but many are! One of my favorite bloggers Marijike (self described "nurse writer") found a study conducted by researchers that involved having patients wear sensors that analyzed different gait variables. The study found that just a reduction in gait speed of 5cm/second was associated with an 86.3 percent probability of falling

Between your nursing degree graduation and the passing of your NCLEX, there is a weird in-between stage no one tells you about until you get there. This stage is known as being a graduate nurse. Graduate nurses are students who have graduated their nursing program and have not yet taken their NCLEX. These nurses, in most states, are able to hold positions in hospitals and other medical facilities with most of, if not all, the responsibilities of an actual nurse. The catch is that the graduate nurse needs to have been offered a graduate nurse or "nursing assistantship" position. In Delaware (for example), once the job offer is verified, the graduate nurse may receive a temporary permit to work for up to six months. After that, it expires and the graduate nurse is no longer allowed to practice until they have passed their NCLEX and been awarded their true license. Graduate nurses are usually paid more than a nursing assistant or certified nurse's aide but less than a

The nurse is caring for the client following a laryngectomy when suddenly the client becomes unresponsive and pale, with a BP of 90/40. The initial nurse’s action should be to:  ❍ A. Place the client in Trendelenburg position. ❍ B. Increase the infusion of normal saline. ❍ C. Administer atropine intravenously. ❍ D. Move the emergency cart to the bedside. Tough question. In an emergency (even an emergency question ), it can be tempting to rush and skip thinking it through because it's an emergency question. It's important to remember that this is a theoretical patient and that we can take all the time we need! First, let's analyze what this question is asking. Question interpretation: What is the most important thing the nurse can do for a client who is going into shock? How did we know it's shock? They stated that the patient has just had a procedure done that puts him or her at risk for blood loss (the laryngectomy) and the blood pressure suddenly plummeted

One of the most undervalued and overlooked aspects of taking the NCLEX is preparing for the test day itself. Note that I said the day- not the test! You've been preparing for the test and studying for weeks, maybe months. That part is all taken care of. It's the day itself that can take any student by surprise. No matter how nervous you expect to be, you need to be prepared for a level beyond even that. Here's how to make sure you're prepared for the big day. 1. Exercise the day before. You are going to be just a little nervous. Admit it! Admit it, then conquer it. Anxiety could keep you up the night before the test, and the last thing you need is to try to sort through a SATA (select-all-that-apply) question on two hours of sleep. One of the best ways to defeat insomnia due to nervousness is to get physically tired. Depending on your exercise level, push it a little. If you don't exercise normally, an hour-long walk should be all you need. If you're a run