Need advice - study tips/books for first actual nursing class ...

D is intimidated by the situational NCLEX style questions, we have already talked about breaking down questions and analyzing what is the needed information. She wants to figure out how to tackle these as she is certain it is going to be this way from here on out.

Does anyone have practice materials or books that helps with this for the nursing fundamentals? I think if she could do some practice with information she has learned and then get help in breaking down and analyzing how to answer it would go a long way.

Any suggestions are welcome.

What year is your daughter, and is this for a particular class? Is it for fundamentals - her first lab/clinical experience? You are right that the exams will be NCLEX style from here on out (or at least should be).

My main piece of advice is to go to the professor. My daughter’s program offers practice exams for the class exams, which are helpful. Apparently fundamentals is one of the easier “nursing” classes, but that’s just what I’ve heard. Everyone is in the same boat - it’s a different way of thinking.

My daughter says the types of questions that are challenging are those that are “select all that apply” - you get down to picking one more and it’s nerve wracking.

There are several companies that offer NCLEX prep. I’m not sure how useful they would be if you are not actually prepping for it. IE, they might ask questions she is not prepared for and it could be demoralizing. I follow a Facebook page that offers a question of the day, and it’s interesting as a parent to see those questions. Not sure how useful that would be to a student.

Does she have to take the HESI? That should be her priority right now, although my daughter says the questioning is similar.

It is her first actual nursing class – the Fundamentals one. I was thinking the same about the NCLEX prep materials. I did find a book at Amazon called Fundamentals Success that seems to take the same concept to just the basic fundamentals taught in most first nursing courses. She definitely is going to ask her professor as well as other students that are farther along than her.

What is the HESI?

I suggest she google “nclex strategies”. Pages such as the following will pop up…
https://www.kaptest.com/study/nclex/nclex-strategies-critical-thinking-rewording-questions/

Back off and tell HER to talk to the prof rather than have her mom ask the internet where the other posters may or may not be nurses. (I think most of us are parents of nurses or nursing students). I know that might sound snarky (and I don’t mean it to be), but honestly, this program needs to be her accomplishment. She’s the student, the person prepping for and taking the tests. And it is her instructors who will have the best advice about preparing.

OMG good grief she is doing that!! I was just trying to help her think out of the box a bit and generate some additional ideas.