After taking this comprehensive proctored exam, I feel a lot more prepared for the NCLEX than I thought. One thing that worked well for me during this exam was taking a break halfway through. This is not something that I normally do, but I thought this time it may be helpful. I noticed myself starting to lose focus and taking that few minute mental break helped me to gain that back. This was also the first time I used earplugs and I found that extremely helpful. I noticed I was getting less distracted by the things around me and was able to stay focused for longer. I tried my best not to change any answers and to read the questions and answer prompts thoroughly. I still think I could have done a better job with taking my time, but overall, I believe I have improved significantly with my test taking skills.
Preparation for Licensure and Transition to Professional Practice
Before beginning this semester, I was not a great test taker. I struggled with rushing, changing answers, and test taking anxiety. I was able to use the individual performance profile from the ATI assessments to notice when I was making these mistakes and improve the issues that I had. I noticed that I started to go slower with my questions, which helped me to read the questions fully and not make any unnecessary mistakes. I also stopped changing my answers and second guessing myself.
Through doing the ATI assessments, I was able to figure out which content areas I was having difficulties with. By doing the remediations, I was able to focus on the areas that I was not doing well in. This also helped me realized which topics I did well in and that I do not need to focus on too much for the NCLEX.
I have been focusing more on my mental health since the end of last year. I knew it was time for me to have intervention when it started to affect my test taking. I struggle with extreme test taking anxiety, and I always felt my results never showed how much knowledge I had on the topics. I started to find a combination of mental health strategies to help decrease my testing anxiety and improve my grades. As I transition into practice, I will continue to incorporate these self-care practices to be able to be my best self and provide the best care possible.
I believe that this semester has helped me prepare for practice more than my previous semester. The thing that has helped me the most is doing all of the practice tests and remediations. I felt more prepared for the NCLEX after each exam, and after the comp exams, I am feeling much more confident about how I will perform on it. I also started to become more confident in my skill through my clinical rotations. I will be able to use these skills that I learned through my clinical rotations to help me in my future nursing practices.
Adult Health IV Reflections on the Older Adult
In this course, I learned about the importance of viewing the patient from a holistic perspective. Even though I will be working with the pediatric population, I can still apply some of the concepts I learned in this class to my future nursing practice. The first concept that we learned about that I can apply to the pediatric nursing is the ideas of spiritualty and legal practices. When it comes to religion and spirituality, this can play a big role on patient and family expectations of care. A family’s belief system can impact decisions of medications, use of animal products in the body, the gender of their provider, and diet modifications. For the pediatric population, a family’s belief system can prevent them from receiving blood products that could be life saving for the child. The role of advocacy in nursing will come into play for this situation, and it will be the nurse’s responsibility to obtain the appropriate legal document to assure the child can receive the necessary life-saving care.
Some other concepts that were reiterated in this course that I will apply to my future nursing practice includes the ethical principles. When it comes to the pediatric population, confidentiality can be a substantial issue, especially in teenagers. It is important for the nurse to understand the HIPPA laws regarding confidentiality to be able to establish rapport with the patient and maintain fidelity. The nurse must find a way to assure that the patient maintains autonomy, while being able to incorporate the parents or guardians in their care. Some other ethical principles to incorporate into patient care includes beneficence and non-maleficence. The nurse must assure that they are doing their best to provide good care and prevent and harm from happening to them.
Prep for licensure comp b
Overall, I am satisfied on how much better I did on the second practice exam compared to the first one. I’m getting better at recognizing when my brain is starting to fatigue and when I need a break. I noticed on this exam, that I got through about 100 questions before I needed a break. These longer exams are definitely helping me expand my testing endurance and preparing me for the NCLEX. I think one of my biggest setbacks is my testing anxiety. I tend to second guess my knowledge and change my answers often. While doing these practice exams, I’m starting to recognize when this happens and catch myself before changing my answers. Ultimately, I am getting better at answering questions and I am becoming more confident with each test I take.
