Taking tests is not new to you. You have likely already developed some strategies that work and at the same time, you probably have some habits that interfere with your best test-taking efforts. Check out this helpful tactic where taking the question apart can help you select the best answer.

It doesn’t get more fundamental than reading the question. You are probably asking yourself, “How can I possibly answer the question without reading it first?” But think about it. Have you ever missed a question because the stem said something like, “Which of the following actions is not likely to cause post-operative bleeding” and your eyes missed the “not”? Often, our eyes will skip right over that crucial word. We will be looking for a cause for post-operative bleeding and miss the actual point of the question. Reading the question to clearly understand what it asks is a basic technique that can be sharpened with practice.

Here’s a sample question:
A patient has a history of ketoacidosis. Which of the following would you not expect to see with this patient if this condition were acute?

Take the question apart. See that word “not” in there? You are looking for the answer that is not associated with ketoacidosis. Think about what you know about ketoacidosis. It occurs in individuals with Type I diabetes mellitus, right? Those individuals exhibit the “polys”-polyuria, polydipsia, polyphagia. They eat, drink, and urinate a lot.

So the answer choices are 
a. vomiting
b. extreme thirst
c. weight gain
d. acetone breath smell

Let’s critically think through the answers. Vomiting may be related to the underlying disease that triggered the ketoacidosis. Extreme thirst is polydipsia, one of the expected symptoms. Acetone breath smell is that fruity smell characteristic of patients in ketoacidosis. But patients with Type I diabetes are notoriously thin because their bodies cannot use the food they ingest. They have no insulin and that is why they eat (polyphagia) all the time. Therefore the logical answer is “c” weight gain, as you would not expect this with this patient.

Source: Adapted from HCPro’s new book, Stressed Out About the NCLEX-RN®. Click here for more information.