You take a seat in a large lecture hall, with everyone seated one to two seats away from one another. You came prepared with a good eraser and a few pencils—the night before, you spent reading the text, reviewing flashcards and notes. The professor passed out the exam. You swallow hard. Everything that was studied instantly vanished from your brain. The first page of the test gives a list of multiple choices, page two right in the middle of the page, a select-all-that-applies, your hands meet your forehead, and you swallow hard.
Step One: Keep calm and move on
The select-all-that-applies question formats are the most hated type of question. They become problematic. There could be five or more items to read through. If four of them are correct, and you’ve selected three, the whole thing is now wrong. When you reach these test items, take a deep breath.
Step Two: Read through and understand the question
Slowly read through the question. Make sure you completely understand the question. What is it asking? I have had wrong answers because I read the question and put my connotation on the question. I review questions such as “what not to do” instead of “what to do.” Read and understand the question.
Step Three: Read each item
Take a second and read each item. One at a time, read and understand what each one says. One issue I had when rushing was identifying the test items as negative when it was a positive connotation. As discussed, one item not selected or mismarked makes the whole test question wrong.
Step Four: Go back to the beginning
Now read the question and the items together.
Step Five: Approach each item
Reread the question and read the test item. Answer the test item as True or False. Then either strike through the answer or fill in the bubble. Move to the next item. Is it true or false? Reread the question when needed.
Step Six: Practice
Study guides such as Lippincott and Saunders and Lippincott NCLEX-RN Alternate Format Question have examples. The more experience you have with these questions, the better you’ll be at answering them.
So when you come to these questions on an exam, do you hate it as I did, or do you look at it as a fun challenge?