mckhoii

Last week, I received a call from St. Louis Review Center - Manila that I will be reviewing students at their branch. I was so excited yet a little anxious since this will be my first time. I will also be missing my Doi2 and Baguio. Anyway, it’s just going to be two days for Pete’s sake!!! I have already packed my bags and review materials. I’ll be compromising some of my study time for midterms for work but I guess I should be able to cope up. Hello SLRC Manila and goodluck to moi!!

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We have experienced changing our answer on a question we think is really hard. “I answered [A] but I am sure it is [C]”… After wasting minutes of thinking you finally decide to erase “A” and shade “C”. After checking the paper, you find out that the correct answer is unfortunately [A]. “Damn!”

According to Freud, the mind is divided into 3 structures. The Conscious, Preconscious/Subconscious, and unconscious. What you think and are being aware of NOW is the Conscious. If you read and discuss a topic it is conscious. After eating snacks your memory of what you just studied fades. It goes to the Subconscious. You can recall it but you need to think… a lot. After sometime, that information stored in the subconscious will be later absorbed by the unconscious and it will no longer be recoverable unless you re-read the book you got eh information from.

You become really good with MedSurg during the lecture but after the LMR lecture has clouded your mind, you tend to forget most of the MedSurg concepts… Correct? Haha! I’m sure this is true to almost everyone. Don’t worry guys, what you have learned is not lost. It’s just there. It’s just stored in the UNCONSCIOUS. If you study Medsurg again, it will be easier to memorize stuffs because your brain will tell you that you already have this information… you are just attempting to recover it.

Now, nursing is a very BROAD concept and you cannot bring it to the CONSCIOUS all at once when you face the board examination. So what now? Let your UNCONSCIOUS answer the paper. No, I am not telling you to effin sleep!! Die bitch! WHen you read the question, the first answer that you feel is correct i most likely the correct answer even if it is irrational. Why? it is because your unconscious is telling you the correct answer. You cannot rationalize it because it is absent in the conscious nor the subconscious yet you have read something about the question before and the information has been stored in the unconscious.

That’s it… I call this phenomenon the “UNCONSCIOUS ANSWERING”. Don’t change your first answers. It is most likely the correct answer and don’t mess up your answer sheet. Erasures during the board exam might be the reason why you fail so why take the risk?

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As I promised, here are the most awaited Test-Taking Techniques. I would like to thank my friends who helped me formulate these techniques. I would also like to thank Sir Mark[my boss] of SLRC and those students who share the same love to nursing. Keep Reviewing guys… I know you’ll make it!

FIrst, I would like to repeat what I have said that knowledge is more important than the strategies but having both knowledge and strategy will give you an edge to pass, or even top (I don’t see why not?), the effin Nursing Licensure Examination.

1. Almost all of the questions of the board examination are new so don’t expect that you will be bumping into one like in your mock/sample examinations. That’s bullshit thinking. But take note that the question still revolves in the same concept - NURSING and NURSING only! THe members of the BON are very creative in the making of the questions so you should also have to know how to think like them in order to get a good score but I am guessing that it is going to be hard to do that. (I wonder why.. Buhahaha)

2. Too much anxiety will destroy you but mild anxiety will help. Just enjoy the examination. Why not think that amongst the thousands who took, you are the only one who actually enjoyed, instead of feared, the exam?

3. Use the technique of ELIMINATION. Identify distractors… It takes practicing tes-questions in order to master this skill.

(more…)

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Yep, here they are. the awaited Crazy strategies. Haha! Yep they sound crazy but are most likely effective and will lead you to the correct answer. Caution: use these crazy techniques if you do not have any string of idea of what the question is all about. Here they are.. enjoy!

1. “always”, “never” or “all” are generalizations… so options with these words are automatically wrong because Nursing is a dynamic concept and it has a lot of EPIKIA (exemptions to the rules) so definite statements are wrong.

2. The longest answer is the correct answer. Well, you can testify to this strategy’s effectiveness. Haha!

3. If it involves values/numbers/rates/amount/weight/etc, just eliminate the highest and the lowest options then choose from the two that is left. Now you have 50% chance of getting to the right answer.

4. All of the above is correct. I don’t have to explain this.

5. Weird options that you’ve never heard are usually the correct answers.

6. The option with that speaks or represents the rest of the options is the correct answer. This is the umbrella phenomenon.

8. 2 similar options are wrong and must be eliminated.

9. Options that has the same word used in the question or has the same idea/phrase i likely the correct answer.

10. If you experience shutdown… choose letter “C”. Amongst the 4 options, it is the only option with the most correct answers as tallied from the previous board examinations. Thus, choosing this option gives you a higher probability of having chosen the right answer.

Risky? Yes… so open a book and study now!

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I’m so happy to be closer to earning the units for graduate studies at Saint Louis University, Baguio City - College of nursing. I am currently taking Master of Science in Nursing and it is no easy path I tell you. I just got my grade of 96 from Advance statistics applied to nursing which made me smile. Of course, i got the highest grade. My examinations for Psychiatric Nursing 1 are all done and I just need to finish my project which involves diagrams on how somebody’s personality can be explained using the different theories of personality and behavior. Quite a pain in the neck but I am cool because I know that I am on the right track. W00t! I just have to get my neurons going.. And oh, I’m done with my part of doing a research term paper for statistics… Thank God!

Anyway, here’s a little information I got about the course Master of Science in nursing. Enjoy!

From Wikipedia…

A Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) is an advanced-level quaternary education degree for Registered Nurses. It is required to become an advanced practice nurse, such as a Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nurse Anesthetist, Nurse Midwife, or a Clinical nurse leader, and is considered an entry-level degree for nurse educators and managers. It may also be a prerequisite for doctorate-level nursing education.

This graduate-level degree may focus in one or more of many different advanced nursing specialties such as acute care, adult, family, geriatrics, neonatal, palliative care, pediatric, psychiatric, women’s health, etc.

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During my lectures, I always say to my nurses that they have to cling on to these “weapons” in facing the board exam. Think of the Nursing Licensure Examination in the Philippines as a 3-headed or even 10-headed dragon capable of attacking you in different aspects and many are relying on you to kill it being its destined slayer. Are you going to fail these people or are you going to do something to ascertain triumph over this battle? The choice is in your hands…

1. KNOWLEDGE

- Before facing the dragon, you should know its weak points so that you will do a perfect hit in just the right point. Winning this board exam requires the utilization of a collection of knowledge from elementary to formal nursing college. If you face a question that you KNOW, then you are likely to get the correct answer!

2. TEST-TAKING SKILLS

- Nursing is very broad. Studying for the board exam is like attempting to catch every raindrop with just one pail… oh wait make it 5 pails - One for each area (Med-Surgical, LMR, CDN/ CHN, Pedicatric/MCN, Psychiatric Nursing). No matter how big your pail is, it is still impossible to get the millions of stuffs to memorize, familiarize, or understand. This is where the test-taking skill comes in, which is the ability to arrive in the correct answer with a very probability even if you totally do not know anything about the question. I will post another entry about Test-taking skills soon so watch out.

3. PRAYERs

- If one can move mountains with prayers… then I do not see why not to just one crazy exam!?

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Lani, my bestfriend, and I were texting each other yesterday and she requested me to call her because she misses me so much (and i miss her too). And so I did. She told me that I should check Zang’s website because he has written something about me. I remembered that Zang told me that he had written something for me and that I should check it but I had not had the time to do so because I was too damn busy with my work, masters, and the move to our new apartment of which I will be blogging about soon. Right now, I am at my workplace waiting for the driver to pick me up because I have a class at La Trinidad, Benguet waiting for me. I am stealing some time to surf and check Zang’s blog. OMG! It is indeed really about me. I blushed while reading it and I am so happy that I have made other people happy too with whatever it is that is happening to me miles and miles away. Thanks for the support guys! I’m reposting Zang’s post so that my readers would know how sweet he is and how lucky I am to have friends like Zang and the rest. Here’s the post…

Dammit! What have Mckhoii done to deserve what he had landed on now?

My eyes were still groggy upon waking up one forgettable morning, so forgettable I didn’t know what day that was or what the weather was like. All I could remember then was I woke up because of the consequent singing of my phone (my message alert tone sings!) upon receiving morning greeting text messages. One message was from Mckhoii:

Yot unsa gani difference sa ginasecrete na hormones sa adrenal cortex ug adrenal medulla? Dali kay magdemo kog lecture karong hapon. (What’s the difference between the hormones secreted by the adrenal cortex and adrenal medulla? Be quick, I will be having my demo lecture this afternoon.)

Oh I cannot exactly remember his words…

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While browsing over my folders I bumped into the file that contained my speech. OMG…Nostalgia!!! I might as well share this to you guys… and oh! Congratulations to the new graduates of 2008 and break a leg in whatever endeavor you are about to partake! w00t!

Mckhoii’s Valedictory Speech

In the real world, dreams do not come equipped with the magic wands of Cinderella stories

To our most reverend bishop of Tagum City –Wilfredo D. Manlapas, D.D.,S.T.D., members of the SMC board of trustees, school president – S. Ma. Fe D. Gerodias, RVM, Dean of college – S. Ma. Preciosa M. Rusiana, RVM, Associate Deans of the different programs, members of the faculty and non-teaching personnel, honorable guests, beloved parents, co-graduates, and friends, an exhilarating and magnificent day to you!

Four years ago, we gathered here in St. Mary’s College for education. Today marks a milestone in that pursuit, a culmination of four years of learning, growth, and shared memories. At such, times, it is appropriate to reflect on years past, to examine what we have done and what we have learned. Today, I am charged with that difficult task, and I would like to thank the school for this precious privilege and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stand before my peers and reflect in our time together.

w00t!

Thinking of graduation day always gives me the creeps! Paradoxical emotions always stir my mind, soul, and spirit – happiness and sadness, excitement and anxiety. We are happy because we can now put an end to all those infuriating and frustrating quizzes, and other school-related stressors. We finally reap what we’ve sown for four years and seize the awards we know we deserve. That’s got to be lots of sowing! On the other hand, we are disheartened because we know that we will be leaving some people behind and be separated from very special people whose hearts are close to ours. We will miss those fun activities, peer-gimmicks, neologisms and weird talks that we may never ever do again as we move on with our lives.

If my memory serves me right, it was during my kindergarten graduation day when on this very stage I declared this very famous clichéd line to the whole world, “When I grow up, I want to be a doctor”. It was the beginning of my bumpy, sometimes smooth, trip to education and life. The word “commencement”, being a synonym of “beginning” or “start”, marks the opening of a new chapter of our lives. From kindergarten, we commenced grade school to high school, and to college.

I am not a doctor of medicine, although I know I look like one (haha), but now I stand here before you all as a nurse graduate and as soon as I win my license, I know that my dream of being an angel for the sick and an adept member of the health team is fulfilled. As we confidently hold our shining shimmering and elegantly framed diplomas, let us think of what awaits us as we cross the portals to the other side of reality – the competitive, iniquity-packed and fierce outside world.

No man is indeed an island. There are so many people whom we owe what we have and what we are now. As long as I am still able to inhale and exhale, I will forever acclaim the part of which these people have played in my life wherever I am and whatever I will become in the future.

To my Classmates and RLE group mates from preclinical exposure to head nursing concepts who were together with me in my struggles, ordeals, and obstacles in both the community and in the hospital during my search for knowledge and skills, and during the course of helping clients and their families.

To my best friends: Alexis – my idol, brother and source of energy, Lani – my sentry, adviser, and advocate, Caesar – my clown, dictionary, and partner in crime, and the rest of my closest friends who have been with me through thick and thin, and will continue to be with me until the end of time no matter what.

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I promised my students back in Nueva Vizcaya that I will be giving the answers of the practice exam for communicable nursing to the branch incharge by next week. I also told them to check my website on Sunday because I will be posting the Answer key here. Well, here they are…

1-b, 2-c, 3-a, 4-a, 5-b, 6-a, 7-d, 8-a, 9-c, 10-c, 11-b, 12-b, 13-b, 14-b, 15-c, 16-b, 17-(c/o LMR), 18-d, 19-(c/o LMR), 20-b, 21-a, 22-a, 23-d, 24-bonus, 25-a, 26-a, 27-a, 28-a, 29-a, 30-d, 31-c, 32-a, 33-d, 34-d, 35-b, 36-d, 37-d, 38-a, 39-d, 40-a, 41-b, 42-a, 43-bonus, 44-b, 45-a, 46-d, 47-a, 48-b, 49-b, 50-d, 51-c, 52-d, 53-b, 54-c, 55-a, 56-d, 57-Leprosy, 58-Dengue, 59-Pertussis, 60-PTB, 61-Filariasis, 62-Leprosy, 63-Malaria, 64-Varicella/Herpes, 65-Filariasis, 66-Diphtheria, 67-PTB, 68-Paragonimiasis/Schistosomiasis, 69-SARS, 70-Scarlet Fever.

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