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Colton Crissman

Comprehensive Nursing Summary


Dr. Lisko
02/05/19

NAT Analysis

Kaplan Testing is always something I’ve taken very seriously and I’m thankful our

program has chosen to incorporate it into the curriculum because I feel that its benefits outweigh

the stress of sitting in a classroom staring at a computer for two hours. I also feel that it helps us

to realistically prepare for the NCLEX Examination. My overall score on the NAT was a 61.3%

which ranked around 50% percentile. While this puts me at about the national average, I’m a bit

disappointed in my score and wish I would’ve done a little bit better. I got 111 questions correct

and 69 incorrect. I changed 8 answers from incorrect answers to correct answers and 8 answers

from correct to incorrect. This is one of my biggest challenges when taking nursing exams in

general. I always change answers and I think I need to just stick with my initial gut feelings

instead of changing the answer. My lowest category was the health promotion and maintenance

which I scored a 47.8% on. In addition to Health promotion and maintenance, I also scored

rather low in the Communication section, answering only 7 out of 12 questions correctly. I feel

that these are my weaker areas most definitely.

When going through the NAT I noticed that there were a lot of procedures mentioned that

I was unfamiliar with or that I couldn’t recall much information on. I added that to my

“weaknesses” list and plan to spend extra time in the chapters I read and work on studying the

diagnostic procedures. This will include how the tests are preformed, any nursing care pre and

posttest, etc. I also scored fairly low in Communication which surprised me because I felt that
this was one of my stronger areas, but when I was remediating it was easy to see how I mixed up

these questions. Unfortunately I feel that this is something no textbook can teach me so I’m

hoping my precepting nurse will have a lot of knowledge on proper communication between

nurses, doctors, and other members of the medical team.

On the other hand, there were several areas that I did rather well. Similarly, to how I did

my lower scores, I’ve selected my top three higher scores. I scored highest in the assessment

section where I scored 28-36 (77.8%) I was happy to score well in this area because it one of the

major skills utilized by a nurse. The next area I did rather well in was the Planning section in

which I got 30 out of 43 questions correct (70%). Planning is truly one of my favorite parts of

nursing. I like learning about a diagnosis and then setting up a plan of care for my patient so that

both they and I can see what steps need to be taken to achieve whatever goal is set for that

patient.

Another one of the high-ranking categories for me was reduction of risk potential. I got

24 out of 33 (72.7%) questions correct. I feel that this is an area that basically every nursing

course touches on. Providing safe and effective care for our patients is something nurses have to

be really careful about and it’s often discussed at least once in each class. I think that’s why I

scored so well in this section. I also feel that it’s an area that I have focused on. It’s so easy to

transmit different germs and diseases around to people and since I’ve started nursing school, I’ve

noticed that I’ve been more of a safe person so I think this has helped me to answer these

questions correctly. In terms of study strengths and weaknesses I have a few. Strength wise I

really take a lot of time in advance to study for something. I’m very organized so when I set up a
calendar to do something, typically I do everything in my power to stick to that plan. I also really

strive to do well, so I take everything very seriously. I do, however, have some study weaknesses

as well. Sometimes I’m easily distracted and I have days where I am very unmotivated so I’ll

definitely need to make sure that I have a quiet environment with limited distractions to make my

studying effective. I think that while we are in school this will be my office at work or my

basement at home.

While at work, my office is often very quiet and hardly anyone visits my basement at

home so these will be good areas. When school lets out, I think I’ll head over to one of the quiet

study rooms in the Canfield library. They are sound proof and only one person is allowed in

them at a time, for an allotted amount of time. This will be an ideal study space. Another study

weakness I have is that when something becomes difficult for me or is hard for me to understand,

I tend to give up on it. Like Pharmacology, for example, I always thought pharm was frustrating

and knowing the different doses and side effects of a million different medications makes my

brain ache. This is definitely an area I’ll need to focus on. Similarly, a lot of the aftercare for a

post-surgical patient stresses me out. I’ve had trouble studying it in the past. It will also need to

be an area I focus intensely on. My biggest worry about the NCLEX is not being prepared

enough in a specific area, but I think if I stick to my study schedule and make sure that I really

hone in on areas I’m not great at and do a lot of practice questions, I’ll be just fine!

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