Christina Rafano teaches how to answer nursing priority questions using three principles: the ABCs (airway, breathing, circulation), Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and the nursing process. Look for trigger phrases like "what is your first action?" and prioritize assessment and safety before higher-order needs.
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Hello, friend Christina here with nursing schoolofsuccess.com today in this video, we are going to answer the epic nursing school question, how to answer nursing priority questions on your nursing school exams. This is just a huge, huge topic for nursing students. It's really tough to kind of figure out how to answer these questions. So these kind of questions are things that you'll see, like where they ask you on your exam, your first action, what's your initial action, what's the first thing that you will do? So these are nursing priority questions on your nursing exams. What's the first thing that you're going to do with that patient or in that situation or in this case scenario. See what I'm saying? So I'm sure you've seen these already pop up on your nursing school exam. So we're going to talk about exactly how to answer those today in this video. So there are really three main nursing principles that we're going to talk about to help you answer these questions. So the first One is the ABCs. This one I'm going to say is the most important because it really, they kind of all intermingle, but the ABCs really comes into all of them. So that's. The first One is the ABCs, and we'll talk about exactly what that means here in a little bit. Then the second one is the nursing process. So the, the nursing process, you know, your assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, evaluation, your basic nursing process. Now the third one is Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and we'll talk about that too in more detail. So each of those things, I actually do have a separate video on that. We will dive a little bit deeper. So I do have full YouTube videos for you to check out for each of those three nursing principles. So if you're watching the replay, I will put cards up around and I will actually also add it to the description below, so you can check out those videos too later. But we're going to dive into kind of how those all connect and how you can use all of them to answer priority nursing exam questions. So the first one is ABCs. And this one, like I said, I think personally is the most important. So this is airway breathing and circulation. So of course, of course you want to make sure that your patient has a patent. Airway patent means that it's open, that their airway is clear, that they can actually get air in, get that carbon dioxide air out, and that they can actually breathe, you know, get air in and get air out. Now the second one is breathing, you Know, can they actually do gas exchange in their lungs? Can they actually do that process, exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide breathing, and then C stands for circulation. Can they circulate blood through their body? What's going on inside of them? If there's anything that's going on that's inhibiting that process from happening? You know, is their heart malfunctioning? Things like that. So is anything happening where they're not getting blood circulation or perfusion to their body? So that's what ABC stands for is airway breathing and circulation. So airways are airway clear. Is it patent breathing? Can they get that gas exchange exchanging, flowing and then C for circulation? So can they get that blood flowing, their organs perfused and all that blood pump into where it needs to go? So that is the ABCs. That's the first nursing school principle that you'll use to answer nursing priority questions. Now, this one, I think is the most important, like I've said, because. And I also think it's almost kind of easiest to spot in your nursing school exams. So during a nursing exam, you'll see those questions that are nursing priority questions because they will have those kind of keywords, those trigger words like what's your initial action? Or what's the initial thing you'll do? What's the first action you'll do? Things like that. So what are those keywords that they're asking for? What's the first thing the nurse will do? Or you, as the nurse will do? So those are the kind of the keywords that you're looking for when you're answering nursing exam questions. Those are the priority questions that we're talking about. What's the first thing that you're gonna do? So the ABCs really come into this because when you see a question like that that has kind of one of those trigger words, one of those key words there, what's the first thing you'll do? What's your initial action? What's your priority? And then you'll kind of look through those answers and see, okay, which one? Does any of these. Do any of these answers here say something about airway breathing or circulation? Because that will be one of your first priorities. So now let's move on to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. So this really, the ABCs really fit very nicely into Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which is why we're going to talk about it next. So Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a pyramid where at the bottom, the things that you will do first. That's Your first priority. So what's at the bottom is what you will do first. I kind of like to think about it, the old US food pyramid, you know, where you've got all the bread and carbs at the bottom and then, you know, your sugars up on top. So that's kind of like you, you know, if you, if you remember that, that old school food pyramid in the US that's kind of how Maslow's hierarchy is kind of situated. So whatever's at the bottom is what you'll do first. And so Maslow's hierarchy of needs goes like this. At the bottom of the pyramid, these are your first things you'll do is physiological needs. So physiological needs come first, safety needs come second. Then love and belonging needs. You've got self esteem and then self actualization at the top. So the one that we're gonna focus on right now is those physiological needs at the bottom. So that's the first thing that you'll focus on is those physical physiological needs, which happens to very nicely coincide with those ABCs that we just talked about. So Maslow's hierarchy of needs and the ABCs really do they fit really nicely together because Maslow's hierarchy tells us that we want to solve physiological needs first. So you want to make sure that patient's airway is clear, that they can breathe, they can get that gas exchange, and that their blood can circulate throughout their body. So that is the abc. So that's where Maslow's hierarchy of needs and this ABC nursing principle really, really, really fits in nicely together. They really, they're basically the same thing. So you'll just use those two principles to answer nursing priority questions. It's very, very nice that they are kind of the same. They're very, very similar. So just make sure that when you are looking at a nursing school exam question, look at exactly what the question is asking you. And so if you see those key words in there, what's your initial action? What's the first thing you'll do? What's your first priority? You know, those, those kind of words that kind of clue you in. Okay, they're asking me what's the very, very, very first thing? What's my very, very, very first action? Those are the questions that we're talking about here. So nursing priority questions. So when you see that in your nursing exams, take a look at the answers that are listed and see if any of those answers have anything to do with that bottom of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, physiological needs. Because we want to take care of those physiological needs first. And those physiological needs just happen to nicely coincide with the ABCs. So airway, breathing and circulation, those are the three things that you want to make sure that the patient can do first before we move on to the higher levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs pyramid, which are those safety needs or love and belonging, self esteem and self actualization. So of course, safety would be next. So of course we want to make sure that our patient is safe, safe in their environment. There's nothing that they could trip over on the floor that when you leave the room that you're making sure that they have their call light, that their bed is lower, they're not gonna fall out of bed. You know, there's no, like, IV tubing around that they can get wrapped up in or caught in or anything. Oxygen, same thing. There's no oxygen tubing that's just kind of haphazardly thrown around. We want to make sure that their environment is safe and that they're in a safe place position. So those are really kind of the two main things of Maslow's hierarchy of needs that I want to point out. That first tier is physiological needs, which are the ABCs. You want to solve those first, and then the next thing is those safety needs. So making sure that they're safe, in a safe position, a safe place, you know, that their room is safe and that they're in a safe position. So when you look at nursing priority questions, the ones that say, what's your first action? What's your initial action? What's your priority action? All those things, those, those keywords. Look for those keywords in your nursing exams and then take a look at the answers that they give you and see if any of those answers kind of nicely fit in with the ABCs or Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Do any of these answers solve a breathing problem or an airway problem or a circulation problem or a safety problem? So make sure that you're using these ABCs and the Maslow's hierarchy of needs process principles in order to solve those nursing priority questions on your nursing school exams. Now, the third principle that we will, we are going to talk about is the nursing process. So the nursing process, as you probably very, very, very familiar with already, is, is, it goes like this. So it's assessment first. So you always, always assess first. So assessment, diagnosis, that's a nursing diagnosis, not a medical diagnosis. So assessment, nursing diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation. So this is kind of very similar where we are Going to assess first. This is your first action, your initial action, your priority action. So these are the nursing school principles that we're talking about. ABCs, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and the nursing process. And these are how you are going to answer these nursing priority questions on your nursing school exams. So with the nursing process, the first thing you're gonna do is assess your patient. That's the very first thing. It's one of the most important things that nurses do, that we assess our patients very, very well. So when you're put on the spot with one of these nursing priority questions, that asks you, do I what's the first thing that I'll do? What's the initial thing I need to do? What's the priority? If it has one of those trigger words or those key words in that nursing exam question, then you know that it's a nursing priority question. It's asking you what is your priority. So you'll use Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the ABCs, and the nursing process to answer these questions. So here's where the nursing process fits in. You will assess first. So really, anytime I took a nursing school exam and I saw one of these questions, this was actually one of the first things that I would think is, is there an answer to this question that has the word assess in it? Or what will I look for? What will I check? You know, things like that, what will I monitor? So if it has one of those words, my friend, you better be paying very, very, very close attention to that answer. So make sure that when you see a nursing priority question, that you look through those answers and see if one of the answers says something about assessing or monitoring or checking or looking for or, you know, something like that that has to do with assessing your patient further. So with that, we want to always make sure that we assess first before we can do anything, anything else. So I see DeAndre saying that the ATI is very heavy on nursing priority questions. Yes, you are absolutely right. It is a lot of nursing school exams. This is really a nursing priority questions is huge, not only on nursing school, but on the NCLEX as well. So this is why you get so many on your nursing school exams, is because the NCLEX is so heavy on them too. I mean, this is really, really, really, really important. Even at clinical, you need to know what you're gonna do very, very first. Like, what's your first action? Because we want to make sure that we're taking care of the top priorities. So this is why your nursing school Exams are gon heavy on these nursing priority questions. So I'm so, so glad that, that these videos help you out because, and we're going to talk about it a lot because it's so important. So that nursing assessment piece, you will always, always, always assess first before you do anything else. Because if you do something else and you don't have all the information right, you could mess it up or you might not solve exactly what you needed to solve. You see what I'm saying? So you really need to make sure that you do know what you're doing and you're assessing first. You know exactly what that patient needs and then you're going to go do it, which is why we assess first. So assessment and the ABCs and Maslow's hierarchy of needs, I'm sure you knew this was coming, they all kind of integrate together. They, they fit very, very nicely, very nicely together. So when you're looking at a nursing priority question on a nursing school exam, so that'll say something like, what's your first action? What's the first thing you'll do? What's your priority? What's the, you know, what's your initial action? Those are some really, really good keywords that I see a lot. So what's your initial response? What is the priority action? Those are nursing priority questions. That's kind of how they're worded. You'll look at for an answer that says something like assess or monitor or check, things like that. So that's that nursing assessment. But oftentimes that might coincide with something like check their airway, check their circulation. It's not going to use those exact words, of course, but it's going to be something similar to. It's going to say something along those lines of assess their breathing or assess their, their circulation or assess, you know, assess those, those particular areas of the ABC's airway, breathing and circulation. So the nursing assessment, of course, is kind of the foundation. That's where you start. You want to assess those ABCs, airway, breathing and circulation. And like we said, those ABCs are kind of that base section of the Maslow's hierarchy of needs, that very, very base part, which is the first things that you'll do. Those physiological needs, airway, breathing, circulation, those are physiological needs. So those are the three nursing exam principles, the three nursing principles that you will use to answer nursing priority questions on your nursing school exam. So you've got the ABCs, you've got Maslow's hierarchy of needs and you've got the nursing process. So ABCs is airway breathing, circulation. Make sure that your patient has a clear or clear patent airway that they can breathe. That means do gas exchange and get air in and out and, you know, oxygen all into where everything needs to go. And then circulation is making sure that the blood can circulate in the body, that the organs are getting perfused. Now, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, you want to focus on those bottom two tiers, which is physiological needs first and then safety needs. So safety needs will come second. Those are like making sure that the patient has their call light, that they've got their bed is lowered when you leave the room, that they're not going to fall out of bed. There's no oxygen tubing or IV tubing, kind of just haphazardly thrown around anywhere that they could trip over or something. And then also you want to make sure that you are familiar with the nursing process. So the nursing process, assessment, diagnosis, which is a nursing diagnosis, not a medical diagnosis, assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation. Make sure that you're assessing your patient first before you do anything else. So those three principles will really, really, really help you answer properly your nursing priority questions on your nursing school exam. So as long as you're kind of focusing on those three principles, you're making sure that you're solving their physiological needs first, which is the ABCs, airway, breathing, circulation, and that you're assessing them first. So anytime you see a nursing exam question, have one of those key words in there of what's the priority action? What will be your initial action? What's your first response? What's your initial response? Those things, look for those key words in that question and then think, look at those answers and think about what is the best nursing strategy to use here. Either the ABCs, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, or the nursing assessments. So take a look at those or the nursing processes. Take a look at those answers on that exam, nursing exam question, and see if any of those answers have to do with One of those three principles, the ABCs, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, or the nursing process. I bet dollars to donuts friends that there will be an answer in there that will, that will coincide with one of those things. I'd say. I mean, the vast majority of them that I've answered do have those. So definitely, definitely, definitely use these three nursing principles to answer those questions. So I hope this video helped. Like I said, I do have full, actually deep dive videos on each one of these nursing principles for you to Check out to help you even more answer nursing priority questions. So if you have any more questions on Maslow's hierarchy of Needs or the ABCs or the nursing process, I do have more videos on those things that I will link down below in the description and pop up a card as well here on the replay. So let me take a look. I see some comments coming in, so let me see. Pat, I do not know. I don't. I'm not a veterinarian so I. I can't do any pet advice. They do have dogs though. I have a dog and I love her, but no, I'm not. I would flounder in the veterinarian space. Let's see. These comments keep disappearing. Guys, I'm sorry, I'm trying to answer comments but they go. DeAndre, I'm glad that you found this good and helpful refresher. As far as pharmacology questions, I do have other. I think I have actually several, at least a couple videos here on YouTube about answering pharmacology questions in the Nursing SOS membership community. Though we do have a full pharmacology course in there for our nursing SOS members. So if you do want a deeper dive into pharmacology, definitely recommend checking that out. We are very limited on time here on YouTube so as far as the membership and the difference between the membership community and YouTube, I really try to keep. I know these YouTube lives go a little longer, but I do try to keep our YouTube videos down pretty, pretty a lot shorter than the membership site because I know people when they pop up on YouTube. I know you'd have pretty time crunched when you're here on YouTube. I know I am for sure. So I try to get these like really, really quick to get you exactly the information that you need to know. In the membership I go a lot deeper. So in the membership we talk about the disorders, the main med, surgical disorders that you need to know for nursing school. I talk about what you need to assess for all the signs and symptoms, the nursing interventions, the pathophysiology. Like we go deep into each one of those and they're separate videos too. So it's not like you have to search through a whole hour long video. No, no, no, no, no. For what you need. No, no. I break it up inside the membership community so you can literally find the video that you need right there in that moment very, very quickly. So that's kind of the difference between the membership and YouTube. So as far as pharmacology, that's where that question came from the pharmacology questions. I do have. I do have a couple pharmacology help videos up here on YouTube, because I think, I think there's like one or two that I've done so far. I'm sorry, I'm not entirely sure how many, but there is a whole course inside the membership community. And, and so if you can definitely sign up for the wait list for that, for when we enroll, open enrollment again, so that you can jump on that. So I'm trying to go through these questions here. Yay. I'm so excited that you can't wait to be a part of it. DeAndre. I'm excited about that. Excited to have you. And yes, Teresa, it is a monthly membership. DeAndre. Yay. You're on the wait list. I'm excited. Yes, it is a monthly membership, so it's a, it's actually a year subscription right now, so. So, yes, if you get on the wait list, I will email you periodically letting you know about all the fun and exciting things that we've got going in there that we, that we're adding. Actually, we are adding so much. It's incredible just how, how much content we actually have in there, how many videos and how many study guides. And she's like, it's crazy how much we're putting in there right now, just this kind of stint. Now that it's closed, we're really focused on the members that are in there with our private Facebook group. That's a bonus that comes with it. So you have direct access to me as you go through school, which is really, really cool. Great resource for you. And just all the videos and all the study guides, you know, we're just packing it with a bunch of stuff before, you know, of course we will open enrollment again. And so if you get on that wait list, I will let you know of all the exciting things that we're adding for you for the next time that enrollment opens. And so hopefully that's exciting. Yes, DeAndre. Yes. I'm glad that you are on the waitlist. So I believe the link is down below if you want to join the waitlist. That way you kind of know what's coming up and all the details with that. And you will be the first to know when enrollment opens again. So I hope that answered all your questions. You guys, thank you so much for joining me today. I'm. I love to see the live chat. I have been honestly, I'm so sorry. I have been so bad with answering questions here on YouTube live. Simply because I can't, you guys, I can't figure out. I'm like, keep tapping my phone. For some reason, the questions keep disappearing. So when you write a question, it literally disappears in like 4 seconds or like 3 seconds. So I need to keep like clicking this little button here. And I'm sure the camera is shaking because, ah, so I need to figure out how to best do that to leave the comments up so I can actually read them. So I'm so, so sorry about that. I really want to get better at answering all your questions. So anyway, I hope I answered all of your questions. I will be back here live on YouTube. I love live video. So I think this was very, very fun to get to connect with you in real time and to get all your questions answered. So, you guys, I hope, I hope this video helped you out to answer nursing priority questions. I know this is a really tough thing. I had a really tough time with it in nursing school figuring out. It's literally like rewiring your brain. So nursing school kind of rewires your brain, just in general. You can't study the same way as you used to. You can't, like, read the textbook the same way as you used to. It's just, it's totally different. And then on top of that, on top of studying totally different, you can't answer questions the same either. So the nursing school questions are totally different. So that's why we do this. Like, this is how you answer nursing priority questions on your nursing school exams, literally using these three principles. The ABCs, which is airway, breathing, circulation, Maslow's hierarchy of needs. So focus on those physiological needs for first. And then that third principle is the nursing process, of course. So make sure that you assess your patient first before you do anything else. So. All right, you guys, I'm so glad, so thankful that you guys got to join me today. And of course, if you have any other questions, I will. I'm always in the YouTube comments as well. So if you have a comment later, feel free to pop a question down below this video and I will make sure to answer that. And if you like this video, hit that like button. And of course, subscribe, subscribe, subscribe so you don't miss out on any videos that we've got coming up for you. We have a lot of, A lot, a lot, a lot of really great stuff coming up for you guys. So thank you so much for being here. Like I said, hit that like button. Leave a comment below if you have a question and make sure to subscribe and I will see you guys next time. I hope you have a great and wonderful rest of your week wherever you are in the world. Thank you so much for joining me today. We'll chat soon, guys. Take care. Oh, have a great day. Thank you. Thanks. Bye.
