NURSING.com Podcast — NCLEX Prep for Nursing Students

"She was trying to place a catheter. She almost delivered a baby instead."

A new L&D nurse, still orienting. Her preceptor steps out for lunch — and in that window, a routine in-and-out cath turns into the wildest twenty minutes of her new career: she can't visualize the urethra ("felt like I was hitting baby head"), her preceptor finally gets the cath in and urine flowing, and then the patient says, "I think I feel something coming out." An entire baby head. The call button, the yelling for doctors — too late. Eight pounds, eight ounces, slide...

Today's NCLEX Question of the Day:

The nursing category is musculoskeletal. The NCLEX category is basic care and comfort. A nurse is working with a family whose child was born with developmental dislocation of the hip. The physician has applied a spica cast to the child. Which statement from the nurse best describes this type of cast to the child's family? A, your child will need to wear this cast for the first year of his life. B, you will have to take the cast off when your child needs to urinate or have a b...

Welcome to Nursing Mnemonics — new episodes drop every Wednesday.

Where do the electrolytes actually live — inside or outside the cell? The PISO mnemonic makes potassium, sodium, and the rest stick so you never mix them up on the NCLEX.

Go to nursing.com/cheatsheets to get the must-know nursing mnemonics for NCLEX.

Amylase — the must-know pancreatic lab value for the NCLEX, covered in 5 minutes.

In this episode: what amylase measures, the normal reference range of 30-110 units per liter, how this digestive enzyme splits starch into disaccharides and comes from the parotid glands and pancreas, why it's run to diagnose early acute pancreatitis, causes of elevated amylase including pancreatitis, peritonitis, DKA, pancreatic cancer, alcoholism and abdominal trauma, why amylase can be decreased after pancreatectomy or with pancreatic insufficiency, and nursing considerations like diet progression from clear liquids and advancing as tolerated.

Keywords: amylase, norm...

Welcome to Med of the Day — new episodes drop every Monday. It's Med Monday!

In this episode: Bisacodyl (Dulcolax) — a stimulant laxative that stimulates enteric nerves to cause peristalsis and draws fluid into the colon. Used for constipation as part of a bowel regimen. The must-knows: it can cause hypokalemia, so monitor electrolytes; watch for abdominal cramps and distension; confirm it's working and communicate bowel movements at handoff; push 1,500 to 2,000 mL of fluids daily; and warn patients to take only as ordered, since overuse flips constipation into diarrhea.

Download your FREE cheats...

"Eight weeks of orientation. A wonderful preceptor. And then... her first day... on her own. Six patients. Three on heparin drips. And the minute she got report... all heck broke loose."

Her first day by herself on step-down: six patients, three on heparin drips, one on a Cardizem drip, four diabetics, two on contact precautions. A patient got up when he'd been told not to, fell, and fractured his ankle — on a heparin drip. Another started bleeding heavily and needed blood STAT. A third was signing himself out AMA. A fourth waited on dialysis. With one...

Today's NCLEX Question of the Day:

The nursing category is musculoskeletal. The NCLEX category is basic care and comfort. A child was injured in an accident and has become a paraplegic. The child must use crutches on a permanent basis, most likely for the rest of his life. Which type of crutches would most commonly be used in this situation? A, axillary crutches. B, forearm crutches. C, platform crutches. D, leg support crutches.

Think you know the answer? Listen to the episode for the full breakdown and rationale.

D...

Welcome to Nursing Mnemonics — new episodes drop every Wednesday.

Hyponatremia signs and symptoms don't have to be a guessing game. Learn the SALT LOSS mnemonic and lock in low sodium for test day.

Go to nursing.com/cheatsheets to get the must-know nursing mnemonics for NCLEX.

Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) — the must-know liver and bone lab value for the NCLEX, covered in 5 minutes.

In this episode: what ALP measures, the normal reference range of 40-130 units per liter, where ALP is found in the body with the highest concentrations in bone and liver, how this test detects liver disease and bone disorders, why ALP rises with blocked bile ducts and hepatobiliary disorders, how elevated ALP can signal cancer that has spread to the bone, how ALP fits into the liver panel alongside bilirubin, AST and ALT, liver symptoms like jaundice, weakness, fatigue, dar...

Welcome to Med of the Day — new episodes drop every Monday. It's Med Monday!

In this episode: Benztropine (Cogentin) — an anticholinergic anti-Parkinson agent that blocks acetylcholine to reduce tremors and rigidity. The must-knows: watch for anticholinergic effects — dry mouth, constipation, tachycardia; plus arrhythmias, hypotension, and palpitations; assess for extrapyramidal symptoms; instruct patients to maintain good oral hygiene; and take it exactly as directed.

Download your FREE cheatsheet of the 50 most commonly prescribed medications: https://nursing.com/50meds

Two years on the unit as a tech — then her first night alone as the nurse. The quiet shift that teaches you everything.

"She'd worked the unit for two years. As a tech. And then came her first night... alone. As the nurse."

Not every first shift is a disaster. Some of them are quiet — and the quiet ones teach you something too. The night team took care of her with a fair, gentle assignment. She made it through. And she wrote something worth keeping: it felt "really, really lonely"... with no preceptor beside her. But...

Today's NCLEX Question of the Day:

The nursing category is musculoskeletal. The NCLEX category is basic care and comfort. A nurse has given a patient with joint stiffness and limited range of motion a nursing diagnosis of impaired physical mobility. Which nursing intervention would be most appropriate when caring for this patient? A, screen for signs of ineffective coping or helplessness. B, ensure that the patient receives enough food and fluids. C, assess the patient's relationship with his spouse. D, monitor for changes in the patient's affect that indicate anxiety or panic.

...

Welcome to Nursing Mnemonics — new episodes drop every Wednesday.

Low potassium signs and symptoms are pure NCLEX gold. This episode walks you through the 6 L's mnemonic so you can recall every sign of hypokalemia without second-guessing.

Go to nursing.com/cheatsheets to get the must-know nursing mnemonics for NCLEX.

Albumin — the must-know protein lab value for the NCLEX, covered in 5 minutes.

In this episode: what albumin is, the normal reference range of 3.5-6 grams per deciliter, how this liver-synthesized transport protein carries bilirubin, calcium, progesterone and medications through the blood, its key role in fluid balance and colloid oncotic pressure keeping fluid in the blood, why it's part of the comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP), how it evaluates liver function, nutritional status and kidney function, causes of low albumin including liver disease, cirrhosis, inflammation, shock, malnutrition and kidney disease, and serum versus urine albumin with nep...

Welcome to Med of the Day — new episodes drop every Monday. It's Med Monday!

In this episode: Azithromycin (Zithromax) — a macrolide anti-infective that inhibits bacterial protein synthesis. Broad-spectrum: respiratory infections, otitis media, skin infections, STIs, endocarditis prophylaxis, and cystic fibrosis. The must-knows: watch for C. diff and pseudomembranous colitis (report new diarrhea, or blood or pus in stool), Stevens-Johnson syndrome, angioedema that can close the airway, anaphylaxis, and increased warfarin toxicity; and patients must finish the entire course even once they feel better.

Download your FREE cheatsheet of the 50 most commonly prescr...

Six months pregnant, first day in the ER — everything that could go wrong did. The disaster shift every nurse survives.

"She was six months pregnant. It was her first day in the ER. And everything that could possibly go wrong... went wrong."

She'd been out of clinical for four months — a new grad, back for her first ER shift. Her hands were so sweaty the sterile gloves wouldn't go on. She blanked on the foley kit, forgot IVs she'd done as a student, pulled the glucometer strip out mid-reading, forgot to hit ST...

Today's NCLEX Question of the Day:

The nursing category is mental health. The NCLEX category is basic care and comfort. Which of the following descriptions best defines general adaptation syndrome? A. Activation of brain signals followed by avoidance and response to a perceived threat. B. The arousal of the hippocampus after being triggered by a specific memory. C. The body's response to stress over both short and long-term periods. D. The development of depression over time as a result of a negative situation.

Think you know the answer? Listen to the ep...

Welcome to Nursing Mnemonics — new episodes drop every Wednesday.

Calcium imbalances show up on the NCLEX all the time. This episode teaches you CATS for hypocalcemia (convulsions, arrhythmias, tetany, spasms) and the groans, moans, bones, stones, and overtones of hypercalcemia — so you can nail any calcium question.

Go to nursing.com/cheatsheets to get the must-know nursing mnemonics for NCLEX.

Ammonia — the must-know liver lab value for the NCLEX, covered in 5 minutes.

In this episode: what ammonia measures, the normal reference range of 19-60 in conventional units (11-35 SI units), how ammonia is the byproduct of protein metabolism that the liver converts to urea, why elevated ammonia means the liver can't make that conversion, causes including advanced liver disease, cirrhosis and hepatitis, how high ammonia leads to hepatic encephalopathy and decreased neuro status, how lactulose treats it by binding ammonia to stool, and using ammonia to monitor hepatic encephalopathy treatment and patients on TPN.

 ...

Welcome to Med of the Day — new episodes drop every Monday. It's Med Monday!

In this episode: Atenolol (Tenormin) — hear that '-olol' suffix and think beta blocker. An antihypertensive and anti-anginal that blocks beta-1 stimulation, slowing the heart and relaxing vessels. Used for hypertension, angina, and MI prevention. The must-knows: check heart rate and blood pressure right before giving it; contraindicated in CHF, pulmonary edema, cardiogenic shock, bradycardia, and heart block; it can mask hypoglycemia symptoms in diabetes; and advise patients to change positions slowly to avoid orthostatic hypotension.

Download your FREE c...

"I deserve to die. I really think I shouldn't be a nurse."

Those are a real nurse's words — posted on allnurses on her sixth day as a nurse. She was working long-term care, a patient fell, and she froze. She never went back to assess him. She never filed the incident report. And she didn't realize any of it until she got home — when the guilt hit her like a truck.

In this episode of First Shift, Jon Haws, RN — founder of NURSING.com — tells her story start to finish, names the thing she's feeling (impostor...

Today's NCLEX Question of the Day:

The nursing category is labs. The NCLEX category is basic care and comfort. A patient who has been suffering from severe diarrhea has developed hypokalemia and cardiac arrhythmias as a result. Which of the following treatments would most likely be ordered for this patient to correct the situation? A, IV administration of potassium. B, oral intake of potassium by electrolyte preparations. C, encouraged intake of potassium rich foods such as bananas. D, no intervention but continue to monitor the patient's hemodynamic status.

Think you know th...

Quick... list the signs and symptoms of hypernatremia! In this episode, we nail hypernatremia for the NCLEX with three memory tricks. FRIED: Flushed skin, Restlessness, Increased fluid retention and increased blood pressure, Edema, Decreased urinary output and dry mouth. SWINE: Sleepy, Weakness, Irritability, Neuromuscular excitability, Edema. SALT: Skin flushed, Agitation, Low-grade fever, Thirst. Plus MODEL for the causes: Medications or meals, Osmotic diuretics, Diabetes insipidus, Excessive water loss, Low water intake. In this episode we cover: hypernatremia defined as serum sodium above 145; normal serum sodium 135 to 145; too much sodium vs too little free water as causes; and why you...

Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT) — the must-know liver lab value for the NCLEX, covered in 5 minutes.

In this episode: what ALT measures, the normal reference range of 8-40 (under 34 for women, under 52 for men), why ALT is more specific to liver damage than AST, causes of elevated ALT including hepatitis, cirrhosis, alcohol abuse and liver tumors, how high ALT can climb in acute hepatitis (up to 10 times normal) and how long it stays elevated, and how ALT is used alongside AST, bilirubin and protein in liver function tests.

Keywords: ALT, alanine aminotransferase, normal rang...

Welcome to Med of the Day — new episodes drop every Monday. It's Med Monday!

In this episode: Ampicillin (Principen) — a broad-spectrum aminopenicillin that is bactericidal, binding the bacterial cell wall. Used for skin, soft-tissue, respiratory, GU, and sinus infections, otitis media, meningitis, and septicemia. The must-knows: penicillin allergy is a contraindication — assess every time; use caution with renal insufficiency; watch for seizures, anaphylaxis, and superinfection like C. diff; avoid with oral contraceptives; monitor liver function tests; and tell patients to finish the full course.

Download your FREE cheatsheet of the 50 most commonly...

The premiere of First Shift — our new Friday series: real stories from nurses' first shifts, and the honest talk that gets you through yours.

A real nurse wrote on allnurses about her first code — she froze while twenty people flooded the room, then replayed it all night wondering if the other nurses thought less of her. She's not alone: another new grad froze during hers too.

Jon Haws, RN — founder of NURSING.com — has worked with thousands of nurses and nursing students just like you. His preceptor pushed him into chest compressio...

Today's NCLEX Question of the Day:

The nursing category is integumentary. The NCLEX category is basic care and comfort. A 36-year-old patient has been diagnosed with scleroderma and has breathing difficulties, including wheezing and dry cough. Which of the following skin changes would the nurse also expect to see upon assessment of this patient? A, a pinpoint rash across the neck and chest. B, excess skin folds that break down easily. C, moist pale skin that feels cool to the touch. D, stiff, tight skin that is lighter or darker than surrounding skin.

Quick... name the universal donor! Sweating a bit? Nervous? In this episode, we lock in blood types for the NCLEX with one simple picture: imagine type O as a huge circle — like the universe — because type O is the UNIVERSAL DONOR. They give to everybody. But type O is also the odd man out: they can only RECEIVE type O. Universal donor... universally odd. In this episode we cover: ABO blood groups (O, A, B, AB); type O as the universal donor; why type O can only receive type O; Rh positive and negative basics; and what the NCLEX test...

Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time (aPTT) — the must-know coagulation lab value for the NCLEX, covered in 5 minutes.

In this episode: what aPTT measures, the normal reference range of 25-39 seconds, what a prolonged aPTT means, causes including factor deficiencies, hemophilia, liver disease, vitamin K deficiency and heparin therapy, the critical value of greater than 70 seconds, how aPTT compares to PT for identifying clotting factor problems, and nursing considerations for patients on anticoagulants.

Keywords: aPTT, activated partial thromboplastin time, normal range, reference range 25-39 seconds, prolonged aPTT, heparin monitoring, critical lab values, coagulation fact...

Welcome to Med of the Day — new episodes drop every Monday. It's Med Monday!

In this episode: Amoxicillin (Moxatag) — an aminopenicillin anti-infective that inhibits bacterial cell wall synthesis. Used for respiratory and skin infections, sinusitis, endocarditis prophylaxis, and Lyme disease. The must-knows: always assess for penicillin allergy before giving it, watch for anaphylaxis and skin rashes, know the seizure risk, remember it's renally excreted so monitor BUN and creatinine, and report bloody stool immediately.

Download your FREE cheatsheet of the 50 most commonly prescribed medications: https://nursing.com/50meds

Hydrocodone/acetaminophen (Norco) is one of the most common meds you'll see for moderate-to-severe and post-op pain. In this MedMaster episode: therapeutic and pharmacologic class, how the combo lets you use less opioid, mechanism of action at opiate receptors in the CNS, and the nursing must-knows — monitor for hypotension and respiratory depression, never exceed 4g of acetaminophen in 24 hours, and keep Narcan (naloxone) in mind as the reversal agent.

Get your free download of the 50 most commonly prescribed medications — the must-knows for the NCLEX and real life on the floor: https://nursing.com/50meds

It's 2am, the care plan is due at 7, and a nursing student types into a chatbot: "explain preload and afterload like I'm five" — because asking out loud just feels expensive. All over the country, students are having their most honest learning conversations with a machine, and everyone's debating whether it's cheating. Wrong debate. Jon Haws RN asks the more useful question — why does asking a machine feel so much easier than asking out loud? — and delivers the honest guide: the green zone (tutoring, practice questions, explainers), the yellow zone (AI is confidently wrong — verify anything that would touch a patient...

Twenty-five years ago today, rows of gurneys stood ready outside St. Vincent's Hospital — and stayed empty. Most of you listening weren't born yet. So today: no study tips, no advice, nothing to sign up for. Just the stories that belong to this profession now — the hospitals that stood ready, the largest patient influx in American hospital history at a small downtown hospital, and the nurses we lost: Captain Kathy Mazza, the OR nurse turned Port Authority commander who shot out the North Tower's glass walls so hundreds could escape, found five months later beside the patient she refused to leav...

Somewhere between first semester and pinning, relationships end — the supportive boyfriend, the childhood best friend, sometimes the fiancé — and every cohort knows it and nobody says it out loud. Jon Haws RN says it out loud: why nursing school strains relationships in ways nobody warns you about (it doesn't just take your time — it changes your availability as a person, and growth and leaving look identical from the outside for a while), the three-question sort that separates relationships struggling to adjust from the ones showing you who they always were, and the actual scripts: the 20-minute weekly state-of-the-union, the answer...

There's a parking lot outside every nursing school in America, and in it, right now, a student is crying — convinced she's the only one. She's wrong. Jon Haws RN names the most universal unspoken ritual in nursing education: why the car (the first private space after hours of performed composure), why almost everyone does it and nobody says so (the silence IS the culture), the difference between normal release tears and the signal tears that mean it's time to get backup, and the two-word text — "parking lot" / "same" — that has carried more students through nursing school than any study guide...

It's the night before nursing school. The scrubs are laid out, the bag is packed — and around 10pm the thought shows up, the one you haven't said to anybody: "What if I'm not smart enough? What if they made a mistake letting me in?" After twenty years and hundreds of thousands of nursing students, Jon Haws RN says the things nobody says out loud: why you didn't sneak in (admissions doesn't make sentimental mistakes), why feeling behind on day one is the design and not your deficit, why your "before" life — waiting tables, the office job, motherhood — counts as arrivi...

In 2003, detectives hunting one of the most prolific serial killers in American history needed something they didn't have: someone who could read an ICU medication log. The case came down to Amy Loughren, a night-shift ICU nurse. Jon Haws RN breaks down what she actually did as a clinical skill set — reading the data behind the patient, trusting a pattern over a person, speaking up inside a culture of silence, and being competent at 3am when nobody's watching — and why every one of those skills is what nursing school is building in you right now. Plus: the new true crim...

Start NURSING.com for free at: NURSING.com

It's 0645, you're outside the unit, and your brain is forty open tabs. The next five minutes decide whether today is a shift or a shipwreck. Jon Haws RN shares the exact 5-minute pre-shift routine he ran before every ICU shift of his career — and taught every student he precepted: Minute 1, the story (why is this human in this bed today?). Minute 2, the numbers that matter for THIS patient. Minute 3, lines and meds. Minute 4, three real questions that change how the whole building treats you. Minute 5, the one thing you ve...

Start a FREE SIMCLEX at: SIMCLEX.com

That 98% NCLEX pass rate on your school's banner is real — nobody's lying. But 98% of whom? Jon Haws RN does the math admissions tours skip: how attrition and exit-exam gates shape pass-rate statistics, why programs protect the number (the incentive, not the people, is the monster), and the one question that reveals more than any brochure: "Of students who START, how many graduate and pass first try?" Plus the mindset shift for students already in a program — your school's predictor answers THEIR question; you need your own answer — and the playbook if you...

Start a FREE SIMCLEX at: SIMCLEX.com

The screen goes black at question 75. You're certain you failed. You cry in the parking lot, you google "shut off at 75 did I fail" forty times, you grieve for 48 hours — and then: PASS. This story happens to thousands of nursing grads every cycle, and this episode explains why. Jon Haws RN breaks down how the NCLEX's adaptive algorithm is designed to make EVERYONE feel like they're drowning, why the better you're doing the harder your test feels, why a minimum-question shut-off is a neutral signal, and the parking-lot pro...