Preparation Strategies for the Gerontological Nurse Exam
Preparing for a standardized exam can cause some anxiety, but remember: you are already an experienced registered nurse. To qualify for the gerontological nurse exam, you’ve either practiced full time as an RN for at least 2 years, or you’ve completed a minimum of 2,000 hours of clinical practice in gerontology in the past 3 years. That means you bring valuable expertise to your exam preparation.
You already use the nursing process every day in practice with older adults, which means you are skilled in:
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Assessing situations and outcomes
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Analyzing situations and prioritizing
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Planning
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Implementing plans of care
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Evaluating patient outcomes
Everything you do in your mind when applying the nursing process in practice is exactly what you’ll continue to do as you reason through exam questions.
Applying the Nursing Process to Exam Questions
Exam questions may test:
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Your assessment expertise
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How you would prioritize and schedule care
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How you would plan outcomes for a patient scenario
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The best way to implement care for a given condition
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How to evaluate patient outcomes
Each question mirrors real-life practice. By using the nursing process, you’ll be able to think critically and select the best responses—just as you would in the clinical setting.
Table: How Clinical Practice Mirrors Exam Thought Processes
| Clinical Practice | Analyzing Test Question |
|---|---|
| Assess the patient with a comprehensive review of symptoms during admission or episodically. | Identify the significant assessment data in the question stem and match them with what the question is really asking. |
| Analyze the data you collected in assessment and use it to plan care. | Take the significant clues from the stem, prioritize the information, and determine the most appropriate plan. |
| Plan the care necessary to meet the patient’s needs; set priorities. | Review the stem for diagnosis, status, and priority needs. Choose the best answer based on these factors. |
| Implement the plan while adjusting actions as needed for the patient. | Use the clues to determine immediate and long-term needs, then select the best sequence of actions. |
| Evaluate the patient’s outcomes against the plan. | Consider what outcomes should be evaluated based on the diagnosis and patient status, then choose the answer supported by standards of care and evidence-based practice. |
Resources
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Kris, A. E. (2015). Gerontological Nurse Certification Review, Second Edition. New York: Springer Publishing.
Next Steps
👉 Learn more in the Gerontological Nurse Certification Overview.
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