This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

• The correct sequence for abdominal assessment is Inspection, Auscultation, Percussion, and Palpation (IAPP), and why this order is critical.

• Auscultating before palpating is a common NCLEX trap; palpation can alter bowel sounds, leading to an incorrect assessment.

• To confirm absent bowel sounds, a nurse must listen for a full five minutes, a key detail tested on the exam.

• A rigid, board-like abdomen is a sign of peritonitis, an emergency requiring immediate provider notification.

• How to differentiate signs of an upper GI bleed (melena, coffee-ground emesis) from a lower GI bleed (hematochezia).

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

• How to identify critical signs of respiratory distress, such as tripod positioning and accessory muscle use.

• The difference between adventitious lung sounds and how to prioritize stridor as a medical emergency.

• Common NCLEX traps involving pulse oximetry readings that can be misleading without clinical context.

• How to interpret basic arterial blood gases to determine the correct nursing intervention for acidosis or alkalosis.

• Applying the Airway, Breathing, Circulation framework to answer exam-style prioritization questions.

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

• How to differentiate between the S3 and S4 heart sounds and their significance in heart failure and hypertension.

• The correct procedure for assessing Jugular Venous Distension (JVD) and why patient positioning is a common exam trap.

• How to distinguish between the clinical presentations of right-sided versus left-sided heart failure for scenario-based questions.

• To identify priority assessment findings that signal acute cardiovascular compromise over chronic, stable conditions.

• A mental shortcut for prioritizing interventions: "Circulation Before Documentation," to focus on action over charting in critical situations.

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

• The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of 8 or less indicates severe brain injury and the likely need for intubation.

• A unilateral, fixed, and dilated pupil is a neurosurgical emergency signaling high intracranial pressure and potential brain herniation.

• Cushing's Triad (high systolic BP, low heart rate, low respirations) is a late sign of increased ICP and is the opposite of the signs of shock.

• For suspected stroke, checking blood glucose first is a critical priority to rule out hypoglycemia, which can mimic stroke symptoms.

• Subtle changes in level of consciousness are the earliest and most important indicators of a patient's neurological decline.

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

• The standard physical assessment sequence is Inspection, Palpation, Percussion, and Auscultation (IPPA).

• The abdominal assessment sequence is different: Inspect, Auscultate, Percuss, Palpate (IAPP) to avoid altering bowel sounds.

• Use the mnemonic "I Am Perplexed, Pal" to remember the correct IAPP abdominal assessment order for the NCLEX.

• The exam will test your ability to identify the most critical abnormal finding, such as new-onset lung crackles in a heart failure patient.

• NCLEX questions on documentation require you to select objective, measurable data over subjective interpretations.

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

• The patient's self-report of pain is the most reliable indicator and always takes priority over objective signs like vital signs.

• How to select the appropriate pain scale based on the patient's age and communication ability, such as FACES for children or FLACC for non-verbal patients.

• The absolute priority nursing assessment before and after administering opioids is respiratory status, not secondary side effects like constipation.

• Why a patient's history of substance use disorder does not justify withholding pain medication for acute pain.

• The principle of double effect in end-of-life care, where the primary goal of providing comfort justifies opioid administration even if it carries a risk of respiratory depression.

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

• Distinguish between normal vital sign ranges for pediatric, adult, and geriatric patients to avoid clinical errors.

• Identify the critical error of using an incorrectly sized blood pressure cuff and its impact on readings.

• Understand when to take an apical pulse versus a radial pulse, especially concerning cardiac medications.

• Recognize that a normal oxygen saturation reading can be dangerously misleading in specific clinical situations like carbon monoxide poisoning.

• Prioritize patient trends over single vital sign readings to detect early signs of clinical deterioration.

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

• The immediate priority in a facility fire is always patient rescue (the 'R' in RACE).

• START triage in mass casualty incidents prioritizes saving the most lives, not the most critically injured.

• The mnemonic "30-2-Can Do" helps quickly categorize patients during START triage based on respirations, perfusion, and mental status.

• A black tag (expectant) in triage means the patient is deceased or has injuries incompatible with life; they receive comfort care only after others are treated.

• Understand the difference between RACE (fire response steps) and PASS (how to use an extinguisher) to avoid common exam confusion.

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

• The first action after a medication error is always to assess the patient for adverse effects, not to file a report.

• An independent double check for high-alert drugs means two nurses must calculate the dose separately before comparing.

• NCLEX questions test the "Rights of Medication Administration" in scenarios, requiring you to spot the missed step.

• If a barcode scanner fails, the safe action is to stop and manually verify, not to override the system.

• For look-alike, sound-alike drugs, you must use critical thinking to question an order that doesn't match the patient's diagnosis.

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

• The absolute priority of using and documenting all possible alternatives before applying restraints.

• How to identify the "least restrictive, most effective" intervention in NCLEX-style scenarios.

• The specific, testable time limits for behavioral restraint orders, known as the "4-2-1 Rule".

• Critical safety procedures for applying and monitoring restraints, including knot type and attachment points.

• Common exam traps, such as using restraints for convenience or applying them without a timely order.

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep