What I can tell about taking nursing tests is there are usually 2 right answers but one is the 'best.' When I took fundamentals they didn't cover ADPIE all in one test, as we learned them throughout the semester. You must know what is done during each part of the process and if you've prepared well, u should do fine. Read the stem of the question, ask yourself what the question is asking and begin the process of elimination. 2 should be wrong right away and then decide which one is the best. Go with your first instinct and do not change it! Avoid reading into the question, just answer what it is asking. There should be test questions that ask about priority, initial, first, etc., these are cues.
there are five steps to the nursing process. know what goes on in each step. from now until you finish nursing school most test questions can be placed somewhere on the nursing process timeline. this helps you decide on what the correct answer should be.
understand that the nursing process is the problem solving process that we use. the steps need to be followed in the order they occur to be effective in solving problems and critical thinking. the written documentation of the nursing process is called a care plan.
assessment (collect data from medical record, do a physical assessment of the patient, assess adl's, look up information about your patient's medical diseases/conditions to learn about the signs and symptoms and pathophysiology)
determination of the patient's problem(s)/nursing diagnosis (make a list of the abnormal assessment data, match your abnormal assessment data to likely nursing diagnoses, decide on the nursing diagnoses to use)
planning (write measurable goals/outcomes and nursing interventions)
implementation (initiate the care plan)
evaluation (determine if goals/outcomes have been met)
here are some websites that have information about the nursing process:
http://home.cogeco.ca/~nursingprocess/index.htm - this is a site that defines and explains what the nursing process and critical thinking is. you can also click on the links at the left side of the webpage to go to various subjects included within the nursing process to find out more about them.