Authors

  1. Price, Tara S. DNP, WHNP-BC, CNS

Article Content

Since appearing on the NCLEX, the select all that apply (SATA) question has invoked dread in the hearts of nursing students. Students struggle with how questions are scored as well as attempting to "guess" the number of correct options for each question. Faculty attempt to ease student angst by providing test-taking tips including treating each answer choice as a true or false statement. Although true/false questions require minimal critical thinking, these item types can be more of a challenge if the student does not have the knowledge to comprehend the question. To help students understand the connection between knowledge and the ability to answer SATA questions, a game of SATA Reality was developed. Nursing faculty were asked to submit SATA questions unrelated to nursing or health care showing how any day-to-day experience can be turned into a SATA question. Students actively participated in the SATA Reality game presented using PowerPoint. The goal was to help students understand how SATA question success requires recall from concepts learned during classroom activities, assigned readings, simulation and/or clinical practice, and other learning opportunities. All of these activities are components of a nursing program and can contribute to students correctly answering more challenging questions like SATA, but it begins with what they know, understand, and appreciate.