You will be graded on timing as well as diagnosis/treatment
A common comment that we receive (sometimes more of an accusation) goes something like this: “Hey! I moved the patient to the ER, and I got marked off that I didn’t move the patient to the ER, so your program isn’t working right, and this is outrageous! You have offended me, my family, and my ancestors!”
What we have to explain is that on the test and our program, you will be graded on the timing of your orders. By timing, we mean that you order the correct diagnosis tests and treatments within a reasonable time. If you wait too long, you will be marked off. It’s kind of like “too little too late.” For example, lets say someone has a raging bacterial infection. You wait until the patient is on the brink of death, and THEN you start the correct antibiotic. Obviously, this isn’t good medication care, and you would be marked off for this.
In our program (and the real test), if you move a patient to the correct location (ICU, inpatient unit, ER, etc), but your timing was too slow (meaning that the patient has worsened before you moved the patient to the correct location), you will get marked off for providing slow care. Usually, the penalty isn’t a harsh one for being too slow unless the case is an emergency situation in which time is of the essence. If you are slow in these cases, you will likely not pass the case.
So, it’s okay! The entire program is designed to help you intervene with the correct diagnostic tests and procedures in the appropriate amount of time so that you will perform well on the test. Just learn from the feedback and improve your performance on the next case practices.
Happy practicing! You can practice 2 free cases located here. If you like what you see, you can purchase the full program that includes 140 cases.
Thanks for reading.