Advice on practicals

Re: Advice on practicals

Ju_xx — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 22:12:36 GMT

I appealed my practicals and they rejected it as I was questioning marks given and the competence of the examiners! I don't see why there is an appeals procedure actually in place. I retook my practicals and am waiting for my results on 16th April and geting very impatient!! Like Ding I have passed other tasks with 100% and the others are failed by 1-3% on the 1st and 2nd exams. I hope I pass this 3rd time as like Ding I am contemplating a different career even though I love my job and passed everything else 1st time.

Re: Advice on practicals

Maisy — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 08:48:24 GMT

I've not heard that one about the bandaging, apart from the overlap should be about half way across. Incidentally, if you get an ear bandage, use 2 rolls of Soffban or similar padding as this should reduce the dressing being too tight. My old tutor was an examiner and she informed us of this one-ear bandages on a stuffed dog are always going to be awkward!

Go over the RCVS list and get your assessor or another VN to mark the steps off til the tasks are second nature. For some things you may do things slightly different in practice but for now, go how the RCVS want you to, there's probably not a great deal of change.

However I think the main point is to read the questions! The examiner will read the question to you but you also have the opportunity to read through the task yourself. Nerves will try to get the better of you but just stay calm and imagine the two examiners in the room with you are your assessors. They aren't out to fail you! Although I didn't like the practicals at all (who does?!), I wasn't asked to do anything difficult or new to me but when you're nervous you seem to lose all your knowledge.

Are your exams soon? Good Luck!

Re: Advice on practicals

Heidi O'Toole — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:11:37 GMT

Has anyone got any insider tips for the practicals? I would be interested to know anything that may help me..the magill story does! - I read recently that if you overlap your bandaging in any way then it is considered that the tension on the leg would be too tight and you would fail your practical...it all helps ! ! :)

Re: Advice on practicals

Saskia Quinn — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:29:33 GMT

hehe, well done Sandra!!

I guess it would have been terrible for all concerned had you failed that one!

Good way of remembering it though!!

Re: Advice on practicals

Sandra Taylor RVN, MBVNA — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:24:33 GMT

Paula, I always remembered what the magill was, as our tutour's mother in law was called magill, and he said to us the best way to remember the magill was because the valve was near the mouth, he said he imagined it as a shut up valve and wished he could shut her up.... so it always stuck with me, and I got the magill in my practicals.

Re: Advice on practicals

Saskia Quinn — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:09:53 GMT

Finnigan, your typing is very loud lol!!

Re: Advice on practicals

FINNIGAN — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:08:49 GMT

you are certainly not alone in this, one of our nurses had a bandage practicle to do, she noticed before starting there was no dressing i,e rondopad (melonin dressing) she pointed this out to the assessors and they assured her everything was on the table that should have been, she queried this a second time and they answered the same, she proceeded and also stated if there was a dressing i would place this on before applying rest etc, SHE failed the practical, and was told when she tried to appeal that she should have appealed before she left the exam!!! exasperating or what!

Re: Advice on practicals

Heidi O'Toole — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:36:33 GMT

I have had a very similar experience. I am fed up - I have sat my practical exams 3 times now, in different colleges.I have failed by 1%, 2% 3%,etc overall i have passed everything, most of them with 100%. Another nurse at the time, passed hers with a lower mark than mine, but we went to different colleges fpr the exam and the pass rate was lower?!! - The marking system is unbelieveable! Always changing standards from examiner to examiner...I have appealled my results, but to no avail.

The only thing that keeps me going about the exams are that I passed my first year and second year theory first time, so i dont beleive its down to me wholy, i am nervous in exams but they supposedly take this into consideration?

Im passionate about my job, I dont believe that a 6 minute task in a foreign environment is a good judge of your capabilities. I always fail on "minimal wastage of fluid" (how much is this?- not stated in OSCEs). Thats the beginning of a massive list! , but im not going to go into it as it will make me mad!!!!-

Hopefully Ill pass this June or ill have to re-think my whole career! I dont think the RCVS realise that you have to pay bills and do your job! It seems impossible for me to pass and only 1 attempt left! The pressure is on!!! :S

Re: Advice on practicals

Ju_xx — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:29:53 GMT

The thing with the vernier scales was that I double/triple checked them so I would have seen if one was wrong. The only thing I can think is that I was .1 over what you can be, which I think is a bit silly because people can read it differently because the scales are so close.

Re: Advice on practicals

Saskia Quinn — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 23:00:14 GMT

I qualified many years ago and lots of things have changed since then, however, in my practicals, the anaesthetic one - I was asked to assemble the Magill - or maybe it was the to and fro..... anyway, I had no idea. I explained that the only time I had seen these was in college and we didnt use these particular ones in practice. I was, however, able to talk briefly about the flo rate and scavenge system and answered all my questions correctly, I just couldnt assemble it, I came away sure I had failed that one and spent an hour on the phone that night to my vet crying about it........I actually passed it Must have been cause I answered my questions correctly.

Re: Advice on practicals

wobbliebob — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 22:09:45 GMT

sorry to hear of you troubles i hated the vernier scale reading. different people can read it in different ways.

Re: Advice on practicals

SharonSP — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 21:57:24 GMT

[quote user="Julie Smith"]

Thanks for the replies, I just feel so stressed and upset about them at the minute i'm at my wits end!

Any more help is greatly appreciated :)

[/quote]

Unfortunately, the examiners will give you the mark for "read horizontal scale" & "read vertical scale" if you physically do it, but the essential criteria reads "both verniers read correctly" They are obviously stating that at least one of the scales was incorrect in the reading.

[quote user="Julie Smith"]

A lot of the people I work with in my practice didn't even know what the vernier scale is and most of them were vets!

[/quote]

I have spoken to a few vets about this and they state that they are not taught this at vet school, hence why the nurses learn to do it probably!

Re: Advice on practicals

Doolally — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:28:05 GMT

I do think the marking is very....subjective....

I did my practicals in december...i passed all of them apart from the fluid therapy task as apparently I didn't use an aseptic technique and left air bubbles in the dripline...ok maybe she thought I touched a sterile part from her perspective, which I can't imagine doing at all...but I do know for a fact there were'nt ANY air bubbles in the line

Re: Advice on practicals

Tracy Windler RVN — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:29:54 GMT

Hi Julie, by the sounds of it, you should definitely appeal. I did Urinalysis for my practicals and wrote the categories from the top, down and the results in from the bottom upwards, so every single one was wrong! I realised (too late!) what I had done and told the examiner, so perhaps thats why I passed. Good luck with it!

Re: Advice on practicals

Ju_xx — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:30:50 GMT

Thanks for the replies, I just feel so stressed and upset about them at the minute i'm at my wits end!

I failed the vernier scale on the microscope task. She had put I read both the vertical and horizontal scales but then said I did not record correctly, which is a key step. I remember in the practical that I looked at the horizontal scale, wrote it done and the same for the vertical scale, I also triple checked so I made sure I had them correct. That is why I failed the whole lot. I am going to appeal, going to write it this weekend because I only had the feedback sheets yesterday. I think it is such a picky thing to fail someone on. A lot of the people I work with in my practice didn't even know what the vernier scale is and most of them were vets! Surely the vernier scale is not that important lol

I also am querying my pcv marks because she said I had not put the tube into the centrifuge, yet the 3 steps underneath contradict what she said because in order to get those 3 I must have put the tube in!

Any more help is greatly appreciated :)

Re: Advice on practicals

Frith — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 09:57:59 GMT

If you passed 5 out of eight tasks, you should have passed over all. Have you checked this with the RCVS beecause I have had a student that passed 5 of the eight and was told she had failed, when actually she had passed.

If you failed to achive a critical step you will fail that task. But this would not affect your over all results. If you appeal they will look at your examiners notes, as they are encouraged to notes for all students, especially those they have marked as failed, or believe have made critical errors.

Re: Advice on practicals

Maisy — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:28:34 GMT

Sorry to hear about your results. What exam/step did you fail on?

As far as I know you need to appeal quite soon after you get your results. I don't think its the easiest option to go through the appeals procedure but your college/VNAC may be able to help with this. The examiners are obviously pretty strict about the essential criteria though so its not always easy to prove you did something during the exam that the examiner says you did not.

If the appeal doesn't work out, don't let this put you off. Its always going to be disheartening when you don't pass and the practicals are enough to put anyone off! However keep going over your criteria and get back there for the March retakes.

Good Luck!