Study guides
Short reads on the topics the exam keeps coming back to. Each one ends with a test-taking tip.
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The Rights of Safe Medication Administration
The checks every LVN performs before a drug reaches a patient, and the documentation that protects both of you.
Infection Control and Standard Precautions
Standard precautions, the three transmission-based categories, and how to pick the right PPE under exam pressure.
Fluid and Electrolyte Balance Essentials
Normal ranges, the signs of each major imbalance, and the assessment findings that must be reported immediately.
Maternal and Newborn Care Basics
Prenatal warning signs, the stages of labour, APGAR scoring, and the postpartum assessment done head to toe.
Therapeutic Communication in Mental Health
The response styles that earn points on the exam, the blocks that lose them, and how to handle suicidal statements safely.
Pediatric Growth, Development and Safe Dosing
Developmental milestones by age, safety priorities for each stage, and how to check a weight-based dose.
Pediatrics Basics
The age-based norms, dosing math, and red flags every LVN needs for safe pediatric care.
Mental Health Nursing
Therapeutic communication, common disorders, and safety interventions for psychiatric nursing.
Fundamentals of Nursing
The core skills and clinical judgment framework every NCLEX-LVN question is built on.
Endocrine Disorders
The hormone-driven conditions, their opposite presentations, and the lab values that tell them apart.
Cardiac Nursing Essentials
Hypertension, heart failure, MI, and the cardiac meds that show up in every third exam question.
Gerontology Nursing
How aging changes everything — from drug metabolism to how a heart attack looks — and what the NCLEX expects you to know.
Infection Prevention and Isolation Precautions
The chain of infection, standard and transmission-based precautions, and the PPE order that keeps you and the patient safe.
Fluid and Electrolyte Basics
Volume deficit versus overload, the four electrolytes the exam loves, and the potassium rules that keep patients alive.
Oxygenation and Respiratory Care
Normal respiratory values, the oxygen delivery devices and their flow rates, and the breathing techniques that keep lungs clear.
Perioperative Nursing
The pre-op checklist and consent, what the LVN may and may not do, and the post-op priorities that catch complications early.
Diabetes Management
Type 1 versus type 2, the insulin peaks that predict hypoglycaemia, and the sick-day and foot-care teaching the exam expects.
Neurological Disorders
Coma scoring, stroke recognition, seizure safety, and the early signs of rising pressure the LVN must report.
Gastrointestinal and Hepatic Disorders
Reflux and ulcers, the signs of a GI bleed, liver labs, hepatitis transmission, and ostomy basics.
Renal and Urinary Disorders
Infections versus kidney injury, the renal labs, fluid and diet limits, and catheter care that prevents CAUTI.
Musculoskeletal Disorders
Fractures and compartment syndrome, cast and traction care, joint replacement precautions, and fall prevention.
Hematology and Oncology Basics
Anemias, sickle cell crisis, the CBC values, and the neutropenic and bleeding precautions that keep patients safe.
Critical Care Basics
Spotting early deterioration, the shock types, the drips the LVN watches, and exactly what to escalate.
Emergency Nursing
The primary survey, triage sorting, and the time-critical emergencies where seconds decide outcomes.
Wound Care and Pressure Injury Management
Staging pressure injuries, scoring risk, matching dressings to the wound bed, and catching infection early.
Pain Management
Believing the patient, choosing the right scale, and watching opioids for the one side effect that kills.
End-of-Life and Palliative Care
Comfort over cure — the signs of approaching death, honoring directives, and being present for the family.
Cultural Competency in Nursing
How to deliver culturally sensitive, patient-centred care, use interpreters correctly, and avoid stereotyping.
Delegation and Prioritization
The five rights of delegation, RN vs LVN vs UAP scope, and how to prioritize with Maslow and ABC.
Legal and Ethical Issues in Nursing
Negligence vs malpractice, informed consent, HIPAA, mandatory reporting, advance directives, and the core ethical principles.
IV Therapy Essentials
IV site assessment, complications, fluid tonicity, flow-rate monitoring, and the LVN scope in IV therapy.
Lab Values Interpretation
Normal ranges for the key labs, the critical values to report immediately, and therapeutic drug levels the LVN watches.
COPD Management
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease from pathophysiology to bedside care: the data the LVN collects, oxygen limits, real bronchodilator and steroid doses, and the danger signs to report to the RN.
Pneumonia Care
Community- and hospital-acquired pneumonia: recognizing it early, the vitals and labs the LVN collects, real antibiotic and supportive therapy, and the sepsis and hypoxia signs that must be reported.
Asthma Interventions
Asthma from trigger to attack: recognizing early versus late warning signs, peak-flow zones, rescue versus controller medications with real doses, and the silent-chest and status-asthmaticus signs to escalate.
Oxygen Therapy
A practical LVN guide to oxygen delivery devices, flow rates, FiO2, safety, and monitoring for the hypoxic patient. Covers low-flow and high-flow systems, humidification, oxygen toxicity, and what to report to the RN or prescriber.
Hypokalemia and Hyperkalemia
An LVN-focused guide to potassium imbalances: normal values, causes, ECG and neuromuscular changes, safe potassium administration, and priority reporting. Covers hypokalemia and hyperkalemia side by side with real lab values and interventions.
Hyponatremia and Hypernatremia
An LVN guide to sodium imbalances and their neurologic effects: normal values, causes, early-to-late symptoms, safe fluid and sodium management, seizure precautions, and priority reporting to the RN or prescriber.
Acid-Base Balance
A deep, exam-focused review of arterial blood gas (ABG) interpretation and the four primary acid-base disturbances, with the data an LVN collects, expected lab values, nursing interventions within scope, and what to report to the RN or prescriber.
IV Fluids Guide
A practical guide to intravenous fluid tonicity — isotonic, hypotonic, and hypertonic solutions such as 0.9% NS, LR, D5W, 0.45% NS, and 3% NS — with real indications, monitoring, and the LVN's scope and reporting responsibilities.
Stroke Assessment
An exam-focused guide to recognizing stroke fast using FAST and the last-known-well concept, understanding the NIHSS, and the LVN's role in data collection, monitoring, safety, and rapid escalation.
Seizure Management
A comprehensive LVN-scope guide to recognizing seizure types, implementing seizure precautions, providing safe care during and after a seizure, and reinforcing teaching about antiepileptic drugs such as levetiracetam, lorazepam, and phenytoin.
Increased Intracranial Pressure
An in-depth LVN-scope guide to increased intracranial pressure (ICP): the Monro-Kellie principle, early versus late signs including Cushing's triad, the data the LVN collects, positioning and safety interventions, key medications such as mannitol, and the changes that must be reported immediately.
Spinal Cord Injury
A thorough LVN-scope guide to spinal cord injury (SCI): injury levels and their functional impact, the two life-threatening emergencies of neurogenic shock and autonomic dysreflexia, the data the LVN collects, safe interventions, and the findings that must be reported immediately.
Liver Failure
A deep LVN-scope guide to acute and chronic liver failure and cirrhosis: pathophysiology, ammonia and hepatic encephalopathy, lactulose therapy, esophageal varices, coagulopathy, and the findings the LVN collects, monitors, and reports to the RN or prescriber.
Pancreatitis
An in-depth LVN-scope guide to acute and chronic pancreatitis: gallstone and alcohol causes, lipase and amylase, severe epigastric pain, NPO/pain control, complications like hypovolemia and hypocalcemia, and what the LVN collects, monitors, and reports.
GI Bleed
A focused LVN-scope guide to upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding: hematemesis vs melena, peptic ulcers and varices, recognizing hypovolemia, monitoring Hgb/Hct, and the collect-monitor-report actions the LVN takes in a bleeding emergency.
Bowel Obstruction
Small-bowel versus large-bowel obstruction, the classic four symptoms, NG decompression, and exactly what the LVN monitors and reports.
Type 1 vs Type 2 Diabetes Management
A side-by-side comparison of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, the medications and insulins, glucose monitoring, and the LVN's role in data collection and teaching.
DKA and HHS
Diabetic ketoacidosis versus hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state — the real glucose, ketone, pH, and bicarb values that separate them, and the LVN's monitoring and reporting role.
Insulin Administration
How the LVN gives insulin safely: real insulin types with onset/peak/duration, sliding scale, mixing NPH with regular, injection sites and rotation, and the hypoglycemia signs to catch and report.
Shock Management
The five shock types (hypovolemic, cardiogenic, distributive/septic, anaphylactic, neurogenic) with their causes, early-vs-late signs, and the LVN's monitoring, data-collection, and escalation role.
Post-Op Complications
The postoperative complications the LVN must catch — atelectasis, DVT/PE, paralytic ileus, wound dehiscence/evisceration, and infection — with their signs, timing, prevention, and exactly what to report.