NCLEX-RN Practice Mock Test and Review
2026
A nurse forgets to administer a client's diuretic and the client
experiences an episode of pulmonary edema. The charge
nurse would consider the medication error to constitute
negligence because the situation contains which element?
1. Purposeful failure to perform a health care procedure
2. Unintentional failure to perform a health care procedure
3. Act of substituting a different medication for the one
ordered
4. Failure to follow a direct order by a physician - Correct
Answers ✅Answer: 2
Rationale: Negligence is the unintentional failure of an
individual to perform or not perform an act that a reasonable
person would or would not do in the same or similar
circumstances. A purposeful failure to perform a procedure
would be the opposite of negligence, which is unintentional.
Substituting a different medication does not fit the
description of the situation in the question. Failure to follow a
direct order does not fit the description in the situation in the
question.
Cognitive Level: Applying
Client Need: Management of Care
Integrated Process: Nursing Process: Assessment
Content Area: Fundamentals
Strategy: Two options are opposites, which is a clue that one
of them may be correct. Choose unintentional failure to carry
,NCLEX-RN Practice Mock Test and Review
2026
out a procedure over purposeful failure because it matches
the definition of negligence.
A client asks why a diagnostic test has been ordered and the
nurse replies, "I'm unsure but will find out for you." When the
nurse later returns and provides an explanation, the nurse is
acting under which principle?
1. Nonmaleficence
2. Veracity
3. Beneficence
4. Fidelity - Correct Answers ✅Answer: 4
Rationale: Fidelity means being faithful to agreements and
promises. This nurse is acting on the client's behalf to obtain
needed information and report it back to the client.
Nonmaleficence is the duty to do no harm. Veracity refers to
telling the truth for example, not lying to a client about a
serious prognosis. Beneficence means doing good, such as by
implementing actions (e.g. keeping a salt shaker out of sight)
that benefit a client (heart condition requiring sodium-
restricted diet).
Cognitive Level: Understanding
Client Need: Management of Care
Integrated Process: Nursing Process: Implementation
Content Area: Fundamentals
,NCLEX-RN Practice Mock Test and Review
2026
Strategy: Use the process of elimination. The correct answer
is the one that matches the description in the stem; that is,
the nurse made a promise to a client and kept it, which
constitutes fidelity.
An individual has a seizure while walking down the street.
During the seizure, a nurse from a physician's office is
noticed driving past without stopping to assist. The individual
sues the nurse for negligence but fails to win a judgement for
which reason?
1. The nurse had no duty to the individual.
2. The nurse did what most nurses would do in the same
circumstance.
3. The nurse did not cause the client's injuries.
4. The nurse was off-duty at the time. - Correct Answers
✅Answer: 1
Rationale: To be guilty of negligence, the nurse must have a
relationship with the client that involves a duty to provide
care. The relationship is usually a component of employment.
The nurse did not necessarily do what others would do in this
situation. Although the nurse did not cause the client's
injuries, it does not prevent the nurse from assisting in this
situation. Although the nurse was off-duty, the nurse could
have assisted if motivated to do so.
Cognitive Level: Understanding
Client Need: Management of Care
, NCLEX-RN Practice Mock Test and Review
2026
Integrated Process: Nursing Process: Implementation
Content Area: Fundamentals
Strategy: Use the process of elimination and nursing
knowledge. The correct answer is the one that recognizes
that the nurse was not in the role of employee at the time of
the incident, removing the requirement of acting on the
client's behalf.
An adult female ambulatory care client receiving an oral
anticoagulant is given aspirin for a headache while visiting a
neighbor, who is a nurse. The client subsequently has a
bleeding episode because of a drug interaction. The legal
nurse consultant interprets that which necessary elements of
malpractice are missing from this case? Select all that apply.
1. Breech of duty
2. Duty owed
3. Injury experienced
4. Causation between nurse's action and injury
5. Intent to cause harm or injury - Correct Answers
✅Answer: 2, 5
Rationale: There was no nurse-client relationship because the
nurse was acting as a neighbor and not in an employment
capacity. Thus, there can be no duty owed. Intent is not a
necessary element of malpractice, because malpractice can
occur because of unintended actions as well. There was no
breach of duty because there was no official nurse-client
2026
A nurse forgets to administer a client's diuretic and the client
experiences an episode of pulmonary edema. The charge
nurse would consider the medication error to constitute
negligence because the situation contains which element?
1. Purposeful failure to perform a health care procedure
2. Unintentional failure to perform a health care procedure
3. Act of substituting a different medication for the one
ordered
4. Failure to follow a direct order by a physician - Correct
Answers ✅Answer: 2
Rationale: Negligence is the unintentional failure of an
individual to perform or not perform an act that a reasonable
person would or would not do in the same or similar
circumstances. A purposeful failure to perform a procedure
would be the opposite of negligence, which is unintentional.
Substituting a different medication does not fit the
description of the situation in the question. Failure to follow a
direct order does not fit the description in the situation in the
question.
Cognitive Level: Applying
Client Need: Management of Care
Integrated Process: Nursing Process: Assessment
Content Area: Fundamentals
Strategy: Two options are opposites, which is a clue that one
of them may be correct. Choose unintentional failure to carry
,NCLEX-RN Practice Mock Test and Review
2026
out a procedure over purposeful failure because it matches
the definition of negligence.
A client asks why a diagnostic test has been ordered and the
nurse replies, "I'm unsure but will find out for you." When the
nurse later returns and provides an explanation, the nurse is
acting under which principle?
1. Nonmaleficence
2. Veracity
3. Beneficence
4. Fidelity - Correct Answers ✅Answer: 4
Rationale: Fidelity means being faithful to agreements and
promises. This nurse is acting on the client's behalf to obtain
needed information and report it back to the client.
Nonmaleficence is the duty to do no harm. Veracity refers to
telling the truth for example, not lying to a client about a
serious prognosis. Beneficence means doing good, such as by
implementing actions (e.g. keeping a salt shaker out of sight)
that benefit a client (heart condition requiring sodium-
restricted diet).
Cognitive Level: Understanding
Client Need: Management of Care
Integrated Process: Nursing Process: Implementation
Content Area: Fundamentals
,NCLEX-RN Practice Mock Test and Review
2026
Strategy: Use the process of elimination. The correct answer
is the one that matches the description in the stem; that is,
the nurse made a promise to a client and kept it, which
constitutes fidelity.
An individual has a seizure while walking down the street.
During the seizure, a nurse from a physician's office is
noticed driving past without stopping to assist. The individual
sues the nurse for negligence but fails to win a judgement for
which reason?
1. The nurse had no duty to the individual.
2. The nurse did what most nurses would do in the same
circumstance.
3. The nurse did not cause the client's injuries.
4. The nurse was off-duty at the time. - Correct Answers
✅Answer: 1
Rationale: To be guilty of negligence, the nurse must have a
relationship with the client that involves a duty to provide
care. The relationship is usually a component of employment.
The nurse did not necessarily do what others would do in this
situation. Although the nurse did not cause the client's
injuries, it does not prevent the nurse from assisting in this
situation. Although the nurse was off-duty, the nurse could
have assisted if motivated to do so.
Cognitive Level: Understanding
Client Need: Management of Care
, NCLEX-RN Practice Mock Test and Review
2026
Integrated Process: Nursing Process: Implementation
Content Area: Fundamentals
Strategy: Use the process of elimination and nursing
knowledge. The correct answer is the one that recognizes
that the nurse was not in the role of employee at the time of
the incident, removing the requirement of acting on the
client's behalf.
An adult female ambulatory care client receiving an oral
anticoagulant is given aspirin for a headache while visiting a
neighbor, who is a nurse. The client subsequently has a
bleeding episode because of a drug interaction. The legal
nurse consultant interprets that which necessary elements of
malpractice are missing from this case? Select all that apply.
1. Breech of duty
2. Duty owed
3. Injury experienced
4. Causation between nurse's action and injury
5. Intent to cause harm or injury - Correct Answers
✅Answer: 2, 5
Rationale: There was no nurse-client relationship because the
nurse was acting as a neighbor and not in an employment
capacity. Thus, there can be no duty owed. Intent is not a
necessary element of malpractice, because malpractice can
occur because of unintended actions as well. There was no
breach of duty because there was no official nurse-client
