2024-2025 HESI RN FUNDAMENTALS PRACTICE EXAM
NGN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH EXPLANATIONS
UPDATED LATEST
1. When turning an immobile bedridden patient without assistance,
which action by the nurse
best ensures patient safety?
a. Put bed rails up on the side of bed opposite from the nurse.
EXPLANATION:
Because the nurse can only stand on one side of the bed, bed rails should be
up on the opposite
side to ensure that the patient does not fall out of bed. Option A can cause
patient injury to the skin
or joint. Options C and D are useful techniques while turning a patient but
have less priority in
terms of safety than use of the bed rails.
2. The nurse identifies a potential for infection in a patient with
partialthickness (second degree)
and full-thickness (third-degree) burns. What intervention has the highest
priority in decreasing the patient's risk of infection?
a. Use of careful handwashing technique
EXPLANATION:
Careful handwashing technique is the single most effective intervention for
the prevention of
contamination to all patients. Option A reverses the hypovolemia that
initially accompanies burn
trauma but is not related to decreasing the proliferation of infective
organisms. Options C and D
are recommended by various burn centers as possible ways to reduce the
chance of infection.
Option B is a proven technique to prevent infection.
3. The nurse is aware that malnutrition is a common problem among
patientsserved by a
community health clinic for the homeless. Which laboratory value is the most
reliable
,indicator of chronic protein malnutrition?
a. Low serum albumin level
EXPLANATION:
,Long-term protein deficiency is required to cause significantly lowered serum
albumin levels.
Albumin is made by the liver only when adequate amounts of amino acids
(from protein
breakdown) are available. Albumin has a long half-life, so acute protein loss
does not
significantly alter serum levels. Option B is a serum protein with a half-life of
only 8 to 10 days,
so it will drop with an acute protein deficiency. Options C and D are not
clinical measures of
protein malnutrition.
4. In completing a patient's preoperative routine, the nurse finds that
theoperative permit is
not signed. The patient begins to ask more questions about the surgical
procedure. Which
action should the nurse take next?
a. Inform the surgeon that the operative permit is not signed, and the
patient has questions about the surgery.
EXPLANATION:
The surgeon should be informed immediately that the permit is not signed. It
is the surgeon's
responsibility to explain the procedure to the patient and obtain the patient's
signature on the
permit. Although the nurse can witness an operative permit, the procedure
must first be
explained by the health care provider or surgeon, including answering the
patient's questions. The
patient's questions should be addressed before the permit is signed.
5. The nurse is assessing several patients prior to surgery. Which factor in
apatient's history
poses the greatest threat for complications to occur during surgery?
a. Taking anticoagulants for the past year
EXPLANATION:
Anticoagulants increase the risk for bleeding during surgery, which can pose
a threat for the
development of surgical complications. The health care provider should be
informed that the
, patient is taking these drugs. Although patients who take birth control pills
maybe more
susceptible to the development of thrombi, such problems usually occur
postoperatively. A patient
with option C or D is at less of a surgical risk than with option B.
6. When assisting a patient from the bed to a chair, which procedure is best
forthe nurse to
follow?
a. With the nurse's feet spread apart and knees aligned with the
patient'sknees, stand and pivot the patient into the chair.
EXPLANATION:
Option B describes the correct positioning of the nurse and affords the nurse
a wide base of
support while stabilizing the patient's knees when assisting to a standing
position. The chair
should be placed at a 45-degree angle to the bed, with the back of the chair
toward the head of
the bed. Patients should never be lifted under the axillae; this could damage
nerves and strain the
nurse's back. The patient should be instructed to use the arms of the chair
and should never place
his or her arms around the nurse's neck; this place undue stress on the
nurse's neck and back and
increases the risk for a fall.
7. Which step(s) should the nurse take when administering ear drops to an
adult
patient? (Select all that apply.)
a. Place the patient in a side-lying position.
b. Pull the auricle upward and outward.
EXPLANATION:
The correct answers (A and B) are the appropriate administration of ear
drops. The dropper
should be held 1 cm (½ inch) above the ear canal (C). A cotton ball should be
placed in the
outermost canal (D). The auricle is pulled down and back for a child younger
than 3 years of age,
but not an adult (E).
NGN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH EXPLANATIONS
UPDATED LATEST
1. When turning an immobile bedridden patient without assistance,
which action by the nurse
best ensures patient safety?
a. Put bed rails up on the side of bed opposite from the nurse.
EXPLANATION:
Because the nurse can only stand on one side of the bed, bed rails should be
up on the opposite
side to ensure that the patient does not fall out of bed. Option A can cause
patient injury to the skin
or joint. Options C and D are useful techniques while turning a patient but
have less priority in
terms of safety than use of the bed rails.
2. The nurse identifies a potential for infection in a patient with
partialthickness (second degree)
and full-thickness (third-degree) burns. What intervention has the highest
priority in decreasing the patient's risk of infection?
a. Use of careful handwashing technique
EXPLANATION:
Careful handwashing technique is the single most effective intervention for
the prevention of
contamination to all patients. Option A reverses the hypovolemia that
initially accompanies burn
trauma but is not related to decreasing the proliferation of infective
organisms. Options C and D
are recommended by various burn centers as possible ways to reduce the
chance of infection.
Option B is a proven technique to prevent infection.
3. The nurse is aware that malnutrition is a common problem among
patientsserved by a
community health clinic for the homeless. Which laboratory value is the most
reliable
,indicator of chronic protein malnutrition?
a. Low serum albumin level
EXPLANATION:
,Long-term protein deficiency is required to cause significantly lowered serum
albumin levels.
Albumin is made by the liver only when adequate amounts of amino acids
(from protein
breakdown) are available. Albumin has a long half-life, so acute protein loss
does not
significantly alter serum levels. Option B is a serum protein with a half-life of
only 8 to 10 days,
so it will drop with an acute protein deficiency. Options C and D are not
clinical measures of
protein malnutrition.
4. In completing a patient's preoperative routine, the nurse finds that
theoperative permit is
not signed. The patient begins to ask more questions about the surgical
procedure. Which
action should the nurse take next?
a. Inform the surgeon that the operative permit is not signed, and the
patient has questions about the surgery.
EXPLANATION:
The surgeon should be informed immediately that the permit is not signed. It
is the surgeon's
responsibility to explain the procedure to the patient and obtain the patient's
signature on the
permit. Although the nurse can witness an operative permit, the procedure
must first be
explained by the health care provider or surgeon, including answering the
patient's questions. The
patient's questions should be addressed before the permit is signed.
5. The nurse is assessing several patients prior to surgery. Which factor in
apatient's history
poses the greatest threat for complications to occur during surgery?
a. Taking anticoagulants for the past year
EXPLANATION:
Anticoagulants increase the risk for bleeding during surgery, which can pose
a threat for the
development of surgical complications. The health care provider should be
informed that the
, patient is taking these drugs. Although patients who take birth control pills
maybe more
susceptible to the development of thrombi, such problems usually occur
postoperatively. A patient
with option C or D is at less of a surgical risk than with option B.
6. When assisting a patient from the bed to a chair, which procedure is best
forthe nurse to
follow?
a. With the nurse's feet spread apart and knees aligned with the
patient'sknees, stand and pivot the patient into the chair.
EXPLANATION:
Option B describes the correct positioning of the nurse and affords the nurse
a wide base of
support while stabilizing the patient's knees when assisting to a standing
position. The chair
should be placed at a 45-degree angle to the bed, with the back of the chair
toward the head of
the bed. Patients should never be lifted under the axillae; this could damage
nerves and strain the
nurse's back. The patient should be instructed to use the arms of the chair
and should never place
his or her arms around the nurse's neck; this place undue stress on the
nurse's neck and back and
increases the risk for a fall.
7. Which step(s) should the nurse take when administering ear drops to an
adult
patient? (Select all that apply.)
a. Place the patient in a side-lying position.
b. Pull the auricle upward and outward.
EXPLANATION:
The correct answers (A and B) are the appropriate administration of ear
drops. The dropper
should be held 1 cm (½ inch) above the ear canal (C). A cotton ball should be
placed in the
outermost canal (D). The auricle is pulled down and back for a child younger
than 3 years of age,
but not an adult (E).
