2025 HESI MED SURG EXAM ACTUAL EXAM
COMPLETE TEST QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
DETAILED ANSWERS WITH RATIONALES (CORRECT
VERIFIED SOLUTIONS) A NEW UPDATED VERSION
2025 |GUARANTEED PASS A+
A client who has heart failure is admitted with a serum
potassium level of 2.9 me/L (2.9 moll/L). Which action is
most important for the nurse to implement?
Give 20 me of potassium chloride.
Initiate continuous cardiac monitoring. Correct
Arrange a consultation with the dietician.
Teach about the side effects of diuretics.
Hypokalemia (normal 3.5 to 5 me/L [3.5 to 5 moll/L]) causes
changes in myocardial irritability and ECG waveform, so it is
most important for the nurse to initiate continuous cardiac
monitoring to identify ventricular ectopy or other life-
threatening dysrhythmias. After cardiac monitoring is initiated,
then the potassium chloride should be given so that the effects of
potassium replacement on the cardiac rhythm can be monitored.
After checking the urinary drainage system for kinks in the
tubing, the nurse determines that a client who has returned
from the post-anesthesia care has a dark, concentrated
,urinary output of 54 mL for the last 2 hours. Which priority
nursing action should be implemented?
Report the findings to the surgeon. Correct
Irrigate the indwelling urinary catheter.
Apply manual pressure to the bladder.
Increase the IV flow rate for 15 minutes. Incorrect
After surgery, an adult who weighs 132 pounds (60 kg) should
produce about 60 mL of urine hourly (1 mL/kg/hour). Dark,
concentrated, and low volume of urine output should be reported
to the surgeon.
Two days postoperative, a male client reports aching pain in
his left leg. The nurse assesses redness and warmth on the
lower left calf. Which intervention would be most helpful to
this client?
Apply sequential compression devices (SCDs) bilaterally.
Assess for a positive Homan's sign in each leg. Incorrect
Pad all bony prominences on the affected leg.
Advise the client to remain in bed with the leg elevated. Correct
For a client exhibiting symptoms of deep vein thrombosis
(DVT), a complication of immobility, the initial care includes
bedrest and elevation of the extremity.
,Which description of pain is consistent with a diagnosis
of rheumatoid arthritis?
Joint pain is worse in the morning and involves symmetric
joints. Correct
Joint pain is better in the morning and worsens throughout the
day.
Joint pain is consistent throughout the day and is relieved by
pain medication. Incorrect
Joint pain is worse during the day and involves unilateral joints.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that causes
joint pain and swelling. RA is characterized by pain that is
worse when arising and involves symmetric joints.
A client’s susceptibility to ulcerative colitis is most likely due
to which aspect in the client’s history?
Jewish European ancestry. Correct
H. pylori bowel infection.
Family history of irritable bowel syndrome.
Age between 25 and 55 years.
Ulcerative colitis is 4 to 5 times more common among
individuals of Jewish European or Ashkenazi ancestry.
While working in the emergency room, the nurse is exposed
to a client with active tuberculosis. When should the nurse
plan to obtain a tuberculin skin test?
, Immediately after the exposure.
Within one week of the exposure.
Four to six weeks after the exposure. Correct
Three months after the exposure.
A tuberculin skin test is effective 4 to 6 weeks after an exposure,
so the individual with a known exposure should wait 4 to 6
weeks before having a tuberculin skin test.
The nurse knows that lab values sometimes vary for the
older client. Which data would the nurse expect to find when
reviewing laboratory values of an 80-year-old male?
Increased WBC, decreased RBC.
Increased serum bilirubin, slightly increased liver enzymes.
Increased protein in the urine, slightly increased serum
glucose levels. Correct
Decreased serum sodium, an increased urine specific gravity.
As older adults age, the protein found in urine slightly rises as a
result of kidney changes, and the serum glucose increases
slightly, also due to changes in the kidney.
The nurse is assessing a client's laboratory values following
administration of chemotherapy. Which lab value leads the
COMPLETE TEST QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
DETAILED ANSWERS WITH RATIONALES (CORRECT
VERIFIED SOLUTIONS) A NEW UPDATED VERSION
2025 |GUARANTEED PASS A+
A client who has heart failure is admitted with a serum
potassium level of 2.9 me/L (2.9 moll/L). Which action is
most important for the nurse to implement?
Give 20 me of potassium chloride.
Initiate continuous cardiac monitoring. Correct
Arrange a consultation with the dietician.
Teach about the side effects of diuretics.
Hypokalemia (normal 3.5 to 5 me/L [3.5 to 5 moll/L]) causes
changes in myocardial irritability and ECG waveform, so it is
most important for the nurse to initiate continuous cardiac
monitoring to identify ventricular ectopy or other life-
threatening dysrhythmias. After cardiac monitoring is initiated,
then the potassium chloride should be given so that the effects of
potassium replacement on the cardiac rhythm can be monitored.
After checking the urinary drainage system for kinks in the
tubing, the nurse determines that a client who has returned
from the post-anesthesia care has a dark, concentrated
,urinary output of 54 mL for the last 2 hours. Which priority
nursing action should be implemented?
Report the findings to the surgeon. Correct
Irrigate the indwelling urinary catheter.
Apply manual pressure to the bladder.
Increase the IV flow rate for 15 minutes. Incorrect
After surgery, an adult who weighs 132 pounds (60 kg) should
produce about 60 mL of urine hourly (1 mL/kg/hour). Dark,
concentrated, and low volume of urine output should be reported
to the surgeon.
Two days postoperative, a male client reports aching pain in
his left leg. The nurse assesses redness and warmth on the
lower left calf. Which intervention would be most helpful to
this client?
Apply sequential compression devices (SCDs) bilaterally.
Assess for a positive Homan's sign in each leg. Incorrect
Pad all bony prominences on the affected leg.
Advise the client to remain in bed with the leg elevated. Correct
For a client exhibiting symptoms of deep vein thrombosis
(DVT), a complication of immobility, the initial care includes
bedrest and elevation of the extremity.
,Which description of pain is consistent with a diagnosis
of rheumatoid arthritis?
Joint pain is worse in the morning and involves symmetric
joints. Correct
Joint pain is better in the morning and worsens throughout the
day.
Joint pain is consistent throughout the day and is relieved by
pain medication. Incorrect
Joint pain is worse during the day and involves unilateral joints.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that causes
joint pain and swelling. RA is characterized by pain that is
worse when arising and involves symmetric joints.
A client’s susceptibility to ulcerative colitis is most likely due
to which aspect in the client’s history?
Jewish European ancestry. Correct
H. pylori bowel infection.
Family history of irritable bowel syndrome.
Age between 25 and 55 years.
Ulcerative colitis is 4 to 5 times more common among
individuals of Jewish European or Ashkenazi ancestry.
While working in the emergency room, the nurse is exposed
to a client with active tuberculosis. When should the nurse
plan to obtain a tuberculin skin test?
, Immediately after the exposure.
Within one week of the exposure.
Four to six weeks after the exposure. Correct
Three months after the exposure.
A tuberculin skin test is effective 4 to 6 weeks after an exposure,
so the individual with a known exposure should wait 4 to 6
weeks before having a tuberculin skin test.
The nurse knows that lab values sometimes vary for the
older client. Which data would the nurse expect to find when
reviewing laboratory values of an 80-year-old male?
Increased WBC, decreased RBC.
Increased serum bilirubin, slightly increased liver enzymes.
Increased protein in the urine, slightly increased serum
glucose levels. Correct
Decreased serum sodium, an increased urine specific gravity.
As older adults age, the protein found in urine slightly rises as a
result of kidney changes, and the serum glucose increases
slightly, also due to changes in the kidney.
The nurse is assessing a client's laboratory values following
administration of chemotherapy. Which lab value leads the
