NCLEX-RN Practice Multiple Choices Questions
with Correct Answers Latest 2025/2026
GRADED A+ with Rationales
1. A nurse forgets to administer a client's diuretic and the client
experiences
an episode of pulmonary edema. The charge nurse would consider
the med- ication 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: 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 out a procedure
over purposeful failure because it matches the definition of negligence.
2. 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: 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
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.
3. 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.: 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
Integrated Process: Nursing Process:
with Correct Answers Latest 2025/2026
GRADED A+ with Rationales
1. A nurse forgets to administer a client's diuretic and the client
experiences
an episode of pulmonary edema. The charge nurse would consider
the med- ication 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: 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 out a procedure
over purposeful failure because it matches the definition of negligence.
2. 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: 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
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.
3. 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.: 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
Integrated Process: Nursing Process:
