This high-quality, exam-focused document provides 100+ solved multiple-choice questions tailored to the CEA Advanced Nursing Practice Exam for 2025/2026. Designed to help advanced practice nurses—including PMHNPs (Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioners) and DNP/FNP students—master clinical decision-making, psychiatric evaluation, medical comorbidity screening, and interdisciplinary care management, this document reflects real-world scenarios with up-to-date clinical reasoning.
Topics thoroughly covered include:
Mental status exams, diagnostic reasoning, and differential diagnosis for geriatric, adult, and adolescent populations
Neuropsychiatric and neurologic evaluation (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease vs. hearing loss, EEG interpretation, cerebellar testing)
Psychopharmacology: medication side effects, EKG monitoring, and lab work before prescribing antipsychotics
Advanced diagnostics and lab interpretation: MRI vs. CT, ESR in lupus, serum ceruloplasmin in AMS, urinary porphobilinogen for rare metabolic causes
Behavioral health and therapeutic communication: defense mechanisms (e.g., denial, regression), caregiver education, and patient psychoeducation
Medical conditions with psychiatric overlap: hypothyroidism, lupus, OSA, dehydration, alcohol intoxication, sleep apnea
Crisis and emergency care: respiratory obstruction, C-spine precautions, delirium evaluation
Cultural and developmental considerations in communication, grief counseling, and ethical family-centered care
Legal/ethical protocols including HIPAA, informed consent, child developmental stages, and ECT counseling
Clinical acronyms and skills: Murphy's sign, S2 heart sound, ROS, ABCDEs of melanoma, DSM-5-informed approaches
Each question is paired with a verified and concise answer, following current evidence-based practices, making this document a trusted final review resource for board prep or in-practice clinical refreshers.
Recommended for:
PMHNP, FNP, AGNP, DNP students
Advanced practice nurses preparing for CEA/board certification
Psychiatric-mental health practitioners in inpatient, outpatient, or community settings
Nurse educators and clinical instructors building teaching or remediation materials
Providers working with aging populations or complex comorbid psychiatric/medical presentations
Keywords:
CEA nursing exam 2025, advanced practice nurse review, PMHNP test prep, MSE questions, psychopharmacology, EEG vs MRI, ESR lupus, mental health nursing, ECT adverse effects, DSM-5, patient psychoeducation, denial defense mechanism, ROS review of systems, acute appendicitis, MDD diagnosis, cultural psychiatry, urinary porphobilinogen, nurse practitioner board exam, ethical family care, aging patient assessment, evidence-based mental health
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CEA Advanced Nursing Practice
2025/2026 Exam Questions and Verified
Answers | Already Graded A+
When evaluating a 78-year-old man, the PMHNP notices the patient
frequently leans in with the right side of his head and frequently asks for
things to be repeated. His daughter is very worried that he has dementia or
depression because he has also become increasingly isolated, as well as
increasingly irritable as he believes people are yelling at him out of
frustration of not being heard. The daughter is tearful, anxious, and
frustrated. What should the PMHNP do first?
Order a CT scan of the head
Separate the patient from the daughter and interview him alone
Examine the patient's ear canals
,Provide anticipatory guidance regarding aging parents to the daughter -
🧠ANSWER ✔✔Examine the patient's ear canals
A 35-year-old man diagnosed with bipolar disorder mentions to his PMHNP
that he had felt a lump on his left testicle. He is concerned he has not had a
physical exam in 10 years. What is the best action by the PMHNP?
Explore the reason for not having had a physical in so long
Refer him to his primary care provider
Perform a urogenital exam and order an ultrasound
Refer him to urology - 🧠ANSWER ✔✔Explore the reason for not having had
a physical in so long
In observing the appearance of the patient with depression and a history of
systemic lupus erythematosus, the PMHNP notices a lesion on the neck of
the patient about the size of a pencil eraser, flush with the skin, uniformly
colored, with discrete borders, and consistent texture. The PMHNP should:
Refer the patient to oncology
, Watch and wait
Refer the patient to rheumatology
Refer the patient to dermatology - 🧠ANSWER ✔✔Watch and wait
Which of the following best represent the physical exam maneuver known
as Murphy's sign?
While supine, ask the patient to grasp her knee while tucking 1 leg up to
the chest. A positive test occurs when pain prohibits elevation of the
ipsilateral leg.
The examiner palpates in the right upper abdominal quadrant below the
costal margin while the patient breathes in. The test is positive if the
examiner observes pain during inhalation.
Press and palpate deeply into the abdomen and release quickly observing
for pain.
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