HESI Fundamentals Exam Practice
Questions
1. The home health nurse visits an elderly female client who had a brain attack three months
ago and is now able to ambulate with the assistance of a quad cane. Which assessment finding
has the greatest implications for this client's care?
a) The husband, who is the caregiver, begins to weep when the nurse asks how he is doing.
b) The client tells the nurse that she does not have much of an appetite today.
c) The nurse notes that there are numerous scatter rugs throughout the house.
d) The client's pulse rate is 10 beats higher than it was at the last visit one week ago. - ✔✔C
2. The nurse is digitally removing a fecal impaction for a client. The nurse should stop the
procedure and take corrective action if which client reaction is noted?
a) Temperature increases from 98.8° to 99.0° F.
b) Pulse rate decreases from 78 to 52 beats/min.
c) Respiratory rate increases from 16 to 24 breaths/min.
d) Blood pressure increases from 110/84 to 118/88 mm/Hg. - ✔✔B
11. A male client is on contact precautions due to an infected draining wound and is being
discharged home. The client lives at home with his wife and their adolescent daughter. What
discharge instruction should the nurse include for the client?
a) Use disposable plates and utensils.
b) Stay in a room with the door closed.
c) Dispose of soiled dressings in plastic bags that are securely closed.
d) Others who are in the same room with the client should wear a mask. - ✔✔C
3. The nurse is providing passive range of motion (ROM) exercises to the hip and knee for a
client who is unconscious. After supporting the client's knee with one hand, what action should
the nurse take next?
,a) Raise the bed to a comfortable working level.
b) Bend the client's knee.
c) Move the knee toward the chest as far as it will go.
d) Cradle the client's heel. - ✔✔D
4. A client who has moderate, persistent, chronic neuropathic pain due to diabetic neuropathy
takes gabapentin (Neurontin) and ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) daily. If Step 2 of the World Health
Organization (WHO) pain relief ladder is prescribed, which drug protocol should be
implemented?
a) Continue gabapentin.
b) Discontinue ibuprofen.
c) Add aspirin to the protocol.
d) Add oral methadone to the protocol. - ✔✔A
5. The nurse is preparing to irrigate a client's indwelling urinary catheter using an open
technique. What action should the nurse take after applying gloves?
a) Empty the client's urinary drainage bag.
b) Draw up the irrigating solution into the syringe.
c) Secure the client's catheter to the drainage tubing.
d) Use aseptic technique to instill the irrigating solution. - ✔✔B
21. The nurse obtains a BP reading of 100/88 in the right arm of a client whose blood pressure
is typically 120/60 in the same arm. What action should the nurse implement first?
a) Use an electronic sphygmomanometer to take the BP every 30 minutes.
b) Retake the blood pressure in the same arm, deflating the cuff slowly.
c) Ask another nurse to recheck the blood pressure to compare results.
d) Obtain another blood pressure cuff and retake the blood pressure. - ✔✔B
,25. A male nurse is assigned to care for a female Muslim client. When the nurse offers to bathe
the client, the client requests that a female nurse perform this task. How should the male nurse
respond?
a) May I ask your daughter to help you with your personal hygiene?
b) I will ask one of the female nurses to bathe you.
c) A staff member on the next shift will help you.
d) I will keep you draped and hand you the supplies as you need them. - ✔✔B
8. When culturing a wound, the nurse should obtain the sample from which part of the wound?
a) The outer edges of the wound.
b) All necrotic sections of the wound.
c) Areas containing purulent or pooled exudates.
d) Any particularly painful area of the wound. - ✔✔C
6. Which client care requires the nurse to wear barrier gloves as required by the protocol for
Standard Precautions?
a) Removing the empty food tray from a client with a urinary catheter.
b) Washing and combing the hair of a client with a fractured leg in traction.
c) Administering oral medications to a cooperative client with a wound infection.
d) Emptying the urinary catheter drainage bag for a client with Alzheimer's disease. - ✔✔D
7. What action should the nurse implement to prevent the formation of a sacral ulcer for a
client who is immobile?
a) Maintain in a lateral position using protective wrist and vest devices.
b) Position prone with a small pillow below the diaphragm.
c) Raise the head and knee gatch when lying in a supine position.
d) Transfer into a wheelchair close to the nurse's station for observation. - ✔✔B
, 12. The nurse is discussing dietary preferences with a client who adheres to a vegan diet. Which
dietary supplement should the nurse encourage the client to include the dietary plan?
a) Vitamin C
b) Vitamin D
c) Ascorbic acid.
d) Vitamin B12. - ✔✔D
10. A female client who has breast cancer with metastasis to the liver and spine is admitted
with constant, severe pain despite around-the-clock use of oxycodone (Percodan) and
amitriptyline (Elavil) for pain control at home. During the admission assessment, which
information is most important for the nurse to obtain?
a) Sensory pattern, area, intensity, and nature of the pain.
b) Trigger points identified by palpation and manual pressure of painful areas.
c) Schedule and total dosages of drugs currently used for breakthrough pain.
d) Sympathetic responses consistent with onset of acute pain. - ✔✔A
13. The charge nurse observes that a demographic screen has been left open on a hallway
computer by a nurse who is responding to a call light because the unlicensed assistive
personnel (UAP) is involved in a personal phone call. Which action should the charge nurse take
first?
a) Page the unit manager to address the situation.
b) Close the demographic screen on the computer.
c) Instruct the UAP to end the phone call immediately.
d) Send a UAP into the client's room to relieve the nurse. - ✔✔B
14. A female client informs the nurse that she uses herbal therapies to supplement her diet and
manage common ailments. What information should the nurse offer the client about general
use of herbal supplements?
a) Most herbs are toxic or carcinogenic and should be used only when proven effective.
Questions
1. The home health nurse visits an elderly female client who had a brain attack three months
ago and is now able to ambulate with the assistance of a quad cane. Which assessment finding
has the greatest implications for this client's care?
a) The husband, who is the caregiver, begins to weep when the nurse asks how he is doing.
b) The client tells the nurse that she does not have much of an appetite today.
c) The nurse notes that there are numerous scatter rugs throughout the house.
d) The client's pulse rate is 10 beats higher than it was at the last visit one week ago. - ✔✔C
2. The nurse is digitally removing a fecal impaction for a client. The nurse should stop the
procedure and take corrective action if which client reaction is noted?
a) Temperature increases from 98.8° to 99.0° F.
b) Pulse rate decreases from 78 to 52 beats/min.
c) Respiratory rate increases from 16 to 24 breaths/min.
d) Blood pressure increases from 110/84 to 118/88 mm/Hg. - ✔✔B
11. A male client is on contact precautions due to an infected draining wound and is being
discharged home. The client lives at home with his wife and their adolescent daughter. What
discharge instruction should the nurse include for the client?
a) Use disposable plates and utensils.
b) Stay in a room with the door closed.
c) Dispose of soiled dressings in plastic bags that are securely closed.
d) Others who are in the same room with the client should wear a mask. - ✔✔C
3. The nurse is providing passive range of motion (ROM) exercises to the hip and knee for a
client who is unconscious. After supporting the client's knee with one hand, what action should
the nurse take next?
,a) Raise the bed to a comfortable working level.
b) Bend the client's knee.
c) Move the knee toward the chest as far as it will go.
d) Cradle the client's heel. - ✔✔D
4. A client who has moderate, persistent, chronic neuropathic pain due to diabetic neuropathy
takes gabapentin (Neurontin) and ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) daily. If Step 2 of the World Health
Organization (WHO) pain relief ladder is prescribed, which drug protocol should be
implemented?
a) Continue gabapentin.
b) Discontinue ibuprofen.
c) Add aspirin to the protocol.
d) Add oral methadone to the protocol. - ✔✔A
5. The nurse is preparing to irrigate a client's indwelling urinary catheter using an open
technique. What action should the nurse take after applying gloves?
a) Empty the client's urinary drainage bag.
b) Draw up the irrigating solution into the syringe.
c) Secure the client's catheter to the drainage tubing.
d) Use aseptic technique to instill the irrigating solution. - ✔✔B
21. The nurse obtains a BP reading of 100/88 in the right arm of a client whose blood pressure
is typically 120/60 in the same arm. What action should the nurse implement first?
a) Use an electronic sphygmomanometer to take the BP every 30 minutes.
b) Retake the blood pressure in the same arm, deflating the cuff slowly.
c) Ask another nurse to recheck the blood pressure to compare results.
d) Obtain another blood pressure cuff and retake the blood pressure. - ✔✔B
,25. A male nurse is assigned to care for a female Muslim client. When the nurse offers to bathe
the client, the client requests that a female nurse perform this task. How should the male nurse
respond?
a) May I ask your daughter to help you with your personal hygiene?
b) I will ask one of the female nurses to bathe you.
c) A staff member on the next shift will help you.
d) I will keep you draped and hand you the supplies as you need them. - ✔✔B
8. When culturing a wound, the nurse should obtain the sample from which part of the wound?
a) The outer edges of the wound.
b) All necrotic sections of the wound.
c) Areas containing purulent or pooled exudates.
d) Any particularly painful area of the wound. - ✔✔C
6. Which client care requires the nurse to wear barrier gloves as required by the protocol for
Standard Precautions?
a) Removing the empty food tray from a client with a urinary catheter.
b) Washing and combing the hair of a client with a fractured leg in traction.
c) Administering oral medications to a cooperative client with a wound infection.
d) Emptying the urinary catheter drainage bag for a client with Alzheimer's disease. - ✔✔D
7. What action should the nurse implement to prevent the formation of a sacral ulcer for a
client who is immobile?
a) Maintain in a lateral position using protective wrist and vest devices.
b) Position prone with a small pillow below the diaphragm.
c) Raise the head and knee gatch when lying in a supine position.
d) Transfer into a wheelchair close to the nurse's station for observation. - ✔✔B
, 12. The nurse is discussing dietary preferences with a client who adheres to a vegan diet. Which
dietary supplement should the nurse encourage the client to include the dietary plan?
a) Vitamin C
b) Vitamin D
c) Ascorbic acid.
d) Vitamin B12. - ✔✔D
10. A female client who has breast cancer with metastasis to the liver and spine is admitted
with constant, severe pain despite around-the-clock use of oxycodone (Percodan) and
amitriptyline (Elavil) for pain control at home. During the admission assessment, which
information is most important for the nurse to obtain?
a) Sensory pattern, area, intensity, and nature of the pain.
b) Trigger points identified by palpation and manual pressure of painful areas.
c) Schedule and total dosages of drugs currently used for breakthrough pain.
d) Sympathetic responses consistent with onset of acute pain. - ✔✔A
13. The charge nurse observes that a demographic screen has been left open on a hallway
computer by a nurse who is responding to a call light because the unlicensed assistive
personnel (UAP) is involved in a personal phone call. Which action should the charge nurse take
first?
a) Page the unit manager to address the situation.
b) Close the demographic screen on the computer.
c) Instruct the UAP to end the phone call immediately.
d) Send a UAP into the client's room to relieve the nurse. - ✔✔B
14. A female client informs the nurse that she uses herbal therapies to supplement her diet and
manage common ailments. What information should the nurse offer the client about general
use of herbal supplements?
a) Most herbs are toxic or carcinogenic and should be used only when proven effective.
