NCLEX HESI EXIT CRITICAL THINKING EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2025
The Patient: A 65-year- old male.
The Situation: The family brings the patient to the emergency room because he just took an entire
bottle of pills.
The Question: What action should the nurse take first? - (ANSWER)Determine the patient's level of
consciousness.
The Patient: An 80 year-old male who has used continuous oxygen for the past three years.
The Situation: While making a home visit, the wife tells the nurse that her husband was doing well on 2
litres of oxygen per minute until late last night when he developed severe shortness of breath on the
way to the bathroom.
The Question: What action should the nurse take first? - (ANSWER)Assess the patient's oxygen
saturation by pulse oximeter.
The Patient: A 41-year-old male.
The Situation: The patient is complaining of severe stomach pain and states that he has been "vomiting
all the time."
The Question: What should the nurse do first? - (ANSWER)Administer a prescribed pain medication.
The Patient: The wife of a wealthy owner of the town's bank.
The Situation: The patient and her husband arrive on the unit. While orienting the patient to the hospital
room, the nurse notices that the patient has placed a large amount of cash and some expensive earrings
in the drawer of the bedside table.
The Question: What is the best action for the nurse to take? - (ANSWER)Advise the patient to have her
husband take the items home when he leaves.
The Patient: A 45-year-old female who is 5' 2" tall, weighs 200 pounds, and has smoked since age 21.
The Situation: The patient comes to the clinic with a complaint of "leg pain."
The Question: It is most important for the nurse to obtain information about which previous
occurrence? - (ANSWER)A previous blood clot in the leg.
The Patient: A 61-year-old female.
, NCLEX HESI EXIT CRITICAL THINKING EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2025
The Situation: The patient has a fever of unknown origin. The nurse administered a fever-reducing
medication 30 minutes ago. At this time there has been no decrease in the patient's fever.
The Question: What action would be best for the nurse to take? - (ANSWER)Sponge the patient with
cool water.
The Patient: A 70-year-old male who is relatively healthy.
The Situation: A liquid mediation is prescribed for this patient.
The Question: Prior to administering the prescribed medication, what intervention has the highest
priority? - (ANSWER)Determine if the patient is allergic to the medication.
The Patient: A fifty-eight-year-old female.
The Situation: While the nurse is offering the patient her morning medications, she tells the nurse that
she does not recall ever taking a pill that was pink-colored.
The Question: What should the nurse do in response to this patient's comment? - (ANSWER)Withhold
the mediation until the patient's prescription is verify.
The Patients:
1. A 63-year-old with a burn on the left lower leg who is complaining of pain.
2. A 45-year-old with pneumonia, complaining of shortness of breath.
3. A 31-year-old with abdominal pain who has just vomited blood.
4. An 88-year-old who has right-sided paralysis and wants to be helped to the bathroom immediately.
The Situation: The nurse is caring for these patients.
The Question: Who should the nurse see first? - (ANSWER)The 45-years old with pneumonia and
shortness of breath.
The Patients:
1. A 13-year-old female with a kidney infection who reports that there is "lots of blood" in her urine.
2. An 18-year-old male with acute alcohol poisoning who is seeing "bugs on the walls."
3. A 21-year-old female with inflammatory bowel disease who has soaked a dressing three hours after
surgery.
The Patient: A 65-year- old male.
The Situation: The family brings the patient to the emergency room because he just took an entire
bottle of pills.
The Question: What action should the nurse take first? - (ANSWER)Determine the patient's level of
consciousness.
The Patient: An 80 year-old male who has used continuous oxygen for the past three years.
The Situation: While making a home visit, the wife tells the nurse that her husband was doing well on 2
litres of oxygen per minute until late last night when he developed severe shortness of breath on the
way to the bathroom.
The Question: What action should the nurse take first? - (ANSWER)Assess the patient's oxygen
saturation by pulse oximeter.
The Patient: A 41-year-old male.
The Situation: The patient is complaining of severe stomach pain and states that he has been "vomiting
all the time."
The Question: What should the nurse do first? - (ANSWER)Administer a prescribed pain medication.
The Patient: The wife of a wealthy owner of the town's bank.
The Situation: The patient and her husband arrive on the unit. While orienting the patient to the hospital
room, the nurse notices that the patient has placed a large amount of cash and some expensive earrings
in the drawer of the bedside table.
The Question: What is the best action for the nurse to take? - (ANSWER)Advise the patient to have her
husband take the items home when he leaves.
The Patient: A 45-year-old female who is 5' 2" tall, weighs 200 pounds, and has smoked since age 21.
The Situation: The patient comes to the clinic with a complaint of "leg pain."
The Question: It is most important for the nurse to obtain information about which previous
occurrence? - (ANSWER)A previous blood clot in the leg.
The Patient: A 61-year-old female.
, NCLEX HESI EXIT CRITICAL THINKING EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2025
The Situation: The patient has a fever of unknown origin. The nurse administered a fever-reducing
medication 30 minutes ago. At this time there has been no decrease in the patient's fever.
The Question: What action would be best for the nurse to take? - (ANSWER)Sponge the patient with
cool water.
The Patient: A 70-year-old male who is relatively healthy.
The Situation: A liquid mediation is prescribed for this patient.
The Question: Prior to administering the prescribed medication, what intervention has the highest
priority? - (ANSWER)Determine if the patient is allergic to the medication.
The Patient: A fifty-eight-year-old female.
The Situation: While the nurse is offering the patient her morning medications, she tells the nurse that
she does not recall ever taking a pill that was pink-colored.
The Question: What should the nurse do in response to this patient's comment? - (ANSWER)Withhold
the mediation until the patient's prescription is verify.
The Patients:
1. A 63-year-old with a burn on the left lower leg who is complaining of pain.
2. A 45-year-old with pneumonia, complaining of shortness of breath.
3. A 31-year-old with abdominal pain who has just vomited blood.
4. An 88-year-old who has right-sided paralysis and wants to be helped to the bathroom immediately.
The Situation: The nurse is caring for these patients.
The Question: Who should the nurse see first? - (ANSWER)The 45-years old with pneumonia and
shortness of breath.
The Patients:
1. A 13-year-old female with a kidney infection who reports that there is "lots of blood" in her urine.
2. An 18-year-old male with acute alcohol poisoning who is seeing "bugs on the walls."
3. A 21-year-old female with inflammatory bowel disease who has soaked a dressing three hours after
surgery.
