NSE101 – EXAM QUESTIONS WITH 100%
CORRECT ANSWERS | LATEST VERSION
(2024|2025) EXPERT VERIFIED
Transaction - Answer- Frames communication as integrated into social realities in such
a way that it helps communicators not only to understand them, but also to create and
change them.
Recognizes how communication generates social realities
- Describes communication as a process in which communicators generate social
realities within social, relational, and cultural contexts
- We communicate to: create relationships, form intercultural alliances, shape self-
concept, engage with others in dialogue to create communities
- suggests that you are simultaneously a sender and receiver
PROS: offers more breadth and understanding of how intra-personal, interpersonal, and
contextual factors are at play in communication. People often make assumptions
predicated on these contextual factors, and therefore it is important to acknowledge
these elements in practicing and learning about good communication.
CONS: requires analysis and critical reflection. It requires a broader understanding of
historical, political, and social structures that affect communication. The specific factors
affecting a particular communication encounter may or may not be possible to uncover.
Trauma-informed approach - Answer- - Involves integrating an understanding of the
need for: Physical and emotional safety, Choice and control, Empowerment
- Involves emphasizing confidentiality, identifying the interview purpose, letting the client
set the pace of the interview and shaping it based on their needs, and engaging in
collaborative intervention so that the client is in control and empowered
- useful because you will often not know who has experienced trauma or the
circumstances of their trauma.
- does not require the client to disclose their experience and thereby risk re-traumatizing
them through repeated disclosure
Ex. I'd like to talk to you about your mental health and your physical health, what area
would you like to talk about first?
Relational Practice - Answer- - attends to the broader social context in which clients and
their support systems are situated
- This approach is an especially helpful tool for family-centred care. It also requires skill
and knowledge because it demands active listening and critical thinking. Unlike closed-
ended checklists, you cannot predict how the conversation will unfold.
,Relational Practice: Intrapersonal - Answer- communicating with the client in a way that
allows you to assess what is occurring within all people involved (the client, you, and
others).
Relational Practice: Interpersonal - Answer- communicating with the client in a way that
allows you to assess what is occurring among and between all people involved.
Relational Practice: Contextual - Answer- communicating with the client in a way that
allows you to assess what is occurring around the people and situation involved.
Anti-Racist - Answer- Focus is acknowledging and working to address power inequities
and systemic bias predicated on race as well as unearned privilege that is afforded to
non-racialized people.
- Concept of white privilege: refers to advantage afforded to those who are non-
racialized over persons of other racial backgrounds
- important to embody an anti-racist approach to communication. It often begins with
self-reflection and consideration of other peoples' perspectives.
- involves an active process of changing attitudes, beliefs, practices, and policies with
the goal of dismantling systemic hierarchy and oppressive power.
- As a nurse, you must acknowledge and work to address power inequities and
systemic bias predicated on race as well as unearned privilege that is afforded to non-
racialized people.
CNO therapeutic communication - Answer- Nurses use a wide range of effective
communication strategies and interpersonal skills to establish, maintain, re-establish,
and terminate the nurse-client relationships.
- Introducing self as a nurse, Referring to client, Listening to the client and family
- Attending to, and tailoring, communication style
- Collaborating and client choice, Recognizing that all behaviour has meaning,
Refraining from self-disclosure unless it has therapeutic value, Self-reflection
Subjective data and the interview (primary and secondary source) - Answer-
Communication with the client to collect subjective data
Care partners
Primary and secondary source
- Involves communicating with the client - who is considered the primary source - to
collect subjective data (i.e., information that the client shares with you or the client's
family/friends). The client interview may also involve collecting data from secondary
sources such as family, friends, care partners, and other healthcare providers.
Preparing for the interview and beginning the interview - Answer- filler
,Review client record - Answer- - so that you have a general overview of the client's main
health needs/reason for seeking care and health history. If the client is already admitted,
this review will not only give you an overview of the health history, but also their last 24
hours.
- Conveys your interest and competence as a provider
- Allows you to follow up on missing data
- Saves the client from repetition
- Allows you to identify any changes in the client's health status
Leverage the environment - Answer- - Create a quiet location so that both you and the
client can hear and communicate.
- Establish a welcoming environment, which may include offering the client a place to sit
and avoiding physical barriers between you and the client such as a desk.
- Attend to the client's physical comfort, which may include offering them a drink of
water and inviting them to take their coat off or have a place for them to put their
bag/purse.
- Create an inclusive space in which care partners are invited to be part of the interview
based on the client's wishes.
- Ensure a private space so that the client feels comfortable to share personal
information and that this information is kept confidential.
- Maintain professional boundaries (CNO, 2019a) this facilitates a trusting and
therapeutic relationship between nurse and client.
Privacy and Confidentiality - Answer- - Clients have the right to have their personal
health info kept private
- You must emphasize that client data is kept confidential and only shared with relevant
members of the healthcare team directly involved in the client's care.
- The client owns their personal health information; as a custodian of this information,
you must request permission before disclosure
Reporting of abuse - Answer- Child abuse and neglect: While assessing an 8-year-old
client, the nurse suspects abuse or neglect. Who is the nurse legally obligated to report
this to? → The Children's Aid Society
Elder abuse when living in a retirement or a long-term care home in Ontario
Must report to CNO, if you observe or a client discloses a nurse who poses a serious
risk of harm to patients
Closed-ended questions - Answer- - direct questions that you ask when you are seeking
precise information.
- generate a short answer and do not facilitate a dialogue.
Ex.
- "Do you smoke?"
- "Have you been tested for TB?"
, - "What year were you born?"
- "Do you take the medication as directed?"
- "When did your rash start?"
Open-ended questions - Answer- - types of questions that invite the client to share
descriptive answers, open up about their experience, and answer in a way that is most
relevant or comfortable from their perspective.
- provides the opportunity for you to probe further.
ex.
- "What was going on in your life when you first started feeling depressed?"
- "Tell me about when you first started smoking."
- "How have you been feeling in the past week?"
- "Tell me about the challenges you are having with your medication regimen?"
Probing questions - Answer- - types of questions and statements that allow you to
gather more subjective data based on a client's response.
- can also be used to summarize and clarify a client's response or resolve discrepancies
that you identify.
- can be open- or closed-ended.
Ex.
- "Tell me more."
- "How did that affect you?"
- "When talking about your health, you said 'don't cross the bridge til you come to it,' can
you tell me what you mean by that?"
- "You said that you are doing 'well' since your partner's death, but I noticed that you are
teary eyed as you are speaking about them. Can you talk a bit about that?"
Communication strategies (eye contact, facilitation, silence, empathy, honesty,
unconditional positive regard, permission statements) - Answer- filler
Clear and simple language - Answer- - best to avoid or limit medical and professional
language that clients may not understand.
- By speaking simply and clearly, you include clients regardless of their professional or
educational point of reference.
Active listening - Answer- Facilitation: a nursing intervention defined as promoting the
ability to process and comprehend information.
- Paraphrasing
- type of listening that shows you are engaged in the conversation and that you hear
and understand what the client is saying.
- important to facilitate your understanding of, and the integration of, client's
experiences, preferences, and health goals into their care.
CORRECT ANSWERS | LATEST VERSION
(2024|2025) EXPERT VERIFIED
Transaction - Answer- Frames communication as integrated into social realities in such
a way that it helps communicators not only to understand them, but also to create and
change them.
Recognizes how communication generates social realities
- Describes communication as a process in which communicators generate social
realities within social, relational, and cultural contexts
- We communicate to: create relationships, form intercultural alliances, shape self-
concept, engage with others in dialogue to create communities
- suggests that you are simultaneously a sender and receiver
PROS: offers more breadth and understanding of how intra-personal, interpersonal, and
contextual factors are at play in communication. People often make assumptions
predicated on these contextual factors, and therefore it is important to acknowledge
these elements in practicing and learning about good communication.
CONS: requires analysis and critical reflection. It requires a broader understanding of
historical, political, and social structures that affect communication. The specific factors
affecting a particular communication encounter may or may not be possible to uncover.
Trauma-informed approach - Answer- - Involves integrating an understanding of the
need for: Physical and emotional safety, Choice and control, Empowerment
- Involves emphasizing confidentiality, identifying the interview purpose, letting the client
set the pace of the interview and shaping it based on their needs, and engaging in
collaborative intervention so that the client is in control and empowered
- useful because you will often not know who has experienced trauma or the
circumstances of their trauma.
- does not require the client to disclose their experience and thereby risk re-traumatizing
them through repeated disclosure
Ex. I'd like to talk to you about your mental health and your physical health, what area
would you like to talk about first?
Relational Practice - Answer- - attends to the broader social context in which clients and
their support systems are situated
- This approach is an especially helpful tool for family-centred care. It also requires skill
and knowledge because it demands active listening and critical thinking. Unlike closed-
ended checklists, you cannot predict how the conversation will unfold.
,Relational Practice: Intrapersonal - Answer- communicating with the client in a way that
allows you to assess what is occurring within all people involved (the client, you, and
others).
Relational Practice: Interpersonal - Answer- communicating with the client in a way that
allows you to assess what is occurring among and between all people involved.
Relational Practice: Contextual - Answer- communicating with the client in a way that
allows you to assess what is occurring around the people and situation involved.
Anti-Racist - Answer- Focus is acknowledging and working to address power inequities
and systemic bias predicated on race as well as unearned privilege that is afforded to
non-racialized people.
- Concept of white privilege: refers to advantage afforded to those who are non-
racialized over persons of other racial backgrounds
- important to embody an anti-racist approach to communication. It often begins with
self-reflection and consideration of other peoples' perspectives.
- involves an active process of changing attitudes, beliefs, practices, and policies with
the goal of dismantling systemic hierarchy and oppressive power.
- As a nurse, you must acknowledge and work to address power inequities and
systemic bias predicated on race as well as unearned privilege that is afforded to non-
racialized people.
CNO therapeutic communication - Answer- Nurses use a wide range of effective
communication strategies and interpersonal skills to establish, maintain, re-establish,
and terminate the nurse-client relationships.
- Introducing self as a nurse, Referring to client, Listening to the client and family
- Attending to, and tailoring, communication style
- Collaborating and client choice, Recognizing that all behaviour has meaning,
Refraining from self-disclosure unless it has therapeutic value, Self-reflection
Subjective data and the interview (primary and secondary source) - Answer-
Communication with the client to collect subjective data
Care partners
Primary and secondary source
- Involves communicating with the client - who is considered the primary source - to
collect subjective data (i.e., information that the client shares with you or the client's
family/friends). The client interview may also involve collecting data from secondary
sources such as family, friends, care partners, and other healthcare providers.
Preparing for the interview and beginning the interview - Answer- filler
,Review client record - Answer- - so that you have a general overview of the client's main
health needs/reason for seeking care and health history. If the client is already admitted,
this review will not only give you an overview of the health history, but also their last 24
hours.
- Conveys your interest and competence as a provider
- Allows you to follow up on missing data
- Saves the client from repetition
- Allows you to identify any changes in the client's health status
Leverage the environment - Answer- - Create a quiet location so that both you and the
client can hear and communicate.
- Establish a welcoming environment, which may include offering the client a place to sit
and avoiding physical barriers between you and the client such as a desk.
- Attend to the client's physical comfort, which may include offering them a drink of
water and inviting them to take their coat off or have a place for them to put their
bag/purse.
- Create an inclusive space in which care partners are invited to be part of the interview
based on the client's wishes.
- Ensure a private space so that the client feels comfortable to share personal
information and that this information is kept confidential.
- Maintain professional boundaries (CNO, 2019a) this facilitates a trusting and
therapeutic relationship between nurse and client.
Privacy and Confidentiality - Answer- - Clients have the right to have their personal
health info kept private
- You must emphasize that client data is kept confidential and only shared with relevant
members of the healthcare team directly involved in the client's care.
- The client owns their personal health information; as a custodian of this information,
you must request permission before disclosure
Reporting of abuse - Answer- Child abuse and neglect: While assessing an 8-year-old
client, the nurse suspects abuse or neglect. Who is the nurse legally obligated to report
this to? → The Children's Aid Society
Elder abuse when living in a retirement or a long-term care home in Ontario
Must report to CNO, if you observe or a client discloses a nurse who poses a serious
risk of harm to patients
Closed-ended questions - Answer- - direct questions that you ask when you are seeking
precise information.
- generate a short answer and do not facilitate a dialogue.
Ex.
- "Do you smoke?"
- "Have you been tested for TB?"
, - "What year were you born?"
- "Do you take the medication as directed?"
- "When did your rash start?"
Open-ended questions - Answer- - types of questions that invite the client to share
descriptive answers, open up about their experience, and answer in a way that is most
relevant or comfortable from their perspective.
- provides the opportunity for you to probe further.
ex.
- "What was going on in your life when you first started feeling depressed?"
- "Tell me about when you first started smoking."
- "How have you been feeling in the past week?"
- "Tell me about the challenges you are having with your medication regimen?"
Probing questions - Answer- - types of questions and statements that allow you to
gather more subjective data based on a client's response.
- can also be used to summarize and clarify a client's response or resolve discrepancies
that you identify.
- can be open- or closed-ended.
Ex.
- "Tell me more."
- "How did that affect you?"
- "When talking about your health, you said 'don't cross the bridge til you come to it,' can
you tell me what you mean by that?"
- "You said that you are doing 'well' since your partner's death, but I noticed that you are
teary eyed as you are speaking about them. Can you talk a bit about that?"
Communication strategies (eye contact, facilitation, silence, empathy, honesty,
unconditional positive regard, permission statements) - Answer- filler
Clear and simple language - Answer- - best to avoid or limit medical and professional
language that clients may not understand.
- By speaking simply and clearly, you include clients regardless of their professional or
educational point of reference.
Active listening - Answer- Facilitation: a nursing intervention defined as promoting the
ability to process and comprehend information.
- Paraphrasing
- type of listening that shows you are engaged in the conversation and that you hear
and understand what the client is saying.
- important to facilitate your understanding of, and the integration of, client's
experiences, preferences, and health goals into their care.
