HESI Prep – Health Assessment Practice: Comprehensive Head-to-
Toe Assessment Review, Practice Questions, Normal vs Abnormal
Findings, Exam Strategies, and Nursing Exam Success
HESI Prep – Health Assessment Practice helps nursing students master comprehensive patient assessment skills.
This guide includes head-to-toe physical assessment review, vital signs, history taking, inspection, palpation,
percussion, auscultation, normal and abnormal findings, realistic HESI-style practice questions, rationales, and
proven test-taking strategies to succeed on Health Assessment HESI exams.
HESI Prep Health Assessment,
HESI Health Assessment practice,
HESI health assessment practice questions,
HESI physical assessment review
1. 12. Among many Asians there is a belief in the yin/yang theory, rooted in
the ancient Chinese philosophy of Tao. The nurse recognizes which statement
that most accurately reflects "health" in an Asian with this belief?
A) A person is able to work and produce.
B) A person is happy, stable, and feels good.
C) All aspects of the person are in perfect balance.
D) A person is able to care for others and function socially.: C) All aspects of
the person are in perfect balance.
Page: 21 Many Asians believe in the yin/yang theory, in which health is believed to
exist when all aspects of the person are in perfect balance. The other statements do
not describe this theory.
2. 14. If an American Indian has come to the clinic to seek help with regulating
her diabetes, the nurse can expect that she:
,A) will comply with the treatment prescribed.
B) has obviously given up her beliefs in naturalistic causes of disease.
C) may also be seeking the assistance of a shaman or medicine man.
D) will need extra help in dealing with her illness and may be experiencing a
crisis of faith.: C) may also be seeking the assistance of a shaman or medicine
man.
Page: 23 When self-treatment is unsuccessful, the individual may turn to the lay or
folk healing systems, to spiritual or religious healing, or to scientific biomedicine. In
addition to seeking help from a biomedical or scientific health care provider, patients
may also seek help from folk or religious healers.
3. 15. An elderly Mexican-American woman with traditional beliefs has been
admitted to an inpatient care unit. A culturally-sensitive nurse would:
A) contact the hospital administrator about the best course of action.
B) automatically get a curandero for her because it is not culturally appropriate
for her to request one.
C) further assess the patient's cultural beliefs and offer the patient assistance
in contacting a curandero or priest if she desires.
D) ask the family what they would like to do because Mexican-Americans
traditionally give control of decisions to their families.: C) further assess the
patient's cultural beliefs and offer the patient assistance in contacting a curandero
or priest if she desires.
Pages: 22-23 In addition to seeking help from the biomedical/scientific health care
provider, patients may also seek help from folk or religious healers. Some people,
such as those of Mexican-American or American Indian origins, may believe that
the cure is incomplete unless the body, mind, and spirit are also healed (although
the division of the person into parts is a Western concept).
4. 16. The nurse is reviewing concepts of cultural aspects of pain. Which
statement is true regarding pain?
A) All patients will behave the same way when in pain.
B) Just as patients vary in their perceptions of pain, so will they vary in their
expressions of pain.
C) Cultural norms have very little to do with pain tolerance, because pain
tolerance is always biologically determined.
D) A patient's expression of pain is largely dependent on the amount of tissue
injury associated with the pain.: B) Just as patients vary in their perceptions of
pain, so will they vary in their expressions of pain.
, Page: 25 In addition to expecting variations in pain perception and tolerance, the
nurse should expect variations in the expression of pain. It is well known that
individuals turn to their social environment for validation and comparison. The other
statements are incorrect.
5. The nurse is interviewing a patient who has a hearing impairment. What
techniques would be most beneficial in communicating with this patient?
A) Determine the communication method he prefers.
B) Avoid using facial and hand gestures because most hearing-impaired
people find this degrading.
C) Request a sign language interpreter before meeting with him to help
facilitate the communication.
D) Speak loudly and with exaggerated facial movement when talking with him
because this helps with lip reading.: A) Determine the communication method he
prefers.
Pages: 40-41 The nurse should ask the deaf person the preferred way to commu-
nicate—by signing, lip reading, or writing. If the person prefers lip reading, then the
nurse should be sure to face him or her squarely and have good lighting on the
nurse's face. The nurse should not exaggerate lip movements because this distorts
words. Similarly, shouting distorts the reception of a hearing aid the person may
wear. The nurse should speak slowly and should supplement his or her voice with
appropriate hand gestures or pantomime.
6. 7. A female patient does not speak English well, and the nurse needs to
choose an interpreter. Which of the following would be the most appropriate
choice?
A) A trained interpreter
B) A male family member
C) A female family member
D) A volunteer college student from the foreign language studies department-
: A) A trained interpreter
Page: 46 whenever possible, the nurse should use a trained interpreter, preferably
one who knows medical terminology. In general, an older, more mature interpreter
is preferred to a younger, less experienced one, and the same gender is preferred
when possible.
7. 11. In the majority culture of America, coughing, sweating, and diarrhea are
symptoms of an illness. For some individuals of Mexican-American origin,
Toe Assessment Review, Practice Questions, Normal vs Abnormal
Findings, Exam Strategies, and Nursing Exam Success
HESI Prep – Health Assessment Practice helps nursing students master comprehensive patient assessment skills.
This guide includes head-to-toe physical assessment review, vital signs, history taking, inspection, palpation,
percussion, auscultation, normal and abnormal findings, realistic HESI-style practice questions, rationales, and
proven test-taking strategies to succeed on Health Assessment HESI exams.
HESI Prep Health Assessment,
HESI Health Assessment practice,
HESI health assessment practice questions,
HESI physical assessment review
1. 12. Among many Asians there is a belief in the yin/yang theory, rooted in
the ancient Chinese philosophy of Tao. The nurse recognizes which statement
that most accurately reflects "health" in an Asian with this belief?
A) A person is able to work and produce.
B) A person is happy, stable, and feels good.
C) All aspects of the person are in perfect balance.
D) A person is able to care for others and function socially.: C) All aspects of
the person are in perfect balance.
Page: 21 Many Asians believe in the yin/yang theory, in which health is believed to
exist when all aspects of the person are in perfect balance. The other statements do
not describe this theory.
2. 14. If an American Indian has come to the clinic to seek help with regulating
her diabetes, the nurse can expect that she:
,A) will comply with the treatment prescribed.
B) has obviously given up her beliefs in naturalistic causes of disease.
C) may also be seeking the assistance of a shaman or medicine man.
D) will need extra help in dealing with her illness and may be experiencing a
crisis of faith.: C) may also be seeking the assistance of a shaman or medicine
man.
Page: 23 When self-treatment is unsuccessful, the individual may turn to the lay or
folk healing systems, to spiritual or religious healing, or to scientific biomedicine. In
addition to seeking help from a biomedical or scientific health care provider, patients
may also seek help from folk or religious healers.
3. 15. An elderly Mexican-American woman with traditional beliefs has been
admitted to an inpatient care unit. A culturally-sensitive nurse would:
A) contact the hospital administrator about the best course of action.
B) automatically get a curandero for her because it is not culturally appropriate
for her to request one.
C) further assess the patient's cultural beliefs and offer the patient assistance
in contacting a curandero or priest if she desires.
D) ask the family what they would like to do because Mexican-Americans
traditionally give control of decisions to their families.: C) further assess the
patient's cultural beliefs and offer the patient assistance in contacting a curandero
or priest if she desires.
Pages: 22-23 In addition to seeking help from the biomedical/scientific health care
provider, patients may also seek help from folk or religious healers. Some people,
such as those of Mexican-American or American Indian origins, may believe that
the cure is incomplete unless the body, mind, and spirit are also healed (although
the division of the person into parts is a Western concept).
4. 16. The nurse is reviewing concepts of cultural aspects of pain. Which
statement is true regarding pain?
A) All patients will behave the same way when in pain.
B) Just as patients vary in their perceptions of pain, so will they vary in their
expressions of pain.
C) Cultural norms have very little to do with pain tolerance, because pain
tolerance is always biologically determined.
D) A patient's expression of pain is largely dependent on the amount of tissue
injury associated with the pain.: B) Just as patients vary in their perceptions of
pain, so will they vary in their expressions of pain.
, Page: 25 In addition to expecting variations in pain perception and tolerance, the
nurse should expect variations in the expression of pain. It is well known that
individuals turn to their social environment for validation and comparison. The other
statements are incorrect.
5. The nurse is interviewing a patient who has a hearing impairment. What
techniques would be most beneficial in communicating with this patient?
A) Determine the communication method he prefers.
B) Avoid using facial and hand gestures because most hearing-impaired
people find this degrading.
C) Request a sign language interpreter before meeting with him to help
facilitate the communication.
D) Speak loudly and with exaggerated facial movement when talking with him
because this helps with lip reading.: A) Determine the communication method he
prefers.
Pages: 40-41 The nurse should ask the deaf person the preferred way to commu-
nicate—by signing, lip reading, or writing. If the person prefers lip reading, then the
nurse should be sure to face him or her squarely and have good lighting on the
nurse's face. The nurse should not exaggerate lip movements because this distorts
words. Similarly, shouting distorts the reception of a hearing aid the person may
wear. The nurse should speak slowly and should supplement his or her voice with
appropriate hand gestures or pantomime.
6. 7. A female patient does not speak English well, and the nurse needs to
choose an interpreter. Which of the following would be the most appropriate
choice?
A) A trained interpreter
B) A male family member
C) A female family member
D) A volunteer college student from the foreign language studies department-
: A) A trained interpreter
Page: 46 whenever possible, the nurse should use a trained interpreter, preferably
one who knows medical terminology. In general, an older, more mature interpreter
is preferred to a younger, less experienced one, and the same gender is preferred
when possible.
7. 11. In the majority culture of America, coughing, sweating, and diarrhea are
symptoms of an illness. For some individuals of Mexican-American origin,
