Page 1 of 101
HESI Prep Health Assessment Practice
EXAM LATEST UPDATE 2026-2027
QUESTIONS AND DETAILED SOLUTIONS
Question: 26. The nurse is conducting a developmental history on a 5-year-old child. Which
questions are appropriate to ask the parents for this part of the assessment? Select all that
apply.
A. "How much junk food does your child eat?"
B. "How many teeth has he lost, and when did he lose them?"
C. "Is he able to tie his shoelaces?"
D. "Does he take a children's vitamin?"
E. "Can he tell time?"
F. "Does he have any food allergies?" - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔B. "How many teeth has he lost,
and when did he lose them?"
C. "Is he able to tie his shoelaces?"
E. "Can he tell time?"
, Page 2 of 101
Page: 61. Questions about tooth loss, ability to tell time, and ability to tie shoelaces are
appropriate questions for a developmental assessment. Questions about junk food intake and
vitamins are part of a nutritional history. Questions about food allergies are not part of a
developmental history.
Question: 27. During an examination, the nurse can assess mental status by which activity?
A) Examining the patient's electroencephalogram
B) Observing the patient as he or she performs an IQ test
C) Observing the patient and inferring health or dysfunction
D) Examining the patient's response to a specific set of questions - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔C)
Observing the patient and inferring health or dysfunction
Page: 71. Mental status cannot be scrutinized directly like the characteristics of skin or heart
sounds. Its functioning is inferred through assessment of an individual's behaviors, such as
consciousness, language, mood and affect, and other aspects.
, Page 3 of 101
Question: 28. The nurse is assessing a 75-year-old man. As the nurse begins the mental status
portion of the assessment, the nurse expects that this patient:
A) will have no decrease in any of his abilities, including response time.
B) will have difficulty on tests of remote memory because this typically decreases with age.
C) may take a little longer to respond, but his general knowledge and abilities should not have
declined.
D) will have had a decrease in his response time because of language loss and a decrease in
general knowledge. - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔C) may take a little longer to respond, but his
general knowledge and abilities should not have declined.
Page: 72. The aging process leaves the parameters of mental status mostly intact. There is no
decrease in general knowledge and little or no loss in vocabulary. Response time is slower than
in youth. It takes a bit longer for the brain to process information and to react to it. Recent
memory, which requires some processing is somewhat decreased with aging, but remote
memory is not affected.
, Page 4 of 101
Question: 29. The nurse is preparing to do a mental status examination. Which statement is
true regarding the mental status examination?
A) A patient's family is the best resource for information about the patient's coping skills.
B) It is usually sufficient to gather mental status information during the health history interview.
C) It takes an enormous amount of extra time to integrate the mental status examination into
the health history interview.
D) It is usually necessary to perform a complete mental status examination to get a good idea of
the patient's level of functioning. - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔B) It is usually sufficient to gather
mental status information during the health history interview.
Page: 73. The full mental status examination is a systematic check of emotional and cognitive
functioning. The steps described here, though, rarely need to be taken in their entirety. Usually,
one can assess mental status through the context of the health history interview.
Q:1. In an interview, the nurse may find it necessary to take notes to aid his or her memory
later. Which statement is true regarding note-taking?
HESI Prep Health Assessment Practice
EXAM LATEST UPDATE 2026-2027
QUESTIONS AND DETAILED SOLUTIONS
Question: 26. The nurse is conducting a developmental history on a 5-year-old child. Which
questions are appropriate to ask the parents for this part of the assessment? Select all that
apply.
A. "How much junk food does your child eat?"
B. "How many teeth has he lost, and when did he lose them?"
C. "Is he able to tie his shoelaces?"
D. "Does he take a children's vitamin?"
E. "Can he tell time?"
F. "Does he have any food allergies?" - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔B. "How many teeth has he lost,
and when did he lose them?"
C. "Is he able to tie his shoelaces?"
E. "Can he tell time?"
, Page 2 of 101
Page: 61. Questions about tooth loss, ability to tell time, and ability to tie shoelaces are
appropriate questions for a developmental assessment. Questions about junk food intake and
vitamins are part of a nutritional history. Questions about food allergies are not part of a
developmental history.
Question: 27. During an examination, the nurse can assess mental status by which activity?
A) Examining the patient's electroencephalogram
B) Observing the patient as he or she performs an IQ test
C) Observing the patient and inferring health or dysfunction
D) Examining the patient's response to a specific set of questions - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔C)
Observing the patient and inferring health or dysfunction
Page: 71. Mental status cannot be scrutinized directly like the characteristics of skin or heart
sounds. Its functioning is inferred through assessment of an individual's behaviors, such as
consciousness, language, mood and affect, and other aspects.
, Page 3 of 101
Question: 28. The nurse is assessing a 75-year-old man. As the nurse begins the mental status
portion of the assessment, the nurse expects that this patient:
A) will have no decrease in any of his abilities, including response time.
B) will have difficulty on tests of remote memory because this typically decreases with age.
C) may take a little longer to respond, but his general knowledge and abilities should not have
declined.
D) will have had a decrease in his response time because of language loss and a decrease in
general knowledge. - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔C) may take a little longer to respond, but his
general knowledge and abilities should not have declined.
Page: 72. The aging process leaves the parameters of mental status mostly intact. There is no
decrease in general knowledge and little or no loss in vocabulary. Response time is slower than
in youth. It takes a bit longer for the brain to process information and to react to it. Recent
memory, which requires some processing is somewhat decreased with aging, but remote
memory is not affected.
, Page 4 of 101
Question: 29. The nurse is preparing to do a mental status examination. Which statement is
true regarding the mental status examination?
A) A patient's family is the best resource for information about the patient's coping skills.
B) It is usually sufficient to gather mental status information during the health history interview.
C) It takes an enormous amount of extra time to integrate the mental status examination into
the health history interview.
D) It is usually necessary to perform a complete mental status examination to get a good idea of
the patient's level of functioning. - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔B) It is usually sufficient to gather
mental status information during the health history interview.
Page: 73. The full mental status examination is a systematic check of emotional and cognitive
functioning. The steps described here, though, rarely need to be taken in their entirety. Usually,
one can assess mental status through the context of the health history interview.
Q:1. In an interview, the nurse may find it necessary to take notes to aid his or her memory
later. Which statement is true regarding note-taking?
