NCLEX-PN Review 2026 by Mary
Ann Hogan | Practice Questions with
Detailed Rationales
1. A client is referred to a surgeon by the general practitioner. After
meeting the surgeon, the client decides to find a different surgeon to
continue treatment. The nurse supports the client's action, utilizing
which ethical principle
1. Beneficence
2.Veracity
3. Autonomy
4. Privacy - answer-Answer 3: Autonomy is the right of individuals to
take action for themselves. Beneficence is duty to help others by doing
what is best for them, whereas negligence is a legal term. Veracity is
truthfulness. Privacy is the nondisclosure of information by the health
care team.
2. A nurse forgets to administer a client's diuretic and the client
experiences an episode of pulmonary edema. This medication error
would be considered negligence if it constituted which of the following?
1. The purposeful failure to perform a health care procedure
2. The unintentional failure to perform a health care procedure
3. The act of substituting a different medication for the one
ordered</choice_3>
,4. Failure to follow a direct order by a physician - answer-Answer 2:
Negligence is the unintentional failure of an individual to perform or
not perform an act that a reasonable person would or would not do in
the same or similar circumstances. Options 3 and 4 do not fit the
description of the event, and option 1 is the opposite of option 2.
3. A new graduate nurse orientee plans to show an adolescent client a
video about self-injection technique. A staff nurse remarks, "I gave the
client written literature yesterday, so the video probably isn't
necessary." The nurse orientee proceeds with showing the video and
discussing the skill with the adolescent after engaging in decision
making related to which of the following?
1. Autonomy
2. Informed consent
3. Paternalism
4. Noncompliance - answer-1</correct>
<rationale>The nurse is exercising autonomy, the right to make one's
own decision. Nurses who follow this principle recognize that each
client is unique. In this situation, perhaps because of the developmental
level, the nurse assessed that a video would be a better teaching-
learning method than written literature. Paternalism restricts the
freedom of the individual because another determines choices.
Noncompliance occurs when an individual is fully aware of the
consequences yet chooses the action anyway. Informed consent is
providing agreement to undergo treatment following a description of a
procedure with the risks, benefits, and alternatives explained.
,4.A client asks why a diagnostic test has been ordered and the nurse
replies, "I'm unsure but will find out for you." When the nurse later
returns and provides an explanation, the nurse is acting under which
principle?
1. Nonmaleficence
2. Veracity
3. Beneficence
4. Fidelity - answer-4</correct>
<rationale>Fidelity means to be faithful to agreements and promises.
This nurse is acting on the client's behalf to obtain needed information
and report it back to the client. Nonmaleficence is duty to do no harm.
Veracity refers to telling the truth—for example, not lying to a client
about a serious prognosis. Beneficence means doing good, such as by
implementing actions (keeping a salt shaker out of sight) that benefit a
client (heart condition requiring sodium-restricted diet).
5.An individual has a seizure while walking down the street. During the
seizure, a nurse from a physician's office is noticed driving past without
stopping to assist. The individual sues the nurse for negligence but fails
to win a judgment for which of the following reasons
<choice_1>The nurse had no duty to the individual.</choice_1>
<choice_2>The nurse did what most nurses would do in the same
circumstance.</choice_2>
, <choice_3>The nurse did not cause the client's injuries.</choice_3>
<choice_4>The nurse was off-duty at that time.</choice_4> - answer-
1</correct>
<rationale>The nurse must have a relationship with the client that
involves providing care. The relationship is usually a component of
employment. Options 2 and 4 are false. Option 3 is a true statement,
but is not the one that applies to this case.</rationale>
6.>The nurse is participating in a seminar about legal and ethical
practice of nursing for continuing education credit. Which statement by
a nurse best describes the relationship between law and ethics for the
practice of nursing?
<choice_1>"The ethics of a discipline attempt to formulate and justify
responses to moral dilemmas and may or may not be regulated by
law."</choice_1>
<choice_2>"Laws dictate the ethics of nursing as they reflect societal
choices about the ordering of relationships in society."</choice_2>
<choice_3>"Ethics represent the moral customs of an individual nurse;
therefore, they cannot be regulated by the law."</choice_3>
Ann Hogan | Practice Questions with
Detailed Rationales
1. A client is referred to a surgeon by the general practitioner. After
meeting the surgeon, the client decides to find a different surgeon to
continue treatment. The nurse supports the client's action, utilizing
which ethical principle
1. Beneficence
2.Veracity
3. Autonomy
4. Privacy - answer-Answer 3: Autonomy is the right of individuals to
take action for themselves. Beneficence is duty to help others by doing
what is best for them, whereas negligence is a legal term. Veracity is
truthfulness. Privacy is the nondisclosure of information by the health
care team.
2. A nurse forgets to administer a client's diuretic and the client
experiences an episode of pulmonary edema. This medication error
would be considered negligence if it constituted which of the following?
1. The purposeful failure to perform a health care procedure
2. The unintentional failure to perform a health care procedure
3. The act of substituting a different medication for the one
ordered</choice_3>
,4. Failure to follow a direct order by a physician - answer-Answer 2:
Negligence is the unintentional failure of an individual to perform or
not perform an act that a reasonable person would or would not do in
the same or similar circumstances. Options 3 and 4 do not fit the
description of the event, and option 1 is the opposite of option 2.
3. A new graduate nurse orientee plans to show an adolescent client a
video about self-injection technique. A staff nurse remarks, "I gave the
client written literature yesterday, so the video probably isn't
necessary." The nurse orientee proceeds with showing the video and
discussing the skill with the adolescent after engaging in decision
making related to which of the following?
1. Autonomy
2. Informed consent
3. Paternalism
4. Noncompliance - answer-1</correct>
<rationale>The nurse is exercising autonomy, the right to make one's
own decision. Nurses who follow this principle recognize that each
client is unique. In this situation, perhaps because of the developmental
level, the nurse assessed that a video would be a better teaching-
learning method than written literature. Paternalism restricts the
freedom of the individual because another determines choices.
Noncompliance occurs when an individual is fully aware of the
consequences yet chooses the action anyway. Informed consent is
providing agreement to undergo treatment following a description of a
procedure with the risks, benefits, and alternatives explained.
,4.A client asks why a diagnostic test has been ordered and the nurse
replies, "I'm unsure but will find out for you." When the nurse later
returns and provides an explanation, the nurse is acting under which
principle?
1. Nonmaleficence
2. Veracity
3. Beneficence
4. Fidelity - answer-4</correct>
<rationale>Fidelity means to be faithful to agreements and promises.
This nurse is acting on the client's behalf to obtain needed information
and report it back to the client. Nonmaleficence is duty to do no harm.
Veracity refers to telling the truth—for example, not lying to a client
about a serious prognosis. Beneficence means doing good, such as by
implementing actions (keeping a salt shaker out of sight) that benefit a
client (heart condition requiring sodium-restricted diet).
5.An individual has a seizure while walking down the street. During the
seizure, a nurse from a physician's office is noticed driving past without
stopping to assist. The individual sues the nurse for negligence but fails
to win a judgment for which of the following reasons
<choice_1>The nurse had no duty to the individual.</choice_1>
<choice_2>The nurse did what most nurses would do in the same
circumstance.</choice_2>
, <choice_3>The nurse did not cause the client's injuries.</choice_3>
<choice_4>The nurse was off-duty at that time.</choice_4> - answer-
1</correct>
<rationale>The nurse must have a relationship with the client that
involves providing care. The relationship is usually a component of
employment. Options 2 and 4 are false. Option 3 is a true statement,
but is not the one that applies to this case.</rationale>
6.>The nurse is participating in a seminar about legal and ethical
practice of nursing for continuing education credit. Which statement by
a nurse best describes the relationship between law and ethics for the
practice of nursing?
<choice_1>"The ethics of a discipline attempt to formulate and justify
responses to moral dilemmas and may or may not be regulated by
law."</choice_1>
<choice_2>"Laws dictate the ethics of nursing as they reflect societal
choices about the ordering of relationships in society."</choice_2>
<choice_3>"Ethics represent the moral customs of an individual nurse;
therefore, they cannot be regulated by the law."</choice_3>
