[DOCUMENT TITLE]
NUR 240 HESI MED SURG REVIEW Exam
Questions and Answers with Rationales Graded A+
Latest update 2026 UPDATE
• A client is being discharged following radioactive seed implantation for
prostate cancer. What is the most important information that the nurse should
provide to this client’s family?
A. Follow exposure precautions.
B. Encourage regular meals.
C. Collect all urine.
D. Avoid touching the client.
Rationale:
Clients being treated for prostate cancer with radioactive seed implants should be
instructed regarding the amount of time and distance needed to prevent excessive
exposure that would pose a hazard to others. Option B is a good suggestion to
promote adequate nutrition but is not as important as option A. Option C is
unnecessary. Contact with the client is permitted but should be brief to limit
radiation exposure.
• In assessing a client with an arteriovenous (AV) shunt who is scheduled for
dialysis today, the nurse notes the absence of a thrill or bruit at the shunt site.
What action should the nurse take?
pg. 1
, [DOCUMENT TITLE]
A. Advise the client that the shunt is intact and ready for dialysis as scheduled.
B. Encourage the client to keep the shunt site elevated above the level of the
heart.
C. Notify the health care provider of the findings immediately.
D. Flush the site at least once with a heparinized saline solution.
Rationale:
Absence of a thrill or bruit indicates that the shunt may be obstructed. The nurse
should notify the health care provider so that intervention can be initiated to restore
function of the shunt. Option A is incorrect. Option B will not resolve the
obstruction. An AV shunt is internal and cannot be flushed without access using
special needles.
• The nurse is concerned about infection for a client after an
esophagogastrostomy for esophageal cancer. Which actions should the nurse
include in the client’s plan of care? (Select all that apply.) A. Frequent oral care
every 2 hours while awake.
B. Use incentive spirometer every 2 hours.
C. Empty contents from NG tube every 8 hours.
D. Ambulate within 1 hour of return from the PACU.
E. Limit visitors until postoperative day 2.
Rationale:
pg. 2
, [DOCUMENT TITLE]
One hour post op is too soon to ambulate for this client. Visitors help support the
patient and are encouraged to visit. Oral care is necessary as the client will be
NPO.
To decrease the risk of infection post operatively, implement
routine pulmonary exercises. The client will have an NG tube in place, likely to
intermittent suction, to decompress the stomach post surgery.
• The nurse notes that the client’s drainage has decreased from 50 to 5 mL/hr 12
hours after chest tube insertion for hemothorax. What is the best initial action
for the nurse to take?
A. Document this expected decrease in drainage.
B. Clamp the chest tube while assessing for air leaks.
C. Milk the tube to remove any excessive blood clot buildup.
D. Assess for kinks or dependent loops in the tubing.
Rationale:
The least invasive nursing action should be performed first to determine why the
drainage has diminished. Option A is completed after assessing for any problems
causing the decrease in drainage. Option B is no longer considered standard
protocol because the increase in pressure may be harmful to the client. Option C is
an appropriate nursing action after the tube has been assessed for kinks or
dependent loops.
pg. 3
, [DOCUMENT TITLE]
• A client on telemetry has a pattern of uncontrolled atrial fibrillation with a rapid
ventricular response. Based on this finding, the nurse anticipates assisting the
physician with which treatment?
A. Administer lidocaine, 75 mg intravenous push.
B. Perform synchronized cardioversion.
C. Defibrillate the client as soon as possible.
D. Administer atropine, 0.4 mg intravenous push.
Rationale:
With uncontrolled atrial fibrillation, the treatment of choice is synchronized
cardioversion to convert the cardiac rhythm back to normal sinus rhythm. Option
A is a medication used for ventricular dysrhythmias. Option C is not for a client
with atrial fibrillation; it is reserved for clients with life-threatening dysrhythmias,
such as ventricular fibrillation and unstable ventricular tachycardia. Option D is the
drug of choice in symptomatic sinus bradycardia, not atrial fibrillation.
• A practical nurse (PN) tells the charge nurse in a long-term facility that she
does not want to be assigned to one particular resident. She reports that the male
client keeps insisting that she is his daughter and begs her to stay in his room.
What is the best managerial decision?
A. Notify the family that the resident will have to be discharged if his behavior
does not improve.
pg. 4
NUR 240 HESI MED SURG REVIEW Exam
Questions and Answers with Rationales Graded A+
Latest update 2026 UPDATE
• A client is being discharged following radioactive seed implantation for
prostate cancer. What is the most important information that the nurse should
provide to this client’s family?
A. Follow exposure precautions.
B. Encourage regular meals.
C. Collect all urine.
D. Avoid touching the client.
Rationale:
Clients being treated for prostate cancer with radioactive seed implants should be
instructed regarding the amount of time and distance needed to prevent excessive
exposure that would pose a hazard to others. Option B is a good suggestion to
promote adequate nutrition but is not as important as option A. Option C is
unnecessary. Contact with the client is permitted but should be brief to limit
radiation exposure.
• In assessing a client with an arteriovenous (AV) shunt who is scheduled for
dialysis today, the nurse notes the absence of a thrill or bruit at the shunt site.
What action should the nurse take?
pg. 1
, [DOCUMENT TITLE]
A. Advise the client that the shunt is intact and ready for dialysis as scheduled.
B. Encourage the client to keep the shunt site elevated above the level of the
heart.
C. Notify the health care provider of the findings immediately.
D. Flush the site at least once with a heparinized saline solution.
Rationale:
Absence of a thrill or bruit indicates that the shunt may be obstructed. The nurse
should notify the health care provider so that intervention can be initiated to restore
function of the shunt. Option A is incorrect. Option B will not resolve the
obstruction. An AV shunt is internal and cannot be flushed without access using
special needles.
• The nurse is concerned about infection for a client after an
esophagogastrostomy for esophageal cancer. Which actions should the nurse
include in the client’s plan of care? (Select all that apply.) A. Frequent oral care
every 2 hours while awake.
B. Use incentive spirometer every 2 hours.
C. Empty contents from NG tube every 8 hours.
D. Ambulate within 1 hour of return from the PACU.
E. Limit visitors until postoperative day 2.
Rationale:
pg. 2
, [DOCUMENT TITLE]
One hour post op is too soon to ambulate for this client. Visitors help support the
patient and are encouraged to visit. Oral care is necessary as the client will be
NPO.
To decrease the risk of infection post operatively, implement
routine pulmonary exercises. The client will have an NG tube in place, likely to
intermittent suction, to decompress the stomach post surgery.
• The nurse notes that the client’s drainage has decreased from 50 to 5 mL/hr 12
hours after chest tube insertion for hemothorax. What is the best initial action
for the nurse to take?
A. Document this expected decrease in drainage.
B. Clamp the chest tube while assessing for air leaks.
C. Milk the tube to remove any excessive blood clot buildup.
D. Assess for kinks or dependent loops in the tubing.
Rationale:
The least invasive nursing action should be performed first to determine why the
drainage has diminished. Option A is completed after assessing for any problems
causing the decrease in drainage. Option B is no longer considered standard
protocol because the increase in pressure may be harmful to the client. Option C is
an appropriate nursing action after the tube has been assessed for kinks or
dependent loops.
pg. 3
, [DOCUMENT TITLE]
• A client on telemetry has a pattern of uncontrolled atrial fibrillation with a rapid
ventricular response. Based on this finding, the nurse anticipates assisting the
physician with which treatment?
A. Administer lidocaine, 75 mg intravenous push.
B. Perform synchronized cardioversion.
C. Defibrillate the client as soon as possible.
D. Administer atropine, 0.4 mg intravenous push.
Rationale:
With uncontrolled atrial fibrillation, the treatment of choice is synchronized
cardioversion to convert the cardiac rhythm back to normal sinus rhythm. Option
A is a medication used for ventricular dysrhythmias. Option C is not for a client
with atrial fibrillation; it is reserved for clients with life-threatening dysrhythmias,
such as ventricular fibrillation and unstable ventricular tachycardia. Option D is the
drug of choice in symptomatic sinus bradycardia, not atrial fibrillation.
• A practical nurse (PN) tells the charge nurse in a long-term facility that she
does not want to be assigned to one particular resident. She reports that the male
client keeps insisting that she is his daughter and begs her to stay in his room.
What is the best managerial decision?
A. Notify the family that the resident will have to be discharged if his behavior
does not improve.
pg. 4
