CNOR Exam 2026/2027 | 200+ Questions & Answers | Surgical Fires, Sterile Technique, Tourniquets, Electrosurgery, Laser Safety, OR Environment & Medications

This comprehensive CNOR Exam 2026/2027 study resource contains 200+ exam-style questions and answers across 60 pages, offering extensive review of perioperative nursing and operating-room safety concepts. Major topics include surgical fire prevention, the fire triangle, airway fires, medical gases, hazardous waste, latex reactions, Unique Device Identification (UDI), tourniquet safety, environmental cleaning, hand hygiene, sterile technique, surgical skin preparation, isolation techniques, electrosurgery, laser safety, OR environmental controls, medication management, local anesthetics, Local Anesthetic Systemic Toxicity (LAST), antibiotics, anticoagulants, chemotherapy, radiation safety, retained surgical items, and sharps injuries. A major opening section addresses surgical fires and operating-room fire prevention. The document reviews the three components of the fire triangle—oxidizer, ignition source, and fuel—and identifies electrosurgical units, drills, heated probes, lasers, electrocautery devices, and fiberoptic cords as potential ignition sources. Fuels discussed include alcohol-based preparations, collodion, drapes, endotracheal tubes, and gowns, while oxygen and nitrous oxide are identified as oxidizers. The material also covers airway-fire response, oxygen-rich environments, fire extinguishers, draping practices, and precautions for procedures involving the airway, chest, bowel, and rectal area. The resource provides detailed coverage of medical gases, hazardous materials, and occupational safety. Students review appropriate medical-gas storage, cylinder identification, emergency oxygen supplies, hazardous components of batteries, mercury-containing products, flammable and combustible liquids, glutaraldehyde-based agents, regulated medical waste, and chemotherapy-contaminated waste. Methyl methacrylate bone cement receives additional attention, including glove use, closed or vacuum mixing systems, spill management, and the potential for patient burns. Another substantial section examines latex reactions and perioperative allergy risks. The questions differentiate irritant contact dermatitis, cell-mediated contact dermatitis, and IgE-mediated latex allergy. The latter is described in the document as a potentially severe and life-threatening reaction to natural rubber latex proteins. Risk factors reviewed include multiple previous surgeries, spina bifida, long-term bladder care, selected food allergies, and previous symptoms suggestive of latex sensitivity. Students also receive focused preparation on Unique Device Identification and product evaluation. The study guide identifies the FDA as the creator of the UDI system and associates UDI with patient safety, post-market surveillance, and medical-device innovation. It covers written and automatic identification/data capture formats as well as FDA regulatory Parts 801, 803, and 807. Product financial-impact analysis includes direct costs, indirect costs, reimbursement considerations, and group-purchasing contract pricing. A particularly extensive portion covers pneumatic tourniquet use. The document reviews systemic and surgical-site contraindications, preoperative neurovascular assessment, limb padding, cuff positioning and sizing, exsanguination, cuff-pressure selection, early versus late release, reperfusion time, safety margins, Limb Occlusion Pressure (LOP), pediatric monitoring, staggered deflation, prophylactic antibiotics, and contoured versus cylindrical cuffs. Compartment syndrome, baroreflex autoregulation, and postoperative neurovascular concerns are also addressed. The study material devotes significant attention to infection prevention, cleaning, and sterile technique. Topics include disinfectant contact or dwell time, terminal cleaning, enhanced cleaning precautions, surgical hand antisepsis, hand hygiene, glove contamination and replacement, gowning and gloving, sterile gown boundaries, movement of scrubbed personnel, draping, C-arm contamination considerations, skin preparation, highly contaminated operative sites, iodine-containing preparations, and isolation techniques for bowel surgery and tumor resection. Students also review package integrity, chemical indicators, instrument contamination, and wound-protector use. Another high-value examination area is electrosurgical safety. The document distinguishes electrocautery from electrosurgery and explains monopolar versus bipolar current flow, dispersive electrodes or grounding pads, active-electrode monitoring, conductive trocars, pacemakers and other implanted devices, and appropriate placement of ECG and pulse-oximetry equipment. It additionally defines antenna coupling, capacitive coupling, and direct coupling and discusses measures intended to reduce alternate-site burns and unintended energy transfer. The resource expands energy-device preparation into ultrasonic technology and laser safety. Ultrasonic energy is described as converting electrical energy to mechanical energy without passing electrical current through the patient's tissue or requiring a dispersive electrode. Laser-related questions cover burns and fires, wavelength-specific eye protection, optical density, water-soluble lubricants, airway laser precautions, standby mode, laser-fiber handling, anodized instruments, and the Nominal Hazard Zone. Phacoemulsification and balanced salt solution are also included. A broad environmental section reviews perioperative facility design and OR controls. Students study unrestricted, semi-restricted, and restricted areas; HVAC functions; positive and negative pressure relationships; air exchanges; temperature and humidity; construction barriers and HEPA filtration; hybrid operating rooms; electrical outlets; power-failure preparedness; waste-anesthesia-gas disposal; medication and medical-record security; and the placement of supplies and equipment in relation to return-air ducts. Medication safety receives extensive coverage, including medication storage, compounding, labeling, Tall Man lettering, medication compatibility, multidose vials, transfer of medications to the sterile field, hazardous medications, and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). The document also discusses patient medication instructions, hazardous-drug PPE, chemotherapy gloves, respiratory protection, Safety Data Sheets, and handling excrement following hazardous-medication administration. A clinically important section concentrates on local anesthetics and Local Anesthetic Systemic Toxicity (LAST). Students distinguish ester-type and amide-type local anesthetics and review LAST risk factors, prevention, recognition, and emergency response. The document identifies airway support, 100% oxygen, resuscitation assistance, IV access, and 20% lipid emulsion therapy as components of its LAST response protocol. It also covers methemoglobinemia, co-oximetry, methylene blue, and WALANT—Wide Awake Local Anesthesia with No Tourniquet. The later pages provide additional pharmacology review involving antibiotics, heparin, low-molecular-weight heparin, protamine, radiopaque and blue dyes, Dextran 40, mannitol, polymethyl methacrylate, ophthalmic medications, and urological irrigation solutions. The material also addresses chemotherapy administration, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act concepts, P-listed and U-listed medications, intravesical chemotherapy, intrathecal chemotherapy, and isolated-limb chemotherapy. The final examination topics include radiation safety, medication-use processes, retained surgical items, and occupational exposure documentation. The document identifies scattered radiation as a primary source of occupational exposure, reviews distance considerations and positioning around imaging equipment, defines gossypiboma as unintentional retention of a soft good after surgery, and discusses information required in a sharps-injury log. For academic reference, the subject matter aligns with major perioperative concepts addressed in current AORN perioperative guidelines, CCI CNOR examination preparation materials, FDA medical-device guidance, OSHA occupational-safety requirements, and professional guidance on local-anesthetic systemic toxicity. The uploaded document itself is an exam-preparation answer set; therefore, medication doses, clinical procedures, regulatory requirements, and safety thresholds in it should be verified against current institutional policies and authoritative perioperative guidelines before clinical application. Relevant Students: CNOR exam candidates, perioperative registered nurses, operating room nurses, circulating nurses, scrub nurses, perioperative nursing students, surgical services nurses, RNFA students, surgical technologists, operating-room educators, nurse educators, perioperative clinical coordinators, PACU nurses, infection-prevention students, perioperative safety professionals, nursing students completing surgical rotations, and registered nurses preparing for perioperative nursing certification. 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