NUR 634 Health Assessment Final Exam 2026/2027 | 40 Questions & Answers | General Survey, Skin, HEENT, Neurological, Cranial Nerves, Respiratory & Mental Status

This NUR 634 Health Assessment Final Exam Review 2026/2027 is a 23-page exam-preparation resource containing 40 questions with answers covering essential advanced nursing health-assessment concepts. The material focuses on general survey and physical examination, subjective versus objective data, health history and interviewing, cultural competence, skin assessment, HEENT findings, neurological examination, cranial nerve testing, respiratory and thoracic assessment, mental status, documentation and patient safety. Questions are primarily presented as clinical scenarios requiring students to identify normal versus abnormal findings, select the correct assessment technique, interpret patient-reported and observed information, and determine appropriate nursing priorities. The opening questions concentrate on the general survey and initial physical assessment. Students review inspection as the technique used to observe characteristics such as apparent age, gender and level of alertness. The four major areas of the general survey presented in the document are physical appearance, body structure, mobility and behavior. The review also emphasizes prompt documentation and reporting when an older adult presents with bruises in different stages of healing because, according to the supplied answer, this pattern may raise concern for possible abuse. The exam reinforces the distinction between subjective and objective assessment data. Measurable findings collected during physical assessment are classified as objective data, whereas information reported by patients—such as chest pain—is subjective. Students also practice recognizing the chief complaint, including documentation of the patient's own description of the reason for seeking healthcare. These concepts are important for organizing a complete health history and separating patient-reported symptoms from directly observed clinical signs. A significant section addresses therapeutic interviewing and communication. The material covers empathy, guided questioning, clarification and maintaining full attention during the patient interview. Empathy is presented as perceiving and communicating an understanding of what the patient is feeling, while guided questioning encourages patients to describe their concerns more completely. A scenario involving a nurse distracted by an expected telephone call emphasizes minimizing interruptions so attention remains focused on the patient. The resource also includes cultural competence and patient-centered assessment. The supplied answer identifies understanding one's own heritage and its foundation in cultural values as the first step toward cultural competency. This links self-awareness with the broader responsibility to understand how patients' backgrounds, beliefs and experiences can influence communication and healthcare encounters. The integumentary assessment portion covers skin temperature, melanoma risk, nail-bed assessment, freckles and early jaundice. Students review using the back of the hands to assess skin temperature, documenting freckles as macules and examining the sclera and hard palate for early evidence of jaundice. The source identifies skin that freckles or burns before tanning as a melanoma risk factor and presents approximately 160 degrees as a normal nail-base angle. Medication-allergy assessment is incorporated into the health-history questions. When a patient reports a penicillin allergy, the resource identifies asking the patient to describe what happens when penicillin is taken as the best response. This reinforces the importance of documenting the nature of a reported medication reaction rather than recording only the medication name. The head and neck assessment section includes cervical lymph nodes and thyroid examination. Normal cervical lymph nodes are identified as smaller than 1 cm in the source. Another clinical scenario presents a nonpalpable thyroid gland in an adult and identifies documentation of this as an expected assessment finding rather than automatically initiating additional examination or referral. Neurological assessment represents one of the most heavily tested areas. Students review gait, orientation, plantar/Babinski response, reflex grading, stereognosis, language function and cranial nerve assessment. Initial gait evaluation in a patient at increased fall risk begins with ordinary walking across the room and back. Orientation is assessed by determining whether the patient knows information such as their current location, while the plantar response is elicited by stroking the lateral sole from the heel and then across the ball of the foot. The document tests several cranial nerves through practical examination maneuvers. The six cardinal fields of gaze assess cranial nerves III, IV and VI—oculomotor, trochlear and abducens. Motor function of cranial nerve VII is tested through facial movements such as smiling. Cranial nerve XI is assessed through the sternomastoid and trapezius muscles, while jaw clenching is associated with motor function of the trigeminal nerve, cranial nerve V. Students also review deep tendon reflexes and cortical sensory function. The resource identifies a normal reflex as 2+, with a diminished response documented as 1+. Stereognosis is assessed by placing a familiar object, such as a coin, in the patient's hand while the eyes are closed and asking the patient to identify it. These questions require students to connect neurological terminology with the actual bedside maneuver used during assessment. Language and neurological function receive additional attention through Broca's area and aphasia assessment. Injury to Broca's area is associated in the document with difficulty speaking. When an older patient answers questions inappropriately and has difficulty expressing themselves, the source directs further assessment toward determining the type of aphasia. The exam includes focused review of the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). The three areas identified are eye opening, motor response to stimuli and verbal response. This reinforces a standard framework for evaluating consciousness and neurological responsiveness, complementing other questions on orientation, gait, reflexes and cortical sensory function. Another major area is thoracic and respiratory assessment. Students review posterior-thorax examination, chest configuration, symmetric chest expansion, tactile fremitus, oxygen saturation and normal versus adventitious breath sounds. Auscultation of lung sounds is included in posterior-thorax assessment, while tactile fremitus requires bilateral palpation and comparison of corresponding areas. The document describes a barrel-shaped chest as having approximately equal anteroposterior and transverse diameters with more horizontally positioned ribs. Symmetric chest expansion is assessed by placing the hands on the posterior thorax with the thumbs near the T10 level and observing their movement during respiration. These examination techniques help students connect thoracic anatomy with practical bedside assessment. Breath-sound questions differentiate normal and abnormal respiratory findings. Wheezing is identified as an adventitious breath sound, while rhonchi are associated in the document with mucus in the respiratory tract. Fine crackles are best detected through auscultation. A scenario involving bilateral crackles and an oxygen saturation of 88% on room air identifies both findings as requiring provider notification according to the supplied answers. The exam also tests accurate respiratory documentation. In a scenario where a patient reports shortness of breath with movement and the nurse objectively observes the finding, the selected documentation records both the patient's report and observed dyspnea on exertion (DOE). This reinforces the need to distinguish subjective symptoms from objective validation in the clinical record. Mental-status assessment includes speech and language, orientation, cognition and safety. Normal spontaneous, articulate speech at an appropriate rate belongs to the speech-and-language portion of the mental-status examination. The final scenario presents a patient with depression and manic episodes who reports suicidal thoughts and a plan; within the document's answer framework, the immediate priority is safety. The resource additionally incorporates abuse recognition and patient advocacy. Beyond recognizing potentially suspicious bruising in an older adult, students encounter a scenario in which an adult patient reports spousal abuse. The answer supplied by the document identifies referral to a social worker as the appropriate response among the available choices. These scenarios reinforce assessment of psychosocial safety alongside physical findings. Overall, this NUR 634 Health Assessment Final Exam Review is especially useful for students preparing for scenario-based questions requiring application of physical-assessment skills rather than simple terminology recall. It integrates history taking, communication, general survey, skin assessment, neurological examination, cranial nerves, respiratory assessment, mental-status evaluation, documentation and safety prioritization into a concise final-exam question-and-answer format. Relevant students: NUR 634 students, Advanced Health Assessment students, Advanced Physical Assessment students, MSN students, Family Nurse Practitioner students, FNP students, Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner students, AGNP students, APRN students, DNP students, graduate nursing students and nurse practitioner students preparing for advanced health-assessment examinations. Academic Reference Bickley, L. S. Bates' Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking. Wolters Kluwer. This is a relevant supporting academic reference for the document's major areas, particularly health-history interviewing, general survey, skin examination, head and neck assessment, thoracic and pulmonary examination, neurological examination, mental-status assessment and clinical documentation. The uploaded NUR 634 review does not provide a specific textbook or journal citation, so this reference should be treated as supporting literature rather than the confirmed source of the examination questions. 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