NSG 300 EXAM 3 PRACTICE QUESTIONS | COMPREHENSIVE NURSING STUDY
GUIDE, ANSWERS & RATIONALES 2026/2027
A patient with a tracheostomy has thick tenacious secretions. To maintain the airway, the most
appropriate action for the nurse includes:
A. Tracheal suctioning
B. Oropharyngeal suctioning
C. Nasotracheal suctioning
D. Orotracheal suctioning - ANS ✔✔Answer: A
When evaluating a post-thoracotomy patient with a chest tube, the best method to properly maintain
the chest tube would be to:
A. strip the chest tube every hour to maintain drainage
B. place the device below the patient's chest
C. double clamp the tube except during assessment
D. remove the tubing from the drainage device to check for proper suctioning - ANS ✔✔Answer : B
"Handle the chest drainage unit carefully and maintain the drainage device below the patient's chest,"
(pg. 899). Chest tubes are not routinely stripped or milked to move clots or increase chest drainage.
Clamping can result in a tension pneumothorax and a chest tube is only clamped when replacing the
chest drainage system, assessing for an air leak, or during removal. You do not want to remove the
tubing because it requires patient preparation due to the burning, pulling, and painful sensation.
A patient complains of chest pain. When assessing the pain, you decide that its origin is cardiac - rather
than respiratory or gastrointestinal - when it:
A. does not occur with respiratory variations
B. is peripheral and may radiate to the scapular region
C. is aggravated by inspiratory movements
D. is non radiating and occurs during inspiration - ANS ✔✔Answer: A
C & D have the words "inspiratory" and "inspiration" both indicating respiration.
During rounds on the night shift, you note that a patient stops breathing for 1 to 2 minutes several times
during the shift. This condition is know as:
A. Cataplexy
B. Insomnia
C. Narcolepsy
D. Sleep Apnea - ANS ✔✔Answer: D
A patient suffers from sleep pattern disturbance. To promote adequate sleep, the most important
nursing intervention is...
A. Administering a sleep aid
B. Synchronizing the medication, treatment, and vital signs schedule
, C. Encouraging the patient to exercise immediately before sleep
D. Discussing with the patient the benefits of beginning a long-term night-time medication regimen -
ANS ✔✔Answer: B
An elderly patient who lives in an adult assisted-living facility mentions that he is experiencing hearing
and vision changes. During your assessment, you would associate this type of sensory deprivation with...
A. Stable affect
B. Altered perception
C. Improved task completion
D. Increased need for social interaction - ANS ✔✔Answer: B
A patient with glaucoma is being discharged from the hospital. When teaching the patient and family
ways to improve home safety, the nurse tells the family to...
A. Use throw rugs to prevent tripping
B. Paint the floor black and white to improve perception
C. Install extra incandescent lighting
D. Install handrails painted the same color as the walls - ANS ✔✔Answer: C
When a smiling and cooperative patient complains of discomfort, nurses caring for this patient often
harbor misconceptions about the patient's pain. Which of the following is true?
A. Chronic pain is psychological in nature
B. Patients are the best judges of their pain
C. Regular use of narcotic analgesics lead to drug addiction
D. Amount of pain is reflective of actual tissue damage - ANS ✔✔Answer: B
A patient has just undergone an appendectomy. When discussing with the patient several pain-relief
interventions, the most appropriate recommendation would be...
A. Adjunctive therapy
B. Nonopioids
C. NSAIDs
D. PCA Pain Management - ANS ✔✔Answer: D
This is the best answer since they just got out of the hospital!
A postoperative patient is using PCA. You will evaluate the effectiveness of the medication when...
A. You compare assessed pain with baseline pain
B. Body language is incongruent with reports of pain relief
C. Family members report that pain has subsided
D. Vital signs have returned to baseline - ANS ✔✔Answer: A
Which skills can the nurse delegate to assistive personnel (AP)? (Select all that apply)
A. Initiate oxygen therapy via nasal cannula
B. Perform nasotracheal suctioning of a patient
GUIDE, ANSWERS & RATIONALES 2026/2027
A patient with a tracheostomy has thick tenacious secretions. To maintain the airway, the most
appropriate action for the nurse includes:
A. Tracheal suctioning
B. Oropharyngeal suctioning
C. Nasotracheal suctioning
D. Orotracheal suctioning - ANS ✔✔Answer: A
When evaluating a post-thoracotomy patient with a chest tube, the best method to properly maintain
the chest tube would be to:
A. strip the chest tube every hour to maintain drainage
B. place the device below the patient's chest
C. double clamp the tube except during assessment
D. remove the tubing from the drainage device to check for proper suctioning - ANS ✔✔Answer : B
"Handle the chest drainage unit carefully and maintain the drainage device below the patient's chest,"
(pg. 899). Chest tubes are not routinely stripped or milked to move clots or increase chest drainage.
Clamping can result in a tension pneumothorax and a chest tube is only clamped when replacing the
chest drainage system, assessing for an air leak, or during removal. You do not want to remove the
tubing because it requires patient preparation due to the burning, pulling, and painful sensation.
A patient complains of chest pain. When assessing the pain, you decide that its origin is cardiac - rather
than respiratory or gastrointestinal - when it:
A. does not occur with respiratory variations
B. is peripheral and may radiate to the scapular region
C. is aggravated by inspiratory movements
D. is non radiating and occurs during inspiration - ANS ✔✔Answer: A
C & D have the words "inspiratory" and "inspiration" both indicating respiration.
During rounds on the night shift, you note that a patient stops breathing for 1 to 2 minutes several times
during the shift. This condition is know as:
A. Cataplexy
B. Insomnia
C. Narcolepsy
D. Sleep Apnea - ANS ✔✔Answer: D
A patient suffers from sleep pattern disturbance. To promote adequate sleep, the most important
nursing intervention is...
A. Administering a sleep aid
B. Synchronizing the medication, treatment, and vital signs schedule
, C. Encouraging the patient to exercise immediately before sleep
D. Discussing with the patient the benefits of beginning a long-term night-time medication regimen -
ANS ✔✔Answer: B
An elderly patient who lives in an adult assisted-living facility mentions that he is experiencing hearing
and vision changes. During your assessment, you would associate this type of sensory deprivation with...
A. Stable affect
B. Altered perception
C. Improved task completion
D. Increased need for social interaction - ANS ✔✔Answer: B
A patient with glaucoma is being discharged from the hospital. When teaching the patient and family
ways to improve home safety, the nurse tells the family to...
A. Use throw rugs to prevent tripping
B. Paint the floor black and white to improve perception
C. Install extra incandescent lighting
D. Install handrails painted the same color as the walls - ANS ✔✔Answer: C
When a smiling and cooperative patient complains of discomfort, nurses caring for this patient often
harbor misconceptions about the patient's pain. Which of the following is true?
A. Chronic pain is psychological in nature
B. Patients are the best judges of their pain
C. Regular use of narcotic analgesics lead to drug addiction
D. Amount of pain is reflective of actual tissue damage - ANS ✔✔Answer: B
A patient has just undergone an appendectomy. When discussing with the patient several pain-relief
interventions, the most appropriate recommendation would be...
A. Adjunctive therapy
B. Nonopioids
C. NSAIDs
D. PCA Pain Management - ANS ✔✔Answer: D
This is the best answer since they just got out of the hospital!
A postoperative patient is using PCA. You will evaluate the effectiveness of the medication when...
A. You compare assessed pain with baseline pain
B. Body language is incongruent with reports of pain relief
C. Family members report that pain has subsided
D. Vital signs have returned to baseline - ANS ✔✔Answer: A
Which skills can the nurse delegate to assistive personnel (AP)? (Select all that apply)
A. Initiate oxygen therapy via nasal cannula
B. Perform nasotracheal suctioning of a patient
