NURS 5220: ADVANCED HEALTH
ASSESSMENT COMPREHENSIVE
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
1. When documenting a patient encounter using the SOAP format, where should the clinician
record the patient’s description of their chief complaint and history of present illness?
A. Assessment
B. Objective
C. Subjective
D. Plan
Answer: C
Conceptual Explanation: The Subjective section contains the information the patient
provides, including symptoms, feelings, and personal history.
2. Which component of the diagnostic reasoning process involves grouping relevant cues
together to identify patterns?
A. Validation
B. Hypothesis generation
,C. Data clustering
D. Evaluation
Answer: C
Conceptual Explanation: Data clustering is the process of organizing information into
meaningful groups to support a specific diagnosis.
3. A patient presents with a ‘herald patch’ followed by a ‘Christmas tree’ distribution of
smaller lesions. Which diagnosis is most likely?
A. Tinea corporis
B. Atopic dermatitis
C. Psoriasis
D. Pityriasis rosea
Answer: D
Conceptual Explanation: Pityriasis rosea typically begins with a single herald patch,
followed by a secondary eruption in a Christmas tree pattern along skin cleavage lines.
4. During a neck examination, you note a palpable, non-tender, stony-hard supraclavicular
lymph node on the left side. This is known as:
A. Hodgkin’s node
B. Stensen’s node
C. Virchow’s node
, D. Epitrochlear node
Answer: C
Conceptual Explanation: Virchow’s node (a sentinel node) in the left supraclavicular area
is a common sign of abdominal or thoracic malignancy.
5. In a pediatric patient, at what age should head circumference measurements typically be
discontinued?
A. 12 months
B. 3 years
C. 2 years
D. 5 years
Answer: B
Conceptual Explanation: Head circumference is routinely measured at every visit until
age 2, and then annually until age 3.
6. Which of the following describes a ‘macule’?
A. A flat, non-palpable, irregular-shaped macule greater than 1 cm
B. An elevated, firm, circumscribed area less than 1 cm
C. A flat, circumscribed area of color change less than 1 cm
D. An elevated, circumscribed, superficial lesion filled with serous fluid
ASSESSMENT COMPREHENSIVE
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
1. When documenting a patient encounter using the SOAP format, where should the clinician
record the patient’s description of their chief complaint and history of present illness?
A. Assessment
B. Objective
C. Subjective
D. Plan
Answer: C
Conceptual Explanation: The Subjective section contains the information the patient
provides, including symptoms, feelings, and personal history.
2. Which component of the diagnostic reasoning process involves grouping relevant cues
together to identify patterns?
A. Validation
B. Hypothesis generation
,C. Data clustering
D. Evaluation
Answer: C
Conceptual Explanation: Data clustering is the process of organizing information into
meaningful groups to support a specific diagnosis.
3. A patient presents with a ‘herald patch’ followed by a ‘Christmas tree’ distribution of
smaller lesions. Which diagnosis is most likely?
A. Tinea corporis
B. Atopic dermatitis
C. Psoriasis
D. Pityriasis rosea
Answer: D
Conceptual Explanation: Pityriasis rosea typically begins with a single herald patch,
followed by a secondary eruption in a Christmas tree pattern along skin cleavage lines.
4. During a neck examination, you note a palpable, non-tender, stony-hard supraclavicular
lymph node on the left side. This is known as:
A. Hodgkin’s node
B. Stensen’s node
C. Virchow’s node
, D. Epitrochlear node
Answer: C
Conceptual Explanation: Virchow’s node (a sentinel node) in the left supraclavicular area
is a common sign of abdominal or thoracic malignancy.
5. In a pediatric patient, at what age should head circumference measurements typically be
discontinued?
A. 12 months
B. 3 years
C. 2 years
D. 5 years
Answer: B
Conceptual Explanation: Head circumference is routinely measured at every visit until
age 2, and then annually until age 3.
6. Which of the following describes a ‘macule’?
A. A flat, non-palpable, irregular-shaped macule greater than 1 cm
B. An elevated, firm, circumscribed area less than 1 cm
C. A flat, circumscribed area of color change less than 1 cm
D. An elevated, circumscribed, superficial lesion filled with serous fluid
