RN COMMUNITY HEALTH 2026 |
COMPREHENSIVE STUDY GUIDE &
PRACTICE TEST | 200 MCQS WITH
CORRECT ANSWERS AND DETAILED
RATIONALES
1. Which statement best describes the primary focus of community health
nursing?
A. Providing intensive care to critically ill clients
B. Promoting and protecting the health of populations
C. Performing surgical procedures in hospitals
D. Managing only clients with chronic illnesses
Answer: B. Promoting and protecting the health of populations
Rationale: Community/public health nursing emphasizes population health,
health promotion, disease prevention, risk reduction, education, and community
interventions.
2. Which activity is an example of primary prevention?
A. Mammography screening
B. Rehabilitation after a stroke
C. Childhood immunization
D. Treatment of pneumonia
Answer: C. Childhood immunization
Rationale: Primary prevention occurs before disease develops and includes
immunization, health education, exercise promotion, and measures that reduce
exposure to health risks.
3. A community health nurse conducts blood-pressure screening at a
community health fair. Which level of prevention is this?
,A. Primary
B. Secondary
C. Tertiary
D. Primordial
Answer: B. Secondary
Rationale: Secondary prevention focuses on early detection of disease or risk
conditions through screening and prompt intervention.
4. Which activity represents tertiary prevention?
A. Administering influenza vaccines
B. Teaching adolescents about healthy nutrition
C. Screening adults for hypertension
D. Providing rehabilitation after a stroke
Answer: D. Providing rehabilitation after a stroke
Rationale: Tertiary prevention reduces complications, disability, and functional
limitations after a disease or injury has occurred.
5. What is the first major step in conducting a community health
assessment?
A. Implement an intervention
B. Collect and analyze community data
C. Evaluate the intervention
D. Select a treatment protocol
Answer: B. Collect and analyze community data
Rationale: Community assessment involves systematically gathering
information about population characteristics, health status, risks, resources,
and environmental conditions before planning interventions.
6. Which is an example of primary community assessment data?
,A. Census report
B. Published mortality statistics
C. Interviews with community residents
D. Previously published research
Answer: C. Interviews with community residents
Rationale: Primary data are collected directly from the population or
environment, such as interviews, observations, surveys, and windshield
assessments.
7. Which source is considered secondary data?
A. Interview with a community leader
B. Direct observation of housing conditions
C. Community focus group
D. Government mortality statistics
Answer: D. Government mortality statistics
Rationale: Secondary data are information previously collected by another
organization or individual, such as census records, surveillance reports, and
government statistics.
8. A nurse notices a high rate of childhood diarrhea in a community where
residents obtain drinking water from an unprotected river. What should
the nurse do first?
A. Immediately distribute antibiotics
B. Assess the community's water and sanitation practices
C. Close all community schools
D. Begin treating every child for dehydration
Answer: B. Assess the community's water and sanitation practices
Rationale: Assessment is the foundation of community nursing practice. The
nurse should identify contributing factors and available resources before
developing an appropriate population-level intervention.
, 9. Which factor is considered a social determinant of health?
A. Blood type
B. Genetic mutation
C. Housing stability
D. Body temperature
Answer: C. Housing stability
Rationale: Social determinants include conditions in which people live, learn,
work, and age. Housing, income, education, transportation, and access to
healthcare can substantially influence health outcomes.
10. Which nursing action best demonstrates health advocacy?
A. Recording a client's temperature
B. Advocating for safe drinking water legislation
C. Administering a prescribed medication
D. Measuring a client's pulse
Answer: B. Advocating for safe drinking water legislation
Rationale: Advocacy involves supporting policies, programs, services, and
conditions that improve population health and address community needs.
11. Which epidemiologic measure describes the number of new cases of a
disease occurring within a specified population during a particular period?
A. Prevalence
B. Incidence
C. Mortality
D. Case-fatality rate
Answer: B. Incidence
Rationale: Incidence measures newly occurring cases during a specified period,
whereas prevalence describes all existing cases at a particular time or during a
specified period.
COMPREHENSIVE STUDY GUIDE &
PRACTICE TEST | 200 MCQS WITH
CORRECT ANSWERS AND DETAILED
RATIONALES
1. Which statement best describes the primary focus of community health
nursing?
A. Providing intensive care to critically ill clients
B. Promoting and protecting the health of populations
C. Performing surgical procedures in hospitals
D. Managing only clients with chronic illnesses
Answer: B. Promoting and protecting the health of populations
Rationale: Community/public health nursing emphasizes population health,
health promotion, disease prevention, risk reduction, education, and community
interventions.
2. Which activity is an example of primary prevention?
A. Mammography screening
B. Rehabilitation after a stroke
C. Childhood immunization
D. Treatment of pneumonia
Answer: C. Childhood immunization
Rationale: Primary prevention occurs before disease develops and includes
immunization, health education, exercise promotion, and measures that reduce
exposure to health risks.
3. A community health nurse conducts blood-pressure screening at a
community health fair. Which level of prevention is this?
,A. Primary
B. Secondary
C. Tertiary
D. Primordial
Answer: B. Secondary
Rationale: Secondary prevention focuses on early detection of disease or risk
conditions through screening and prompt intervention.
4. Which activity represents tertiary prevention?
A. Administering influenza vaccines
B. Teaching adolescents about healthy nutrition
C. Screening adults for hypertension
D. Providing rehabilitation after a stroke
Answer: D. Providing rehabilitation after a stroke
Rationale: Tertiary prevention reduces complications, disability, and functional
limitations after a disease or injury has occurred.
5. What is the first major step in conducting a community health
assessment?
A. Implement an intervention
B. Collect and analyze community data
C. Evaluate the intervention
D. Select a treatment protocol
Answer: B. Collect and analyze community data
Rationale: Community assessment involves systematically gathering
information about population characteristics, health status, risks, resources,
and environmental conditions before planning interventions.
6. Which is an example of primary community assessment data?
,A. Census report
B. Published mortality statistics
C. Interviews with community residents
D. Previously published research
Answer: C. Interviews with community residents
Rationale: Primary data are collected directly from the population or
environment, such as interviews, observations, surveys, and windshield
assessments.
7. Which source is considered secondary data?
A. Interview with a community leader
B. Direct observation of housing conditions
C. Community focus group
D. Government mortality statistics
Answer: D. Government mortality statistics
Rationale: Secondary data are information previously collected by another
organization or individual, such as census records, surveillance reports, and
government statistics.
8. A nurse notices a high rate of childhood diarrhea in a community where
residents obtain drinking water from an unprotected river. What should
the nurse do first?
A. Immediately distribute antibiotics
B. Assess the community's water and sanitation practices
C. Close all community schools
D. Begin treating every child for dehydration
Answer: B. Assess the community's water and sanitation practices
Rationale: Assessment is the foundation of community nursing practice. The
nurse should identify contributing factors and available resources before
developing an appropriate population-level intervention.
, 9. Which factor is considered a social determinant of health?
A. Blood type
B. Genetic mutation
C. Housing stability
D. Body temperature
Answer: C. Housing stability
Rationale: Social determinants include conditions in which people live, learn,
work, and age. Housing, income, education, transportation, and access to
healthcare can substantially influence health outcomes.
10. Which nursing action best demonstrates health advocacy?
A. Recording a client's temperature
B. Advocating for safe drinking water legislation
C. Administering a prescribed medication
D. Measuring a client's pulse
Answer: B. Advocating for safe drinking water legislation
Rationale: Advocacy involves supporting policies, programs, services, and
conditions that improve population health and address community needs.
11. Which epidemiologic measure describes the number of new cases of a
disease occurring within a specified population during a particular period?
A. Prevalence
B. Incidence
C. Mortality
D. Case-fatality rate
Answer: B. Incidence
Rationale: Incidence measures newly occurring cases during a specified period,
whereas prevalence describes all existing cases at a particular time or during a
specified period.
