NURS 307 EXAM 3 REVIEW 2026/2027 – QUESTIONS, STUDY GUIDE &
PRACTICE TEST
when reviewing the concepts of health, the nurse recalls that the components of holistic health
include which of these?
1. nurse are responsible for a patient's health state
2. the individual human is a closed system
3. holistic health views the mind, body, and spirit as interdependent.
4. disease originates from the external environment - Correct answer ✔✔ 3. holistic health
views the mind, body, and spirit as interdependent
rationale: consideration of the whole person is the essence of holistic health, which views the
mind, body, and spirit as interdependent and functioning as a whole within the environment
and from within the person; the individual human is an open system, continually changing and
adapting; and each person is responsible for his or her own personal health state (not the
nurse).
when considering priority setting of problems, the nurse keeps in mind that second-level
priority problems include which of these aspects?
1. low self-esteem
2. lack of knowledge
3. abnormal laboratory values
4. severely abnormal vital signs - Correct answer ✔✔ 3. abnormal laboratory values
rationale: Abnormal laboratory values are a second-level priority problem. Second-level priority
problems are those that require prompt intervention to forestall further deterioration (e.g.,
mental status change, acute pain, abnormal laboratory values, risks to safety or security). Low
self-esteem and lack of knowledge are considered third-level priority as although they are
important to a patient's health, they can be addressed after more urgent health problems are
addressed. Severely abnormal vital signs would be considered a first-level priority problem.
,the clinic nurse is caring for a patient who has been coming to the clinic weekly for blood
pressure checks since changing medications 2 months ago. which is the most appropriate action
for the nurse to take?
1. ask the patient to read her health record and indicate any changes since her last visit.
2. collect a follow-up database and then check the patient's blood pressure
3. obtain a complete health history on the patient before checking her blood pressure
4. check the patient's blood pressure - Correct answer ✔✔ 2. collect a follow-up database and
then check the patient's blood pressure
rationale: A follow-up database is used in all settings to follow up on short-term or chronic
health problems. The other responses are not appropriate for the situation. Asking the patient
to read her health history and indicate any changes since her last visit is not appropriate. Just
checking the patient's blood pressure without following up on or assessing for any changes in
the patient's condition is inappropriate. It is not necessary to conduct a complete health history
as one was conducted 2 months ago. Rather a follow-up assessment regarding the patient's
blood pressure and factors associated with it are necessary.
the nurse is reviewing data collected after an assessment. of the data listed below, which would
be considered related cues that would be clustered together during data analysis? (select all
that apply.)
1. inspiratory wheezes noted in left lower lobes
2. edema, +2, noted on left hand
3. hypoactive bowel sounds
4. patient reports dyspnea upon exertion
5. nonproductive cough
6. rate of inspiration 16 breaths per minute - Correct answer ✔✔ 1. inspiratory wheezes noted
in left lower lobes
4. patient reports dyspnea upon exertion
5. nonproductive cough
6. rate of inspiration 16 breaths per minute
,rationale: Clustering related cues helps the nurse recognize relationships among the data. The
cues related to the patient's respiratory status (e.g., wheezes, cough, report of dyspnea,
respiration rate and rhythm) are all related. Cues related to bowels and peripheral edema are
not related to the respiratory cues. Hypoactive bowel sounds and +2 edema of the left hand are
separate cues that do not relate to the other cues. The other cues (wheezes, cough, report of
dyspnea, respiration rate and rhythm) all relate to the patient's respiratory status. The cues of
bowel sounds and peripheral edema are not related to the respiratory cues.
a visiting nurse is making an initial home visit for a patient who has several chronic medical
problems. which type of database is most appropriate to collect in this setting?
1. a focused database
2. a complete database
3. a follow-up database
4. an emergency database - Correct answer ✔✔ 2. a complete database
rationale: A complete database is collected in primary care settings, such as a pediatric or family
practice clinic, independent or group private practice, college health service, women's health
care agency, visiting nurse agency, or community health agency. In these settings, the nurse is
the first health professional to see the patient and has the primary responsibility for monitoring
the person's health care. A follow-up database is performed to follow up, or evaluate changes,
on short-term and chronic health problems, but would be collected at appropriate intervals
after a complete database was collected at the initial visit. A focused database is conducted for
a limited or short-term problem, not for a patient with several chronic problems. An emergency
database is an urgent, rapid collection of data often compiled concurrently while lifesaving
measures are being performed.
The nursing process is a sequential method of problem solving that nurses use and includes
which steps?
1. Admission, diagnosis, treatment, evaluation, and discharge planning
2. Assessment, diagnosis, outcome planning, implementation, and evaluation
3. Assessment, treatment, planning, evaluation, discharge, and follow-up
4. Admission, assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and discharge planning - Correct answer ✔✔ 2.
Assessment, diagnosis, outcome planning, implementation, and evaluation
, rationale: The nursing process is a method of problem solving that includes assessment,
diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation.
A newly admitted patient is in acute pain, has not been sleeping well lately, and is having
difficulty breathing. How should the nurse prioritize these problems?
1. Sleep, pain, and breathing
2. Sleep, breathing, and pain
3. Breathing, pain, and sleep
4. Breathing, sleep, and pain - Correct answer ✔✔ 3. Breathing, pain, and sleep
rationale: First-level priority problems are immediate priorities, remembering the ABCs (airway,
breathing, and circulation), followed by second-level problems (e.g., mental status change,
acute pain, acute urinary elimination problems, untreated medical problems, abnormal
laboratory values, risks of infection, or risk to safety or security), and then third-level problems
(those that are important to the patient's health but can be attended to after more urgent
health problems are addressed).
During a staff meeting, nurses discuss the problems with identifying evidence-based practices to
incorporate into their practice. Which suggestion by the nurse manager would best help these
problems?
1. Teach the nurses how to conduct research.
2. Form a committee to conduct research studies.
3. Post published research studies on the unit's bulletin boards.
4. Ensuring time for staff to review current literature. - Correct answer ✔✔ 4. Ensuring time for
staff to review current literature.
rationale: Facilitating support for EBP at the organizational level includes ensuring time for staff
to review current literature; establishing a nursing research committee; holding EBP classes for
interested staff; and ensuring access to resources. Forming a committee or teaching nurses to
actually conduct research studies may be helpful in the long-run but not an immediate solution
to reviewing existing research. Just posting published research studies on the unit's bulletin
board does not facilitate EBP, as not all published research is valid or pertinent to the nurses'
practice.
PRACTICE TEST
when reviewing the concepts of health, the nurse recalls that the components of holistic health
include which of these?
1. nurse are responsible for a patient's health state
2. the individual human is a closed system
3. holistic health views the mind, body, and spirit as interdependent.
4. disease originates from the external environment - Correct answer ✔✔ 3. holistic health
views the mind, body, and spirit as interdependent
rationale: consideration of the whole person is the essence of holistic health, which views the
mind, body, and spirit as interdependent and functioning as a whole within the environment
and from within the person; the individual human is an open system, continually changing and
adapting; and each person is responsible for his or her own personal health state (not the
nurse).
when considering priority setting of problems, the nurse keeps in mind that second-level
priority problems include which of these aspects?
1. low self-esteem
2. lack of knowledge
3. abnormal laboratory values
4. severely abnormal vital signs - Correct answer ✔✔ 3. abnormal laboratory values
rationale: Abnormal laboratory values are a second-level priority problem. Second-level priority
problems are those that require prompt intervention to forestall further deterioration (e.g.,
mental status change, acute pain, abnormal laboratory values, risks to safety or security). Low
self-esteem and lack of knowledge are considered third-level priority as although they are
important to a patient's health, they can be addressed after more urgent health problems are
addressed. Severely abnormal vital signs would be considered a first-level priority problem.
,the clinic nurse is caring for a patient who has been coming to the clinic weekly for blood
pressure checks since changing medications 2 months ago. which is the most appropriate action
for the nurse to take?
1. ask the patient to read her health record and indicate any changes since her last visit.
2. collect a follow-up database and then check the patient's blood pressure
3. obtain a complete health history on the patient before checking her blood pressure
4. check the patient's blood pressure - Correct answer ✔✔ 2. collect a follow-up database and
then check the patient's blood pressure
rationale: A follow-up database is used in all settings to follow up on short-term or chronic
health problems. The other responses are not appropriate for the situation. Asking the patient
to read her health history and indicate any changes since her last visit is not appropriate. Just
checking the patient's blood pressure without following up on or assessing for any changes in
the patient's condition is inappropriate. It is not necessary to conduct a complete health history
as one was conducted 2 months ago. Rather a follow-up assessment regarding the patient's
blood pressure and factors associated with it are necessary.
the nurse is reviewing data collected after an assessment. of the data listed below, which would
be considered related cues that would be clustered together during data analysis? (select all
that apply.)
1. inspiratory wheezes noted in left lower lobes
2. edema, +2, noted on left hand
3. hypoactive bowel sounds
4. patient reports dyspnea upon exertion
5. nonproductive cough
6. rate of inspiration 16 breaths per minute - Correct answer ✔✔ 1. inspiratory wheezes noted
in left lower lobes
4. patient reports dyspnea upon exertion
5. nonproductive cough
6. rate of inspiration 16 breaths per minute
,rationale: Clustering related cues helps the nurse recognize relationships among the data. The
cues related to the patient's respiratory status (e.g., wheezes, cough, report of dyspnea,
respiration rate and rhythm) are all related. Cues related to bowels and peripheral edema are
not related to the respiratory cues. Hypoactive bowel sounds and +2 edema of the left hand are
separate cues that do not relate to the other cues. The other cues (wheezes, cough, report of
dyspnea, respiration rate and rhythm) all relate to the patient's respiratory status. The cues of
bowel sounds and peripheral edema are not related to the respiratory cues.
a visiting nurse is making an initial home visit for a patient who has several chronic medical
problems. which type of database is most appropriate to collect in this setting?
1. a focused database
2. a complete database
3. a follow-up database
4. an emergency database - Correct answer ✔✔ 2. a complete database
rationale: A complete database is collected in primary care settings, such as a pediatric or family
practice clinic, independent or group private practice, college health service, women's health
care agency, visiting nurse agency, or community health agency. In these settings, the nurse is
the first health professional to see the patient and has the primary responsibility for monitoring
the person's health care. A follow-up database is performed to follow up, or evaluate changes,
on short-term and chronic health problems, but would be collected at appropriate intervals
after a complete database was collected at the initial visit. A focused database is conducted for
a limited or short-term problem, not for a patient with several chronic problems. An emergency
database is an urgent, rapid collection of data often compiled concurrently while lifesaving
measures are being performed.
The nursing process is a sequential method of problem solving that nurses use and includes
which steps?
1. Admission, diagnosis, treatment, evaluation, and discharge planning
2. Assessment, diagnosis, outcome planning, implementation, and evaluation
3. Assessment, treatment, planning, evaluation, discharge, and follow-up
4. Admission, assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and discharge planning - Correct answer ✔✔ 2.
Assessment, diagnosis, outcome planning, implementation, and evaluation
, rationale: The nursing process is a method of problem solving that includes assessment,
diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation.
A newly admitted patient is in acute pain, has not been sleeping well lately, and is having
difficulty breathing. How should the nurse prioritize these problems?
1. Sleep, pain, and breathing
2. Sleep, breathing, and pain
3. Breathing, pain, and sleep
4. Breathing, sleep, and pain - Correct answer ✔✔ 3. Breathing, pain, and sleep
rationale: First-level priority problems are immediate priorities, remembering the ABCs (airway,
breathing, and circulation), followed by second-level problems (e.g., mental status change,
acute pain, acute urinary elimination problems, untreated medical problems, abnormal
laboratory values, risks of infection, or risk to safety or security), and then third-level problems
(those that are important to the patient's health but can be attended to after more urgent
health problems are addressed).
During a staff meeting, nurses discuss the problems with identifying evidence-based practices to
incorporate into their practice. Which suggestion by the nurse manager would best help these
problems?
1. Teach the nurses how to conduct research.
2. Form a committee to conduct research studies.
3. Post published research studies on the unit's bulletin boards.
4. Ensuring time for staff to review current literature. - Correct answer ✔✔ 4. Ensuring time for
staff to review current literature.
rationale: Facilitating support for EBP at the organizational level includes ensuring time for staff
to review current literature; establishing a nursing research committee; holding EBP classes for
interested staff; and ensuring access to resources. Forming a committee or teaching nurses to
actually conduct research studies may be helpful in the long-run but not an immediate solution
to reviewing existing research. Just posting published research studies on the unit's bulletin
board does not facilitate EBP, as not all published research is valid or pertinent to the nurses'
practice.
