10/25/23, 12:35 AM Comprehensive Nursing ATI Exam Study Guide
Comprehensive ATI Exam Study Guide
Hi all! My name is Morgan and I recently graduated from Drexel University’s Accelerated
Nursing Program in Philadelphia! This program is 11 months in length, and is designed for
students who havecompletedapriordegreelookingtocompletetheirBSNinlessthanayear.It
was one of thehardestthingsIhaveeverdone,butIamsothankfulformyeducationandwhere
I am today!
This study guide is a condensed version of ATI’s Comprehensive Book (pink book) and it
literally got me through the ATI Comprehensive Final Exam with flying colors. Each section is
divided up between topics, and there are subtopics in each section to help facilitate your
learning. Good luck, you got this!
Before we start, take a deep breath. ATI is designed to help you better prepare for the
NCLEX, and while it is daunting, you will slay the ATI if you follow this study guide and
supplement your review with practice questions (from ATI of course!) Set yourself up in a
comfortable room, preferably a quiet one with fewdistractions.Takefrequentbreaks,drinklots
of water, and stretchyourlegswhenneeded.YOUandyourmentalhealthcomefirst.You’vegot
this, we’re rooting for you!
Timeline and How to Study
If you’re in your last quarter/semester, you’ve probably been thinking about preparing for the
ATI Final Exam (or have already started!) Use this timeline as a guide to help space out your
review. Feel free to double up on topics or go in any order you’d like! This timeline worked for
me, but change it up to make it work for you.
Day Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunda
y
Adult Med Surg
Adult Med Adult Med Surg
Week Adult Med Surg Adult Med Surg Hematologic,
Fundamentals Surg Endocrine & Break
1 Respiratory Cardiovascular Immune, &
GI & Renal Integumentary
Cancers
Maternity
Maternity
Adult Med Surg Adult Med Diagnostic
Week Signs of Maternity Maternity
Neuro & Surg Tests & Break
2 Pregnancy & L&D Postpartum
Musculoskeletal Reproductive Reproductive
Complications
System
Peds
Peds
Week Maternity Procedures, Mental
Developmental Mental Health Critical Care Break
3 Newborn Poisoning, & Health
Milestones
Others
Pharm
Pharm Pharm Pharm Pharm
Week Infectious
Critical Care Calculations & Cardiovascular Neuro & Maternity & Break
4 Disease &
Conversions & Respiratory Reproductive Psych
Analgesics
about:blank 1/89
,10/25/23, 12:35 AM Comprehensive Nursing ATI Exam Study Guide
Table of Contents Page #
Fundamentals
● Ethics and Laws 3
● Admissions 5
● Nursing Process 6
○ Lab Values to Know 7
● Patient Needs 8
● Duties of Different Professionals 9
● Death and Dying 10
● Nursing Procedures 10
● Important Considerations 11
● Common Clinical Signs 14
● Safety and Infection Control 15
● Transmission Based Precautions 15
● Nutrition 18
Medical Surgical Nursing
● Respiratory 22
● Cardiovascular and Peripheral Vascular Disorders 25
● Hematologic, Immune, and Cancers 28
● Gastrointestinal System 30
● Renal System 34
● Endocrine System 38
● Neurosensory System 40
● Musculoskeletal System 44
● Integumentary System 47
Maternity
● Diagnostic Tests and Reproductive System 49
● Signs of Pregnancy 51
● Complications During Pregnancy 52
● Labor and Delivery 54
● Postpartum Assessment 56
● Newborn Assessment 57
Pediatrics
● Developmental Milestones 60
● Procedures, Poisoning, & Others 69
Mental Health
● Overview 70
● Disorders 73
● Extrapyramidal Symptoms & Medications 77
Pharmacology
● Overview 78
● Important Drugs 79
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,10/25/23, 12:35 AM Comprehensive Nursing ATI Exam Study Guide
● Frequent Monitoring Drugs & Toxicity 82
Diagnostic Lab Tests and Values
● Overview 86
Fundamentals
Ethics and Civil Law
● Reporting Act
○ Child and elderly abuse
○ Gunshot wounds
○ Communicable diseases
○ Ophthalmia Neonatorum
○ Phenylketonuria
○ Criminal acts
● Incident Reports
○ NEVER place in a patient's chart
○ If a patient wants to leave AMA, it is the provider's responsibility to advise the
patient of any risks involved when they refuse care
● Advanced Directives
○ Two Types
■ Living will
■ Durable Power of Attorney: transfers all rights to the designated agent
○ Intended to allow patients to have more control over their healthcaredecisionsat
the end of life
● Informed Consent
○ Not required in emergency situations
○ Capacity-age (adult), competence (can make choices and understand
consequences)
○ Voluntary
■ Freedom of choice without force, fraud, duress, or coercion
○ Informed consent not to be made under the influence of a drug or alcohol
○ The nurse’s signature as a witness on a consent form indicates that the nurse
observed the informed consent or the clientsauthorizedrepresentativevoluntarily
signed the consent form
● When to Question Provider Orders
○ Ambiguous orders
○ Orders that the patient questions
○ Orders when the patient’s condition has changed
○ Orders which do not match with your experience
○ Verbal orders that the doctor has not yet co-signed
● How to Protect your License
○ Do not let anyone else borrow it
○ Do not copy it unless you write COPY on it
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, 10/25/23, 12:35 AM Comprehensive Nursing ATI Exam Study Guide
○ If you lose your license, report it immediately
○ Be sure that the Board of Nursing is notified of any changes of address or name
○ Practice nursing according to the scope and standards of the state you work in
● Torts
○ Civil wrongs
○ Intentional
■ Assault, battery, defamation, false imprisonment, outage,invasionofprivacy,
wrongful disclosure of confidential information (can fax or email personal
information if consent was given)
○ Unintentional (Negligence)
■ Failure of a nurse toperformanactthatareasonablepersonwouldorwould
not perform in similar circumstances
■ Can be an act of omission or commission
■ Occurs when injury results from the failure of the wrongdoer to exercise
care
● Malpractice
○ Professional misconduct that is an unreasonable lack of skill or fidelity in duties
○ Ex; not inserting a foley, not taking appropriate steps to decrease a patient’s
temperature, notreportingworseningconditionsofthepatienttotheprovider,not
preventing falls
● Libel
○ Written communication that injures a person’s reputation
● Slander
○ Oral communication that injures a person’s repudiation
● Assault
○ A threat or an attempt to make bodily contact with another person without the
person's consent
○ Ex: threatening to give an injection to a psychotic patient if they do not behave
properly
● Battery
○ Touching another person unlawfully or carrying out a threatened physical harm
● Good Samaritan law
○ Enacted by individual states to encourage healthcare providers to assist at the
scene of accidents and emergencies
■ Care must be provided in good faith and must be gratuitous
■ The nurse must provide care at the level of their scope of practice
● Liability
○ Individual
■ Everybody is liable to his or her action/conduct
■ Liability must be shared by another person or group (ex; doctors and fellow
nurses or a facility such as a hospital)
○ Vicarious
about:blank 4/89
Comprehensive ATI Exam Study Guide
Hi all! My name is Morgan and I recently graduated from Drexel University’s Accelerated
Nursing Program in Philadelphia! This program is 11 months in length, and is designed for
students who havecompletedapriordegreelookingtocompletetheirBSNinlessthanayear.It
was one of thehardestthingsIhaveeverdone,butIamsothankfulformyeducationandwhere
I am today!
This study guide is a condensed version of ATI’s Comprehensive Book (pink book) and it
literally got me through the ATI Comprehensive Final Exam with flying colors. Each section is
divided up between topics, and there are subtopics in each section to help facilitate your
learning. Good luck, you got this!
Before we start, take a deep breath. ATI is designed to help you better prepare for the
NCLEX, and while it is daunting, you will slay the ATI if you follow this study guide and
supplement your review with practice questions (from ATI of course!) Set yourself up in a
comfortable room, preferably a quiet one with fewdistractions.Takefrequentbreaks,drinklots
of water, and stretchyourlegswhenneeded.YOUandyourmentalhealthcomefirst.You’vegot
this, we’re rooting for you!
Timeline and How to Study
If you’re in your last quarter/semester, you’ve probably been thinking about preparing for the
ATI Final Exam (or have already started!) Use this timeline as a guide to help space out your
review. Feel free to double up on topics or go in any order you’d like! This timeline worked for
me, but change it up to make it work for you.
Day Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunda
y
Adult Med Surg
Adult Med Adult Med Surg
Week Adult Med Surg Adult Med Surg Hematologic,
Fundamentals Surg Endocrine & Break
1 Respiratory Cardiovascular Immune, &
GI & Renal Integumentary
Cancers
Maternity
Maternity
Adult Med Surg Adult Med Diagnostic
Week Signs of Maternity Maternity
Neuro & Surg Tests & Break
2 Pregnancy & L&D Postpartum
Musculoskeletal Reproductive Reproductive
Complications
System
Peds
Peds
Week Maternity Procedures, Mental
Developmental Mental Health Critical Care Break
3 Newborn Poisoning, & Health
Milestones
Others
Pharm
Pharm Pharm Pharm Pharm
Week Infectious
Critical Care Calculations & Cardiovascular Neuro & Maternity & Break
4 Disease &
Conversions & Respiratory Reproductive Psych
Analgesics
about:blank 1/89
,10/25/23, 12:35 AM Comprehensive Nursing ATI Exam Study Guide
Table of Contents Page #
Fundamentals
● Ethics and Laws 3
● Admissions 5
● Nursing Process 6
○ Lab Values to Know 7
● Patient Needs 8
● Duties of Different Professionals 9
● Death and Dying 10
● Nursing Procedures 10
● Important Considerations 11
● Common Clinical Signs 14
● Safety and Infection Control 15
● Transmission Based Precautions 15
● Nutrition 18
Medical Surgical Nursing
● Respiratory 22
● Cardiovascular and Peripheral Vascular Disorders 25
● Hematologic, Immune, and Cancers 28
● Gastrointestinal System 30
● Renal System 34
● Endocrine System 38
● Neurosensory System 40
● Musculoskeletal System 44
● Integumentary System 47
Maternity
● Diagnostic Tests and Reproductive System 49
● Signs of Pregnancy 51
● Complications During Pregnancy 52
● Labor and Delivery 54
● Postpartum Assessment 56
● Newborn Assessment 57
Pediatrics
● Developmental Milestones 60
● Procedures, Poisoning, & Others 69
Mental Health
● Overview 70
● Disorders 73
● Extrapyramidal Symptoms & Medications 77
Pharmacology
● Overview 78
● Important Drugs 79
about:blank 2/89
,10/25/23, 12:35 AM Comprehensive Nursing ATI Exam Study Guide
● Frequent Monitoring Drugs & Toxicity 82
Diagnostic Lab Tests and Values
● Overview 86
Fundamentals
Ethics and Civil Law
● Reporting Act
○ Child and elderly abuse
○ Gunshot wounds
○ Communicable diseases
○ Ophthalmia Neonatorum
○ Phenylketonuria
○ Criminal acts
● Incident Reports
○ NEVER place in a patient's chart
○ If a patient wants to leave AMA, it is the provider's responsibility to advise the
patient of any risks involved when they refuse care
● Advanced Directives
○ Two Types
■ Living will
■ Durable Power of Attorney: transfers all rights to the designated agent
○ Intended to allow patients to have more control over their healthcaredecisionsat
the end of life
● Informed Consent
○ Not required in emergency situations
○ Capacity-age (adult), competence (can make choices and understand
consequences)
○ Voluntary
■ Freedom of choice without force, fraud, duress, or coercion
○ Informed consent not to be made under the influence of a drug or alcohol
○ The nurse’s signature as a witness on a consent form indicates that the nurse
observed the informed consent or the clientsauthorizedrepresentativevoluntarily
signed the consent form
● When to Question Provider Orders
○ Ambiguous orders
○ Orders that the patient questions
○ Orders when the patient’s condition has changed
○ Orders which do not match with your experience
○ Verbal orders that the doctor has not yet co-signed
● How to Protect your License
○ Do not let anyone else borrow it
○ Do not copy it unless you write COPY on it
about:blank 3/89
, 10/25/23, 12:35 AM Comprehensive Nursing ATI Exam Study Guide
○ If you lose your license, report it immediately
○ Be sure that the Board of Nursing is notified of any changes of address or name
○ Practice nursing according to the scope and standards of the state you work in
● Torts
○ Civil wrongs
○ Intentional
■ Assault, battery, defamation, false imprisonment, outage,invasionofprivacy,
wrongful disclosure of confidential information (can fax or email personal
information if consent was given)
○ Unintentional (Negligence)
■ Failure of a nurse toperformanactthatareasonablepersonwouldorwould
not perform in similar circumstances
■ Can be an act of omission or commission
■ Occurs when injury results from the failure of the wrongdoer to exercise
care
● Malpractice
○ Professional misconduct that is an unreasonable lack of skill or fidelity in duties
○ Ex; not inserting a foley, not taking appropriate steps to decrease a patient’s
temperature, notreportingworseningconditionsofthepatienttotheprovider,not
preventing falls
● Libel
○ Written communication that injures a person’s reputation
● Slander
○ Oral communication that injures a person’s repudiation
● Assault
○ A threat or an attempt to make bodily contact with another person without the
person's consent
○ Ex: threatening to give an injection to a psychotic patient if they do not behave
properly
● Battery
○ Touching another person unlawfully or carrying out a threatened physical harm
● Good Samaritan law
○ Enacted by individual states to encourage healthcare providers to assist at the
scene of accidents and emergencies
■ Care must be provided in good faith and must be gratuitous
■ The nurse must provide care at the level of their scope of practice
● Liability
○ Individual
■ Everybody is liable to his or her action/conduct
■ Liability must be shared by another person or group (ex; doctors and fellow
nurses or a facility such as a hospital)
○ Vicarious
about:blank 4/89
