NR-302 Health Assessment – Midterm 2
Questions and Answers with Rationales
2025 Chamberlain University
1. Which technique is best used to assess the liver size during a physical exam?
A. Inspection
B. Percussion
C. Auscultation
D. Palpation
Rationale: Percussion helps assess organ size, such as the liver. A dull sound
indicates liver borders.
2. What is the correct sequence of techniques used in the physical assessment
of the abdomen?
A. Inspection, palpation, percussion, auscultation
B. Palpation, percussion, auscultation, inspection
C. Inspection, auscultation, percussion, palpation
D. Percussion, palpation, auscultation, inspection
Rationale: To avoid altering bowel sounds, auscultation is done before percussion
and palpation.
,3. During a health history interview, which is considered a subjective finding?
A. Blood pressure reading
B. Reported nausea
C. Heart rate
D. Skin rash
Rationale: Subjective data is reported by the patient, such as feelings of nausea or
pain.
4. Which of the following is a normal finding in an elderly adult’s respiratory
assessment?
A. Barrel chest from asthma
B. Decreased chest expansion
C. Rales in lower lobes
D. Hyperresonance on percussion
Rationale: Decreased chest expansion can be a normal aging change due to
decreased lung elasticity.
5. A nurse notes clubbing of the patient’s fingernails. What condition is most
likely associated?
A. Liver failure
B. Hypertension
, C. Chronic hypoxia
D. Hyperthyroidism
Rationale: Clubbing is often a sign of long-term oxygen deprivation, such as in
chronic lung diseases.
6. What sound is expected when percussing over the lungs of a healthy adult?
A. Resonance
B. Dullness
C. Tympany
D. Hyperresonance
Rationale: Resonance is the expected sound over healthy lung tissue due to air
presence.
7. When palpating lymph nodes, which characteristic would indicate
malignancy?
A. Soft and movable
B. Small and round
C. Hard, fixed, and non-tender
D. Tender and enlarged
Rationale: Malignant nodes are typically hard, fixed, and non-tender. Tender
nodes are more likely from infection.
8. Which cranial nerve is assessed by testing the gag reflex?
Questions and Answers with Rationales
2025 Chamberlain University
1. Which technique is best used to assess the liver size during a physical exam?
A. Inspection
B. Percussion
C. Auscultation
D. Palpation
Rationale: Percussion helps assess organ size, such as the liver. A dull sound
indicates liver borders.
2. What is the correct sequence of techniques used in the physical assessment
of the abdomen?
A. Inspection, palpation, percussion, auscultation
B. Palpation, percussion, auscultation, inspection
C. Inspection, auscultation, percussion, palpation
D. Percussion, palpation, auscultation, inspection
Rationale: To avoid altering bowel sounds, auscultation is done before percussion
and palpation.
,3. During a health history interview, which is considered a subjective finding?
A. Blood pressure reading
B. Reported nausea
C. Heart rate
D. Skin rash
Rationale: Subjective data is reported by the patient, such as feelings of nausea or
pain.
4. Which of the following is a normal finding in an elderly adult’s respiratory
assessment?
A. Barrel chest from asthma
B. Decreased chest expansion
C. Rales in lower lobes
D. Hyperresonance on percussion
Rationale: Decreased chest expansion can be a normal aging change due to
decreased lung elasticity.
5. A nurse notes clubbing of the patient’s fingernails. What condition is most
likely associated?
A. Liver failure
B. Hypertension
, C. Chronic hypoxia
D. Hyperthyroidism
Rationale: Clubbing is often a sign of long-term oxygen deprivation, such as in
chronic lung diseases.
6. What sound is expected when percussing over the lungs of a healthy adult?
A. Resonance
B. Dullness
C. Tympany
D. Hyperresonance
Rationale: Resonance is the expected sound over healthy lung tissue due to air
presence.
7. When palpating lymph nodes, which characteristic would indicate
malignancy?
A. Soft and movable
B. Small and round
C. Hard, fixed, and non-tender
D. Tender and enlarged
Rationale: Malignant nodes are typically hard, fixed, and non-tender. Tender
nodes are more likely from infection.
8. Which cranial nerve is assessed by testing the gag reflex?
