PNLE I for Foundation of Professional
Nursing Practice Exam
The maximum transfusion time for a unit of packed red blood cells (RBCs) is:
A. 6 hours
B. 4 hours
C. 3 hours
D. 2 hours - Correct Answer ✔️✔️Answer: (B) 4 hours. A unit of packed
RBCs may be given over a period of between 1 and 4 hours. It shouldn't infuse
for longer than 4 hours because the risk of contamination and sepsis increases
after that time. Discard or return to the blood bank any blood not given within
this time, according to facility policy.
Nurse Monique is monitoring the effectiveness of a client's drug therapy. When
should the nurse Monique obtain a blood sample to measure the trough drug
level?
A. 1 hour before administering the next dose.
B. Immediately before administering the next dose.
,C. Immediately after administering the next dose.
D. 30 minutes after administering the next dose. - Correct Answer ✔️✔
️Answer: (B) Immediately before administering the next dose. Measuring the
blood drug concentration helps determine whether the dosing has achieved the
therapeutic goal. For measurement of the trough, or lowest, blood level of a
drug, the nurse draws a blood sample immediately before administering the
next dose. Depending on the drug's duration of action and half-life, peak blood
drug levels typically are drawn after administering the next dose.
Nurse May is aware that the main advantage of using a floor stock system is:
A. The nurse can implement medication orders quickly.
B. The nurse receives input from the pharmacist.
C. The system minimizes transcription errors.
D. The system reinforces accurate calculations. - Correct Answer ✔️✔
️Answer: (A) The nurse can implement medication orders quickly. A floor stock
system enables the nurse to implement medication orders quickly. It doesn't
allow for pharmacist input, nor does it minimize transcription errors or reinforce
accurate calculations.
,Nurse Oliver is assessing a client's abdomen. Which finding should the nurse
report as abnormal?
A. Dullness over the liver.
B. Bowel sounds occurring every 10 seconds.
C. Shifting dullness over the abdomen.
D. Vascular sounds heard over the renal arteries. - Correct Answer ✔️✔
️Answer: (C) Shifting dullness over the abdomen. Shifting dullness over the
abdomen indicates ascites, an abnormal finding. The other options are normal
abdominal findings.
A female client with a fecal impaction frequently exhibits which clinical
manifestation?
A. Increased appetite
B. Loss of urge to defecate
C. Hard, brown, formed stools
D. Liquid or semi-liquid stools - Correct Answer ✔️✔️Answer: (D) Liquid or
semi-liquid stools. Passage of liquid or semi-liquid stools results from seepage of
, unformed bowel contents around the impacted stool in the rectum. Clients with
fecal impaction don't pass hard, brown, formed stools because the feces can't
move past the impaction. These clients typically report the urge to defecate
(although they can't pass stool) and a decreased appetite.
Nurse Linda prepares to perform an otoscopic examination on a female client.
For proper visualization, the nurse should position the client's ear by:
A. Pulling the lobule down and back
B. Pulling the helix up and forward
C. Pulling the helix up and back
D. Pulling the lobule down and forward - Correct Answer ✔️✔️Answer:
(C) Pulling the helix up and back. To perform an otoscopic examination on an
adult, the nurse grasps the helix of the ear and pulls it up and back to straighten
the ear canal. For a child, the nurse grasps the helix and pulls it down to
straighten the ear canal. Pulling the lobule in any direction wouldn't straighten
the ear canal for visualization.
Which instruction should nurse Tom give to a male client who is having external
radiation therapy:
Nursing Practice Exam
The maximum transfusion time for a unit of packed red blood cells (RBCs) is:
A. 6 hours
B. 4 hours
C. 3 hours
D. 2 hours - Correct Answer ✔️✔️Answer: (B) 4 hours. A unit of packed
RBCs may be given over a period of between 1 and 4 hours. It shouldn't infuse
for longer than 4 hours because the risk of contamination and sepsis increases
after that time. Discard or return to the blood bank any blood not given within
this time, according to facility policy.
Nurse Monique is monitoring the effectiveness of a client's drug therapy. When
should the nurse Monique obtain a blood sample to measure the trough drug
level?
A. 1 hour before administering the next dose.
B. Immediately before administering the next dose.
,C. Immediately after administering the next dose.
D. 30 minutes after administering the next dose. - Correct Answer ✔️✔
️Answer: (B) Immediately before administering the next dose. Measuring the
blood drug concentration helps determine whether the dosing has achieved the
therapeutic goal. For measurement of the trough, or lowest, blood level of a
drug, the nurse draws a blood sample immediately before administering the
next dose. Depending on the drug's duration of action and half-life, peak blood
drug levels typically are drawn after administering the next dose.
Nurse May is aware that the main advantage of using a floor stock system is:
A. The nurse can implement medication orders quickly.
B. The nurse receives input from the pharmacist.
C. The system minimizes transcription errors.
D. The system reinforces accurate calculations. - Correct Answer ✔️✔
️Answer: (A) The nurse can implement medication orders quickly. A floor stock
system enables the nurse to implement medication orders quickly. It doesn't
allow for pharmacist input, nor does it minimize transcription errors or reinforce
accurate calculations.
,Nurse Oliver is assessing a client's abdomen. Which finding should the nurse
report as abnormal?
A. Dullness over the liver.
B. Bowel sounds occurring every 10 seconds.
C. Shifting dullness over the abdomen.
D. Vascular sounds heard over the renal arteries. - Correct Answer ✔️✔
️Answer: (C) Shifting dullness over the abdomen. Shifting dullness over the
abdomen indicates ascites, an abnormal finding. The other options are normal
abdominal findings.
A female client with a fecal impaction frequently exhibits which clinical
manifestation?
A. Increased appetite
B. Loss of urge to defecate
C. Hard, brown, formed stools
D. Liquid or semi-liquid stools - Correct Answer ✔️✔️Answer: (D) Liquid or
semi-liquid stools. Passage of liquid or semi-liquid stools results from seepage of
, unformed bowel contents around the impacted stool in the rectum. Clients with
fecal impaction don't pass hard, brown, formed stools because the feces can't
move past the impaction. These clients typically report the urge to defecate
(although they can't pass stool) and a decreased appetite.
Nurse Linda prepares to perform an otoscopic examination on a female client.
For proper visualization, the nurse should position the client's ear by:
A. Pulling the lobule down and back
B. Pulling the helix up and forward
C. Pulling the helix up and back
D. Pulling the lobule down and forward - Correct Answer ✔️✔️Answer:
(C) Pulling the helix up and back. To perform an otoscopic examination on an
adult, the nurse grasps the helix of the ear and pulls it up and back to straighten
the ear canal. For a child, the nurse grasps the helix and pulls it down to
straighten the ear canal. Pulling the lobule in any direction wouldn't straighten
the ear canal for visualization.
Which instruction should nurse Tom give to a male client who is having external
radiation therapy:
