HEALTH ASSESSMENT FINAL – JARVIS TEST BANK
(UPDATED 2025 EDITION)
A physician tells the nurse that a patients vertebra prominens is tender and asks the nurse to
reevaluate the area in 1 hour. The area of the body the nurse will assess is:
a. Just above the diaphragm.
b. Just lateral to the knee cap.
c. At the level of the C7 vertebra.
d. At the level of the T11 vertebra. - correct answer-C
A mother brings her 2-month-old daughter in for an examination and says, My daughter rolled
over against the wall, and now I have noticed that she has this spot that is soft on the top of her
head. Is something terribly wrong? The nurses best response would be:
a. Perhaps that could be a result of your dietary intake during pregnancy.
b. Your baby may have craniosynostosis, a disease of the sutures of the brain.
c. That soft spot may be an indication of cretinism or congenital hypothyroidism.
d. That soft spot is normal, and actually allows for growth of the brain during the first year of
your babys life - correct answer-D
The nurse notices that a patients palpebral fissures are not symmetric. On examination, the nurse
may find that damage has occurred to which cranial nerve (CN)?
a. III
b. V
c. VII
d. VIII - correct answer-C
A patient is unable to differentiate between sharp and dull stimulation to both sides of her face.
The nurse suspects:
a. Bell palsy.
b. Damage to the trigeminal nerve.
,c. Frostbite with resultant paresthesia to the cheeks.
d. Scleroderma. - correct answer-B
When examining the face of a patient, the nurse is aware that the two pairs of salivary glands that
are accessible to examination are the ___________ and ___________ glands.
a. Occipital; submental
b. Parotid; jugulodigastric
c. Parotid; submandibular
d. Submandibular; occipital - correct answer-C
A patient comes to the clinic complaining of neck and shoulder pain and is unable to turn her
head. The nurse suspects damage to CN ______ and proceeds with the examination by
_____________.
a. XI; palpating the anterior and posterior triangles
b. XI; asking the patient to shrug her shoulders against resistance
c. XII; percussing the sternomastoid and submandibular neck muscles
d. XII; assessing for a positive Romberg sign - correct answer-B
When examining a patients CN function, the nurse remembers that the muscles in the neck that
are innervated by CN XI are the:
a. Sternomastoid and trapezius.
b. Spinal accessory and omohyoid.
c. Trapezius and sternomandibular.
d. Sternomandibular and spinal accessory. - correct answer-A
A patients laboratory data reveal an elevated thyroxine (T4) level. The nurse would proceed with
an examination of the _____ gland.
a. Thyroid
b. Parotid
c. Adrenal
, d. Parathyroid - correct answer-A
A patient says that she has recently noticed a lump in the front of her neck below her Adams
apple that seems to be getting bigger. During the assessment, the finding that leads the nurse to
suspect that this may not be a cancerous thyroid nodule is that the lump (nodule):
a. Is tender.
b. Is mobile and not hard.
c. Disappears when the patient smiles.
d. Is hard and fixed to the surrounding structures. - correct answer-B
The nurse notices that a patients submental lymph nodes are enlarged. In an effort to identify the
cause of the node enlargement, the nurse would assess the patients:
a. Infraclavicular area.
b. Supraclavicular area.
c. Area distal to the enlarged node.
d. Area proximal to the enlarged node. - correct answer-D
The nurse is aware that the four areas in the body where lymph nodes are accessible are the:
a. Head, breasts, groin, and abdomen.
b. Arms, breasts, inguinal area, and legs.
c. Head and neck, arms, breasts, and axillae.
d. Head and neck, arms, inguinal area, and axillae. - correct answer-D
A mother brings her newborn in for an assessment and asks, Is there something wrong with my
baby? His head seems so big. Which statement is true regarding the relative proportions of the
head and trunk of the newborn?
a. At birth, the head is one fifth the total length.
b. Head circumference should be greater than chest circumference at birth.
c. The head size reaches 90% of its final size when the child is 3 years old.
(UPDATED 2025 EDITION)
A physician tells the nurse that a patients vertebra prominens is tender and asks the nurse to
reevaluate the area in 1 hour. The area of the body the nurse will assess is:
a. Just above the diaphragm.
b. Just lateral to the knee cap.
c. At the level of the C7 vertebra.
d. At the level of the T11 vertebra. - correct answer-C
A mother brings her 2-month-old daughter in for an examination and says, My daughter rolled
over against the wall, and now I have noticed that she has this spot that is soft on the top of her
head. Is something terribly wrong? The nurses best response would be:
a. Perhaps that could be a result of your dietary intake during pregnancy.
b. Your baby may have craniosynostosis, a disease of the sutures of the brain.
c. That soft spot may be an indication of cretinism or congenital hypothyroidism.
d. That soft spot is normal, and actually allows for growth of the brain during the first year of
your babys life - correct answer-D
The nurse notices that a patients palpebral fissures are not symmetric. On examination, the nurse
may find that damage has occurred to which cranial nerve (CN)?
a. III
b. V
c. VII
d. VIII - correct answer-C
A patient is unable to differentiate between sharp and dull stimulation to both sides of her face.
The nurse suspects:
a. Bell palsy.
b. Damage to the trigeminal nerve.
,c. Frostbite with resultant paresthesia to the cheeks.
d. Scleroderma. - correct answer-B
When examining the face of a patient, the nurse is aware that the two pairs of salivary glands that
are accessible to examination are the ___________ and ___________ glands.
a. Occipital; submental
b. Parotid; jugulodigastric
c. Parotid; submandibular
d. Submandibular; occipital - correct answer-C
A patient comes to the clinic complaining of neck and shoulder pain and is unable to turn her
head. The nurse suspects damage to CN ______ and proceeds with the examination by
_____________.
a. XI; palpating the anterior and posterior triangles
b. XI; asking the patient to shrug her shoulders against resistance
c. XII; percussing the sternomastoid and submandibular neck muscles
d. XII; assessing for a positive Romberg sign - correct answer-B
When examining a patients CN function, the nurse remembers that the muscles in the neck that
are innervated by CN XI are the:
a. Sternomastoid and trapezius.
b. Spinal accessory and omohyoid.
c. Trapezius and sternomandibular.
d. Sternomandibular and spinal accessory. - correct answer-A
A patients laboratory data reveal an elevated thyroxine (T4) level. The nurse would proceed with
an examination of the _____ gland.
a. Thyroid
b. Parotid
c. Adrenal
, d. Parathyroid - correct answer-A
A patient says that she has recently noticed a lump in the front of her neck below her Adams
apple that seems to be getting bigger. During the assessment, the finding that leads the nurse to
suspect that this may not be a cancerous thyroid nodule is that the lump (nodule):
a. Is tender.
b. Is mobile and not hard.
c. Disappears when the patient smiles.
d. Is hard and fixed to the surrounding structures. - correct answer-B
The nurse notices that a patients submental lymph nodes are enlarged. In an effort to identify the
cause of the node enlargement, the nurse would assess the patients:
a. Infraclavicular area.
b. Supraclavicular area.
c. Area distal to the enlarged node.
d. Area proximal to the enlarged node. - correct answer-D
The nurse is aware that the four areas in the body where lymph nodes are accessible are the:
a. Head, breasts, groin, and abdomen.
b. Arms, breasts, inguinal area, and legs.
c. Head and neck, arms, breasts, and axillae.
d. Head and neck, arms, inguinal area, and axillae. - correct answer-D
A mother brings her newborn in for an assessment and asks, Is there something wrong with my
baby? His head seems so big. Which statement is true regarding the relative proportions of the
head and trunk of the newborn?
a. At birth, the head is one fifth the total length.
b. Head circumference should be greater than chest circumference at birth.
c. The head size reaches 90% of its final size when the child is 3 years old.
