NUR 257 EXAM 1 FREQUENTLY TESTED QUESTIONS AND
DETAILED ANSWERS 2026/2027
Q1. What is the primary goal of nursing?
ANSWER To promote health, prevent illness, restore health, and alleviate
suffering in individuals, families, and communities.
Q2. Define the nursing process.
ANSWER A systematic, five-step method for delivering individualized patient
care: Assessment, Diagnosis, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation
(ADPIE).
Q3. What is a nursing diagnosis?
ANSWER A clinical judgment about a patient's response to an actual or
potential health problem or life process that falls within the scope of nursing
practice.
Q4. What are the three components of a nursing diagnosis (PES format)?
ANSWER Problem (P), Etiology or related factors (E), and Signs and
Symptoms or defining characteristics (S).
Q5. What is the difference between a medical diagnosis and a nursing
diagnosis?
ANSWER A medical diagnosis identifies a disease or pathology; a nursing
diagnosis identifies a patient's response to that condition and guides nursing
interventions.
Q6. Define assessment in the nursing process.
ANSWER The systematic collection of subjective and objective data from the
patient, family, and health record to identify patient needs and health status.
Q7. What is subjective data?
ANSWER Information reported by the patient (symptoms), such as pain,
nausea, or anxiety — only the patient can verify it.
Q8. What is objective data?
, ANSWER Observable and measurable data gathered through inspection,
palpation, percussion, and auscultation, such as vital signs or lab values.
Q9. What is the planning phase of the nursing process?
ANSWER Setting measurable, patient-centered goals and selecting
evidence-based nursing interventions to address identified nursing diagnoses.
Q10. What does SMART stand for in goal-setting?
ANSWER Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.
Q11. What is the evaluation phase of the nursing process?
ANSWER Determining whether patient goals and expected outcomes have
been met, and revising the care plan as needed.
Q12. What are independent nursing interventions?
ANSWER Actions nurses initiate based on their own knowledge and
judgment without a physician's order, such as repositioning or patient
teaching.
Q13. What are dependent nursing interventions?
ANSWER Actions requiring a physician's order, such as administering
medications or performing certain procedures.
Q14. What are collaborative interventions?
ANSWER Interventions performed jointly with other healthcare team
members, such as physical therapy exercises.
Q15. Define critical thinking in nursing.
ANSWER A purposeful, reflective, outcome-directed clinical reasoning
process used to make sound judgments about patient care.
Q16. What is clinical judgment?
ANSWER The process of observing, interpreting, responding to, and
reflecting on patient situations using knowledge and critical thinking.
Q17. What is evidence-based practice (EBP)?
ANSWER Integrating the best available research evidence with clinical
expertise and patient values and preferences to guide care decisions.
Q18. What are the levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs from lowest to
highest?
ANSWER Physiological → Safety & Security → Love & Belonging → Esteem
→ Self-Actualization.
, Q19. How does Maslow's hierarchy guide care priority?
ANSWER Lower-level needs (physiological, safety) must be met before
higher-level needs; this guides nurses in prioritizing life-threatening issues
first.
Q20. What is holistic nursing care?
ANSWER Caring for the whole person — physical, emotional, social, cultural,
and spiritual dimensions — rather than focusing only on the disease.
UNIT 2: Safety & Infection Control
Q21. What are Standard Precautions?
ANSWER Infection control practices used with ALL patients regardless of
diagnosis, including hand hygiene, PPE, and safe needle handling.
Q22. When should hand hygiene be performed?
ANSWER Before and after patient contact, before and after procedures, after
removing gloves, and after touching potentially contaminated surfaces (WHO
5 Moments).
Q23. What is the difference between antiseptic and disinfectant?
ANSWER Antiseptics are used on living tissue; disinfectants are used on
inanimate objects/surfaces.
Q24. What PPE is required for contact precautions?
ANSWER Gloves and gown upon entering the room.
Q25. What PPE is required for droplet precautions?
ANSWER Surgical mask when within 3–6 feet of the patient; gown and
gloves as indicated.
Q26. What PPE is required for airborne precautions?
ANSWER N95 respirator (fit-tested), negative pressure room, and gown and
gloves.
Q27. Give examples of diseases requiring airborne precautions.
ANSWER Tuberculosis, measles (rubeola), chickenpox (varicella), and
disseminated herpes zoster.
Q28. Give examples of diseases requiring droplet precautions.
ANSWER Influenza, pertussis, meningitis (Neisseria meningitidis), and
mumps.
DETAILED ANSWERS 2026/2027
Q1. What is the primary goal of nursing?
ANSWER To promote health, prevent illness, restore health, and alleviate
suffering in individuals, families, and communities.
Q2. Define the nursing process.
ANSWER A systematic, five-step method for delivering individualized patient
care: Assessment, Diagnosis, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation
(ADPIE).
Q3. What is a nursing diagnosis?
ANSWER A clinical judgment about a patient's response to an actual or
potential health problem or life process that falls within the scope of nursing
practice.
Q4. What are the three components of a nursing diagnosis (PES format)?
ANSWER Problem (P), Etiology or related factors (E), and Signs and
Symptoms or defining characteristics (S).
Q5. What is the difference between a medical diagnosis and a nursing
diagnosis?
ANSWER A medical diagnosis identifies a disease or pathology; a nursing
diagnosis identifies a patient's response to that condition and guides nursing
interventions.
Q6. Define assessment in the nursing process.
ANSWER The systematic collection of subjective and objective data from the
patient, family, and health record to identify patient needs and health status.
Q7. What is subjective data?
ANSWER Information reported by the patient (symptoms), such as pain,
nausea, or anxiety — only the patient can verify it.
Q8. What is objective data?
, ANSWER Observable and measurable data gathered through inspection,
palpation, percussion, and auscultation, such as vital signs or lab values.
Q9. What is the planning phase of the nursing process?
ANSWER Setting measurable, patient-centered goals and selecting
evidence-based nursing interventions to address identified nursing diagnoses.
Q10. What does SMART stand for in goal-setting?
ANSWER Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.
Q11. What is the evaluation phase of the nursing process?
ANSWER Determining whether patient goals and expected outcomes have
been met, and revising the care plan as needed.
Q12. What are independent nursing interventions?
ANSWER Actions nurses initiate based on their own knowledge and
judgment without a physician's order, such as repositioning or patient
teaching.
Q13. What are dependent nursing interventions?
ANSWER Actions requiring a physician's order, such as administering
medications or performing certain procedures.
Q14. What are collaborative interventions?
ANSWER Interventions performed jointly with other healthcare team
members, such as physical therapy exercises.
Q15. Define critical thinking in nursing.
ANSWER A purposeful, reflective, outcome-directed clinical reasoning
process used to make sound judgments about patient care.
Q16. What is clinical judgment?
ANSWER The process of observing, interpreting, responding to, and
reflecting on patient situations using knowledge and critical thinking.
Q17. What is evidence-based practice (EBP)?
ANSWER Integrating the best available research evidence with clinical
expertise and patient values and preferences to guide care decisions.
Q18. What are the levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs from lowest to
highest?
ANSWER Physiological → Safety & Security → Love & Belonging → Esteem
→ Self-Actualization.
, Q19. How does Maslow's hierarchy guide care priority?
ANSWER Lower-level needs (physiological, safety) must be met before
higher-level needs; this guides nurses in prioritizing life-threatening issues
first.
Q20. What is holistic nursing care?
ANSWER Caring for the whole person — physical, emotional, social, cultural,
and spiritual dimensions — rather than focusing only on the disease.
UNIT 2: Safety & Infection Control
Q21. What are Standard Precautions?
ANSWER Infection control practices used with ALL patients regardless of
diagnosis, including hand hygiene, PPE, and safe needle handling.
Q22. When should hand hygiene be performed?
ANSWER Before and after patient contact, before and after procedures, after
removing gloves, and after touching potentially contaminated surfaces (WHO
5 Moments).
Q23. What is the difference between antiseptic and disinfectant?
ANSWER Antiseptics are used on living tissue; disinfectants are used on
inanimate objects/surfaces.
Q24. What PPE is required for contact precautions?
ANSWER Gloves and gown upon entering the room.
Q25. What PPE is required for droplet precautions?
ANSWER Surgical mask when within 3–6 feet of the patient; gown and
gloves as indicated.
Q26. What PPE is required for airborne precautions?
ANSWER N95 respirator (fit-tested), negative pressure room, and gown and
gloves.
Q27. Give examples of diseases requiring airborne precautions.
ANSWER Tuberculosis, measles (rubeola), chickenpox (varicella), and
disseminated herpes zoster.
Q28. Give examples of diseases requiring droplet precautions.
ANSWER Influenza, pertussis, meningitis (Neisseria meningitidis), and
mumps.
