Page 1 of 87
PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING EXAM QUESTIONS MOST
COMPREHENSIVE 2026 QUESTIONS EXAM LATEST
VERSION SOLVED QUESTIONS & ANSWERS VERIFIED
100 %
1. In 1988, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a report on the future of
public health and its mission that defined public health as:
a. what public-private partnerships do to treat vulnerable populations.
b. what the government does to ensure that vital programs are in place.
c. what the U.S. Public Health Service does to prevent disease, promote health,
and deliver services.
d. what society does collectively to ensure the conditions in which people can
be healthy.
ANS: D
In 1988, the IOM's report stated that public health is "what we, as a society, do
collectively to assure the conditions in which people can be healthy." Consequently,
the mission of public health is "to generate organized community effort to address
the public's interest in health by applying scientific and technical knowledge to
prevent disease and promote health." This clearly places the emphasis on the desire
of the population and community to ensure access to services that foster the health
status of the overall community through the equitable distribution of resources
addressed to community problems that affect health.
2. A registered nurse is seeking a position as a public health nurse. In
reviewing the job description, the nurse would expect to find a description of a
position that focused on functions such as:
a. monitoring pregnant teenagers for symptoms of complications of
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pregnancy.
b. offering free hypertension screening and treatment referral at local health
fairs to low-income, uninsured, community members.
c. partnering with local seasonal farmworkers to design a program aimed at
preventing illness and injury, and advocating for this population with local
political and community leaders.
d. preventing injury among a population of elderly residents in an assisted
living facility and treating residents' chronic illnesses.
ANS: C
The scope of practice of public health nurses is population focused and community
oriented, with a primary emphasis on population-level interventions that target
strategies for health promotion and disease prevention. In addition, public health
nursing is concerned with the health of all members of a population or community,
particularly vulnerable populations, and uses political processes as a major
intervention strategy.
3. A public health nurse leader is encountering barriers when trying to shift the
public health agency's efforts to a population-focused practice. The reasons
peers are not supportive of the proposed shift to a population focus are most
likely related to:
a. agency colleagues' push for nurses to focus on population initiatives.
b. costs associated with staff training and revision of documents.
c. lack of support from the agency's funding sources.
d. opinions that nursing should focus on the provision of direct client care and
services.
ANS: D
Barriers to implementing population-focused care include lack of understanding of
the public health nurse role and its relationship to other roles in nursing, such as
direct care and services; workplace role socialization that determines what roles are
appropriate and inappropriate or accessible and inaccessible for nurses; and lack of
comprehensive training at the graduate level in the disciplines basic to public health
such as epidemiology, biostatistics, community development, service administration,
and policy formation.
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4. The role and goals of the community health nursing practice can best be
described as:
a. community-based interventions aimed at promoting, preserving, and
maintaining the health of populations residing in institutional facilities such as
nursing homes.
b. education of nurses and other staff working in community-based and
community-oriented settings to improve the overall effectiveness of their
programs to meet client needs.
c. population-level strategies aimed at promoting, preserving, and maintaining
the health of populations through the delivery of personal health care services
to individuals, families, and groups in an effort to improve the health of the
community as a whole.
d. activities targeted at improving the health status of clients served by
community-based health service agencies such as hospice and home health
agencies.
ANS: C
Community health nursing practice is the synthesis of nursing theory and public
health theory applied to promoting, preserving, and maintaining the health of
populations through the delivery of personal health care services to individuals,
families, and groups. The focus of community health nursing practice is the health of
individuals, families, and groups and the effect of their health status on the health of
the community as a whole (individual to families to groups to community flow). This
is different from public health nursing, which is the synthesis of nursing theory and
public health theory applied to promoting and preserving the health of populations.
The focus of public health nursing practice is the community as a whole and the
effect that the community's health status, including health care resources, has on the
health of individuals, families, and groups (community to groups to families to
individual flow). Both community health and public health nursing are considered to
be community-oriented practices involving free-living (noninstitutionalized) clients.
Community-based nursing practice is setting specific, and care is provided to clients
where they live (home health or hospice nursing, community-based clinic), work
(occupational health nursing), and/or attend school (school nursing). The emphasis
of community-based nursing practice is acute and chronic care (illness care) and the
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provision of comprehensive, coordinated, and continuous services, usually within a
specialty area.
5. A community-oriented nurse has identified obesity as a problem in the
middle school. The next step in a population-focused practice is to make
information available about the health of the middle school students. This
describes the core public health function of:
a. assessment.
b. assurance.
c. policy development.
d. research.
ANS: A
Assessment is a core function of public health and refers to systematically collecting
data concerning the population, monitoring the population's health status, and
making information available on the health of the community. In a community-
oriented approach, a nurse would apply both nursing and public health theory. In this
case, assessment would be the first step from the perspective of both theories.
Because the practice is population focused and community oriented, it would involve
the assessment of the community subpopulation of middle school children and the
impact of obesity on their overall health status.
6. The state public health agency has received multiple complaints regarding
the availability of elder transportation services to a specific county senior
center. The state agency assigns a public health nurse to work with the
community to evaluate its program for elder transportation services to publicly
sponsored eldercare programs. The public health core function applied is:
a. assurance.
b. policy development.
c. primary prevention.
d. public transportation.
ANS: A
The public health core function of assurance focuses on the responsibility of public
health agencies to be sure that activities are appropriately carried out to meet public
health goals and plans. This involves making sure that essential community-oriented
PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING EXAM QUESTIONS MOST
COMPREHENSIVE 2026 QUESTIONS EXAM LATEST
VERSION SOLVED QUESTIONS & ANSWERS VERIFIED
100 %
1. In 1988, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a report on the future of
public health and its mission that defined public health as:
a. what public-private partnerships do to treat vulnerable populations.
b. what the government does to ensure that vital programs are in place.
c. what the U.S. Public Health Service does to prevent disease, promote health,
and deliver services.
d. what society does collectively to ensure the conditions in which people can
be healthy.
ANS: D
In 1988, the IOM's report stated that public health is "what we, as a society, do
collectively to assure the conditions in which people can be healthy." Consequently,
the mission of public health is "to generate organized community effort to address
the public's interest in health by applying scientific and technical knowledge to
prevent disease and promote health." This clearly places the emphasis on the desire
of the population and community to ensure access to services that foster the health
status of the overall community through the equitable distribution of resources
addressed to community problems that affect health.
2. A registered nurse is seeking a position as a public health nurse. In
reviewing the job description, the nurse would expect to find a description of a
position that focused on functions such as:
a. monitoring pregnant teenagers for symptoms of complications of
, Page 2 of 87
pregnancy.
b. offering free hypertension screening and treatment referral at local health
fairs to low-income, uninsured, community members.
c. partnering with local seasonal farmworkers to design a program aimed at
preventing illness and injury, and advocating for this population with local
political and community leaders.
d. preventing injury among a population of elderly residents in an assisted
living facility and treating residents' chronic illnesses.
ANS: C
The scope of practice of public health nurses is population focused and community
oriented, with a primary emphasis on population-level interventions that target
strategies for health promotion and disease prevention. In addition, public health
nursing is concerned with the health of all members of a population or community,
particularly vulnerable populations, and uses political processes as a major
intervention strategy.
3. A public health nurse leader is encountering barriers when trying to shift the
public health agency's efforts to a population-focused practice. The reasons
peers are not supportive of the proposed shift to a population focus are most
likely related to:
a. agency colleagues' push for nurses to focus on population initiatives.
b. costs associated with staff training and revision of documents.
c. lack of support from the agency's funding sources.
d. opinions that nursing should focus on the provision of direct client care and
services.
ANS: D
Barriers to implementing population-focused care include lack of understanding of
the public health nurse role and its relationship to other roles in nursing, such as
direct care and services; workplace role socialization that determines what roles are
appropriate and inappropriate or accessible and inaccessible for nurses; and lack of
comprehensive training at the graduate level in the disciplines basic to public health
such as epidemiology, biostatistics, community development, service administration,
and policy formation.
, Page 3 of 87
4. The role and goals of the community health nursing practice can best be
described as:
a. community-based interventions aimed at promoting, preserving, and
maintaining the health of populations residing in institutional facilities such as
nursing homes.
b. education of nurses and other staff working in community-based and
community-oriented settings to improve the overall effectiveness of their
programs to meet client needs.
c. population-level strategies aimed at promoting, preserving, and maintaining
the health of populations through the delivery of personal health care services
to individuals, families, and groups in an effort to improve the health of the
community as a whole.
d. activities targeted at improving the health status of clients served by
community-based health service agencies such as hospice and home health
agencies.
ANS: C
Community health nursing practice is the synthesis of nursing theory and public
health theory applied to promoting, preserving, and maintaining the health of
populations through the delivery of personal health care services to individuals,
families, and groups. The focus of community health nursing practice is the health of
individuals, families, and groups and the effect of their health status on the health of
the community as a whole (individual to families to groups to community flow). This
is different from public health nursing, which is the synthesis of nursing theory and
public health theory applied to promoting and preserving the health of populations.
The focus of public health nursing practice is the community as a whole and the
effect that the community's health status, including health care resources, has on the
health of individuals, families, and groups (community to groups to families to
individual flow). Both community health and public health nursing are considered to
be community-oriented practices involving free-living (noninstitutionalized) clients.
Community-based nursing practice is setting specific, and care is provided to clients
where they live (home health or hospice nursing, community-based clinic), work
(occupational health nursing), and/or attend school (school nursing). The emphasis
of community-based nursing practice is acute and chronic care (illness care) and the
, Page 4 of 87
provision of comprehensive, coordinated, and continuous services, usually within a
specialty area.
5. A community-oriented nurse has identified obesity as a problem in the
middle school. The next step in a population-focused practice is to make
information available about the health of the middle school students. This
describes the core public health function of:
a. assessment.
b. assurance.
c. policy development.
d. research.
ANS: A
Assessment is a core function of public health and refers to systematically collecting
data concerning the population, monitoring the population's health status, and
making information available on the health of the community. In a community-
oriented approach, a nurse would apply both nursing and public health theory. In this
case, assessment would be the first step from the perspective of both theories.
Because the practice is population focused and community oriented, it would involve
the assessment of the community subpopulation of middle school children and the
impact of obesity on their overall health status.
6. The state public health agency has received multiple complaints regarding
the availability of elder transportation services to a specific county senior
center. The state agency assigns a public health nurse to work with the
community to evaluate its program for elder transportation services to publicly
sponsored eldercare programs. The public health core function applied is:
a. assurance.
b. policy development.
c. primary prevention.
d. public transportation.
ANS: A
The public health core function of assurance focuses on the responsibility of public
health agencies to be sure that activities are appropriately carried out to meet public
health goals and plans. This involves making sure that essential community-oriented
