ATI RN Leadership 2026 - Enhanced NGN Exam 70 Questions | Multiple Choice
ATI RN Leadership 2026
Enhanced Next-Generation NCLEX (NGN) Practice Exam
Instructions: This exam contains 70 multiple-choice questions designed to assess your knowledge of nursing
leadership, management, and professional practice concepts aligned with the ATI RN Leadership 2026
Enhanced NGN format. Read each question carefully and select the single best answer for each item. There is
no penalty for guessing. Recommended time: 105 minutes (1.5 minutes per question).
Answer key at the end
1. Anurse manager is implementing a new evidence-based fall prevention protocol
on a medical-surgical unit. Which leadership style is most appropriate for this
situation?
A. Laissez-faire leadership
B. Autocraticleadership
C. Transformational leadership
D. Democratic leadership
2. Acharge nurse on a busy intensive care unit notices that two staff members
are in conflict over patient assignments. The conflict is affecting team morale
and potentially compromising patient care. What is the first action the charge
nurse should take?
A. Report the conflict to the nurse manager immediately
B. Separate the two staff members and reassign their patients
C. Meet individually with each staff member to understand their perspectives
D. Schedule a mandatory unit meeting to discuss team dynamics
3. Anurse leader is preparing the unit budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
Which budgeting approach provides the most accurate reflection of the
unit's actual resource needs?
A. Incremental budgeting
B. Zero-based budgeting
Page 1
,ATI RN Leadership 2026 - Enhanced NGN Exam 70 Questions | Multiple Choice
C. Flexible
budgeting
D. Program budgeting
4. Thenursing staff on a pediatric unit has expressed concerns about mandatory
overtime and its impact on patient safety. Which action by the nurse manager
best demonstrates advocacy for the staff?
A. Advise staff members to contact the human resources department directly
B. Present aggregated staffing data and safety concerns to hospital administration
C. Suggest that nurses rotate the overtime assignments among themselves fairly
D. Recommend that staff members file formal grievances through the union
Page 2
,ATI RN Leadership 2026 - Enhanced NGN Exam 70 Questions | Multiple Choice
5. Anurse manager is using Kotter's 8-step change model to implement a new
electronic health record system on the unit. After creating a sense of urgency and
building a guiding coalition, what is the next step?
A. Empower broad-based action
B. Form a strategic vision and initiatives
C. Generate short-term wins
D. Anchor changes in the culture
6. Anew graduate nurse reports to the charge nurse that a senior nurse is
not completing required documentation before leaving shifts. What is the
charge nurse's most appropriate initial response?
A. Confront the senior nurse immediately in front of the new graduate
B. Thank the new graduate for reporting the concern and investigate the situation
C. Tell the new graduate that the senior nurse likely has a valid reason
D. Document the incident in the senior nurse's personnel file
7. Ahospital is experiencing a high rate of nursing turnover. The nurse executive
decides to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the contributing factors. Which
tool is most useful for identifying the root causes of nursing turnover?
A. SWOT analysis
B. Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram
C. PERT chart
D. Gantt chart
8. A
nurse manager needs to address a pattern of tardiness with a staff nurse.
Which approach reflects the best use of progressive discipline?
A. Issuea written warning for the first occurrence
B. Schedule a private meeting to discuss the pattern and set expectations
C. Reassign the nurse to a different shift to avoid the tardiness pattern
D. Deduct pay for each instance of tardiness from the nurse's paycheck
9. A
nurse leader is developing a strategic plan for the nursing department. Which
component of the strategic planning process should be completed first?
A. Develop goals and objectives
Page 3
, ATI RN Leadership 2026 - Enhanced NGN Exam 70 Questions | Multiple Choice
B. Conduct a needs assessment
C. Implement action plans
D. Evaluate outcomes
10. During a staff meeting, a nurse manager presents data showing that the unit's
patient satisfaction scores have declined over the past quarter. Which response
from the manager best promotes a culture of shared governance?
A. Assign a committee of senior nurses to develop an improvement plan
B. Ask the group to identify potential causes and propose solutions collaboratively
C. Implement a new patient satisfaction protocol based on best practices from the
literature
D. Offer incentives to individual nurses who receive positive patient satisfaction
comments
Page 4
ATI RN Leadership 2026
Enhanced Next-Generation NCLEX (NGN) Practice Exam
Instructions: This exam contains 70 multiple-choice questions designed to assess your knowledge of nursing
leadership, management, and professional practice concepts aligned with the ATI RN Leadership 2026
Enhanced NGN format. Read each question carefully and select the single best answer for each item. There is
no penalty for guessing. Recommended time: 105 minutes (1.5 minutes per question).
Answer key at the end
1. Anurse manager is implementing a new evidence-based fall prevention protocol
on a medical-surgical unit. Which leadership style is most appropriate for this
situation?
A. Laissez-faire leadership
B. Autocraticleadership
C. Transformational leadership
D. Democratic leadership
2. Acharge nurse on a busy intensive care unit notices that two staff members
are in conflict over patient assignments. The conflict is affecting team morale
and potentially compromising patient care. What is the first action the charge
nurse should take?
A. Report the conflict to the nurse manager immediately
B. Separate the two staff members and reassign their patients
C. Meet individually with each staff member to understand their perspectives
D. Schedule a mandatory unit meeting to discuss team dynamics
3. Anurse leader is preparing the unit budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
Which budgeting approach provides the most accurate reflection of the
unit's actual resource needs?
A. Incremental budgeting
B. Zero-based budgeting
Page 1
,ATI RN Leadership 2026 - Enhanced NGN Exam 70 Questions | Multiple Choice
C. Flexible
budgeting
D. Program budgeting
4. Thenursing staff on a pediatric unit has expressed concerns about mandatory
overtime and its impact on patient safety. Which action by the nurse manager
best demonstrates advocacy for the staff?
A. Advise staff members to contact the human resources department directly
B. Present aggregated staffing data and safety concerns to hospital administration
C. Suggest that nurses rotate the overtime assignments among themselves fairly
D. Recommend that staff members file formal grievances through the union
Page 2
,ATI RN Leadership 2026 - Enhanced NGN Exam 70 Questions | Multiple Choice
5. Anurse manager is using Kotter's 8-step change model to implement a new
electronic health record system on the unit. After creating a sense of urgency and
building a guiding coalition, what is the next step?
A. Empower broad-based action
B. Form a strategic vision and initiatives
C. Generate short-term wins
D. Anchor changes in the culture
6. Anew graduate nurse reports to the charge nurse that a senior nurse is
not completing required documentation before leaving shifts. What is the
charge nurse's most appropriate initial response?
A. Confront the senior nurse immediately in front of the new graduate
B. Thank the new graduate for reporting the concern and investigate the situation
C. Tell the new graduate that the senior nurse likely has a valid reason
D. Document the incident in the senior nurse's personnel file
7. Ahospital is experiencing a high rate of nursing turnover. The nurse executive
decides to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the contributing factors. Which
tool is most useful for identifying the root causes of nursing turnover?
A. SWOT analysis
B. Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram
C. PERT chart
D. Gantt chart
8. A
nurse manager needs to address a pattern of tardiness with a staff nurse.
Which approach reflects the best use of progressive discipline?
A. Issuea written warning for the first occurrence
B. Schedule a private meeting to discuss the pattern and set expectations
C. Reassign the nurse to a different shift to avoid the tardiness pattern
D. Deduct pay for each instance of tardiness from the nurse's paycheck
9. A
nurse leader is developing a strategic plan for the nursing department. Which
component of the strategic planning process should be completed first?
A. Develop goals and objectives
Page 3
, ATI RN Leadership 2026 - Enhanced NGN Exam 70 Questions | Multiple Choice
B. Conduct a needs assessment
C. Implement action plans
D. Evaluate outcomes
10. During a staff meeting, a nurse manager presents data showing that the unit's
patient satisfaction scores have declined over the past quarter. Which response
from the manager best promotes a culture of shared governance?
A. Assign a committee of senior nurses to develop an improvement plan
B. Ask the group to identify potential causes and propose solutions collaboratively
C. Implement a new patient satisfaction protocol based on best practices from the
literature
D. Offer incentives to individual nurses who receive positive patient satisfaction
comments
Page 4
