Nursing home administrator exam
questions and verified answers
2025\2026 update
1. The most likely single cause for the series of bankruptcies among larger
nursing home chains around the year 2000 was ____.
1. Too small increases in government reimbursement rates
2. Paying too much for acquisitions in 1998 and 1999
3. Not taking advantage of falling interest rates
4. Thinking too small - CORRECT ANSWER2
2. In a chance conversation with the owner of an eight-facility chain, the
newly hired administrator for the oldest facility in the chain indicates that,
because the mortgage is fully retired, the administrator will concentrate
more on being effec- tive than efficient since the Quality Indicators are all at
or above the state's aver-age. The owner would likely ____.
1. Be pleased
2. Be distressed
3. Be content
4. Praise the newly hired administrator - CORRECT ANSWER2
3.
Occupancy of Facility A has been a steady 70% since the Prospective
Payment System was introduced. Two weeks ago, a new 120-bed, equally
equipped facil- ity opened several blocks away. The Facility A administrator
tells the admissions counselor to continue the usual recruitment approach.
The chain owners ought to _____.
1. Rest comfortably
2. Seek a new administrator
3. Appoint a new admissions counselor
4. Take no action - CORRECT ANSWER2
4. Bankruptcies among larger nursing home chains prior to 2000 _____.
1. Were frequent
2. Were ubiquitous
3. Were highly unusual
4. Were routinely declared to avoid too much accumulated debt -
CORRECT ANSWER3
,5. Under the Prospective Payment System, nursing facilities' reimbursed
costs _____.
1. Were about the same as previously
2. Were more bundled
3. Used an unbundled cost structure
4. Were reimbursement for actual costs - CORRECT ANSWER2
6. In recent years, Medicare has _____.
1. Allowed facilities to make a modest profit
2. Shifted more costs onto nursing facilities
3. Eased up on economic pressures previously placed on facilities
4. Remained relatively unchanged in its reimbursement structure -
CORRECT ANSWER2
7. The nurse newly promoted to director of nursing insists on giving four RN
hours of patient care each day on the Alzheimer's wing in the 175-bed
facility. The administrator should _____.
1. Praise the new director of nursing for her resident centeredness
2. Appoint an assistant director of nursing
3. Adapt the job description to fit her pattern
4. Seek a new director of nursing - CORRECT ANSWER4
8. The applicant for the administrator position in a facility near a large
teaching hospital insists that, as before in his rural facility, if hied he would
not let the Medicare reimbursement policies affect his case mix. This
applicant _____.
1. Should be hired
2. Is likely to succeed if hired
3. Can likely succeed in his goal
4. Is out of touch - CORRECT ANSWER4
9. The newly hired assistant to the administrator insists that the
organizational chart dotted line between this position and the Department
of Nursing be a solid line. The administrator should _____.
1. Agree in general
2. Agree to this special case
3. Ask the director of nursing for his or her opinion 4. Be forewarned -
CORRECT ANSWER4
,10. The medical supplies provider tells the administrator of a facility that
has not paid bills for the past 3 months but is now operating under a
bankruptcy judge's approved plan for restructuring, that no more deliveries
will be made until past bills are fully paid. The medical supplies provider
_____.
1. Is smart to cut losses at that point
2. Does not understand how bankruptcy works 3. Will now likely get his
past due bills paid
4. Is farsighted - CORRECT ANSWER2
11. An administrator who adopts the leadership-by-walking-around (LBWA)
approach by walking through the facility weekly and intently observing has
_____.
1. Become an effective leader
2. Chosen a good management style 3. Failed to understand LBWA
4. Implemented a useful strategy - CORRECT ANSWER3
12. The nursing facility administrator who, using the leadership-by-walking
around (LBWA) technique, succeeds in actually making appropriate
corrections on the spot during her rounds _____.
1. Is effectively implementing the concept
2. Gains additional power through the process 3. Exhibits appropriate
leadership
4. Does not understand LBWA - CORRECT ANSWER4
13. The rate of increase in the total number of nursing facilities in the
United States during the years 2008 to 2012 is _____.
1. Likely to be about level
2. Likely to double
3. Likely to triple to accommodate the baby boomer generation 4. Likely to
decrease markedly - CORRECT ANSWER1
14. The applicant for administrator of the facility insists that he has
successfully used democratic leadership to the exclusion of all other
leadership styles. The interviewer should _____.
1. Recommend hiring this candidate
2. Praise the candidate
3. Be favorably impressed
4. Continue to interview candidates - CORRECT ANSWER4
, 15. The candidate for administrator said that she used a variety of
administrative styles, but could not say exactly which she would use in
every circumstance. The interviewer should be _____.
1. Favorably impressed
2. Unfavorably impressed
3. Concerned about possible indecisiveness 4. Looking for one leadership
style - CORRECT ANSWER1
16. The candidate for administrator indicated that he consistently chose the
charis- matic style of leadership. This should _____ the interviewer.
1. Reassure
2. Alert
3. Confirm the candidate's qualifications to 4. Please - CORRECT
ANSWER2
17. The costs of providing subacute care to nursing home residents _____.
1. Is perhaps triple that of the more typical patient
2. Covered by Medicare
3. Absorbed by Medicaid if Medicare coverage is inadequate
4. Mostly covered by private insurance - CORRECT ANSWER1
18. The nurse supervisor who had just been appointed director of nursing
announced at the first department head meeting that she had circulated a
memo among the nurses that only formal communications were to be
allowed in the nursing department. The administrator should _____.
1. Be relieved
2. Confirm the decision 3. Be supportive
4. Anticipate problems - CORRECT ANSWER4
19. The department head was not surprised to learn that an employee had
heard only the positive comments to the employee and ignored the
criticisms. The department head's grasp of the communication process is
_____.
1. Deficient
2. Appropriate 3. Out of focus 4. Inadequate - CORRECT ANSWER2
20. The administrator routinely accepted as a nearly exclusive information
source the director of nursing's positive reports that nursing was going well.
The administrator is _____.
1. Showing appropriate confidence in the director of nursing
questions and verified answers
2025\2026 update
1. The most likely single cause for the series of bankruptcies among larger
nursing home chains around the year 2000 was ____.
1. Too small increases in government reimbursement rates
2. Paying too much for acquisitions in 1998 and 1999
3. Not taking advantage of falling interest rates
4. Thinking too small - CORRECT ANSWER2
2. In a chance conversation with the owner of an eight-facility chain, the
newly hired administrator for the oldest facility in the chain indicates that,
because the mortgage is fully retired, the administrator will concentrate
more on being effec- tive than efficient since the Quality Indicators are all at
or above the state's aver-age. The owner would likely ____.
1. Be pleased
2. Be distressed
3. Be content
4. Praise the newly hired administrator - CORRECT ANSWER2
3.
Occupancy of Facility A has been a steady 70% since the Prospective
Payment System was introduced. Two weeks ago, a new 120-bed, equally
equipped facil- ity opened several blocks away. The Facility A administrator
tells the admissions counselor to continue the usual recruitment approach.
The chain owners ought to _____.
1. Rest comfortably
2. Seek a new administrator
3. Appoint a new admissions counselor
4. Take no action - CORRECT ANSWER2
4. Bankruptcies among larger nursing home chains prior to 2000 _____.
1. Were frequent
2. Were ubiquitous
3. Were highly unusual
4. Were routinely declared to avoid too much accumulated debt -
CORRECT ANSWER3
,5. Under the Prospective Payment System, nursing facilities' reimbursed
costs _____.
1. Were about the same as previously
2. Were more bundled
3. Used an unbundled cost structure
4. Were reimbursement for actual costs - CORRECT ANSWER2
6. In recent years, Medicare has _____.
1. Allowed facilities to make a modest profit
2. Shifted more costs onto nursing facilities
3. Eased up on economic pressures previously placed on facilities
4. Remained relatively unchanged in its reimbursement structure -
CORRECT ANSWER2
7. The nurse newly promoted to director of nursing insists on giving four RN
hours of patient care each day on the Alzheimer's wing in the 175-bed
facility. The administrator should _____.
1. Praise the new director of nursing for her resident centeredness
2. Appoint an assistant director of nursing
3. Adapt the job description to fit her pattern
4. Seek a new director of nursing - CORRECT ANSWER4
8. The applicant for the administrator position in a facility near a large
teaching hospital insists that, as before in his rural facility, if hied he would
not let the Medicare reimbursement policies affect his case mix. This
applicant _____.
1. Should be hired
2. Is likely to succeed if hired
3. Can likely succeed in his goal
4. Is out of touch - CORRECT ANSWER4
9. The newly hired assistant to the administrator insists that the
organizational chart dotted line between this position and the Department
of Nursing be a solid line. The administrator should _____.
1. Agree in general
2. Agree to this special case
3. Ask the director of nursing for his or her opinion 4. Be forewarned -
CORRECT ANSWER4
,10. The medical supplies provider tells the administrator of a facility that
has not paid bills for the past 3 months but is now operating under a
bankruptcy judge's approved plan for restructuring, that no more deliveries
will be made until past bills are fully paid. The medical supplies provider
_____.
1. Is smart to cut losses at that point
2. Does not understand how bankruptcy works 3. Will now likely get his
past due bills paid
4. Is farsighted - CORRECT ANSWER2
11. An administrator who adopts the leadership-by-walking-around (LBWA)
approach by walking through the facility weekly and intently observing has
_____.
1. Become an effective leader
2. Chosen a good management style 3. Failed to understand LBWA
4. Implemented a useful strategy - CORRECT ANSWER3
12. The nursing facility administrator who, using the leadership-by-walking
around (LBWA) technique, succeeds in actually making appropriate
corrections on the spot during her rounds _____.
1. Is effectively implementing the concept
2. Gains additional power through the process 3. Exhibits appropriate
leadership
4. Does not understand LBWA - CORRECT ANSWER4
13. The rate of increase in the total number of nursing facilities in the
United States during the years 2008 to 2012 is _____.
1. Likely to be about level
2. Likely to double
3. Likely to triple to accommodate the baby boomer generation 4. Likely to
decrease markedly - CORRECT ANSWER1
14. The applicant for administrator of the facility insists that he has
successfully used democratic leadership to the exclusion of all other
leadership styles. The interviewer should _____.
1. Recommend hiring this candidate
2. Praise the candidate
3. Be favorably impressed
4. Continue to interview candidates - CORRECT ANSWER4
, 15. The candidate for administrator said that she used a variety of
administrative styles, but could not say exactly which she would use in
every circumstance. The interviewer should be _____.
1. Favorably impressed
2. Unfavorably impressed
3. Concerned about possible indecisiveness 4. Looking for one leadership
style - CORRECT ANSWER1
16. The candidate for administrator indicated that he consistently chose the
charis- matic style of leadership. This should _____ the interviewer.
1. Reassure
2. Alert
3. Confirm the candidate's qualifications to 4. Please - CORRECT
ANSWER2
17. The costs of providing subacute care to nursing home residents _____.
1. Is perhaps triple that of the more typical patient
2. Covered by Medicare
3. Absorbed by Medicaid if Medicare coverage is inadequate
4. Mostly covered by private insurance - CORRECT ANSWER1
18. The nurse supervisor who had just been appointed director of nursing
announced at the first department head meeting that she had circulated a
memo among the nurses that only formal communications were to be
allowed in the nursing department. The administrator should _____.
1. Be relieved
2. Confirm the decision 3. Be supportive
4. Anticipate problems - CORRECT ANSWER4
19. The department head was not surprised to learn that an employee had
heard only the positive comments to the employee and ignored the
criticisms. The department head's grasp of the communication process is
_____.
1. Deficient
2. Appropriate 3. Out of focus 4. Inadequate - CORRECT ANSWER2
20. The administrator routinely accepted as a nearly exclusive information
source the director of nursing's positive reports that nursing was going well.
The administrator is _____.
1. Showing appropriate confidence in the director of nursing
