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Medical-Surgical Assignment Exam HESI Correct and Verified Answers Graded A
- Question: The practical nurse (PN) is assessing breath sounds of a client who has
spontaneous respirations after an endotracheal tube (ET) insertion. The breath sounds are absent on the left side. What action should the PN do?
Correct Answer: Contact the nurse in charge immediately.
- Question: The practical nurse (PN) at an extended care facility is called to the unit's
activity room where a client has "fainted." Which finding indicates to the PN that the client experienced a syncopal episode?
Correct Answer: A sudden experience that everything went black.
- Question: The practical nurse (PN) performs a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) assessment
for a client who experienced an acute brain attack (stroke) yesterday and obtains a score of "12." What assessment should the PN do next?
Correct Answer: Comparison of GCS score with previous checks.
- Question: The practical nurse (PN) receives shift report about a client whose chest x-ray
reveals "free air under the right diaphragm." What action should the PN take?
Correct Answer: Maintain the client NPO.
- Question: The practical nurse (PN) is transferring a client to the in-patient dialysis unit
for hemodialysis scheduled for today. Which information is essential for the PN to report to the receiving nurse?
Correct Answer: Today's hemoglobin result of 8.0 grams.
- Question: The practical nurse (PN) is caring for a group of clients on a telemetry unit.
Which client requires immediate follow-up by the PN?Correct Answer: A client with multiple premature ventricular contractions (PVC)/minute after receiving atropine.
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- Question: The practical nurse (PN) is monitoring a client with a comminuted fracture of
the left femur. Which finding should the PN report to the healthcare provider immediately?
Correct Answer: Leg pain of "10" unrelieved by opioids.
- Question: A client who is positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) comes to the
clinic for a routine check up. During the initial interview, the client's partner tells the practical nurse (PN) that the client has had several occasions of mental confusion. The PN should focus questions to determine if the client is developing which opportunistic infection?
Correct Answer: Toxoplasmosis.
- Question: An adult male presents in the Emergency Center with "tearing" chest pain that
has moved into his back. Which finding by the practical nurse in the client's history is relevant to the client's chest pain?
Correct Answer: Smokes three packs of cigarettes a day.
- Question: When making morning assessments, the practical nurse finds a client who is
exhibiting a new finding of right-sided facial drooping. Which assessment is most important for the PN to implement first?
Correct Answer: Test all four extremities for movement and strength.
- Question: A client who accidentally received an electrical shock at work and
temporarily lost consciousness is brought to the emergent care center by his supervisor because the client states that he doesn't feel well. What intervention should the practical nurse implement first?
Correct Answer: Attach a cardiac monitor.
- Question: A male client with type 1 diabetes mellitus comes to the clinic because he is
feeling bad. He tells the practical nurse (PN) that he stopped taking his prescribed insulin.He has a flushed appearance; a deep, sighing respiratory pattern; and a fruity breath odor.Which action should the PN implement?
Correct Answer: Prepare regular insulin dose based on blood glucose results.
- Question: The practical nurse (PN) is caring for a client with cancer who is receiving
chemotherapy (CT) and is nauseated. Which intervention should the PN implement to promote adequate nutrition for the client?
Correct Answer: Give an antiemetic prior to the administration of CT.
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- Question: An older female client with heart failure (HF) calls the clinic and tells the
practical nurse (PN) that she has been coughing after starting the prescription, captopril (Capoten). Which information by the client requires further investigation by the PN?
Correct Answer: Complains her shoes are too snug to wear.
- Question: A 55-year-old male client with an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) presents
to the emergent care center reporting abdominal and scrotal pain and feeling dizzy. Which finding should the practical nurse report to the healthcare provider?
Correct Answer: Blood pressure of 160/90.
- Question: The practical nurse (PN) is irrigating the eye of a male client who had a
known alkaline substance splashed into his eye. Which finding indicates the PN should stop the procedure?
Correct Answer: The pH is 7.4 in the affected eye.
- Question: The practical nurse (PN) recognizes which stool characteristics as typical of
a client with acute cholecystitis?
Correct Answer: Pale, floating.
- Question: Two days after a small bowel resection, a male client reports tingling of
fingers and toes and feels dizzy. The client's nasogastric tube (NGT) is draining per low intermittent suction, and the practical nurse (PN) suspects the client has a fluid and electrolyte imbalance because he has been taking oral ice chips PRN. Which assessment finding should the PN report when monitoring the client?
Correct Answer: Elevated pulse and dysrhythmia noted on telemetry.
- Question: An adult male arrives in the clinic an hour after he was hit on the right side of
the head in a golfing accident. The client is taking warfarin (Coumadin) for atrial fibrillation.Which finding should the practical nurse report to the healthcare provider immediately?
Correct Answer: Pupil size, right 7 mm and left 5 mm.
- Question: The practical nurse (PN) is reviewing prescriptions for four clients. Which
prescription should the PN question?
Correct Answer: Encourage incentive spirometer PRN for wheezing.
- Question: A client who is one-day post-thyroidectomy begins to develop a stridor.
Which priority action should the practical nurse implement?
Correct Answer: Prepare for emergency tracheotomy at the bedside.
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- Question: On admission, a client with an acute myocardial infarction receives a
- Question: The practical nurse (PN) obtains an oral temperature of 100F (37.8C) for a
thrombolytic, aspirin, and IV heparin. Which finding indicates to the practical nurse (PN) that the client is having a therapeutic response to the medication?Correct Answer: Activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) results 2 times the control.
female client who is one day postoperatively after a total abdominal hysterectomy. What action should the PN implement?
Correct Answer: Evaluate the client's temperature in 4 hours.
- Question: A client receives pulmonary resuscitation with an Ambu bag for 10 minutes
before being intubated with a endotracheal tube (ET). The practical nurse (PN) notes that the client's stomach is distended. What action should PN implement?
Correct Answer: Prepare to insert a nasogastric tube.
- Question: The practical nurse (PN) notes an irregular radial pulse for a client who has
an implanted pacemaker. What action should the PN do first?
Correct Answer: Measure the apical-radial pulse with another nurse.
- Question: An adult client presents to the emergent care center with hives and laryngeal
edema after being stung by a bee. Following successful treatment, what information is most important for the practical nurse to reinforce with the client upon discharge?
Correct Answer: Carry an epinephrine pen.
- Question: A male client with pancreatic cancer who received morphine and midazalom
(Versed) during an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) returns to the unit. His vital signs are pulse 80 beats/minute, 16 breaths/minute, blood pressure 120/80, and pulse oximeter 98%. Which action should the practical nurse (PN) implement?
Correct Answer: Determine client's fingerstick glucose level.
- Question: During admission to the medical unit, a client with bacterial meningitis
complains that the light is hurting his eyes and he has a headache. The practical nurse (PN) reviews the client's pervious neurological responses and obtains the client's temperature, which is 103.1 F (39.5 C). Which action should the PN implement next?
Correct Answer: Begin a secondary infusion of the prescribed antibiotic.
- Question: After a client reports having frothy, floating stools with a foul odor, what area
of the client's history should the practical nurse review?
