According to the NCSBN, the rate at which prospective nursing students pass nursing exams has dropped from 88% to 82%. In recent years, the Fundamentals of Nursing Final Exam has been among the tests many nursing students find challenging in their first year. The Nursing Fundamentals Exam examines the core skills aspiring nurses must have to provide adequate healthcare. In this post, our expert exam takers outline the questions tested in the nursing fundamental finals exam to help students prepare for the exam. If you need exam-help services, click on the button below to register your request.
Fundamentals of Nursing Final Exam Structure
The Fundamentals of nursing final exam contains 50 multiple-choice questions. Each question takes approximately 90 seconds, and the exam takes around 1 hour and 15 minutes. At the lapse of the allocated timeframe, all correctly answered questions 1 earn a point, and the final score is aggregated and converted into a percentage.
5 Tested Areas in Fundamentals of Nursing Final Exam
The fundamentals of nursing final exam cover the topics in the first semester of nursing school. Any of the course sections can produce the exam questions, though most schools focus on the following five key areas:
The Nursing Process
The nursing process refers to the rational method of delivering healthcare services after initial contact with patients. This section tests prospective nurses’ ability to identify patient healthcare issues and provide holistic medical services. The types of questions included here assess the following areas:
- Patient assessment: Questions on patient assessment require students to explain how to evaluate patient problems through direct interviews, medical histories, and secondary assessments when patients are unresponsive. The questions might also require students to explain the immediate physical signs, such as skin and eye color, that can give clues on patients’ medical issues.
- Diagnosis: Diagnosis questions in the fundamentals of nursing final exam ask students to identify the different conditions of ailing patients based on their initial symptoms. Furthermore, all symptoms identified must be from the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA).
- Planning: Questions on planning to ask students to explain the best ways to provide adequate care to patients with different conditions.
- Implementation: Questions require students to explain how to execute the treatment planning process. They ask students about the various ways to administer treatments in a way that guarantees patient safety and promotes a faster healing process. Also, students might be asked to name critical medical interventions, such as surgery, therapy, oral and topical drug administration or any other treatments required to achieve health-related goals.
Communication Strategies
Strong communication is a significant part of providing competent healthcare. Questions in this section of the fundamentals of nursing final exam ask students to state the most effective ways to explain diagnosis findings without using complicated medical jargon or sounding inconsiderate. On top of that, questions might also need students to explain the various communication channels with healthcare members of their team, including immediate supervisors and junior colleagues.
Patient Comfort and Safety
Ensuring patient safety is an essential part of nursing. It protects the patients from further illnesses and prevents liability when treatment objectives don’t go as planned. Safety questions in the fundamentals of nursing final exam ask students to identify the basic protective concepts, such as how to position patients during examinations and treatments. Some questions also require students to explain the protective equipment needed in different health settings, like gloves, goggles, and masks. Other questions included here test nurses’ ability to maintain a healthy medical environment per the American Nurses Association Nurses Bill of Rights.
Drug Administration
This section requires nurses to outline the correct drug administration methods, depending on the final diagnosis. Most questions here ask students to name the types of medication orders, including routine medications, single or one-time medications, and STAT or immediate emergency medications.
They also ask prospective nurses to name the various ways to administer different medications, including oral, topical, and parenteral (injections) drug administration methods. Students might also be asked to identify the adverse reactions of patients with certain allergies to specific types of medications and recommend alternatives to these drugs.
Hygiene and Infection Control
Healthcare environments contain numerous disease-causing germs. In this section of the fundamentals of nursing final exam, students must identify the pathogens that can put themselves and other patients at risk. Questions might also examine the paths different microorganisms use to enter the body and ways to block them from entering the human body.
What it Takes to Pass the Fundamentals of Nursing Final Exam
Passing the fundamentals of nursing final exam requires adequate preparation using different tactics, including prep courses, flashcards, and notes. Students must also take the exam with the right mindset to avoid anxiety or forgetting the course materials. Our fundamentals of nursing exam experts can help students with their revision process and even take the exam for students who feel unprepared even after revising.
